Chapter 62: Chapter 62: Feeling Sour

Adrian Hawthorne’s heart skipped a beat. ’Go into the city?’

He had just been worrying about getting into the city, and now this chubby girl had come to deliver the news. ’Does she have supersonic hearing or something?’

Jacqueline Spann found it strange, too. ’It’s just a trip to the city. Was it really worth running all the way over here just to announce it?’

These past few days, Tang Xiaonan had been getting far too close to Grandpa Tate. Even Adrian Hawthorne was different—he no longer scowled at the sight of her as he used to. Jacqueline Spann furrowed her brow almost imperceptibly. She didn’t much like the Tang Xiaonan of today.

Recently, everyone in the village had been praising Tang Xiaonan, calling her cute, sensible, and filial. It was said that Shane Thorne had been the first, complimenting Tang Xiaonan on being exceptionally bright and saying she would have a promising future.

Shane Thorne’s status in the village was comparable to that of a State Preceptor. His words carried immense weight, his judgment of character was sharp, and he had never been wrong. The moment he said it, the whole village changed their tune. Everyone started to sing Tang Xiaonan’s praises, lauding her as if she were a gift from the heavens.

Previously, all this praise had been reserved for Jacqueline Spann. Everyone used to compliment her for being beautiful, capable, gentle, and poised, certain she would have a promising future.

But Shane Thorne had never once praised Jacqueline Spann. For some reason, he seemed to dislike her. The look he gave her was always enigmatic, leaving Jacqueline feeling deeply unsettled.

Faced with such blatant favoritism, Jacqueline Spann couldn’t help but feel a pang of jealousy. She felt she was far superior to Tang Xiaonan. Tang Xiaonan was greedy and lazy, a tyrant who had done so many awful things in the past. Yet now, just for giving some vegetables to her elders and sweetening her words a bit, Shane Thorne was praising her to the skies.

Naturally, Jacqueline Spann was indignant. She couldn’t help but want to compete with Tang Xiaonan.

“Xiaonan, Grandpa Tate can’t handle the mountain roads,” Jacqueline Spann reminded her.

When the people of Millstone Peak went into town, they usually went to the neighboring city of Wraven, rarely Vessaria. Although Millstone Peak was technically under Vessaria’s jurisdiction, the city was too far away—a journey of twenty to twenty-five kilometers. Wraven, on the other hand, was just over a single mountain and much closer.

“Who asked you? Mind your own damn business!”

Jim Thorne glared at her, his words even harsher than his look.

’In the book, everyone who met Jacqueline Spann adored her, but there were exceptions: Jim Thorne and his two brothers, as well as Phoebe Huxley.’

Jacqueline Spann’s face flushed beet red, a mixture of anger and indignation. ’I was just trying to be helpful,’ she thought. ’Why is that thug being so aggressive?’

’She really couldn’t bring herself to like the Thorne family. None of them were easy to talk to. Men and women alike, they were all barbaric, unreasonable thugs.’

“Why don’t you head home for now,” Grandpa Tate said to Jacqueline Spann.

Jacqueline Spann nodded, a fresh wave of resentment toward Tang Xiaonan welling up inside her. Now she couldn’t study her English. Her father had told her that English was the most useful subject of all, and she had to master it to get into a good university.

But she had only scratched the surface. She was still a long way from the level required for university entrance exams, and she had so many chores to do every day. Her study time had to be squeezed out of her hours for sleep, snatching a few moments whenever she could. Her efficiency was already low, so wasting even a single day was painful to her.

And today had been a waste. Jacqueline Spann shot Tang Xiaonan a resentful glare, then picked up her basket and left.

Tang Xiaonan was bewildered by the look. ’Why is she looking at me like that?’

Jim Thorne snorted and glared after her. Startled by his fierce expression, Jacqueline Spann didn’t dare to linger and quickly hurried down the mountain.

“Xiaonan, what you heard just now was English, a foreign language. Don’t tell anyone else about it, all right?” Grandpa Tate said suddenly, his tone grave.

Adrian Hawthorne was very surprised. ’If Grandpa Tate hadn’t brought it up,’ he thought, ’there’s no way that chubby girl and her brother would have known it was English. Why would he mention it himself?’

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep