Free Web NovelChapter 420: Chapter 420: Surprisingly Consistent Aesthetics
Aston Marsh thought for a moment before answering honestly, "To be honest, today was my first time dealing with the Madman, too. I’d only ever heard stories about him, so I don’t know the details. Just make sure you don’t get on his bad side."
"Oh, right, how did your meeting go today? It looked like the Madman really took a liking to you. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have bothered with a small deal like yours," Aston Marsh asked.
Adrian Hawthorne didn’t hide anything. "It went pretty well. The Madman is a stand-up guy."
"That figures. I heard he got that scar on his face saving one of his men. Nearly lost an eye. Back then, he had a girlfriend—a real beauty, they said. But she ended up marrying someone else, the Madman’s sworn enemy, no less. And it was all because of that scar."
Aston Marsh lowered his voice, sharing the gossip he’d picked up.
Tang Xiaonan now understood. ’No wonder the Madman is so sensitive about his scar,’ she thought. ’It’s a wound from a broken heart. If that woman really left him just because of the scar, she was far too shallow. The Madman probably wouldn’t have been happy married to a woman like that anyway.’
"Good riddance to a woman who only cares about looks. Marrying her would have been asking for trouble," Jim Thorne scoffed.
Aston Marsh laughed. "You’ve got a point there. A man marries a wife for her character, not her face. What good are looks, anyway? It’s all the same once you turn off the lights."
"Exactly! A woman should be sturdy and hardworking, like my mom. Not like..."
Jim Thorne cut himself off abruptly. He shot a sheepish glance at Adrian Hawthorne and looked down at his food. He had almost used Rosalind Green as a counter-example again.
Adrian Hawthorne shot him an annoyed glare, though he wasn’t truly angry. He knew the clumsy bear spoke without thinking and had terrible judgment. ’I can’t wait to see what kind of woman Jim Thorne ends up marrying,’ he mused. ’Probably someone just like Phoebe Huxley, or maybe even fiercer?’
Aston Marsh and Jim Thorne’s tastes in women were surprisingly similar, and they hit it off immediately. From his tone, Aston Marsh sounded rather regretful about something.
"If I had a daughter, she’d definitely be as capable as her mother. My wife operates a lathe, you know. She’s trained several generations of apprentices and has the best skills in the whole workshop."
This sparked Aston Marsh’s desire for a daughter again. ’My wife’s good genes can’t go to waste,’ he thought. ’We’ll have one as soon as I get back. Otherwise, with the family planning policies getting stricter and stricter, we won’t be able to have one even if we want to.’
After a hearty meal, Aston Marsh had the restaurant prepare a few more small dishes: fried peanuts, spicy crab, steamed fish, and celery with stir-fried pressed tofu. The peanuts and crab were to go with their drinks, while the fish and tofu were for Goldie Thorne to eat with his rice.
Jim Thorne scooped several spoonfuls of chili oil and mixed it all into the pressed tofu. Aston Marsh didn’t think anything of it, assuming Goldie Thorne must love spicy food!
The starving Goldie Thorne had finally seen them return. He started gobbling down the food before the dishes were even fully set on the table. He took a bite of fish first, nodding repeatedly. "This fish is really fresh. Aston, wait for me. I’ll have a drink with you after I’ve had some food."
Aston Marsh beamed. "No rush. Take your time, we’ve got all night!"
Goldie Thorne then picked up some of the pressed tofu with his chopsticks. He had only chewed a few times when his expression froze and his eyes turned red. He struggled to swallow the mouthful of food, too overcome by the spiciness to speak.
"HISSS... Water..."
The spice had muddled Goldie Thorne’s mind. The water glass was right next to his plate, but he failed to see it. Adrian Hawthorne handed him the glass. Goldie Thorne gulped down more than half of it and started to recover, though tears were still streaming down his face.
"You can’t handle spicy food? Then why did Jim...?"
Aston Marsh was baffled. He looked at Jim Thorne in confusion. The moment Goldie Thorne heard this, he understood everything. He shot a furious glare at his nephew. ’You black-hearted little brat!’
