Free Web NovelChapter 443: Chapter 443: Still Got Beaten
"I didn’t buy it! That crazy rich guy gave it to me! Ouch... Grandma, stop hitting me!"
Jim Thorne dodged repeatedly. Raina’s hits were surprisingly painful. Just like his mother, Phoebe Huxley, she was a total tigress. ’If I’d known, I never would have told her how much it cost,’ he thought.
But his explanation didn’t calm Raina down at all; she just hit him harder. Raina felt the loss even more keenly now. If he hadn’t drunk that can of Coke, she could have earned two-and-a-half yuan out of thin air. But now, it was gone.
"How many cans did you drink?" Raina demanded.
"O-one... Just one can."
"Really just one?" Raina didn’t believe him, and her hands didn’t stop.
"Really, just one, Grandma... I practically had to scrimp and save to bring this one can back for you all."
Jim Thorne felt like crying but couldn’t shed a tear. ’Who did I piss off to deserve this?’ He had brought it back out of the goodness of his heart for everyone to try something new. Instead of a thank you, he got a beating. ’Even the most wronged soul in history had it better than me.’
Raina’s heart still ached. Two cans meant five yuan, all wasted by this spendthrift grandson of hers. She slapped him a few more times before her anger subsided a little, but the thought that five yuan had been, quite literally, pissed away made her feel sick.
"From now on, if anyone gives you such expensive soda, don’t drink it. Grandma will sell it and use the money to buy you all meat. Meat is so much tastier."
"Okay, we’ll give it to Grandma for meat," Tang Xiaonan agreed with exceptional obedience. It was just an empty promise, anyway. ’As long as it makes the old lady happy,’ she thought. ’From now on, I’ll just drink it secretly outside and she’ll never know.’
Jim Thorne, however, grumbled, "Grandma, when you buy one yuan’s worth of meat, you make it last for seven or eight meals. It’s not even enough to get stuck in our teeth."
WHACK!
Raina decisively slapped him again, a heavy blow to the back of Jim Thorne’s head. ’You little spendthrift! You don’t get poor from eating and drinking, you get poor from not planning! I’ll have to find this foolish grandson a capable wife who knows how to run a household. Otherwise, no matter how rich the family gets, he’ll squander it all away.’
Felix Thorne also came over and gave Jim Thorne a swift kick. "If you ever take your little sister out like that again, I’ll break both your legs!"
Jim Thorne winced in pain. Felix Thorne’s kick was so powerful it nearly broke his leg. He didn’t dare cry out, just hung his head in silence.
Felix Thorne looked ready to discipline the stinking brat some more, but Tang Xiaonan quickly ran over to block him. "Dad, it wasn’t Third Brother’s fault! Don’t hit him!"
"Xiaonan, move aside. I’m not going to hit your third brother, I’m just going to reason with him."
Felix Thorne pulled back his hand, his fierce expression softening into a kinder one. But Tang Xiaonan didn’t believe him for a second. Felix Thorne’s version of "reasoning" always involved his fists. She hugged Jim Thorne tightly and refused to let go.
"Dad, hit me instead. I was the one who asked Third Brother to take me."
Jim Thorne was so touched his heart could have melted. Afraid that Tang Xiaonan would actually get hit, he tried to push her away. "Xiaonan, get out of the way! This has nothing to do with you."
Tang Xiaonan pinched the lovable dummy hard on the waist and shot him a glare. ’What a moron,’ she thought. If she moved, Felix Thorne would absolutely skin her silly third brother alive.
After a long standoff, Felix Thorne finally relented. He could never bring himself to hit his daughter. ’I’ll deal with this little brat later.’
Shooting Jim Thorne one last vicious glare, Felix Thorne sat back down, his face as black as the bottom of a wok. Jim Thorne let out a breath, but the heavy stone in his heart had only half-lifted. He definitely couldn’t come home to sleep tonight. ’Guess I’ll go bunk with my uncle.’
Tang Xiaonan let out a huge yawn, utterly exhausted. The next second, Felix Thorne scooped her up into his arms. She forced her eyes open and mumbled drowsily, "Dad... don’t hit Third Brother..."
"I won’t."
Felix Thorne shot another glare at Jim Thorne, a sour feeling welling up inside him. In just a few days, that little rascal had managed to win his daughter over completely. ’Just wait until Xiaonan’s asleep,’ he thought. ’I’m going to beat the living daylights out of that little punk.’
