Chapter 500: Changing Face Again
"Do you think we should make and sell some dresses for adults? I feel like we’d make more money selling dresses than just the fabric," Goldie Thorne suggested enthusiastically.
"You’d make even more money selling airplanes. Why don’t you go do that?"
Adrian Hawthorne retorted irritably and pedaled away at top speed. Right now, everything was rubbing him the wrong way.
Goldie Thorne was dumbfounded. ’What’s with him now?’
’We were just chatting and laughing a moment ago, and then he suddenly flipped a switch. Who set him off?’
Adrian Hawthorne pedaled furiously all the way back to Millstone Peak. It was already evening by the time he arrived. Phoebe Huxley and the others were incredibly fast; they had already finished using all the scrap fabric Adrian had brought back the day before. Raina and a few of the older women had also come over to help by snipping the loose threads.
This was because Juliana Rhodes had discovered that having others help snip the threads could speed up the process. Before, she always did it herself, which wasted a lot of time. She had asked her mother-in-law to do the snipping, which allowed her to make two extra pieces a day. Phoebe Huxley and the others followed her example, getting their own mothers-in-law to help snip threads, and sure enough, their speed increased significantly.
Phoebe Thorne’s belly was now quite large, and her due date was only about ten days away, right during the peak harvest season. However, Phoebe Thorne was in excellent health; she hadn’t had a dizzy spell in a long time, and the doctor had assured her there wouldn’t be any problems.
Tang Xiao’nan was outside, watching Dollar tease the big goose, when she spotted Adrian Hawthorne in the distance and happily ran over to him.
Adrian couldn’t help but smile. He pulled a White Rabbit candy from his pocket, habitually ate the edible rice paper wrapper himself, and popped the milk candy into Tang Xiao’nan’s mouth.
"Mr. Hawthorne, they finished all the fabric! Mama and the others are super fast; they used it all up in no time." Tang Xiao’nan’s short legs couldn’t keep up, so she had to break into a trot of tiny steps, making her look just like a little duckling.
Adrian’s mood instantly lifted. He slowed his pace, feeling a little disdain for his earlier self. ’I’m destined for great things,’ he thought. ’How can I sulk like a child over something so trivial?’
’If people don’t feel sorry for me, it isn’t because they’re blind. It’s because I’m too strong. I’m not pitiful in the slightest. I have it better than anyone, and I don’t need anyone’s sympathy.’
Adrian Hawthorne gently tugged one of Tang Xiao’nan’s pigtails, then patted Dollar’s head. Dollar got so excited it peed a little. The dog absolutely adored Adrian; it missed him to death if a day went by without seeing him.
(My own dog pees from excitement every single time, sigh...)
Just as it was getting dark, Clayton Xavier returned. To Adrian Hawthorne’s surprise, he had actually managed to sell all the fabric, down to the very last piece.
"You sold it all?" Adrian Hawthorne’s voice was devoid of emotion.
"I sold it all."
Clayton Xavier, on the other hand, was thrilled. He had finally earned money through his own efforts—and a significant amount at that. He could finally contribute to his family.
"Here’s sixty-two dollars. Thank you."
Clayton Xavier pulled out a neat stack of cash held together by a rubber band. He counted out sixty-two dollars and handed it to Adrian Hawthorne—the payment for the one hundred feet of fabric.
Adrian Hawthorne took the money without even bothering to count it. He was curious how Clayton Xavier had managed to sell it all. ’This guy is such a stuffy, pedantic scholar,’ he thought. ’Did he actually swallow his pride and hawk it on the street?’
"Mr. Xavier, was it fun selling the fabric?" Tang Xiao’nan asked the question that was on Adrian’s mind. Feeling pleased, Adrian tugged her pigtail again, earning a sharp glare from her in return.
Clayton Xavier blushed slightly and nodded. "It was pretty fun. I hadn’t sold a single foot by noon, so I found the largest machinery factory in the area and set up shop outside their employee family housing. It all sold out."
After he got to Wraven, he just stood there foolishly for half the day, completely unable to bring himself to hawk his wares. So, he asked for the address of the machinery factory and set up his stall there. Noontime was busy with people coming and going, and he didn’t even have to shout. A crowd of female factory workers gathered around. Once they heard the fabric was only seventy cents a foot and the quality was good, they were all scrambling to buy it.