Getting to Work

Life on the ranch goes on, and there's always plenty of work to do—even if you're the owner of the largest ranch in the country.

Right now, the warming weather wasn't too noticeable, but Dante, who had spent a lot of time in the mountains, felt that every day away from them was growing hotter.

That could only mean one thing: spring was approaching.

On the ranch, Lee and the others were also working in an orderly manner. They had begun the final purification of the water that had been used during the winter. There didn't seem to be any issues with this process, and now Dante could take over without a problem—something he welcomed as a distraction.

Dante was pleased that his requests had been fulfilled without trouble, so naturally, he increased the resources invested in the ranch to further expand the brand.

Now that the issues had settled, Dante could dedicate the necessary time to making the family ranch more renowned.

At last, he could begin driving the ranch's development forward. The initial preparations had required a great deal of time and money, and now it was finally time to go full steam ahead.

After fine-tuning the irrigation system and carefully observing its performance, John felt there were no issues and that it basically met his expectations and requirements. This naturally reassured Dante, as it was his first time overseeing ranch operations.

"Do you want to develop a story?"

"Yes, something that could later become a video game. Believe me, our fame would be worldwide, and this way, the country would grant us complete freedom, ensuring that this place remains untouched by companies wanting to build country estates here."

After saying this, Dante added, "You said it yourself—our family name has a long history. We could use that to our advantage."

"And what's the story?"

"In 1911, government agents kidnap the wife and son of John Marston, a former outlaw. To reunite with them, he must eliminate three members of his old gang who managed to escape justice."

Dante had to admit that his name and his father's name being so similar was pure coincidence. He came up with the idea of financing a video game, with the only condition being that it featured his family's ranch—even if it played a minor role in the story.

"It has my name." John became sentimental, though it was just a coincidence.

"Yeah, that's interesting."

These kinds of deals were hard to come by—especially because you didn't seek them out; they found you. "That wraps up my workday."

"Sounds good to me."

John also felt that was enough for the day. The water reservoir at the source wasn't overly full, but it was sufficient to meet the ranch's needs for a while. However, it still needed to be diluted.

"What do you plan to do with the greenhouse crops?"

Uncontrolled and wild growth wasn't ideal. For John, it was more convenient to slightly stimulate livestock growth. He also needed to keep monitoring and observing the grass's development.

Even though he had previously experimented with growing certain crops at home, giving him some experience, they had only been small-scale trials.

Now that they were moving to large-scale planting, it was a whole new beginning—one that required Dante to be even more careful.

"What are your plans for your wedding?" Before Dante could leave, John asked him this question.

Dante stopped, looked at his father, and said, "When you become mayor, I'll plan my wedding. Isn't that great? You'll have grandchildren soon—lots of them."

"Damn it, Dante, that's your future wife's decision—remember that." John, as a father of many children, knew how hard it was for a woman to endure all that pain.

He understood that bringing a baby into the world was a sacrifice for both parents, but there was no doubt that the woman suffered the most.

"Leave that to me." Dante, of course, was joking. He would never do anything without Susie's consent. Besides, they were still too young to seriously consider having children.

But with life all set, what else was there to think about besides having kids?

"By the way, about the video game—forget it."

"It's already done. I paid tens of millions, so you should be grateful." Dante wasn't lying about that.