Phoebe Huxley, however, grew even more impatient. Sniveling women were her biggest pet peeve. Instead of wasting time crying, they could be getting more work done.

"You’ve been in the countryside for five or six years, and you still can’t even carry a hoe. It’s not like you miss any meals, so besides shitting and pissing, what else are you good for? Now you don’t even go out to work. Who are you trying to impress, staying home all day combing your hair and getting dolled up?

If you have that much free time, go clear more wasteland on the mountain and plant more potatoes, soybeans, corn, and sorghum. Don’t always make your son do it—he’s only twelve years old! You’re his mother, for crying out loud. My heart aches for him even if yours doesn’t. I have no idea what kind of mother you are, still acting like you’re some rich man’s wife!"

Normally, Phoebe Huxley couldn’t be bothered with Rosalind Green. She could do whatever she wanted for all she cared. But things were different now. Her precious daughter was always clinging to Mr. Hawthorne, and the village was full of shady, rat-faced characters—especially that bunch from the Golding family. Not a single one of them had good intentions. If a situation like today’s happened again, her little Xiaonan wouldn’t have been bullied if only Rosalind Green had a little more backbone.

Always one to plan ahead, Phoebe Huxley felt a sense of urgency. She couldn’t watch over her daughter twenty-four-seven. And that vixen Rosalind Green was a magnet for trouble—she could attract hoodlums to cause a scene just by sitting at home. Since her daughter couldn’t bear to be apart from her Mr. Hawthorne, the only option left was to train that vixen, Rosalind Green, into a tigress.

Phoebe Huxley was in a hurry to get to work and didn’t have time for a long lecture. She hastily tossed out, "Strength is something you build. Who’s born a strongman? You do nothing all day, so of course you have no strength. From now on, you’re going to work more. Since you’re in the countryside, stop acting like you’re some precious gold nugget. Who do you think cares!"

"What are you dawdling for? Let’s get to work!"

Felix Thorne urged them on from up ahead. People would start complaining if they didn’t get to the fields soon. Phoebe Huxley shot another disgusted glare, then turned to Tang Xiaonan with a loving smile. "Xiaonan, go on home now. I’ll make you steamed egg custard tonight!"

"Okay, bye-bye, Papa, Mama!"

Tang Xiaonan waved as Felix Thorne and Phoebe Huxley strode away, disappearing from sight in a matter of moments.

Rosalind Green was still sobbing, her eyes swollen like walnuts. Jim Thorne, sick of the noise, roared in frustration, "What the hell are you crying about? If you have that much energy, use it to hoe the fields! So damn whiny!"

Startled, Rosalind Green immediately stopped, her sobs turning into hiccups. She looked utterly pitiful, but no one present was in the mood to be gentle with a weeping beauty. Adrian Hawthorne’s expression was complicated, his feelings just as mixed. He didn’t know what to say, so he chose to remain silent.

’What Phoebe Huxley said just now was crude,’ he thought, ’but she wasn’t wrong. If Rosalind Green were even half as fiery, my life would probably be much easier, wouldn’t it?’

Tang Xiaonan, however, had a different take. She hadn’t seen Rosalind Green fight back earlier and had assumed she was just standing by and crying the whole time. Only now did she realize that there had been progress. At least she had found the courage to resist; it was just that her spirit was willing, but her flesh was weak.

Regardless of the outcome, the fact that Rosalind Green could take that first step was progress. At the very least, it showed she wanted to protect her son. She wasn’t the kind of woman who was selfish to the core.

"Aunt Green, you really do want to protect Mr. Hawthorne, don’t you? To be strong like my mom, right?"

A pang of sorrow shot through Rosalind Green, and fresh tears streamed down her face. Tang Xiaonan’s words had struck a chord deep within her. She would gladly trade all her beauty for a body full of strength—the kind of strength Phoebe Huxley had, enough to knock a man to the ground. That way, her son wouldn’t have to live such a hard life.

’But I’m so useless,’ she thought. ’I can’t even beat a child, let alone a man. I can’t do the heavy work in the fields, only the lightest tasks. Phoebe Huxley was right. I never should have given birth to Kenneth, bringing him into this world just to suffer.’

Tang Xiaonan was inwardly relieved. It meant Rosalind Green was willing to change. That meant there was still hope for her.