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

I could only listlessly recite, "Yay... When I grow up, I want to be an astronaut, and the boss will give me my favorite slap and cream bread..."

Lin appeared from the side, holding a mop, and said to me, "Marcus, don't be picky. There was a bit of an accident in the kitchen today, and most of the cooking utensils are unusable. We can only cook with the oven, so the food is a bit simple."

As a chef, to actually blow up the kitchen must be the darkest day of his career. No wonder he's in such a bad mood. I've decided to avoid this bad luck.

I glanced at Mr. Dart, whose face was gloomy, in surprise, then quickly looked away, pretending to look at the scenery around me.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that Boss Dart was indeed covering his face, looking like his "life's reputation was ruined in an instant," and he turned to the kitchen and said.

"Sebala, when will the kitchen be fixed?"

Upon hearing this name, I instantly perked up. Every wrong has its perpetrator, and today you've finally fallen into my hands!

But the voice that came from the kitchen wasn't the old bald man's; it was another familiar voice.

“Dart, wait a little longer. This place is so badly damaged, Sebala is practically crawling into the pipes to fix it... I still need to calculate the insurance reimbursement rate before I can process your claim!”

It's Thomas the Tank Engine sound!

How did he end up working part-time as an insurance claims adjuster?!

Then, another man's voice chimed in, "And the cost of the repair materials—not a penny less! I, Jeff, am honest and fair, and I never extend credit!"

...Honest and fair to all, young and old? You're clearly cheating everyone, young and old!

Thinking about it that way, he could be considered a hero who treated everyone equally.

However, it's not convenient for me to see these two people. I recently robbed one of their wallets, and I tricked the other out of a large bag of seeds with an empty wallet. If they saw me, they'd probably tear me to pieces!

"Boss, give me a bag to pack up, I'm leaving now!"

Seeing the situation was turning bad, I prepared to slip away, but I never expected Lin to be right next to me. The little girl hadn't inherited her father's cautious nature; instead, she immediately ran enthusiastically to the kitchen doorway.

"Mayor, please make way for me, I need to get a bag for Marcus to put some bread in!"

Upon hearing this, a cacophony of responses, varying in pitch and tone, erupted from the kitchen, each voice showcasing their unique delivery skills in just three words.

"Marcus...?"

A mixture of panic and guilt, surprise and hesitation—this was definitely old Sebala. His voice also carried a loud thud, probably from hitting the table.

"Marcus?!"

The voice was full of affection and longing, brimming with expectation and sincerity. It must be Thomas the Tank Engine who was planning to ask me for money back. As the saying goes, I always beat the one who owes money... oh no, the one who owes money is always the boss. He's probably more worried that I'll just run away.

"Marcus!"

This voice is powerful; every word is filled with blood and tears, every sentence pierces the heart. It's as if even in death, nailed to a coffin, one must still shout in a decaying voice: "Pay back the debt!"

A phantom flashed by, and Lin was stunned, standing at the kitchen doorway. She couldn't even see what had flashed in front of her. Her thoughts were probably still wavering between the possibility that the tavern was haunted and the possibility that the kitchen had been infested with cockroaches and rats.

Faced with Jeff, who pounced like a cheetah, I instantly uttered the last thing a scumbag should ever say, which usually complicates simple things a million times over.

"Hey, Jeff, let me explain! You really have to listen to me! This is a complicated matter!"

"you say!"

Boss Jeff brushed past me, blocking the tavern door ahead of me. His movements were surprisingly practiced—you wouldn't have this kind of practical experience unless you've been cornered and beaten in a tavern dozens of times.

…………

"Boss, don't speak like that, it's a bit scary..."

I gathered my thoughts, "First of all, the wallet in your hand isn't mine... the real victim is behind you..."

Upon seeing the familiar, empty wallet, Thomas the Tank Engine was stunned for a moment, then his eyes reddened. He choked back tears as he stepped forward to touch the wallet, but hesitated and covered his mouth, sobbing silently as if facing a child who had been dead for a long time...

That's a bit over the top.

This acting was over-the-top and exaggerated, points deducted!

Jeff glanced back at him, then ignored the half-dead mayor and gritted his teeth, saying, "Where's the money?!"

Look at that delivery of lines!

With just two words, he expressed his desire to devour me alive—if he wasn't targeting me, I would definitely give his acting a perfect score.

I took a step back. "The money is actually in your daughter's hands! She robbed me yesterday as soon as I left the grocery store! You can search her if you don't believe me! I don't have a single penny!"

Boss Jeff looked at me suspiciously. "Don't slander Karen! My precious daughter would never do such a thing! If I find out you're framing her, then we'll settle all our old scores together!"

That's alright, the blame won't fall on me...

And don't you really know what kind of personality your daughter has? That day she even forced me to drink a lot of water, I almost died from it all...

Wait a minute... Speaking of drinking, have I forgotten something?

"Boss Jeff! Wait a minute! Don't go yet!"

I grabbed Jeff, racking my brains trying to recover the deleted data from the brain cells killed by alcohol...

Give me some time...

Progress ▓?????????10%

Progress ▓▓▓???????30%

Progress ▓▓▓▓▓?????50%

Progress ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓??? 70%

Progress ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ 99%

…………

[Ding! Recovery complete!]

"Boss, wait! The money is with you!"

Jeff looked at me blankly, as if he was starting to think I had something wrong with my head.

I quickly explained, "No, no! I mean the money was originally with Karen! After a drinking session, the money ended up in Boss Date's hands! So what you're actually looking for is him!"

Boss Jeff followed my finger and looked down at the middle-aged man standing at the kitchen door.

Mr. Dart said with dissatisfaction, "Why are you looking at me? I've already drunk the wine and spent the money. If Karen doesn't pay, I'll come after you for the debt. Is there a problem?"

Jeff said warily, "Don't try to fool me! The liquor here is actually sold on behalf of Dick; it doesn't belong to you at all! You're just selling Dick's liquor and making your own money!"

Upon hearing what the unscrupulous Boss Jeff said, even Thomas the Tank Engine looked up at Boss Dart, his eyes filled with hope of getting his money back.

…………

After my explanation, I successfully shifted the focus of criticism from myself to Mr. Dart, the ultimate beneficiary.

But this made things even more chaotic. Boss Jeff grabbed Boss Dart and shook him violently. Thomas reached out to take his wallet back from Jeff. Boss Dart fixed his gaze on me without moving. I grabbed Sebala by the collar to prevent him from escaping in the chaos.

To sum it up in one sentence, the entire northwestern Shanxi region was in complete chaos!

However, even when shifting blame, we must adhere to the basic principles. I still need to complete the final crucial step.

"Everyone, listen to me."

I stood up despite the pressure and said, "I understand everyone's desire to recover their losses, but our debt situation is a bit messy and needs to be straightened out!"

I pointed at Thomas the Tank Engine and said, "You tell me first, what are you doing here?"

The mayor said, "The gas fryer at the tavern exploded, and I'm here to gather information for the claim."

I clapped my hands and said, "That's settled then! You already owe me wages, right? Well, the extra amount I took will be compensated to you with the profits from this boss's compensation! This money will naturally go through your hands, so you don't have to worry about defaulting on your debt!"

Thomas the Tank Engine sounded its cheerful whistle, "Hehe, that's a great idea!"

Mr. Dart said with dissatisfaction, "Why should I give him my money?"

I quickly explained, "Boss, Jeff's money is in your hands. You can just take the money from there to make up the difference, right? It's free money for you anyway!"

"Hmm... what you said seems to make some sense..."

Mr. Dart instantly switched from the opposition to my side!

But when I said that, Jeff got upset. "No way! Why should I give him my money back? He has to give it back to me!"

I quickly reassured him, "You can't see it that way, Mr. Jeff! Your daughter took the money and then spent it here, so you're not at a loss; Karen also stole the money from me. You drank for free and didn't even pay extra, which means you're the only one who made a profit!"

"Uh...is that so?"

Jeff loosened his grip on Carter's hand, and Dart quickly nodded in approval.

"No, I gave you those seeds, but I didn't receive any money! So I'm the one who lost out!"

Jeff wasn't fooled; he immediately turned around and grabbed me tightly.

I immediately explained, "I gave the money to Karen! Mr. Dart can testify to that!"

The cunning merchant, who had been eyeing me with predatory intent, immediately put me down and rushed to Boss Dart, shouting, "Then give me my money back!"

Boss Dart, adopting a nonchalant air, as if to say, "What does your arrest of Lu Xun have to do with me, Zhou Shuren?" He replied, "Karen paid for my drinks, and Marcus can vouch for me. Is there a problem?"

"Uh……"

Jeff stood there stunned for a moment, then, as if punching a pillow, he sat down, his anger finding no outlet, muttering to himself, "Where did things go wrong... something's not right..."

I pressed Jeff down into a bar stool and comforted him, "It's not your fault, it's the world's fault... Come on, have a drink and forget your troubles. I hereby declare that Father Carter's drinks are on the table tonight!"

Seeing that the atmosphere had eased, Lin immediately skipped and hopped as she walked, saying, "Then I'll go get the wine!"

In this pleasant atmosphere, no one asked the potentially discordant question of why it was Father Carter. In any case, under my plan, those who owed money defaulted, those who wanted their money back got it, and those who couldn't understand were easily swayed. Everyone was happy to maintain this fragile balance.

As the saying goes, everything is based on pyramid schemes. When there are new people to take over, no one will express any objection. After going through the whole process, apart from Boss Jeff doing psychological work, it seems that the only one who really suffered losses was Boss Dick, who was selling wine on consignment. But who cares?

Did the Paris Peace Conference take into account the opinions of the Beiyang government, which was among the victorious nations?

Thomas, having recovered some of his losses, sat down happily, tenderly stroking his recovered wallet. "Old Sebala, why didn't you come over? You used to jump for joy at the mention of drinking!"

Sebala stood up guiltily from the corner of the table. "It's nothing, it's nothing... I've been thinking of quitting drinking lately..."

“This isn’t like you… Did Gray set your blacksmith shop on fire yesterday, and you’re trying to save money by rebuilding it?” Boss Dart asked.

I said coldly, "Then I'll be the one to set this fire—I might as well burn down Zhao's Mansion to liven things up for everyone today!"

"No, no, no! How can you bear to ruin an old man's hard work like this?!"

I thought for a moment and said, "Then I'll grant you this one leniency. Your work repairing the tavern kitchen today will be considered mandatory community service. And give me two books on electrical engineering, and that will be your bail."

"make a deal!"

Sebala readily agreed.