A farming master in Stardew Valley

Chapter 232 It is difficult for an upright official to deal with household affairs

Unlike when he was eating with Abigail, when he was eating with Robin, Leon maintained the habit of separate meals. After all, this is the mainstream dining etiquette in this world.

So basically, Lyon uses serving chopsticks to pick up food and put it on the plate, and then uses another pair of chopsticks to eat.

Robin did the same, adding food to his plate with a fork and eating with a spoon to avoid letting his saliva-stained utensils touch the food.

But these were all small things, and neither Leon nor Robin cared about them. Robin even learned how to stir the rice with the broth from the beef stew with potatoes, and ate it with great joy.

"Leon, I didn't realize you were such a good cook. It seems you will be a good home-loving husband in the future." While eating, Robin did not forget to praise Leon's cooking skills.

"Are all the cooks in Stardew Valley men?" Leon asked subconsciously.

"No, why do you ask that?" Robin looked at Leon puzzledly and asked back.

"Then why don't you listen to what you just said." Leon complained speechlessly.

Robin laughed and replied, "Ah, I just thought it through. Actually, I'm not very good at cooking, so Demetrius took care of all the kitchen work."

“Oh.” Leon nodded and said nothing more. He was afraid of being punched if he said anything more.

"So, do you have a target?" Leon stopped talking, but Robin couldn't bear it anymore and jumped straight to Leon's emotional state.

"Um, not yet." Lyon was stunned for a moment before answering.

"Then you have to do it as soon as possible." Robin reminded Leon seriously: "After all, the single girls in this town won't wait for you patiently."

"Why do you all like to pay attention to my love life? Is it a tradition in Pelican Town to urge people to get married?" Leon looked at Robin speechlessly and complained.

From Gus Willy to George Lewis, and now Robin, they all seemed to be quite concerned about their own relationship status, which gave him the familiar feeling of being besieged by neighbors in the village.

"I just want you to settle down in Pelican Town. Most young people nowadays don't like to stay in rural towns. Many people go out, but too few come back. I can't imagine whether Pelican Town will still be as lively as it is now in more than ten years." Robin explained.

"The problem of population loss is probably because there are too few job opportunities in Pelican Town. If Pelican Town was a prosperous town with plenty of job opportunities, those young people would not leave," Lyon analyzed.

After all, this question is true no matter where in the world. Do young people really yearn for the prosperity of big cities? That's not necessarily the case. It's just that big cities have more opportunities, higher wages, easier employment, and better public facilities.

If you can get a stable, high-paying job in your familiar hometown with good infrastructure, most people will probably give up the idea of ​​working outside.

Robin sighed. "That's true, but Pelican Town isn't doing very well right now. Aside from the annual festivals that attract tourists, the town's economy relies entirely on us, the longtime merchants who've lived here for generations. If the eastern mines are shut down, Pelican Town's population could plummet by half."

At this point, Robin couldn't help but complain, "Lewis has complained to me about this more than once, and he's even tried to raise taxes on businesses like us several times to save money for building public facilities in Pelican Town to attract more tourists, completely disregarding our current income situation."

"Did you agree?" Leon asked. "Of course not. After all, everyone's money is hard-earned. We understand Lewis's thoughts, but we also have families to support." Robin answered and asked casually.

"By the way, how much is the tax on your farm? Um, if you don't want to answer, then don't bother..."

Halfway through the question, Robin suddenly realized that the question was a bit sensitive and quickly changed the subject.

"Well, it's not that I can't tell you. Do you really want to know?" Leon asked Robin with some confusion after hearing that.

"Yeah, I'm quite curious." Robin nodded repeatedly.

"It should be similar to you, except that I didn't have to pay taxes in the first three years after I inherited the farm." Lyon hesitated for a moment, but still answered truthfully.

"Three years of tax exemption is quite normal. After all, you are new here and this farm was still a wilderness before you took over. If Lewis still wanted to collect taxes from you, Pelican Town would probably be on the verge of bankruptcy." After hearing Leon's answer, Robin was not as indignant as Leon imagined. Instead, he answered as if it was a matter of course.

Robin then encouraged Leon, "So you should make good use of these three years to develop your farm. Perhaps your farm can bring some vitality to Pelican Town and make it more lively."

"You are very concerned about the development of Pelican Town. Can you tell me the reason?" Leon asked curiously. After all, Robin couldn't stop talking about the issue of Pelican Town every three sentences, which made him very curious. Does Robin plan to run for the position of mayor after Lewis retires?
Or are you thinking of waiting for Pelican Town to develop and create more opportunities for her to make money?
"It's a personal matter." Robin swallowed the rice in his mouth and said slowly, "This brings us to my son, Sebastian."

"Yeah." Leon echoed from the side, pretending to be listening.

Robin continued to explain, "He has mentioned to me more than once that he wants to leave Stardew Valley, but I always stopped him. I know it's selfish of me, but I only have one child, and I don't want to be separated from him."

At this point, Robin sighed, "I know why he wants to leave Stardew Valley. Besides work, it's more about the pressure from his stepfather. You know that Demetrius and I are a blended family, right?"

"Demetrius was completely focused on his scientific research, and his care for the children was mostly focused on Maru. Because of my work, I was often unable to stay home, so Sebastian always felt superfluous. So he basically stayed in his room playing games every day, becoming increasingly withdrawn."

"Yeah." Leon nodded without saying anything, and listened quietly to Robin's complaints.

"So I thought, if Pelican Town becomes better, maybe Sebastian can find a suitable job in Stardew Valley and stay there. That way, even if he moves out, he won't be too far away from me." Robin continued.

"Yeah." Leon continued to nod in agreement without saying anything.

This made Robin roll his eyes speechlessly: "Can't you say anything else besides um?"

"What are you talking about? This is your family affair, and it's not convenient for me to get involved." Leon explained helplessly.

"Of course you can." Robin said immediately after hearing this: "Otherwise, why am I telling you all this?"

"Ah?" Leon looked at Robin in confusion, not understanding what special value he had that made Robin have such an idea.

(End of this chapter)