There can't be a Harvest Moon in the RimWorld.

Moreover, Lu Xun actually said this.

"Boss, give me a discount. If you offer a sincere deal, I won't reveal your secret."

I looked at the other items in the room and felt a little tempted.

The crop seeds on the shelves had long been taken off the shelves and replaced with groceries such as bread, chocolate, cooking oil, curry powder, and wheat flour, which were indeed more in line with the current needs of the town.

"Then I'll lose money! I spent a lot of money to buy these!"

"Of course I know these things are valuable, otherwise what would I do with them? Put them with this pile of combustible garbage as fertilizer?"

I glared at Jeff and relentlessly criticized his "Complete Collection of Passionate Classics".

In the Edge World, I am the mastermind behind an entire trade zone and port. Ordinary business tactics have long been ineffective against me. In fact, what I do is manage and restrain these business tactics that are prone to going too far.

I personally witnessed craftsmen in the Oasis Trade Zone repairing and turning scrap iron pots into cavalry breastplates to sell to the loader's leader—I wonder what the cavalrymen who received this equipment thought of the food aroma that often wafted from him.

In this deal, Jeff was eager to sell off his bottom-fishing seed holdings and convert them into cash to cover his losses, so he accepted my demanding compensation request.

I desperately needed these seeds to help the ranch rebuild, so no matter how picky I was, I couldn't just walk away if we couldn't reach an agreement. Therefore, I had no choice but to grit my teeth and accept Jeff's blatant dumping tactics.

Both sides had their own advantages and disadvantages and were evenly matched. After a long period of friendly negotiations, and after exchanging all sorts of tools for friendly communication, such as stools, brooms, bricks, and woks, the two finally reached an agreement through gritted teeth.

After intense bargaining, the total price of the goods was reduced from an exorbitant asking price of 130,000 to almost half the original price. In addition, they offered to give me ten loaves of bread, ten bags of wheat flour, and five chocolate bars for free.

"It's a pleasure doing business with you..."

Boss Jeff, panting, looked at me with respect for a formidable opponent. I, too, was exhausted, once again feeling the relentless persistence of this unscrupulous businessman. It just goes to show that when people become shameless, they can completely cross the line of basic biological boundaries…

I pulled out the wallet I'd stolen from Thomas the Tank Engine, opened it with a pang of regret, and turned my back to rummage through the money I needed for the purchases.

Jeff, the boss, grinned triumphantly, like a fox who had stolen a chick, and couldn't help but stroke his mustache.

But just then, the door of the general store suddenly burst open, and a familiar figure strode in. The long hair that swayed in the air as he walked and the familiar long legs instantly revealed the identity of the newcomer...

"Ka...Karen! Why are you back so early?"

Jeff was startled by the loud noise, then put on a fawning smile and said to his daughter.

Karen stopped and crossed her arms. "I went to find Lin to go hiking with, but my mother told me Marcus was coming over, so I came back first."

She glanced at us with her slightly raised phoenix eyes, then said, "What's wrong? Is there something you can't let others see?"

I spoke up before the embarrassed Jeff could react, "How could that be, Miss? Jeff and I hit it off immediately today, and he even offered to teach me how to draw. Don't you think so, sir?"

I quickly signaled to Jeff to take over, but my gesture did not awaken the lowly daughter-obsessed man. This shrewd businessman, who had been so eloquent just moments before, was now stammering and unable to speak clearly.

"Ah...yes...yes! I mean...I mean Marcus is right!"

...This person is beyond saving.

Karen was never stupid; she immediately noticed the dusty sack among us and instantly knew what had happened.

“Dad, isn’t this bag the trash you put in the warehouse? Mom threw it out last month, and I even saw you go and pick it up in the middle of the night.”

Miss Karen exuded an aura of power, staring sharply at Boss Jeff. "You wouldn't be thinking of selling this bag of garbage to Marcus as merchandise, would you?"

Upon hearing this, Jeff broke out in a cold sweat.

I quickly smoothed things over, saying, "No, Karen. Your father and I both think these are top-quality goods, and it's only natural that they fetch a good price. Don't worry about it."

However, Karen ignored my explanation and continued to look at Boss Jeff with disdain, adding to his anxiety.

Jeff is undoubtedly facing an inner test at this moment—whether to maintain his dignity as a father in front of his daughter, or to stick to his principles and be a profit-driven businessman.

What finally broke Jeff's boss was another sentence Karen said: "And why is Mom so angry too? Did you upset her again?"

Jeff's mental defenses crumbled instantly. He suddenly jumped up, snatched the wallet from my hand, and burst out the door between me and Karen, resolutely fleeing the scene.

"I have to earn this money back! Otherwise, your mother will kill me! Karen, I'm doing this for your own good!"

Jeff's echo still lingered in our ears, but he was no longer there. It seems that when people can't face reality, they choose to escape first.

Hopefully, this weak middle-aged man can gain some profound insight from this blow, such as realizing from the bottom of his heart that there are limits to human beings, and deciding from then on to stop being human.

Or, this force resisting reality can be materialized into an AT position, shouting "We can't escape! We can't escape! We can't escape!" while driving a humanoid general-purpose decisive weapon to save the world!

As I was still daydreaming about Jeff's future, Karen slapped me hard on the shoulder and said through gritted teeth, "He got away with it again! Why didn't you react at all when your money was stolen?!"

I said slowly and deliberately, "Meeting is fate. As the saying goes, 'The wind blows the eggshell away, wealth disappears but people are at peace.' If I were to break the precept against anger over this, then I would be too attached to appearances..."

After saying that, I put my hands together and walked away from her calmly, picking out the bread, cooking oil, chocolate and other items we had agreed on beforehand from the shelf.

Karen stomped her foot and followed me, saying, "I'm doing this for your own good, Marcus! Why are you so ungrateful!"

I glanced at her, shoved the goods I couldn't carry into her arms, and said in a meaningful tone, "When Boss Jeff was doing things for your own good, didn't you not appreciate it?"

Having gone to great lengths to pretend to be a Buddhist master, I thought that after hearing my words, Karen would be shocked by the reverse thinking and be in a daze of her mindset being broken. She would be amazed by my profound wit and would suddenly repent and resolve her past grievances with her father.

But I forgot to consider Karen's personality, which led to her reaction not being what I expected...

Karen's face darkened. She reached out and pushed me against the shelf, wrapping her arm around my neck. I felt a tremendous force, and then...

Is this... a wall slam?

In a flash, she wrapped her left arm around my chin in a V-shape, pressed her right palm against the back of my head, pushed forward, and tightened it, easily controlling my head in a dangerous position—I had no chance to defend myself.

It was... a naked chokehold!

I didn't activate the colonizer system's counterattack mode because, according to the traditional martial arts principle of stopping short of a point, as long as I yelled "Indecent assault!", she would have already lost.

"Young lady, you have no sportsmanship! Is it alright to ambush an old man like me who is 18 years and 300 months old? This is not right. I advise you to back off like a rat..."

"Speak like a human being! Otherwise, I'll take your head today!"

"Miss Karen said through gritted teeth."

Suddenly, the image of Makoto's head lying in the small boat, slowly drifting towards the horizon with Kotonoha Katsura, flashed into my mind...

"No, no, no! Let go! I only ate two soft-boiled eggs for breakfast today, and I already have low blood sugar. If you keep squeezing me, I'll... I'll faint right here..."

These traditional martial arts masters are all so wicked. First, they tricked me into believing I could break a rear naked choke with one hand, and this time they tricked me into believing I could use rhetoric to deal with young people. I've been thoroughly humiliated both times.

Fortunately, I didn't use the Pinecone Bean Lightning Whip, otherwise I probably would have blocked all of their attacks with my face and given away a head.

"Ouch, I almost lost my life... Karen, you should have gone easy on me, at least give me some 'benefits'. Why try to kill me right off the bat..."

As I grumbled on and on, Karen immediately raised her fist again, her face darkening. "Alright, alright! You don't need to lift a finger. I'll just collapse into your arms and faint!"

I chuckled and pulled a thick wad of bills from my pocket. "I'm not in a hurry, of course, because the money's still in my hands—when have you ever seen someone who's taking advantage of another person in a hurry?"

Karen snatched the banknotes from my hand with delight, quickly counted them, and finally confirmed that her father had not stolen my cash—it would be strange for a poor wretch like me to come up with two such large sums of money.

"Tell me how you did it!"

I smiled sheepishly. "Learning from my last experience, I hid my money as soon as I walked in this time, afraid that Mr. Jeff would see how much money I had and try to raise the price. The wallet I showed earlier was just a pretense; it was just stuffed with a few stacks of napkins to make it look like I had more money..."

Karen patted my shoulder with great joy, acting as if we were buddies, "You're something else, Marcus! When did you become so cunning and sly!"

I immediately denied it, saying, "It was clearly Jeff who robbed me first! I was just fighting crime with crime!"

...Although in my presence, robbery and fraud will both land you in jail.

But taking this opportunity, I also said to Karen, "Don't be too harsh on Mr. Jeff. He was trying to raise money for your tuition, and the goods he sold weren't really bad, so it's okay for him to make a little money off me. You should try to understand his good intentions..."

Karen waved the banknotes in her hand and glanced sideways, saying, "Would you be happy if someone used your name to swindle and cheat you?"

I was speechless for a moment, "Well, the starting point is good, it's about intentions, not actions..."

Karen immediately displayed her unreasonable attitude, "My intention in helping him correct his mistakes is good! Do you expect me to help him cheat and swindle?"

Hmm? That makes sense, doesn't it?

But I hesitated and said, "But what about your tuition?"

Karen replied nonchalantly, "I have my own way of doing things, it's none of your business."

"The way?" I was completely baffled.

"Well. Since you're so nosy, I'll accept this money without hesitation."

Karen struck an elegant pose; her pretty face, having shed its arrogance, actually possessed a touch of dignified grace. She swept her long, flowing hair to one side, revealing her delicate left neck, and fanned herself with the banknotes in her hand like a noblewoman before casually stuffing all the money into her pocket.

...So this is the kind of person you want me to leave alone?!

That's my money!

Chapter 562 The Young Lady Wants Me to Farm

"Young lady, you either give me my money back, or you give me my things. What do you mean by not giving me either? Are you planning to rob me?"

I watched helplessly as Karen huffed and puffed as she walked behind me, carrying that bag of seeds. The ladylike demeanor she had just managed to maintain vanished in an instant.

Karen put the seeds off her shoulder and rested by the roadside for a while: "Let me tell you, what I hate most is people pitying me. I'm going to take the seeds to the ranch and watch you plant them before I leave."

Well, Karen seems to think I bought these old seeds on purpose to do a good deed and supplement her school expenses.

A strong sense of self-esteem can be both good and bad. For example, in this situation, she could have easily turned a blind eye and kept all the money, but she insisted on following me to find out what was going on, out of curiosity and pride.

"Alright, then I'll let you be the supervisor for a day and see how much work you've actually done."

I took the bag of seeds from her, easily hoisted it onto my shoulder, and led the way with brisk steps.

"Hey, wait for me! Don't walk so fast!"

Karen's voice came from behind me; she must have started chasing me again before she had even finished resting.

…………

The roads in Mineral Town weren't long, and under the scorching sun, they were warm and soft. In hot and humid climates, people get tired easily, and their spirits gradually become lazy and decadent. As a result, every household had a good-for-nothing who slumped in the living room, and the air was filled with the shameful smell of slacking off.

The moment I stepped through the gates of the ranch, I saw the wild horses lying in the waist-high grass, their tails flailing weakly to swat away mosquitoes, now transformed into national first-class protected waste...

No, I can't become that kind of person!

Karen, who was almost suffocated by the sun, still relentlessly followed me, chasing me all the way into the ranch.

"Karen, you rest under the tree first. I'll hurry up and clear the weeds and prepare the ground. Just watch."

I pieced together a stool from common stone and placed it under the big tree for Karen. Then I turned around and took out the pure iron hoe that Gray had forged from the warehouse.

When I left the warehouse, I carefully locked the door tightly to prevent Karen, who was bored, from wandering inside.

The warehouse is inhabited by a mutated insect the size of a brown bear. Although the little sheep pendant beside its legs softens its ferocious aura, it highlights a postmodern magical color that not everyone can appreciate.

After holding the pure iron hoe in my hand, I felt that this farm tool, which was not designed for human needs, no longer put much pressure on me.