Tang Xiaonan yelled angrily, "Ulysses Spann tried to steal my meat first, and Teacher Golding covered for her own son! She’s not fair, she doesn’t lead by example, and she doesn’t deserve to be a teacher!"

In her anger, Tang Xiaonan forgot to hide her intelligence and blurted out the idiom. Some of the villagers didn’t understand it at all; they just thought the little girl sounded quite formal and that it was surprisingly pleasant to the ear. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

Byron Thorne and Shane Thorne rushed over, along with the village’s highest-ranking official, Village Chief Preston Thorne. He was also Byron Thorne’s paternal cousin, the fifth eldest among them.

Shane Thorne happened to hear Tang Xiaonan’s cry and was rather surprised. ’The little girl actually knows how to use idioms now. She must have learned quite a bit from Germain Tate these past few days.’

"Byron, we have to invest in Xiaonan’s education. She’s a budding scholar! We have to send her to school. Our Thorne family must produce a university graduate," Shane Thorne said, extremely excited.

He was obsessed with the idea of the Thorne family reviving its scholarly reputation by producing a few educated individuals. Tang Xiaonan gave the old man hope, and even though she was just a girl, Shane Thorne was delighted.

Preston Thorne was also surprised. He hadn’t expected Shane Thorne to have such high hopes for the girl. However, he had great faith in Shane Thorne’s judgment and believed his words without a doubt, which naturally made him look at Tang Xiaonan with newfound respect.

"What’s all this noise? What kind of behavior is this? Everyone, scatter! If you’ve got nothing better to do, go haul some manure!"

As befitting the village’s top leader, after Preston Thorne roared a few times, the villagers immediately scattered back to their homes until not a single one remained.

"Chief, it was Phoebe Huxley who started it! Look what she did to my Phoenix and Linden! Just look!" Mrs. Golding cried, lodging her complaint.

Preston Thorne had already seen the pitiful state of Phoenix Golding and her brother. He felt a measure of sympathy, but at the end of the day, he was a Thorne.

"If there’s a conflict, you should sit down and talk it out. What kind of behavior is this, starting a fight? Raina, you need to get her under control. This is just shameless!"

Preston Thorne scolded them with a stern face. He had to maintain a veneer of fairness, since the Golding family, after all, made up half the village’s population and wielded considerable influence.

"I understand. I’ll discipline her when we get back." Raina was easy to talk to. ’Besides, our family didn’t lose out. Anyone can say a few nice words to keep the peace.’

"My Phoenix and Linden are beaten so badly they can’t even go to work in the fields! And they’ll need medicine. You must compensate us!" Mrs. Golding snarled through clenched teeth.

"Compensate my ass! What about my Xiaonan’s injuries? You can compensate us first!"

Phoebe Huxley glared daggers at Mrs. Golding, looking like she could eat the woman alive. Tang Xiaonan immediately began to cry silent tears, adding a few whimpers for effect. She looked like a pitiful, ravaged creature. His heart aching, Byron Thorne touched her forehead. Her temperature was normal, which finally put him at ease.

"Dad, take a look at Xiaonan’s back! She hit it pretty hard just now—it’s even bleeding," Felix Thorne said anxiously.

Byron Thorne lifted her shirt. The injury, which had been only the size of a fingertip before, had now swelled to the size of a large coin. It was a frightening patch of black and blue. Both Shane Thorne and Preston Thorne jumped in alarm.

"How did she get hurt so badly? A back injury is nothing to take lightly. We should take her to the clinic," Shane Thorne said, worried that the promising young scholar he had just discovered would be struck down before her time.

"That woman made her fall. She hit a rock," Felix Thorne said, glaring at Mrs. Golding with extreme hostility.

Back when he was dating Phoenix Golding, Mrs. Golding had done everything in her power to obstruct them and had never treated him pleasantly. Felix Thorne had never had a good impression of the old woman, and now he loathed her completely.

Byron Thorne pressed on the wound a few times, and the pain made Tang Xiaonan break out in a sweat. ’This is just my rotten luck,’ she thought. ’First my hand was nearly broken, and now my back is injured—all thanks to Phoenix Golding. Her family and I must be cosmically incompatible. From now on, I have to keep my distance. If you can’t afford to provoke someone, you can at least afford to hide from them.’