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

"Oh, congratulations."

"Boss, why are you so cold? Is this tavern going out of business?"

Lin slammed the mop on the ground and said sadly, "Actually, the tavern has been losing money for a long time."

I said incredulously, "That can't be right. There are always lots of drinkers here every time I come."

Lin's expression instantly turned ugly: "Actually, out of all these customers, you're the only one who recently paid the bill..."

"Hey! What about Sebala?"

"You can pay on credit."

"Mr. Basil?"

"It's also on credit."

Where is Karen?

"I'm asking Jeff to pay on credit."

"Boss Nadike? He wouldn't possibly buy on credit, would he?"

Then Mr. Dart's voice came through: "Dick came to drink his own wine, which he paid off with the cost price. He never paid the rest of the money."

Mr. Dart closed the ledger and began to speak with a heavy heart.

"I never imagined that running a pub would be so difficult these days. The cost of ingredients keeps rising every day, but there are very few customers who are willing to spend money to drink. If this continues, I'll have no choice but to turn it into a private kitchen restaurant."

Boss, this isn't a management problem at all. With your ambitious and all-encompassing approach, running so many projects with no profit margin, how could you possibly make money?

I suggested, "Boss, why don't you get rid of these rude customers who don't pay? How can you possibly make money if they keep running up credit like this every day?"

"Actually, it's not that they haven't paid at all, but they've gotten into the habit of paying only once in a while. Especially Sebala and Dick, those bastards are always short on cash, and they might not be able to pay back the money even after a long time."

Well, it's determined by the nature of the customers. If we don't do business with them, even fewer people in town will come to spend money. But if we do do business with them, they take a long time to pay back the money. Under this pressure, we can only choose the lesser of two evils and reluctantly continue to entertain them.

After all, it's unrealistic to expect the island's residents to pay in cash every time.

This is truly a dilemma. If anything, the owner's biggest mistake was opening a tavern in this small town...

"Boss, why did you open a tavern here?"

I remember Lin said that opening a guesthouse inside the bar was the idea of ​​the owners, but why did they have to open a bar in the first place? Where did this idea come from in the first place?

Mr. Dart sighed softly and began to explain, "Because when I was young, I also ran a tavern. When you arrive in a new place, you want to start from a familiar industry..."

"Huh?!?!" Lin and I exclaimed in unison.

Wait a minute, Lin, why are you so surprised too? Isn't this your dad's family shop?

Lin stammered, "Dad, you never told me this before! You used to run a tavern?!"

“Didn’t I say that when I was as young as Marcus, I ran a bar in a city in the East?”

As he spoke, the owner of Dart slowly drifted into his memories, "It wasn't like this bar back then. It was a very popular bar, with lots of people drinking and chatting every day, and they would even have different singers performing."

I complimented, "Boss, I never knew you were so stylish when you were young! You must have had a lot of girls who liked you, right?"

Boss Dart raised an eyebrow and said, "Don't make wild guesses. Back then, I never chatted with customers. I was a shadow hiding in the dark."

This description... could it be a midnight DJ?

365 days without a single day off?

Wearing monitoring headphones, am I the star of tonight's party?

The melody has already started playing in my head, it's just a matter of time before I start rocking out.

"Dad, why didn't you open a bar later?"

“That city later declined.” Boss Dart’s tone was a little wistful. “There are always many rises and falls in the space age. And that city in the east unfortunately hit the crest of the wave, and thus declined visibly.”

"Most people left that place. In that abandoned city, I met your mother and spent the happiest years of my life there."

After saying that, Mr. Dart frowned and stopped talking, seemingly unwilling to recall the past.

"So that's why you're still running the tavern, boss?" I asked.

"A lot more happened after that, one thing after another, but it was right to end up here." Boss Dart turned and went into the kitchen to prepare dinner.

At this moment, Lin turned on the TV, ready to enjoy her evening rest. But no matter which channel she switched to, all she saw were shopping channels and endless, nonsensical commercials—one minute it was a shampoo ad, the next a hair growth product ad. She couldn't understand the purpose of these TV programs at all.

If I have hair and use shampoo, why would I need hair growth products?

Is this some kind of all-in-one service for treating hair loss and promoting hair regrowth?

“Marcus… these TV shows are so boring…” Lin looked at me listlessly.

I shook my head helplessly. The content of these TV stations broadcasting to the countryside is indeed very mysterious, and I have no idea what use they can be...

"Hey Lin, is there anything you want on TV? I can give it to you." I suddenly had a thought. With so many random commercials playing on a loop, there must be something suitable for her, right?

"Hehehe, that's so embarrassing." Lin glanced at me shyly.

"It's okay... How about this blender?"

A blender commercial suddenly started playing on TV, and it seemed somewhat useful. Since Lin likes to cook, it would definitely come in handy.

I memorized the phone number on the TV and then picked up the phone next to the pub to make the call.

"Hello! Is this Federal Overseas Markets TV Station? I want to buy something."

"........."

"Hello? Is anyone there? I want to buy something?"

"........."

"Is nobody here? I want to buy something!"

The silence on the other end of the phone lasted for a long time before a muffled voice asked.

You said...you wanted to buy something?

"Yes, that blender from the TV show, I wanted to ask if you can deliver it? My address is..."

"...Buy something? Okay, okay! Please give me the address! Please!"

Isn't this TV shopping call a bit too enthusiastic? Why does it sound like it's practically begging me?

"It's in Mineral Town. Write down the address..."

"Beep...beep...beep..."

Why did the other end of the phone hang up? I didn't even mention the model number or how I would pay, and they hung up already?

But when I called back, the call went unanswered.

Lin leaned closer to me and asked curiously, "Has the TV station closed for the day yet?"

"Okay, maybe this person was in a hurry to get off work, so they hung up the phone."

This explanation is somewhat plausible. It's currently 6 PM, and considering the slight time difference, the other party could indeed have received this call during their off-get off work hours.

But what I didn't expect at the time was that I had misremembered the last digit of the number. And this small mistake brought me a series of unexpected events.

Chapter 137 Out-of-School Children

No one wants to have a bright future. We may not be able to choose our birth, but we can choose to strive. When we sit in the classroom, we start from the same point. We share the same dream and the same goal. No poor child doesn't want to change their destiny through knowledge. It's just that everyone's circumstances are different.

Those bright eyes shone with a resolute gaze, a thirst for knowledge. We thus learned that they yearned to change their destiny through knowledge; this thirst for knowledge was the most practical path to hope for these children.

I am not advertising for Project Hope.

I just ran into two out-of-school children again.

After having a good meal at the tavern, I strolled around the town for a while. The town wasn't big, and the roads were quite limited. Soon I crossed Rose Square and arrived at the church entrance, where I saw Mei and You, two children engrossed in their books.

"What are you two doing? Has Father Carter gone to sleep again?"

Upon seeing me, the two children excitedly ran over and grabbed my trouser legs, one on each side.

"Big brother! Please help us with our lessons! The priest went to pray and told us to study on our own, but we can't understand anything." The two little kids looked at me pitifully, their faces full of despair for knowledge.

It's true that church schools are a common practice; in many places where educational resources are scarce, local churches run schools to teach various subjects, such as language, writing, grammar, etiquette, arithmetic, and basic skills. This rule still applies in Mineral Town.

But Ellie and Mookie probably never imagined that the priest at the town church was a teacher who would skip class every few days, and that self-study time might be as high as 80%. I'm afraid that in the end, the two kids won't improve their grades, but will instead develop feelings for the school.

This teacher is so irresponsible!

After thinking for a while, I took them both back to the church, had them sit on either side of me, and asked, "What class did you have today?"

The little girl Mei picked up a thick manuscript from the table.

"Still history class?"

I saw the words "Voynich Historical Manuscripts" written on the cover. It was a thick, large volume that looked quite old. The paper was yellowed, but there was no damage or insect infestation, making it seem very precious.

It's this book again!

I turned to the last page and found that the piece of paper that said "You've been tricked" when Father Carter told the ghost story last time was gone.

It really was just the priest's twisted sense of humor...

"Alright then, I'll continue my history lesson with you today!"

I turned to page six, and the book entered a new chapter after where I left off last time.

"...the movement of worshipping gods."

"Amid the flourishing of maritime movements, the relatively closed continental empires began a series of religious movements. The most famous of these was the divine revival movement of the Dakrut Order."

"This mysterious cult, which emerged from the Black Forest, worships a deity that has been passed down since ancient times. The original doctrines of retribution and purity of blood have been covered with a more idealized guise. In many places, they have become arbitrators and enforcers, wielding most of the public power. This has also started the proliferation of deity worship."

"Then, various ancient cults sprang up like mushrooms after rain, and soon spread throughout the continent. They had believers, land, and armed forces, and each commanded a most elite and core fighting cult to carry out the will of the gods."

“In modern times, Professor Jordan Elser questioned the Holy Spirit Church, saying that there is no legal reasoning from the Holy Spirit, therefore there is no legitimacy of the ruling power, and the so-called church edicts are nothing but ornate butcher knives.”

"But this assertion did not hold true during these primitive religious periods. At that time, the various religious groups, large and small, adhered to the ideas from different gods, yet surprisingly, there was no fighting. They would even bypass immediate interests and mobilize the people to explore the vast forests far away."

"This strange peace lasted for about three centuries. It was during this period that the inhabitants of the continent became accustomed to a religious life in which gods and humans lived together, and the customs and ideas of worshipping gods were deeply ingrained in their blood."

Then, at the end of this chapter, many names of the gods of that time are recorded.

It states: "Due to the large-scale burning and burying of the Holy Spirit Church, the names, doctrines, and rituals of these ancient religious groups are no longer verifiable. We can only rely on the oral traditions passed down in various places to deduce the appearance of the religions of that time. This has become a miracle for countless historians who have devoted their lives to studying and conducting research in a down-to-earth manner."