Chapter 52: Chapter 52: Use the Newspapers to Start a Fire

Adrian Hawthorne had mixed feelings. The Thorne family’s sudden change in attitude over the past few days felt like a dream, but he was still happy. He didn’t care whether Jim Thorne was being sincere; as long as he didn’t come looking for trouble, it was fine.

He wasn’t afraid of anyone else. ’If I can’t beat them in a fair fight, I’ll resort to underhanded tactics.’

Jim Thorne glanced at the sun, then picked up Tang Xiaonan. “Time to go home and eat.”

Rosalind Green’s faint call drifted up from the bottom of the hill. The three of them headed down the mountain together. Adrian Hawthorne planned to return and continue clearing the land after he ate.

Rosalind Green was talking with Old Master Tate. She gave Tang Xiaonan and her brother a gentle smile when she saw them. Her beauty left Tang Xiaonan momentarily stunned. ’Good heavens,’ she thought.

’Now she finally understood what a “nation-toppling beauty” truly was. Even in simple, coarse clothes, without a single hairpin or ring, nothing could conceal Rosalind Green’s stunning looks. A woman this beautiful in a poor, remote mountain gully—where the law was a distant concept—was like a piece of meat thrown into a wolf’s den. Countless men secretly coveted Rosalind Green every day.’

’No wonder Adrian Hawthorne didn’t dare leave her side for a moment.’

’But in the book, Rosalind Green eventually met with disaster, and it was connected to the Thorne family.’ Tang Xiaonan clenched her fists. ’I have to prevent this tragedy. It isn’t just about saving Rosalind Green and her son; it’s also about saving the Thorne family.’

But what Tang Xiaonan couldn’t understand was what great mission Adrian Hawthorne’s father was on. ’How could he dare to leave his eight-year-old son and his delicate, beautiful wife in this poor, remote backwater?’

’Wasn’t he afraid something would happen to his wife and child?’

’How cruel!’

“Aunt Green.”

Tang Xiaonan called out obediently. The truth was, she didn’t much care for the spineless Rosalind Green. People say that motherhood makes a woman strong, but you couldn’t see any of that in her. It was always Adrian Hawthorne who had to stand up for his mother.

No matter the situation, all Rosalind Green ever did was cry and whimper.

’When I read the book, Rosalind Green infuriated me every time. I wanted to jump into the pages and shake some sense into the woman. If Rosalind Green hadn’t been such a burden, a person with Adrian Hawthorne’s abilities would never have been stuck on Millstone Peak.’

“You’re getting prettier and prettier, Tang Xiaonan.” Rosalind Green’s voice was lovely as well—delicate and gentle, like a feather brushing past one’s ear, making one’s heart stir.

’Personality aside, Rosalind Green truly was a peerless beauty whom men found irresistible.’

Tang Xiaonan beamed, her grin revealing a large gap where her front teeth were missing. Adrian Hawthorne glanced over with disgust. ’Fat, round, and gap-toothed,’ he thought. ’What part of that is pretty?’

Smoke curled from the chimneys down in the valley. It was time for lunch. Rosalind Green had already finished cooking and had come up the mountain to call Adrian Hawthorne and the others to eat.

“Goodbye, Grandpa Tate, Aunt Green, Mr. Hawthorne!”

Tang Xiaonan waved. Jim Thorne switched to carrying her on his back and took off like a shot, as fast as the wind but remarkably steady. Tang Xiaonan wasn’t scared at all; she even patted his head a few times, urging him to go faster.

“Tang Xiaonan, your newspapers!” Old Master Tate called out.

“I don’t need them! Give them to Aunt Green to use as kindling.”

Tang Xiaonan’s voice drifted back. A moment later, the siblings had reached the bottom of the mountain. Jim Thorne picked up his pace, and Tang Xiaonan’s giggles rang out, her clear laughter floating up the mountain like the pleasant sound of wind chimes.

Adrian Hawthorne’s eyes lit up. ’So many newspapers! This will be enough for me to read for days.’

Rosalind Green gathered the newspapers, intending to take them home for kindling, but Adrian Hawthorne snatched them away. ’My mother is as foolish as that fat girl. Using such good newspapers for kindling—what a terrible waste.’

“Let’s hurry back and eat. The food’s getting cold.”

Rosalind Green said softly. Since her son insisted, she gave up on the idea. She didn’t think to ask him what he wanted the old newspapers for. Rosalind Green had been raised in a very traditional household. A woman’s place was to obey her husband, and in his absence, her son. Women were not meant to have their own opinions—this was a belief that had been deeply ingrained in her since childhood.

Her grandmother and her mother had both lived their lives this way, so naturally, she would too.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep