"Ah, sorry, sorry. I thought you wanted this." Penny awkwardly took the vegetables back. Just as she was about to say something, she felt something being stuffed into her hand.
Turning her head, she saw Indeedee waving at her from the side.
"Is it this?"
"Yeah." Ron took the seasoning from Penny's hand. "How did you know?"
"I guessed."
"Spot on," Ron said, turning his head back to continue working.
Penny stared at Ron's face and couldn't help but turn around and give Indeedee a big thumbs-up.
"Indeedee!"
"It says—"
"Indeedee!"
You don't need to translate that.
"Oh, okay, meow." Meowth glanced at Penny and Ron, then buried its head and went back to work.
Time soon shifted to the start of the banquet. With everything prepared, everyone scattered about to chat, waiting for the gift exchange. Once the gifts were swapped, they could finally eat.
Joy sat together with Robin's family.
Ron, on the other hand, was pulled over to sit at the main table, right next to Lewis. Penny, who had originally wanted to invite Ron to sit next to her, sat down with a tinge of regret.
"Time really flies," Evelyn said with a smile, looking at Penny and then at Ron sitting next to Lewis. "In the blink of an eye, Ron has already been in Pelican Town for a year."
"Yeah," Pam said. "Pelican Town has gone through a lot of changes this year—"
Her family had also received a lot of kindness from Ron.
Thinking of this, she reached out and gently patted the back of Penny's hand.
Before Penny could say anything, Evelyn, who was sitting across from her, smiled and took out a wrapped package, placing it in front of Penny.
"Happy holidays, dear," Evelyn said. "It's your secret gift. I hope you like it. This was Granny's favorite book when she was young."
Penny quickly reached out to take it. The gift was wrapped very well, so she couldn't see what was inside, but it was heavy, and she could even feel the thick book cover through the wrapping paper.
"Thank you so much," Penny couldn't help but say softly.
"Don't be so polite with me," Evelyn smiled kindly. "I've been wanting to give this to you for a long time, but I just never found the right chance."
On the other side, Emily and Sandy were sitting at a table.
Emily picked up the milk tea beside her and glanced up at Ron.
"Speaking of which, the Flower Dance is next year, right?" Sandy said. "Now that the bus route is open, I definitely have to come join the fun. By the way, who are you planning to dance with?"
"Dance?" Emily mused, bringing the milk tea to her lips.
To be honest, whenever the Flower Dance was mentioned, she thought of Haley, so she didn't want to participate at all.
However, since it was a tradition, she still had to go.
"The usual, I guess—with—" she took a sip of the milk tea and inexplicably looked over at Ron. "With Ron, I suppose?"
"Ron?"
This answer took Sandy a bit by surprise. Holding her milk tea cup, she asked, "Why?"
"I don't know, he just suddenly looks really pleasant to me." Emily tilted her head.
"What kind of reason is that?" Sandy teased. "Have you been secretly crushing on him?"
"I don't think so. At least not a second ago," Emily said.
"Heh." Sandy chuckled and took a sip of her milk tea. The tea flavor mixed with a rich floral aroma spread in her mouth. Before she could even savor it, she stared over in Ron's direction like she'd seen a ghost and said, "You know what—he actually does look a bit pleasant."
She was certain he didn't look like that a second ago.
Before that last second, she had just thought Ron was a pretty nice guy, just a slightly familiar stranger.
"That's weird."
The two exchanged words and continued drinking.
Ron handed his gift to Linus, who was sitting not too far away.
For some reason, he felt like he was unexpectedly the center of attention today.
He wasn't sure of the exact reason, but he just felt like everyone's eyes kept drifting over to him from time to time.
—
"Thank you!" Linus hugged the gift happily.
Ron hadn't wrapped it in anything too fancy. Compared to flashy wrapping paper, giving Linus a bit of extra fabric would be much more useful to him.
Linus clearly realized this little touch, hugging it tightly. "This is absolutely my favorite gift I've ever received!"
"I'm glad you like it." Ron said. Just as he was about to start eating, a pair of hands patted him on the back.
Ron turned his head and saw Robin standing behind him.
"Ta-da—" Robin said. "I'm your Secret Santa today!"
She then brought out the gift she had hidden behind her back: "I'm not sure if you'll like it or not! But it's something I've treasured for a long time. Happy Feast of the Winter Star!"
"Thanks. Happy holidays."
As everyone started exchanging gifts, Jessie and James also gave out theirs.
In their original expectations, when Clint and Jodi received these gifts, even if they weren't moved to tears, they should at least be wild with joy.
After all, if Jessie herself received a Diamond this big, she would jump for joy.
But that didn't happen.
Of course, the two of them did act somewhat happy; after all, it was their favorite thing.
But neither of them acted like they had just won the lottery.
It was as if someone giving them something like this was just a perfectly ordinary occurrence.
"—" Jessie said softly, "Could it be that this town is actually quite wealthy?"
"Maybe?" James said, looking like he had seen a ghost. "Maybe their houses are just piled high with gold and silver treasures for all we know."
The two discussed this, sat down at the dining table, and began to sweep through the food on the table.
Gus's culinary skills went without saying, but what surprised Jessie the most was the drink in her cup—she had never tasted anything that suited her palate so perfectly.
Although there were plenty of delicious things in the world, Jessie's taste buds were inherently a bit peculiar. So much so that when she drank the liquid in the cup, she almost felt like she was dreaming.
To think someone could actually turn such a sticky, savory, sweet, sour, and spicy flavor into a beverage!
She took a few consecutive sips and turned to look at James.
"It's amazing—this is definitely the best thing I've ever drank in my entire life," James said. "Even the head chefs at home couldn't make a drink like this!"
For the first time, the two of them shared a common ground in their tastes.
Jessie just thought he had finally wised up.
After taking another sip, she glanced over not too far away.
"Hey, I suddenly realized—that Ron guy is actually... pretty nice?"
James chimed in from beside her.
"True." Jessie nodded.
She couldn't explain where this sudden sentiment came from. Maybe it was because Ron had brought them to Pelican Town, allowing them to drink something so delicious?
Jessie wondered, uncertain.
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