Red Dead Redemption: The Great Philanthropist of the West

After talking with Hosea, Henry returned to his camp.

At this moment, Robert, Sadie, and the others had already packed their luggage and were just waiting for Henry to return and say goodbye before setting off.

After a while, they set off. Robert led the team back to Blackwater, while Li Yi escorted the Adlers to Emerald Ranch and was responsible for helping them purchase the farm.

With nothing to do, Henry looked at his empty camp and sent Zhang Wei to help with guard duty at Hosea's place. Then he grabbed a bottle of expensive beer and went to wander around Fan Bang's area.

"Hi, Henry, can I talk to you?"

Surprisingly, the first person to approach Henry was Mary Beth, who was elegant, polite, and had a scholarly air about her.

She was also a character Henry admired in his previous life. She was kind-hearted and treated people well; poor Kieran Duffy would have starved to death long ago if she hadn't secretly fed him.

She was also very self-disciplined. Her daily routine consisted of working, reading, and writing novels, always moving towards her dream, and finally realizing her dream of becoming a novelist.

Within the gang, she was the most popular female member; Kieran, Dutch, Micah, and even Trelawney all liked to chat her up.

She was kind to everyone, including Arthur, except for Micah. I remember one night Micah wanted to invite Marybeth to dance, but she refused no matter what. First, she subtly said that she was clumsy and couldn't dance well. Later, she got so annoyed by Micah that she directly said that Micah wasn't very interesting and she didn't want to dance with him anymore, which made Micah leave in a huff.

"Of course, beautiful lady."

“Perhaps Mr. Allen, it would be more appropriate for you to call me Miss, but of course, I would prefer you to call me by my name – Marybeth.” Marybeth had heard about this handsome young man of the same age from her best friend Karen many times before.

Ever since Karen met Henry at the Blackwater Bar a month ago and enjoyed the sweet and sour pork ribs and delicious drinks he treated them to, she couldn't stop thinking about the taste and Henry, often nagging Mary Beth about it. This also piqued Mary Beth's interest in Henry. Of course, mainly because she spent most of her time in the camp and rarely had the opportunity to experience different worlds, she was curious about Henry's experiences and wanted to see if she could incorporate them into her novel.

"Then you don't need to call me 'sir.' We're about the same age. You can just call me Henry. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mary Beth. Perhaps we can become good friends."

Henry followed Mary Beth to the creek next to the campsite, and surprisingly, the "unemployed" uncle was fishing nearby. The two greeted each other from a distance.

“Henry, you know what? I love reading. Reading is wonderful to me, it’s the meaning of my life, it… it’s the only thing that makes me happy.” Mary Beth was happy that Henry said they could be good friends. Her life hadn’t been good before, and almost no one cared about her, so she especially cherished her friends’ care.

"So, the only thing that can make you happy is... imagining yourself somewhere else? Like the protagonist in a book?"

“I’m afraid I’ve never thought of it that way.” Mary Beth laughed happily.

“You know, there’s something different about you, Marybeth. Really…something extraordinary.” Henry mimicked Dutch’s tone, praising Marybeth. It must be said, Dutch’s rhetoric was quite impressive, whether in winning people over or wooing women.

"Really? What's different about me? I don't feel anything." Mary Beth looked puzzled. But despite her words, it was clear that Mary Beth was quite happy.

“Absolutely true, but... I can’t quite put my finger on it, it’s just that you have an attractive quality. I think you’ll be very popular in the camp.”

“No way. Apart from Karen, Tilly, and Arthur, with whom I’m closer, I’m only so-so with the others. As for Trelawney, he’s rarely in the gang, although when he is, he’ll magically praise her. And Graeme Shaw, that lady, not only does she dislike me, but she also often scolds me for being lazy, even though I’ve clearly finished all the work assigned to me.” Mary Beth complained softly.

At this time, Kieran wasn't around yet, Dutch hadn't completely grown tired of Molly, and his mind wasn't yet on Marybeth. As for Micah, he was interested in all the women in the gang, observing them with lustful eyes every day, but they all gave him the cold shoulder and simply ignored him.

“Mary Beth, what do you think of life in the gang now? Do you regret joining?” Henry took out a cigarette and asked softly.

"Me? Well, I guess I'm alright."

Although these past few months have been tough, at least we're still alive.

Did you know that if you were a girl with nothing...?

Life will be very difficult, especially when you have to take care of injured or sick relatives.

Within this gang, at least they took care of me. Before joining, nobody cared about me at all; my past was very difficult…

As if recalling something, Mary Beth's mood sombered. She snatched the cigarette Henry had just taken a puff of and, looking at the rushing stream, lit it herself.

"Sorry for reminding you of unpleasant memories." Henry looked at the girl smoking a cigarette, shook his head helplessly, and took out another one to light.

“Don’t worry about it, that happened a long time ago…” Mary Beth said, feigning nonchalance.

“Look over here, Marybeth. Did I tell you I’m a magician? Come on, blow a breath of magic into my hand.” Henry pretended to put his hands together and stretched them out in front of Marybeth.

"Stop messing around, Henry. What kind of magician are you? You're clearly a male model." Mary Beth had calmed down a bit and gave Henry a disapproving look, teasing him in return.

"Come on, just blow it once. How will you know if you don't try? Maybe a miracle will happen."

Unable to resist Henry's persistence, Mary Beth glanced around and, seeing that no one was paying attention, quickly moved closer to Henry's hands, leaned down, and gently blew on them. From a distance, it looked like she had kissed Henry's hands, which made her face turn slightly red.

Henry pretended not to see, and casually moved his hand near his backpack, secretly taking out a few intact purple snow lotus flowers. Then, while Mary Beth was lost in thought, he brushed them over her shoulder and placed them in front of her.

"Ta-da! Surprise, this is for you. I hope it brings you good luck."

"Wow, is this...is this real, Henry? How did you do that?" Mary Beth exclaimed in surprise, carefully touching the still shimmering purple petals with her hand. After feeling the real touch, she happily took the flower from Henry's hand and gently held it to her nose to smell its fragrance.

Not only had he forgotten his original purpose for coming to talk to Henry, but his previous gloomy mood had also completely vanished...