"Sweetie, put your clothes on! Goodness… you little rascal, get back in bed right now!"
Phoebe Huxley put down the steamed egg custard, grabbed a small, floral padded jacket, and chased after her. Out in the yard, the three Thorne brothers, shouldering their carrying poles, were already marching out with imposing swagger. When they heard their precious sister's call, they all stopped and spun around in unison.
The three brothers looked as if they were cast from the same mold. They were tall and sturdy, built like oxen, and all of them took strongly after their father, Felix Thorne.
The eldest, Howard Thorne, was seventeen; the second, Patrick Thorne, was fourteen; and the third, Jim Thorne, was eleven. Standing in order of height, they looked like an impenetrable wall.
What's more, the three brothers shared the same fiery temper and were the notorious local tyrants of the Millstone Peak Brigade. Mention the Thorne family's "one fiend and four tyrants," and who wouldn't tremble?
The fiend was Felix Thorne, and one of the other tyrants was Tang Xiaonan's youngest uncle, Goldie Thorne, the village hoodlum.
'In the book, this family came to a terrible end. Some died, some became fools, and some went mad, until they were utterly wiped out, leaving nothing behind.'
"I fell all by myself! It has nothing to do with Adrian Hawthorne!"
Tang Xiaonan shouted at the top of her lungs. She absolutely could not let these three hopeless brothers go to the Hawthorne family's home and make a scene.
'In the book, when the original Tang Xiaonan woke up, she held a grudge against Adrian Hawthorne. She never explained the truth of the matter, letting the Thorne family misunderstand him. She also let her three brothers raise hell at the Hawthorne residence. They not only beat Adrian Hawthorne half to death but even laid a hand on Mrs. Hawthorne.'
'Sigh… This family's ability to court disaster was truly limitless!'
'No matter what, I have to straighten out this dark storyline. I'm not trying to compete with the female lead for the spotlight; I just want my family to live in peace and safety.'
"Sweetie, did you really fall on your own?"
Phoebe Huxley chased after her and helped Tang Xiaonan put on her jacket, not quite believing her.
'Her precious girl was so quiet and gentle. How could she have gone to play on the mountain by herself? That unlucky jinx must have deliberately taken her there.'
"Really. I went up the mountain to play by myself, and I accidentally fell. Was it Mr. Hawthorne who saved me and brought me back?" Tang Xiaonan's eyes widened, shimmering with unshed tears as she blinked them rapidly.
Her innocent little face dispelled the suspicions of both Phoebe Huxley and the three brothers. Phoebe Huxley looked a little embarrassed. 'I guess I wrongly blamed that jinx.'
"Then why didn't that kid explain it to me clearly? Honestly," Phoebe Huxley grumbled under her breath.
Tang Xiaonan lowered her eyelids, roasting her mother internally. 'You fly off the handle and start hitting people without asking a single question. How was he supposed to explain anything?'
'Besides, even if Adrian Hawthorne had explained, a fiercely protective mother like Phoebe Huxley probably wouldn't have believed him. Because of the original Tang Xiaonan's willful and reckless behavior, Adrian Hawthorne had been wrongly blamed countless times. This future powerhouse was, after all, still just a twelve-year-old boy. His heart must have grown cold by now.'
'Adrian Hawthorne was a deep and resilient person. He would bury all this resentment in his heart, waiting for the day he could settle the score, one debt at a time. When he finally made his move, he would be ruthless and cruel—the kind of person who could kill you without spilling a drop of blood.'
Tang Xiaonan shuddered. 'Is it too late to fix our relationship now?'
'Still, I have to try. I'm the invincibly cute Tang Xiaonan, after all!'
"Xiaonan, did you really fall on your own?" her third brother, Jim Thorne, asked, looking at his sister with suspicion.
'His sister was still as pretty as ever, but something about her had changed. He couldn't put his finger on what it was; it was just a gut feeling.'
Tang Xiaonan didn't dare meet Jim Thorne's gaze. She just nodded vigorously and swore an oath. "If I'm lying, then… then may my big tooth never grow back in!"
PFFT.
The three brothers burst out laughing. Her missing tooth was Xiaonan's biggest sore spot; the first thing she did every morning was look in the mirror to see if it had started to grow in.
'She even swore on her big tooth. It looked like they really had wrongly accused Adrian Hawthorne after all.'
"Since it wasn't Adrian Hawthorne, we'll let him off the hook." Howard Thorne went back inside. The other two followed him, setting down their carrying poles.