For the past few days, Tang Xiaonan had been keeping an eye on Phoenix Golding, but she still had nothing to show for it. She hadn’t caught Phoenix Golding and Storm Xavier in the act. On her visits to her maternal grandfather’s house, though, she’d run into Verna Golding a few times. Verna was a simple and honest woman, but her looks were truly plain—ugly, even.

Her facial features were actually rather delicate, but Verna Golding’s face was covered in a dense spread of marks, completely dotting her skin. People said they were scars left from chickenpox in her childhood, which had earned her the nickname ’Pock-face.’ It was precisely because of this pockmarked face that she married Storm Xavier, who came from a family with a bad class background. After the marriage, she was constantly given the cold shoulder—a truly unfortunate woman.

Verna Golding was on good terms with Tang Xiaonan’s grandmother and aunt and would often come over to visit. Though she spoke in a slow and measured way, she was an incredibly efficient worker. If she weren’t, there was no way one woman could support such a large family. Everyone in the Xavier family, young and old, depended on her and her alone. Storm Xavier was simply a heartless scumbag.

Tang Xiaonan pitied Verna Golding deeply. The woman was both weak and resilient; she had no desire to fight her tragic fate and shouldered every burden without complaint. No amount of hardship or fatigue could break her. Everyone said the matriarch of the Xavier family had the heart of a saint, but Tang Xiaonan thought the old woman was actually ruthless.

’If the matriarch truly pitied Verna Golding,’ she thought, ’she would have properly disciplined her son and made him go out to work. She also shouldn’t have let her grandson just lock himself away to study, without helping Verna Golding with a single chore.’

Everyone in Xavier Village knew that Clayton Xavier never worked in the fields because the matriarch forbade it. He had tried to go work in the fields a few times, but she always called him back, insisting he focus solely on his studies.

Everyone in Xavier Village thought the matriarch was getting senile. With their family’s landlord background, Clayton couldn’t even attend high school, so university was completely out of the question. It didn’t matter how well he studied; it was useless. Even though the government had recently issued a directive to judge people on talent rather than class background, you still had to pass a political review to get into a university.

Last year, a kid from a landlord family had scored high enough, but he failed the political review and couldn’t go to university. The boy was so angry that he drank pesticide. He was dead before they even got him to the clinic, and his parents cried their eyes out.

That was why everyone in Xavier Village thought Clayton Xavier was wasting his time. He’d be better off facing reality and learning to farm; otherwise, he wouldn’t even be able to feed himself in the future. But the matriarch was incredibly stubborn, Verna Golding had no mind of her own, and it wasn’t anyone else’s place to say much. They just felt it was a pity for Clayton Xavier.

"Grandma, Aunt, I’m full."

Tang Xiaonan was full after just one rice cake. She was having a meal at her grandmother’s house today. Her grandmother and aunt both had wonderful personalities, but they were also quite feisty. As the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together.

"Xiaonan."

Her aunt, Talia Sewell, came running out with a boiled egg and stuffed the warm thing into Tang Xiaonan’s pocket. "You can eat this later if you get hungry."

Talia Sewell had given birth to three sons but never a daughter, and she suspected she never would. That was why she was so fond of the fair, chubby Tang Xiaonan. And now that Tang Xiaonan was so sweet-talking and sensible, Talia liked her even more. Even when Tang Xiaonan didn’t come to her grandparents’ for lunch, Talia would have her son, Armstrong Huxley, bring her a boiled egg.

"Thank you, Aunt."

Tang Xiaonan’s words were sweet as honey. Talia Sewell gently pinched her cheek. ’Daughters are just so dear,’ she thought. ’It’s a pity my own body let me down. Three births, and still no daughter. Sigh!’

She shared the egg with her cousin, Armstrong Huxley. She ate the egg white, and he ate the yolk. Jim Thorne and Amanda Chapman were having lunch at school; they preferred to play with their classmates after eating rather than bother coming over.

The path to school led past the Xavier family’s home. From a distance, she could see Clayton Xavier and Jacqueline Spann standing by the entrance, talking to each other. When Jacqueline Spann noticed Tang Xiaonan approaching, her eyes flickered, and she stopped speaking.

"Mr. Xavier."

Tang Xiaonan called out with a smile, making no move to greet Jacqueline Spann. She was just so annoyed with this supposed "female lead" right now, she simply wasn’t going to acknowledge her.