Chapter 524: The Joy of Learning
"Aunt Green, my mom asked me to bring over some sweet-filled buns."
Tansy Thorne skipped into the kitchen, where Rosalind Green was preparing dinner. Lately, the bond between Phoebe Huxley and Rosalind Green had been growing stronger by the day. Whenever Rosalind made a tasty snack, she would send some to the Thorne family, and Phoebe would do the same when she had something good to eat. With all the back and forth, their friendship naturally blossomed, and it looked like they were well on their way to becoming best friends.
"This smells amazing. Your mom is a fantastic cook."
Rosalind Green had become much more decisive in her speech and actions. There was a new spirited air about her, which didn’t detract from her beauty at all. In fact, it gave her even more charisma.
Tansy Thorne often found herself wondering, ’If Rosalind Green keeps hanging out with my mom, will she end up learning her expert pig-butchering skills?’
She imagined the delicate beauty wielding a butcher’s knife, one hand holding down a piggy, then plunging the knife in to bleed it...
Tansy Thorne shuddered and quickly shook the absurd image from her mind. ’Can’t think about that anymore.’
"The Ghost Festival is still a while away. What made your mom decide to steam sweet-filled buns?"
Rosalind Green placed the sweet-filled buns in a basket and hung it from a roof beam. They could be preserved for several days that way; you just had to steam them before eating. She then took out some homemade pumpkin cakes. Adrian Hawthorne loved snacks made with glutinous rice, so she would switch things up and make a different variety every few days.
Sesame balls, pumpkin cakes, rice balls, green rice cakes, and the like weren’t much trouble to make.
"My third brother passed every single one of his final exams. He even got a sixty-eight in math! He said he was craving sweet-filled buns, so Mom made some. Sixth Grandpa even gave my brother a pork knuckle this big as a reward."
Tansy Thorne showed them the size with her hands, a piece of pumpkin cake dangling from her mouth. Her adorable look made Adrian Hawthorne and the other boys smile. Jim Thorne looked a bit bashful, but he couldn’t hide the proud smirk on his face; you could practically see his tail wagging with delight.
After four years of school, this was the first time Jim Thorne had ever experienced the joy of learning.
’It turned out that as long as you did well on your exams, even his normally fierce mom would become gentle and grant his every wish. His dad was the same, smiling whenever he saw him. Even his teachers, who used to just shake their heads and sigh at the sight of him, now looked at him more affectionately than their own sons, patting his shoulder and encouraging him to keep up the good work next semester.’
’It felt so good!’
’It was like turning over a new leaf. He was so happy he never wanted to go back to how things were before.’
"That’s amazing, Jim!"
Rosalind Green gave him a thumbs-up, praising him generously. Jim Thorne gave a goofy grin, his face completely lighting up.
Clayton Xavier congratulated him too, but Adrian Hawthorne deliberately teased, "Let’s hope it’s not just a flash in the pan."
Jim Thorne’s face flushed red. He puffed out his chest and shouted, "Don’t underestimate me! I’ll definitely improve again on the next exams!"
"I guess improving by one point counts."
Jim Thorne’s face grew even redder. "To hell with one point!" he fumed. "If I’m going to improve, it’ll be by at least ten points!"
Tansy Thorne slapped her forehead. ’Her goofy third brother... he’d fallen right into the trap.’
"You said ten points," Adrian Hawthorne immediately said, not giving Jim Thorne a chance to back out. "Clayton Xavier, you be our witness. He said he’ll improve by ten points next time, which means he has to score over seventy in every subject. So what happens if he can’t do it?"
Jim Thorne was already feeling a pang of regret. ’A seventy was a really high bar. In the past, his scores on two subjects combined barely added up to that much. Still, he couldn’t back down in front of Adrian Hawthorne. His little sister would make fun of him.’
So he put on a brave face and declared, "If I say I’ll get a seventy, I’ll get a seventy! If I don’t, I’ll do whatever you say from now on."
Clayton Xavier laughed. "I’ll be the witness. On the next exams, Jim has to score above seventy on every subject. If he doesn’t, he has to do whatever Kenneth says. No take-backs."
"A real man doesn’t go back on his word! I won’t back out!"
Jim Thorne’s expression was strained, and a few beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. He was starting to panic.