The room fell quiet again, and everyone looked at Frederick Thorne in confusion.

Frederick Thorne appeared calm, but his tightly clenched fists betrayed the turmoil within. He tucked the packets of medicine into his bag and said, "I’ll have this medicine tested."

He had an old classmate who worked at the county hospital. When he had a free moment, he would make a trip to the county seat and ask his old classmate to help test the medicine. If it really was problematic, he would never let Phoenix Golding off the hook. He was certain she was the one pulling the strings from behind. Linden’s mother had neither the guts nor the cunning for something like this; she always did whatever her daughter told her.

For years, he had been avoiding Phoenix Golding. He’d never even told his family about how she used to pester him, all to avoid creating a rift with his brother, Felix. But Phoenix Golding had caused trouble for the Thorne family time and time again, and now she dared to target his wife and child. He had reached his limit.

"Actually, it should be easy to get to the bottom of this. We just need to go to Rosillia Village and ask around. Isn’t this ’Immortal Aunt Liu’ supposed to be famous? Plenty of people must have taken her medicine. If there’s really something wrong with it, someone must have given birth to a deformed baby. You can’t hide something like that. People might not bring it up on their own, but they’ll definitely talk if someone starts asking."

Lana Steiner spoke softly. Her thoughts mirrored Frederick’s; she also felt Phoenix Golding was behind this.

She also hadn’t told Frederick that whenever she ran into Phoenix Golding in town, the woman would taunt her with cold, cutting remarks, mocking her for being unable to conceive. Phoenix never missed a chance to badmouth her behind her back, either. There was one other thing Lana couldn’t be certain of, but she suspected it was also connected to Phoenix Golding.

She had been named Outstanding Teacher last year, and by all rights, she should have been again this year. The principal had even said it was a sure thing. But in the end, the award went to Phoenix Golding instead, and Lana was pushed aside. The principal was so furious he went to the district office to argue on her behalf, but it came to nothing. When he returned, all he could say was that she would definitely get it next year.

Lana had also vaguely heard that Phoenix Golding had gotten cozy with one of the district administrators over the past couple of years. And just like that, Phoenix had turned her fortunes around: her contract was changed from temporary to permanent, and she was named Outstanding Teacher. ’Honestly,’ Lana thought, ’with her level of teaching skill, Phoenix couldn’t even handle a first-grade class. It seems all her ’outstanding’ talents were reserved for the administration.’

Even the usually good-natured Lana was thoroughly disgusted by Phoenix Golding, but she had always endured it. But now the woman had dared to scheme against her child. That, she would not tolerate.

’This has to be investigated.’

"Leave it to me," Goldie Thorne volunteered. "I go to Rosillia Village all the time. I’ll head over tomorrow and ask around."

"Good. We’ll get to the bottom of it," Byron Thorne said, his usually gentle face growing cold and stern. "You should never set out to harm anyone, but you must always be on your guard. If the Golding family is really behind this scheme... Hmph. I won’t let them get away with it!"

The atmosphere in the Thorne household grew heavy. Felix Thorne thought his younger brother and sister-in-law were reading too much into it, but he kept his thoughts to himself. They would find out for sure once Goldie investigated tomorrow. He hoped it had nothing to do with Phoenix Golding; after all, they had a history.

"Luckily, our family has our little girl! The Goldings’ scheme will never succeed!" Phoebe Huxley suddenly scooped up her daughter and showered her with kisses. ’Such a wonderful daughter, and she’s mine! A spirit child blessed by the gods, no less. That bitch Phoenix Golding could try until the day she dies and never have a child like this.’

"You said it! Our little girl was sent from the heavens," Goldie Thorne added with a disdainful sniff. "The Golding family can forget about ever getting one over on the Thornes!"

The atmosphere lightened once more, and smiles returned to everyone’s faces. With a spirit child like Tang Xiaonan in the family, they had nothing to fear from demons or ghouls. What was there to worry about?

As for the truth of Tang Xiaonan’s words, not a single person doubted them. She was the reincarnation of a deity, wasn’t she? Of course she was right!