Chapter 549: The Two Number Ones
"What on earth is Howard up to? He’s being so secretive."
In the morning, Howard Thorne had shoveled down his food and rushed out. He’d done the same thing for two days straight, and Phoebe Huxley grew suspicious and started grumbling.
Felix Thorne, however, wasn’t concerned. He peeled an egg for Tang Xiaonan and said, "He’s a grown man now. Why are you keeping such a tight leash on him? He probably went out to have fun with his classmates."
He’d been that age once himself, so he understood his eldest son. School was finally out for break; what was the harm in letting him have some fun?
But Phoebe Huxley grumbled in dissatisfaction, "He can’t just play all day, every day. He’s not a child anymore; he needs to help around the house. I’m going to have a word with him tonight. He’s not allowed to go out having fun during the summer harvest rush."
"Howard knows what he’s doing. He’s about to be a senior. It’s good to let him have some fun for a few more days. Once school starts, he won’t have any time to play."
Felix Thorne was getting impatient. It had only been two days. She was acting like a wicked stepmother, unable to stand seeing her child have any fun.
Phoebe Huxley thought about it and had to agree, so she dropped the subject. She started wolfing down her rice soup. Felix Thorne ate two large bowls of his own, then shouldered his hoe and left for work. Phoebe, as usual, went to the Hawthorne family’s home to sew clothes, hoping to earn some extra money before the harvest rush.
"Patrick, where did Howard go?" Tang Xiaonan asked curiously.
Patrick Thorne shook his head. "No idea."
He didn’t meddle in his older brother’s affairs. Besides, Howard was a grown man. What was there to worry about?
’Tang Xiaonan, however, was a little worried. In the book, Howard was a poor student and fell in with a bad crowd. It was those friends of his who beat Old Master Tate to death. What’s more, Howard barely scraped through high school and couldn’t find a job. He drifted for a few years, turning into a hooligan. He did get married, but the woman he married was no good either.’
’This woman was lazy, gluttonous, and loved to gamble. She lost a ton of money and fought with Howard constantly. In the end, after racking up a mountain of debt from loan sharks, she just up and left, leaving Howard to deal with it all. The debt brought terrible hardship to the Thorne family.’
’Howard was uneducated and had no skills, so he could only resort to manual labor, pedaling a tricycle taxi for a living. He worked himself to the bone but barely made any money. By the time her original self died, Howard probably still hadn’t finished paying off all that debt.’
’Tang Xiaonan was genuinely afraid that Howard was heading down that same old path. His current secretive behavior didn’t bode well. She decided she would ask her third brother to help her tail Howard tomorrow and see what he was really up to.’
The object of all this worry, Howard Thorne, was currently in Xavier Village. He was talking to a delicate-looking girl. The girl wore patched clothes and, despite the sweltering heat, had on a long-sleeved shirt with the sleeves rolled up, revealing fair arms.
Though her clothes were old, they were washed clean. The girl’s skin was fair and her features were delicate, but she was far too thin. Her complexion was poor, and her hair was fine and yellowish—a clear sign of malnutrition.
"Is your dad still trying to marry you off?" Howard Thorne asked, his expression full of anger.
The girl was his deskmate, Kelley Xavier. Both were ranked number one in the entire school—she was first from the top, and he was first from the bottom. Frederick Thorne had given their homeroom teacher plenty of gifts, and with Lana Steiner’s influence as well, the teacher gave Howard Thorne special treatment. He had arranged for the top student in the grade to be Howard’s deskmate, hoping that some of her good habits would rub off on him and spark some motivation to study.
The effect was quite noticeable. This semester, Howard’s grades had improved significantly, and their homeroom teacher’s old heart couldn’t have been more thrilled.
Howard Thorne got along pretty well with his deskmate. In reality, it was mostly because Kelley Xavier was introverted and didn’t usually talk to him. However, if he had a question about something he didn’t understand, she would patiently explain it. If he dozed off during class, she would even give him a few sharp jabs with her compass. She had helped him a great deal.