Red Dead Redemption: The Great Philanthropist of the West

Several more days passed in the blink of an eye. As word of mouth spread about the Shrewy and Lafite moonshine, it quickly reached the entire Valentine area, making Allen's Tavern packed with people every day. This also brought Henry a huge profit.

With more people around, friction is bound to happen. However, because police officers often come over for drinks and because of the presence of big Tommy, incidents can be quickly quelled, and few dare to escalate the situation.

As for the few who get drunk and act recklessly, they either get beaten to a pulp by Tommy or thrown into jail to be fed rags. In severe cases, they might even be blacklisted by the pub and become unwelcome guests.

This created a great atmosphere in the tavern, attracting many businessmen and ladies who came to trade livestock, which further spread the reputation of Allen's Tavern.

In the past few days, Henry also bought a house next to the tavern. Staying at the Saints Inn all the time was not a good idea, especially since strange noises kept coming from the next room. Although Henry knew what was going on, it was still quite creepy.

As for Towns, Henry handled it smoothly as well. He even got what he wanted—a bottle containing Towns' blood.

On the second day after the pub opened, Mrs. Edith of Downs approached Henry, saying that Downs had thought things through and hoped to get Henry's help.

Ever since Henry informed Towns of the seriousness of the situation, two groups of gang members arrived within two days, both there to collect the debt. Because Towns didn't want to repay the debt and even tried to resist, he was beaten up. Since the gang members couldn't find any cash, they stole two sheep from the ranch as interest. They threatened that if he didn't repay the money in a few days, it wouldn't be as simple as a light beating.

Towns even reported it to the Valentine police station, but it was to no avail; no police officer was willing to help him. Instead, the next day, gang members came looking for him again and took away his only Angus steer.

This made Towns realize the truth, and recalling Henry's words, he was filled with regret. Ultimately, due to illness, he had no choice but to send his wife, Edith, for help.

Finally, Henry bought Downs Ranch for $1000, allowing them to pay off their previous debts. He also promised not to evict them before Downs passed away, and that they could continue living there. After Downs' death, Edith could, if she wished, bring her son Archie to Emerald Ranch to find Sadie and help manage the ranch.

......

Henry spent a few days in Valentine and had many interesting experiences that broadened his horizons. These included the incident at Inspector Malloy's execution ground, the midnight spying incident involving hot coffee, and the test of courage between the Twen brothers over Helen, the woman they both loved.

Henry was overjoyed, experiencing a different side of the West.

Today, Henry planned to visit his old friends at Horseshoe Overlook. This was his first visit since moving to Valentine. He also brought some small gifts for everyone.

Henry had barely reached the camp when he heard John and Abigail arguing.

The incident started when Abigail saw John drinking, and she said that John had just recovered and shouldn't drink too much.

I also want to talk to John about Little Jack.

The following dialogue ensued:

Abigail (excitedly): John, can we talk?

John impatiently replied: "Stop talking, can I be alone for a while?"

Abigail: You're such an idiot, you know that?

John: You think I don't know?

Then came the classic scene where Abigail gave John a big burglar.

John later complained to Hosea about how difficult women were to understand. Hosea replied that it wasn't difficult, as long as you didn't act like an idiot. Arthur, meanwhile, continued to display his masterful verbal skills, interjecting that John was a master at playing an idiot. John could only say, "Thank you both, you two."

Henry watched the whole scene with a smile, and only after Abigail left did he walk up to John and hand him a bottle of fine wine.

"John, I didn't expect your daily life to be so exciting."

"Shut up, Henry, don't follow that big idiot Arthur and learn bad habits."

John took the fine wine, opened it, and took a small sip, letting out a sound of enjoyment to cover up the awkward scene from earlier.

"I haven't had a chance to thank you yet, Henry. Thank you for saving my life from the wolves. It's rare to see you at the camp. Is there something you need? If there's anything I can do to help, please let me know."

John spoke to Henry with a rare serious expression.

"I do have something to tell you, but we'll talk about it when everyone's here. I also brought gifts for Jack and Abigail; would you like to give them to them?"

"Ahem... Henry, you saw what happened just now. I don't think it's appropriate for me to take it. You should take it for them."

"Stop talking nonsense. That's precisely why we need you to go. Women aren't that hard to please. Just give her something she likes." With that, Henry, not bothering to say more to John, simply stuffed a necklace, a comic book, and a small bag of candy into his arms. Then he walked over to Hosea, who was cleaning his rolling bolt rifle.

"Hey, Hoshia, what are you planning to do?"

"Oh, Henry, it's been a long time. Welcome back. I'm planning to go hunting a big one. Would you like to come along?"

"Of course, I'm looking forward to it. But wait a minute, I have two important pieces of news to tell you."

Also, I brought you a small gift.

Henry handed Hosea a crime novel, knowing he enjoyed reading them to pass the time.

"What news is so important that it's worth your personal trip?"

Hosea took the novel, titled "The Case of the Shrew in the Mist," and casually flipped through it; it was a crime story, one of his favorites. His appreciation for Henry grew even stronger.

"Regarding the news about Sean and Pinkerton, the former was something Dutch asked me to investigate when we were in Plowstone Village, and the latter is intelligence I just received yesterday. I think you guys will be very interested in it. Let's call Arthur and Dutch over first and then talk about it together."

Realizing the importance of the matter, Hosea lost interest in hunting and immediately called out to Arthur. The three of them then went to Dutch's tent.

The three arrived just in time to witness a rather awkward scene: Dutch was holding Molly's hand, engaging in an overly sweet and cloying interaction. It seemed that Hosea's loud shouts hadn't dampened Dutch's spirits at all.

"Cough...cough.... Dutch, Henry has brought important news, we need to talk."

Seeing that Dutch was still engrossed in their own world and hadn't noticed them, Hosea could only cough twice and remind them.

"Hey Henry, when did you get here? Come on over, let's have a good chat and see what good news you've brought us this time."

The idea king reacted quickly, immediately overcoming the awkwardness and seizing the important topic, then signaled Molly to leave for a while.