Transmigrated as the Villain Boss's Precious Darling-Chapter 44: A Blissful and Heavy Love

Phoebe Huxley was lost in thought. When she didn’t send anything over, her mother-in-law didn’t either. But as soon as she sent a gift, her mother-in-law returned the favor. ’Maybe I’ve thought too badly of her in the past. She doesn’t seem so bad now!’

’Oh well, I’ll just send more meat over in the future.’

As the wife of the eldest son, she was expected to take care of her parents-in-law anyway, if only to avoid village gossip. Phoebe Huxley hadn’t cared about such things before, but if it made her daughter happy, she was willing to do it.

Besides, she didn’t really mind the way things were now. In fact, it felt pretty good.

Another day passed. Tang Xiaonan didn’t get out of bed until eight or nine. She had slept by herself last night, and it had been wonderfully comfortable. She could roll all over the bed, sleeping horizontally or vertically—it didn’t matter. She was no longer squished between her parents like the filling of a sandwich cookie.

Phoebe Huxley had left her breakfast warming in the pot: rice cakes with green vegetables and a bright yellow fried egg. Her snack bag was on the table, stuffed full again with two cookies and five or six pieces of candy, all prepared by her mother.

Only Jim Thorne was home. Felix Thorne had taken the two older brothers out to work again. With the Awakening of Insects festival just a few days away, there were many weddings, making the first and last couple of months of the year Felix Thorne’s busiest time.

"Jim, I can’t finish all this."

Tang Xiaonan held the large bowl of rice cakes, feeling overwhelmed. Phoebe Huxley’s love was both a blessing and a heavy burden. ’This must be how the original owner’s stomach got so stretched out,’ she thought.

"You can’t even finish this little bit? Xiaonan, are you sick?"

Jim Thorne exclaimed in alarm and felt her forehead. Her temperature was normal, which put him at ease.

"I’m not sick. Here, you eat it, Jim."

Tang Xiaonan ran back to the kitchen, grabbed another bowl, and dished out a small portion for herself. She then split her fried egg in half and gave all the rest to Jim Thorne.

Although the Thorne family was relatively well-off, they couldn’t afford meat with every meal, let alone have rice cakes for breakfast every day. In the entire family, only Tang Xiaonan was given such fine grains for every meal. Not even Felix Thorne enjoyed this privilege.

Normally, they ate rice mixed with sweet potatoes, only getting pure white rice during the busy farming season. Their situation was already much better than most families, so for someone like Tang Xiaonan to have either rice cakes or white rice for every meal was a first in the village.

Seeing that Tang Xiaonan really didn’t want to eat anymore, Jim Thorne finished off the rice cakes. They were gone in a few big bites. He could have easily polished off two more bowls; at eleven, Jim Thorne ate as much as a grown man.

Tang Xiaonan struggled to chew her rice cakes. Not only was she missing a molar, but the teeth in the back of her mouth were also getting loose. The rice cakes were exceptionally sticky, getting stuck with every bite. Jim Thorne had finished ages ago, but she still had half of her small bowl left.

’I have to tell Mom not to make any more rice cakes,’ she thought. ’I’d rather have sweet potato congee.’

After finally finishing her bowl of rice cakes, Tang Xiaonan rinsed her mouth, then gathered a stack of about ten newspapers and prepared to head out. Jim Thorne was right behind her. Before leaving, their parents had told him he must stick close to his little sister and not let any dogs bully her.

"Xiaonan, I’ll give you a piggyback ride. Where are you going?"

Jim Thorne hoisted Tang Xiaonan onto his back. That way, the dogs wouldn’t be able to bite her.

"I’m going to play with Mr. Hawthorne."

Jim Thorne’s face fell. ’It’s been three days. Why hasn’t she turned on him yet?’ he wondered.

"Xiaonan, I’ll play with you. Let’s not go see that jin—"

Getting a glare from Tang Xiaonan, Jim Thorne swallowed the word "jinx" and corrected himself, "Let’s not go play with Adrian Hawthorne."

"No. Mr. Hawthorne is going to teach me how to read."

"I can teach you!"

Jim Thorne just didn’t want his sister playing with that Hawthorne kid. It was only learning to read, after all. He’d gone to school for a few years; teaching his six-year-old sister should be a piece of cake.