Transmigrated as the Villain Boss's Precious Darling-Chapter 24: Of All Virtues, Filial Piety Comes First

"Nancy, did your mom really say that?" someone pressed. It was Iris, Phoebe Huxley’s arch-rival, a malicious look on her face.

"Um, Mommy said... vir... um... tue... comes... first... Big Brother?"

’Nancy decided to give her big brother a chance to shine. After all, she was just a six-year-old girl; she couldn’t afford to seem too unnaturally clever.’

Howard Thorne was stunned. ’When did Mom ever say that? Nancy’s just talking nonsense.’ He had no idea what "vir-something comes first-something" meant. After all, he’d never even managed to memorize "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep."

"It’s ’Of all virtues, filial piety is first.’ Mom said so. It means we should let Grandpa and Grandma eat any tasty food first," Patrick Thorne, her normally quiet second brother, suddenly spoke up, causing Nancy to see him in a new light.

’So my second brother is the hidden scholar! Yes, I’ll have to focus on cultivating him.’

Nancy nodded vigorously. "Mommy thaid, Byron thmiles... firtht..." 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

’She really wasn’t trying to act cute. It was just this useless gap in her teeth; perfectly good words came out all twisted. Nancy sighed in resignation and shut her mouth. She wouldn’t say another word.’

"’Byron’s small...? HAHA... His mouth *is* small!"

Someone had suddenly blurted this out, and in an instant, the entire crowd erupted in laughter. They were bent over, doubled up, some laughing so hard tears streamed down their faces.

’It was only then that Nancy remembered: her grandpa’s name was Byron Thorne. She had tried to say "smiles," but with her lisp, it must have come out sounding like "small." No wonder they’d all laughed!’

"What are you all blabbering about? A bunch of illiterates, not even as cultured as little Nancy. The child was saying, ’Of all virtues, filial piety is first,’ which means that respecting your elders is the most important thing. What’s all this nonsense about Byron Thorne’s small mouth? Ridiculous!"

The person scolding them was a refined-looking old gentleman of about fifty. His clothes were neat, his face was handsome, and he had a distinguished air about him. With his black hair and Zhongshan suit, he stood out from the crowd of villagers like a crane among chickens.

This old gentleman had just been passing by when he happened to overhear Nancy’s words. Curious about this rare display of erudition from one of Phoebe Huxley’s children, he had stopped to listen.

"Sixth Grand-uncle."

The three brothers called out respectfully. A jolt went through Nancy. She knew who this old gentleman was.

He was Shane Thorne, the most educated man in the village. He was of the same generation as Byron Thorne but a few years younger. This Shane Thorne was a bit of a legendary figure. Although the author hadn’t described him in great detail, he made frequent appearances, and Nancy remembered him well.

The story went that Shane Thorne had been exceptionally bright in his youth. His family had some money to spare, so they sent him to a private traditional school. Later, he tested into the county middle school and excelled in his studies. If not for the outbreak of war, he would have undoubtedly gone to university.

But fate was not on his side. Shane Thorne found himself in a time of chaos. The schools were forced to close, and not wanting to return to the village to farm, he put down his pen and joined the army—the Nationalist army, of course. Because he was literate and had fine handwriting, he was highly regarded by his superior officer, who assigned him to a logistics post.

However, his superior officer was killed in battle not long after, and the new commander despised intellectuals. Shane Thorne’s good days were over.

He was assigned to the front lines, where he could have been killed at any moment. Shane Thorne was timid and afraid of dying. Rumor has it he pissed his pants from fear on his very first day at the front. Whether that’s true or not is impossible to say, but Shane Thorne himself would certainly never admit to it.

So, Shane Thorne just quit.

It was a good thing he got out early. Otherwise, he would have been in for some serious trouble during the past few years.

After leaving the army, Shane Thorne found a way to get a teaching job at a girls’ school in Hangzhou City. This old gentleman was quite handsome; the author noted that in his youth, he was the village’s number one beau.