"Mm."
Haley responded softly and gently hugged Emily.
Meanwhile, on Caroline's side—unlike 2 Willow Lane—Caroline was currently rummaging through the greenhouse, trying to find things Abigail liked that Kalos didn't have.
Pierre leaned against the wall: "Kalos is such a big place. What could Pelican Town have that you can't buy there?"
"It's different. They don't have Caroline's special Blackberry Cobbler there," Caroline said, pulling out some blackberries and continuing to search.
Pierre shrugged. Just then, he heard the door open and walked straight out.
As soon as he stepped out, he saw Ron carrying things.
"Good morning. Buying something?" Pierre said, habitually walking behind the counter.
"I'm here to see Caroline," Ron said, then added: "Though I was also planning to buy some flower seeds. Do you have any?"
"Flower seeds?" Pierre paused and started searching. "I should still have some—they don't sell well here, so there are leftovers. Caroline's in the greenhouse, you can find her there. I'll look around for the seeds."
"Sure, ten of each kind."
After speaking, Ron walked straight toward the greenhouse. As soon as he entered, he saw Caroline hurrying out carrying a pile of things.
"Ah, Ron, what are you doing here? I was just about to find you," she said, struggling to carry that pile of items.
Ron stepped forward to help take some.
Caroline couldn't help but smile gratefully at him.
"Looking for me?" Ron asked, following behind Caroline. When Caroline stopped in the kitchen, Ron placed the pile of things on a nearby table.
"Mm, aren't you going to Kalos tomorrow? I wanted to ask you to help bring some things," Caroline smiled, then asked somewhat anxiously: "Is this too presumptuous? If it's inconvenient, it's fine."
Ron waved his hand: "I'm just taking Haley to meet up with Abigail anyway. You can give the things directly to me, or bring them to me tomorrow at the Festival of Ice."
Caroline immediately looked at Ron gratefully. "I really don't know what to say. Thank you so much."
Ron could roughly guess why Caroline was so anxious. Out of concern for Abigail, Caroline would constantly worry about her clothing, food, and supplies, and try every means to send her things.
But the only person who could deliver things to Kalos was Ron. She worried about troubling Ron, yet had no choice but to ask him.
Additionally, communication was difficult, making it hard to know Abigail's recent situation.
Given all this, allowing Abigail to go to Kalos was already the biggest compromise Caroline had made.
Few parents could accept such a loss of control, even though this was something every child had to face upon becoming an adult.
Ron paused, waved his hand, then took out the black tea he had brought.
This time, black tea was also part of what he was selling. Ron planned to bring a batch of black tea to Kalos to test the waters, so he had specially asked Clint to make him a new packaging processor.
The beautiful paper bag immediately caught Caroline's attention as soon as it came out.
"What is this?"
"Black tea, made from fermented tea leaves," Ron said, handing it to Caroline. "Happy birthday. This is a birthday gift."
"Black tea—" Caroline took it, sniffing the tea fragrance wafting from the paper bag, then suddenly realized with an afterthought: "Ah, today is Winter 7th. Right, my birthday—thank you for remembering."
"Don't mention it." Ron waved his hand. Just as he was about to say something, Caroline stopped him.
"Speaking of which, I have a prize ticket here. I checked with Lewis—this time, Lewis put a cup of Stardrop Tea in the prize machine. I was thinking of redeeming it on my birthday. As thanks for helping bring things to Abigail, this prize ticket is for you."
Caroline said this, went into the bedroom to search around, and came out holding a ticket.
"The farm is making black tea to sell, right?"
Though Pierre handled the shop business, it didn't stop Caroline from seeing Ron's intentions from that carefully designed packaging. So she continued: "You probably haven't had time to try Stardrop Tea yet. Once you drink it, no one can forget it—if it could be mass-produced, you could probably make quite a bit."
Ron was first stunned, then took the prize ticket and thanked Caroline.
"Don't mention it."
Caroline said this, washing her hands while confirming with Ron the time to give him the things tomorrow.
Seeing Caroline start busily making things for Abigail, Ron said goodbye and went to the door.
"These are all the flower seeds for this year." Pierre had just finished gathering the seeds and handed them to Ron.
After paying, Ron was about to leave when Pierre stopped him.
"I want to exchange some money with you," Pierre paused and said. "Thirty thousand gold. When you see Abigail, help me give it to her—"
As he spoke, he saw Ron nod, and immediately transferred the money to him.
Watching Ron walk away, Pierre turned and entered the kitchen. He walked to the sink and silently began carefully washing the blackberries.
Only the sound of water remained in the room.
In previous years, this was when Abigail would be on break. If she knew she was getting Blackberry Cobbler, she would be jumping for joy around the house.
Caroline seemed to think of something, laughed, turned her head, and saw Pierre seriously washing the blackberries.
After a while, Pierre over at the sink also seemed to think of something, and the two of them laughed together.
Meanwhile, Ron had just entered Lewis's house.
As usual, Lewis sat at his desk, still calculating this month's income. Hearing the door open, he raised his head and looked toward Ron entering.
"Ah, Ron. Long time no see. What brings you here?"
Ron waved the prize ticket in his hand.
—
There was only one prize ticket given out during this period. Lewis immediately guessed where it came from. He smiled and lowered his head to continue calculating.
"In the blink of an eye, you've been in Pelican Town for almost a year now."
Ron responded with a sound as he inserted the ticket into the prize machine.
"Time really flies," Lewis said, laughing: "I thought that when the farm reopened, maybe Pelican Town would have the possibility of change, but I never imagined the change would be this great."
Seeing Ron look at him, Lewis continued: "To this day, I am sincerely grateful that you were willing to come back and inherit that farm."
"Of course, actually, it wouldn't matter if the farm hadn't improved," Lewis continued. "But I must admit, your efforts have brought earth-shaking changes to this small town."
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