Rival Cowfolks in Newcrest: Week 1 (Dinero, Part I)
Week 1/Sunday
Daniela: Not long after arriving on her lot in eastern Newcrest, Serena the vampire wannabe phones to chat. I guess she and I can be friendly rivals for the time being.
Serena: So, get this! The second I arrive here, a very nice-looking guy in a pink shirt shows up at my lot and stares at me while I phone to join the Scientist career.
Daniela: Cut to the chase, girl. Are you interested or not?
Serena: Not. There’s a sim I married in a different save file and I’m going to try to revive the romance!
What’s Sergio doing all the way over there from Windenburg Island?
Daniela: Looking across the street from my lot in southern Newcrest, I get a big surprise.
There’s a fellow who looks exactly like the pink-shirted guy that Serena told me about.
It’s so odd! I wonder if the game senses who my favorite spouse candidates are, like the way Caleb was the first to visit Serena during my tournament challenge last week.
Daniela: Although Salim has already joined the Writer career, I am hoping to buy Connections before I start working.
So, here we are at the Stargazer Lounge to date, flirt, and generally socialize.
Salim: Yes, if you must know, I’ve been skulking around eastern Newcrest ever since Watchette left us this afternoon.
But I’m not happy that Serena Zanna would phone to rat me out like that! *looks upset
Daniela: When I finally get Salim to lighten up and enjoy our date, Mila Munch introduces herself and proceeds to get up in our business.
Salim: Darling, it’s very hard to flirt with you when that lady keeps intercepting my socials and changing the subject!
Daniela: Tonight marks my very first Mean social as I tell Mila to get lost. Sheesh!
Salim: I see that you are always green and sometimes mean, but I’m still keen
To marry you. Will you be mine, Daniela?
Daniela: You are the only man I would ever want to live with forever, Salim. But please, don’t quit your day job!
You have no future whatsoever as an MC.
Daniela: I’m torn between moving ahead with Soulmates or trying for a gold-medal wedding party. But I decide to ask Salim to elope!
Have you noticed that the most time-consuming requirement for founders and heirs has been maxing a career? I need to join a career!
Salim: Watchette is so impressed by my versifying that she forgets to take a wedding shot with confetti.
Monday
Daniela: I’ve almost enough points to buy Connections!
Salim: Because I’m Lazy, my immediate goal is to buy the Carefree trait.
Daniela: Before trying for three gold-medal dates, Salim and I take a break to explore our neighborhood (while grubbing for points).
Daniela: By 1 pm, we’ve enjoyed three gold-medal dates and, thanks to Connections, I join the Painter career at Level 4.
Salim: As a Writer, I don’t really need to Work Hard; I just need to stay in this career.
So Watchette convinces me to buy Marketable and Creative Visionary instead of Carefree for now.
Daniela: Feeling Very Flirty, I begin my daily task by starting three Flirty paintings.
I can complete these emotional paintings for the Painter aspiration at another time. No reason to waste my Flirty mood, right?
Salim: My daily task requires reading, and I’d like to read up on Vampire Lore.
Daniela: Oh yes! With that Count Vlad roaming the streets at night, we’ll sleep better with garlic wards.
Salim: By the way, dearest. Aren’t you aspiring to become a Mansion Baron?
No offense, love, but this place is even uglier than my old apartment. And that’s saying a lot!
Daniela (sighs): I know, I know. Watchette and I have been trying to decide on our helpers.
What difficulty level should I choose, Salim? Easy or Hard mode?
Salim: Explain what your choices are, Daniela.
Daniela: I won’t invite the Free Spirits (Ulrike Faust & Maaike Haas) on this second attempt to avoid boring our readers. So…
Easy Mode = The Landgraabs. They’d bring $85,000 in cold, hard cash plus everything in their blinged-out Affluista Mansion
Hard Mode = The Bheedas. They’d bring only $3,200 but have lots of cash-earning potential (Arun = L4 Writing, Jesminder = L5 Painting).
Plus, their nooboo would be around the same age as ours.
Daniela: We’d probably insta-complete Mansion Baron with the Landgraabs.
But wouldn’t you share more in common with the Bheeda family? What do you think?
Salim: As you might guess from my family name, my family hails from Benali Village in the Nadia district of West Bengal, India.
It’s a small village of nearly 5,000 villagers in slightly less than 1,000 households.
On the other hand, I believe Arun and Jesminder Bheeda trace their ancestry to Gujarat on the opposite coast of India.
So, the Bheedas and I don’t share an Indian dialect or regional cuisine. Still, it would be great fun to live in an all-vegetarian household!
And we could all go on a retreat to that new ashram in Granite Falls!
Salim: Look at us, we have so much in common!
Arun: I know! Not only do we wear the same cool shoes but we’re both Level 4 Video Gaming!
Daniela: Fans of the bandaged piglet will be happy to see that it survived the move to Newcrest!
Salim: It’s the moment of truth, Arun! Will you or won’t you?
Arun: How could I not? I phoned my wife and we’re both so touched that you and Daniela are willing to go vegetarian for us!
Tuesday
It’s a little past midnight when I drop by San Myshuno to see if the produce stall’s open.
Luckily, I’m able to buy 18 carrots here before my third trimester!
And now off to the Willow Creek art museum to earn more points from Painter Extraordinaire.
Arun: Choosing us instead of the Landgraabs makes the challenge harder for the Mansion Baron founder.
I keep telling myself that whenever I start feeling demoralized by this awful room décor and cheap office chair!
Salim: Oh c’mon, Arun! You’ve seen the images of how this writing room turned out before, right? We’ll be swimming in cash in no time!
Arun: I certainly hope so, especially since I quit my Tech Guru job to join you at Walrus Books!
Salim: Watchette, do we have no money? Is it really out of the question to cheer this room up a little?
As soon you both reach Tier III of Bestselling Author, I’ll turn this room into paradise on Earth.
Daniela: The instant I see Jesminder, I realize I should have bought carrots or strawberries for her as well.
Apparently, she will go into labor a mere hour after I do!
Wednesday
Jesminder: My gosh, Daniela, you are absolutely huge and you look ecstatic!
Daniela: Why yes, today I earned my first promotion and tonight I will meet my nooboo!
Daniela: When our husbands come home, Jesminder and I decide to throw a dinner party.
I want a gold medal for one of my requirements. Jesminder hopes to complete both the Master Mixologist and Master Chef aspirations.
Jesminder: The party starts out innocently enough…a little dancing, dinner, telling jokes.
But by the time we reach silver-medal status, both Jesminder and I have gone into labor and feel Very Uncomfortable.
But we stick it out and earn a gold medal. (Sorry for the walls-down shot.)
Daniela: I go alone to the hospital, accompanied only by Salim.
We return home to find that evil vampire running by.
Salim: Don’t worry, dear. I made a few garlic braids yesterday afternoon.
Daniela: The one on your left is our son. He’s a greenboo, so we’ve named him Moss.
Jesminder: Our son is on your right. We’ve named him Krishna.
It feels so strange to leave the bassinets indoors but, alas, the Dineros lack a rooftop patio!
Initially, Moss doesn’t seem happy at all about being picked up and cuddled.
If you stare hard enough, you can almost see the beginnings of the tragic Benali eyebrows.
Salim: C’mon, little Moss. You can give us a smile, can’t you?
That’s my boy! You’re going to become a true charmer, for real!
Author’s Note
You have surely already figured this out, but I claim no familiarity or expertise with the cultural diversity that is India, except perhaps an amateur’s love of the various Indian cuisines and a personal fascination with the birthplace of Buddhism.
I thought it would be fun to try and give the household of the Mansion Baron founder a different flavor. If you notice that I’ve made a cultural faux pas or otherwise unintentionally offensive comment, please shoot me a PM.
Speaking of curry, does anyone else love the manga “Addicted to Curry”? Itt explores the variations of curry cuisine from South to Southeast Asia. But I digress…
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