Adrian Hawthorne frowned slightly. He recognized the footsteps of the three Thorne brothers. 'Looks like there's going to be another fight.'
The three brothers were surely here to get revenge for Tang Xiaonan.
Adrian Hawthorne felt a little weary. He really didn't want to fight the three dumb bears. It was such a waste of time and energy.
As they neared the Hawthorne family's home, Tang Xiaonan asked her second brother to put her down. It would be more sincere if she walked the rest of the way herself.
"Eldest Brother, Second Brother, Third Brother, Mr. Hawthorne saved me today! If it wasn't for him, you almost wouldn't have your precious little sister anymore." Tang Xiaonan began by brainwashing her three brothers.
'Reforming the villains starts now. I have to set these three good-for-nothing brothers straight.'
In the book, none of the three brothers amounted to anything. Each of them became a good-for-nothing delinquent—unemployed, idle, gluttonous, and lazy. Felix Thorne and Phoebe Huxley truly loved their children, but it was also true that they had no idea how to raise them.
Not a single one of their four children was raised to be a proper adult.
'Sigh. It looks like this daunting task falls to me.'
Jim Thorne scoffed, saying sourly, "'Mr. Hawthorne,' huh? You sound awfully close. Xiaonan, have your affections shifted elsewhere?"
Tang Xiaonan's eyelid twitched. 'This useless third brother of mine can't even use an idiom correctly. His test scores are always in the single digits.'
'Then again, the body's original owner wasn't much better, barely scraping into the double digits. A truly loving pair of siblings.'
"Anyway, I'm going to repay Mr. Hawthorne! If you guys bully him again, hmph, I'll just ignore you all!"
Tang Xiaonan planted her hands on her chubby little waist, but her high-pitched, childlike voice held no menace whatsoever. The three brothers grinned at their precious little sister, thinking she was so cute they just had to give her a pinch.
Three hands shot out at once. One pinched her left cheek, another her right, and the last one tugged at her hair.
"Stop pinching my face!"
After swatting away the two annoying paws on her cheeks, and then the even more annoying one on her head, Tang Xiaonan was hopping mad. 'So they're just going to treat my words like hot air, huh? Fine! I'll tell Felix Thorne when I get home and have him spank their butts. Hmph!'
Seeing that their sister was genuinely angry, the three brothers finally retracted their hands and stopped teasing her.
As for Tang Xiaonan's words, they didn't pay them any mind. The chubby girl was quick to speak and even quicker to forget. They figured she'd forget all about this in a few days and go right back to provoking that jinx.
"You're the one who bullies that jinx the most, Miss Tang Xiaonan," Jim Thorne deliberately teased.
Tang Xiaonan's expression froze for a moment before her face flushed crimson. She glared at Jim Thorne, embarrassed and annoyed, and yelled as if swearing an oath, "I was young and ignorant before! Now I'm older, and I definitely won't bully Mr. Hawthorne anymore!"
As if that wasn't enough, she added, roaring at the top of her lungs, "I'm going to treat Mr. Hawthorne really well from now on!"
Tang Xiaonan glanced toward the Hawthorne family's house. 'I shouted so loudly. That big shot must have heard me, right?'
Her throat tickled from the strain, and Tang Xiaonan coughed a few times. She was quite pleased with her own quick thinking, but then—
"You've said that a hundred times. When we were little, you even said you were going to marry Adrian Hawthorne and be his wife!"
Jim Thorne watched in amusement as Tang Xiaonan's face went pale. The sight only made him more gleeful. His little Xiaonan's mind changed faster than a summer storm. One second she'd be vowing to get along with Adrian Hawthorne, and the next she'd be picking a fight.
None of the three brothers believed Tang Xiaonan's promise.
This included Adrian Hawthorne inside the house. He had heard the entire conversation outside, and his first reaction was to think that the little brat was scheming again.
But he wasn't afraid.
'She's just a stupid, chubby girl.'
Tang Xiaonan looked at her three grinning brothers, feeling utterly defeated. Her heart sank.
'I forgot how fickle this body's original owner was.'
'That wretched girl… Ugh!'
'The road to getting on the big shot's good side is long and arduous!'