Transmigrated as the Villain Boss's Precious Darling-Chapter 26: Pork Trotters and Soybeans
"Goodbye, Sixth Grand-uncle."
Tang Xiao’nan waved obediently and left with her three brothers. ’The first wave of brownie points was a resounding success,’ she thought. ’I’ll take it slow. Sooner or later, the Thorne family will change.’
’Winning the "Model Family" award is just a pretense. I’m not very confident about it, but it’s an excellent excuse. As long as the Thorne family doesn’t have a bad reputation, I’ll be perfectly happy.’
Shane Thorne smiled faintly, feeling a bit more fond of Tang Xiao’nan. He used to think this grandniece of his was terribly ill-mannered. Believing that a child’s character is set by age three, he’d had little confidence in her future. But now, it seemed his judgment had been mistaken. This grandniece was pretty, clever, and adorable, with a poised and open demeanor. Her future probably wouldn’t be bad.
As for Howard Thorne and his two brothers, the old man had very little faith in them. They were already teenagers, their personalities and habits set in stone. Barring any surprises, they would stay this way for the rest of their lives.
It wouldn’t be a problem if they were content to be honest farmers, but what worried the old man was that the three brothers were hot-tempered and not very bright. They’d fly off the handle at the slightest provocation, and he was afraid they would cause some huge disaster.
But they weren’t his own grandsons, so Shane Thorne couldn’t interfere too much. He could only worry in secret. After all, they all shared the surname Thorne and were still close kin; they would rise and fall together. The old man held a very strong sense of family honor.
Tang Xiao’nan and her brothers arrived at the residence of the two Thorne family elders. It was an old house with a wooden attic. A dozen or so families lived in a ring of connected houses with a large courtyard in the center. In the summer, people gathered there to cool off; in the fall, they dried grain; in the winter and spring, they aired out quilts and clothes. Children also played in this courtyard.
Right then, several people were also in the courtyard eating, some sitting and some standing, all chatting energetically. When they saw Tang Xiao’nan and the boys, their expressions mirrored the earlier villagers’: surprise and shock.
"Grandpa, Grandma!"
Tang Xiao’nan deliberately shouted loudly. The Thornes had three rooms there: the two elders lived in one, the second uncle, Frederick Thorne, had another, and the youngest uncle, Goldie Thorne, had the third. At that moment, they were all sitting together eating and were stunned when they heard Tang Xiao’nan’s voice.
The old woman was sitting closest to the door. She opened it, puzzled, and saw her three eldest grandsons standing neatly outside, and her little granddaughter grinning at her, revealing a big gap in her teeth. Raina couldn’t help but smile.
She was a tall, robust old woman. Felix Thorne looked just like her—a capable hand both in the fields and at home. Her only flaw was being too frugal.
"Grandma, Mom asked us to bring over some dishes."
Patrick Thorne’s voice boomed like a great bell. The expressions on the people eating in the courtyard grew even stranger. Phoebe Huxley was actually sending meat to her mother-in-law? Tsk, tsk... Had the sun set in the east?
Raina didn’t really believe in her eldest daughter-in-law’s filial piety either, but the two bowls of actual meat in front of her were real. She assumed her son, Felix Thorne, had sent them and was just using his wife’s name. ’Hmph, as if Phoebe Huxley would ever be so considerate!’
"So much meat!"
Goldie Thorne walked over. His eyes went green with envy when he saw his favorite—pork intestines. He grinned and took the two bowls. He was so starved for oil and meat that food had started to taste like nothing to him.
"Mom said that when we have good food, we should share it with Grandpa and Grandma out of respect." Patrick Thorne’s voice was even louder now. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚
The group of people who had been straining their ears to eavesdrop were so shocked their eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
’It was a good day if Phoebe Huxley didn’t curse her in-laws, and now she was actually thinking of showing them filial respect?’
’Tsk, tsk, has she been possessed by a ghost or something?’
"Your mother is very thoughtful. Come on in. Take a bowl of pig’s feet and soybeans back with you to eat."
Raina ushered them inside and told them to go to the kitchen to get some of the pig’s feet and soybeans. Of her three sons, the second, Frederick Thorne, had no children, and the third was still unmarried. Thankfully, her eldest had given her four grandchildren. That was why, no matter how dissatisfied Raina was with Phoebe Huxley, she only ever complained verbally and never did anything too out of line.
