Raina rushed over in a whirlwind, still wearing her apron. The excitement on her face was impossible to hide. She zipped past Tang Xiaonan like a gust of wind, so delighted she didn’t even see her granddaughter.

"Grandma!"

Tang Xiaonan called out and chased after her. She wanted to watch the commotion too. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Only then did Raina notice her granddaughter. Without breaking stride, she blocked Tang Xiaonan. "Don’t go! It’s filthy over there!"

’My little granddaughter is a neat freak. She can’t even stand hearing about disgusting things while eating, let alone seeing them—she’d puke up her whole meal. If she saw that old bitch in her stinking state, she probably wouldn’t eat for three days.’

Raina forbade Tang Xiaonan from following and took off running. Tang Xiaonan pouted and stealthily trailed behind. Amanda Chapman, a basket on her back, caught up. She had been on her way to cut pig feed, but since there was a spectacle to be seen, she couldn’t miss it. The two girls ran together toward the source of the clamor, hearing shouts and curses from far away.

"Phoebe Huxley... GACK... You won’t get a good death... UGH... Oh god... I’m dying... A maggot just crawled into my mouth... BLECH..."

Even without seeing anyone, Tang Xiaonan couldn’t take it anymore. ’I should head back,’ she thought. ’If I actually see it, I can forget about dinner. I’m already feeling waves of nausea as it is.’

"It’s not like I did it on purpose! My foot slipped! Who told you to stand right under that ridge, anyway? And so what if you got splashed with a little manure? Manure is treasure to us farmers! It’s what makes the crops flourish! How dare you show disgust for it? Are you saying you look down on farmers?"

Phoebe Huxley’s booming voice carried over, sounding utterly self-righteous. She had even managed to slap a damning label on her victim. ’What a masterful move,’ Tang Xiaonan was deeply impressed. ’This is the first time I’ve ever seen Mom use her brains for evil.’

"Pah! You did it on purpose... GACK... There was a perfectly good path, but you just had to walk over here... If you love manure so much, why don’t you eat it instead of food... UGH..."

Linden’s mother alternated between cursing and retching. She had rolled around in the field a few times, so she wasn’t quite as filthy as before, but the sight of her... Even the veteran farmers couldn’t stomach it. They quietly distanced themselves, content to watch the drama from afar.

"You’re the one eating manure now! Look... a couple more maggots just crawled into your mouth. Tasty? Savory? Your family so rarely gets to eat meat. Thanks to my Phoebe, you get to eat your fill today. Don’t mention it!"

Raina’s brazen voice rang out, drowning out the sound of Linden’s mother retching. Tang Xiaonan’s lips twitched. ’Honestly,’ she thought, ’my grandma and my mom... they really know how to make people hate them.’

’No wonder that in the book, when the Thorne family fell on hard times, so many villagers just stood by and watched. Some even kicked them while they were down. The Golding family stomped on them the hardest. I bet Phoenix Golding’s family gave the Thornes plenty of grief in the book.’

"BLECH... FUCK... YOU, MOTHERF—... UGH... You, Raina, you’re a goddamn animal born from your cheating, whoring mother! Your Byron Thorne’s grandchildren are from him sleeping with his own daughter-in-law! Your whole family is a pack of animals... GACK..."

Linden’s mother vomited for a bit before unleashing a tirade filthier than manure itself. A light breeze drifted in Tang Xiaonan’s direction, carrying with it waves of a suffocating stench. Tang Xiaonan’s stomach churned, and she dry-heaved several times. Thank goodness she hadn’t eaten dinner, or she would have certainly thrown it all up.

Linden’s mother was still at it, alternating between retching and spewing curses that were barely human. Tang Xiaonan’s brow furrowed. She no longer felt a shred of sympathy for the old woman.

’So what if Phoebe Huxley splashed her with manure? The old hag deserved it for having such a black heart, trying to harm Frederick Thorne’s child. All she got was a bit of manure. Compared to the venom in that woman’s family, the Thornes were practically saints.’