Free Web NovelChapter 428: Chapter 428: Envy, Jealousy, and Hate
Jacqueline Spann had been unsettled for the past few days. Adrian Hawthorne hadn’t been seen for days, and neither had the Thorne siblings, Jim and his sister. They weren’t at school, and the villagers said Adrian had gone back to Tristone to visit family, with the Thorne siblings tagging along for fun.
The villagers spoke of it with great envy. In the minds of Vessaria’s people, Tristone and Aethelgard held the same status, but Tristone felt a bit more familiar. No matter what it was, from something as large as a television to as small as a pair of socks, as long as it was from Tristone, the ordinary item would be imbued with a magical aura, transforming it into a high-end product.
If a family had relatives in Tristone, it was a source of bragging rights in the village. Take the village’s second-richest man, Accountant Golding. His daughter had married someone in Tristone, and he even walked a little taller because of it. Whenever a holiday came around, he would wear his gleaming watch and carry a radio around the village, telling everyone he met that his daughter had bought them in Tristone. Only after harvesting a heap of envious remarks and jealous glares would Accountant Golding return home, satisfied.
In truth, Accountant Golding’s daughter hadn’t married particularly well. Her husband was said to be short, even shorter than she was, and quite plain-looking. Their home was also cramped. A villager who had gone to Tristone on business made a point to have a meal at her place and saw that her family of five lived in a single fifteen-square-meter room. A cloth curtain was strung up in the middle to separate the two beds, and after adding a few cabinets and tables, there was no space left for a dining table.
The kitchen was communal, and they had to go to the public tap in the courtyard to wash vegetables and clothes. Using the toilet was even more of a hassle. They had to use a chamber pot, and a special collector would come for the night soil just once a day. If you missed them, you had to keep it in the house until the next day.
It was tolerable in winter, but the stench in summer was unbearable. Eating and relieving oneself in the same room... you could imagine the smell. The villager who visited told everyone about it when he got back. Although this lowered Accountant Golding’s standing a bit, the villagers were still filled with envy and jealousy when they saw the sweets, pastries, and new fabrics his daughter sent back from time to time.
And to put it bluntly, even living in a pigeon coop in Tristone was a cut above living in Vessaria. At the very least, Accountant Golding’s daughter had a Tristone household registration, and that was the most valuable thing of all.
It could be said that Tristone’s status in the hearts of Vessaria’s people hadn’t wavered in decades; it had only grown higher.
In modern times, a Tristone household registration is even harder to obtain. The government has implemented a series of restrictive policies, making it exceedingly difficult to become a Tristone resident. Yet, countless people still flock there. Even if half their monthly salary goes to rent, so many people struggle to survive there, dreaming of becoming a member of that great metropolis. Such is the allure of Tristone.
So, when the villagers heard that Adrian Hawthorne had returned to Tristone to visit family, every one of them was extremely envious, and they envied the Thorne family as well. Adrian Hawthorne was a distant relative of the Thornes, which meant the Thornes now had relatives in Tristone too!
"The Hawthorne family is going to strike it rich this time. No wonder the Thornes have been so close with them lately."
"Byron Thorne is as cunning as they come. He never paid the Hawthornes any mind before, but now he’s suddenly so friendly. He must have found out about their relatives in Tristone. Otherwise, why would Byron Thorne be so kind?"
"No wonder the Hawthornes’ lives have gotten better recently. They’ve had new clothes made, bought a bicycle, and even bought meat several times. The money must have come from their relatives."
"It looks like the Hawthornes’ relatives are loaded! The Hawthornes are about to turn their fortunes around!"
"The Thorne family has benefited a lot, too. Byron Thorne would never make a losing deal. Ah, why don’t I have any good relatives!"
...
Jacqueline Spann stopped in her tracks, her eyes flashing with jealousy. A bitter pang coursed through her. She had been on her way back from gathering firewood when she ran into a few women gossiping, and it left a sour taste in her mouth. ’I wish I had relatives in Tristone, too!’
