Chapter 600: Jim Thorne’s Revenge

They spent over a week in Capria, and with Ellie Ashton’s cousin as their guide, they managed to visit all the city’s sights, big and small. They took a ton of photos. Ellie’s photography skills were quite professional. According to her, her paternal aunt’s husband was a professional photographer who had given her a lot of pointers.

Over the past few days, Ellie Ashton had talked about her relatives. She came from a large family, and most importantly, her father’s side was anything but ordinary—the type to be either wealthy or influential. Her mother’s side was likely just a regular family, since her maternal grandparents were from Clearspring Township, a place that had never produced anyone particularly remarkable.

Ellie Ashton took the most pictures of Clayton Xavier and Tang Xiaonan. Clayton didn’t like having his photo taken, but Ellie was so persistent that he had no choice but to go along with it, as he wasn’t the type of person who was used to saying ’no’.

Over the past week, Patrick Thorne had shot so many glares at Clayton Xavier that he’d lost count. Clayton was completely baffled, having no idea what he had done to make Patrick angry.

Tang Xiaonan didn’t go out to play every single day. She took a few days off to watch videotapes with a certain adult who was bored out of his mind—none other than Mad Lord.

She thought Mad Lord liked watching videotapes, and he thought she liked watching them. Due to this strange twist of fate, the two of them ended up watching videos together. Mad Lord had someone get new movies from Port Krol, and of course, they were all completely respectable films, so there wouldn’t be a repeat of last time’s embarrassing mistake.

The big one and the little one watched until their eyes glazed over. However, Tang Xiaonan would get sleepy after one movie at most and then fall sound asleep. Watching the chubby little girl sleeping on her back with her limbs splayed out, drool trickling from her mouth, Mad Lord felt a strange sense of peace. He would lie down on the other end of the sofa and fall asleep too. Just like with Felix Thorne, having Tang Xiaonan sleeping nearby greatly improved his sleep quality, and even his dark circles had faded significantly.

It was time to leave again. Mad Lord was reluctant to see her go, but he would never show it. On the day Tang Xiaonan left, Mad Lord didn’t even show his face, having Will take them to the station instead. As usual, he sent them off with a pile of gifts: things to eat, to wear, and to play with.

"Uncle Will, please thank Uncle for me. I’ll come visit him again next time." Tang Xiaonan was also a little sad to leave. Affection grew with time, and she had grown quite fond of Mad Lord. ’That’s why I have to change his fate,’ she thought. ’In a few years, I’ll convince him to get out of the game, turn his business legitimate, and stop all this smuggling.’

"Go on now. Come see the Boss when you have a chance."

Will sighed, a sad look on his face. ’The Boss probably won’t be able to have his own kids in this lifetime, and he won’t let me just snatch the little girl for him. Sigh... what’s the use of seeing her just a few times a year? If it were up to me, I’d just bring her over here for good. How great would that be?’

A flicker of understanding crossed Ellie Ashton’s eyes, making her even more certain that Tang Xiaonan and Mad Lord were father and daughter. ’Look how heartbroken they are to part,’ she thought. ’He’s so sad he can’t even get out of bed. The poor man.’

Adrian Hawthorne had no idea there was another person on the same train as him—the beautiful woman with the surname Shen. She would be getting off at Tristone, and her carriage was just one away from his.

"I’m going to get some hot water and let it cool down before we drink it."

Jim Thorne took two enamel mugs to get some hot water. At the same time, the woman also came to get water, just a step behind him. He filled the two mugs with boiling water, and when he turned around, he saw her. An inexplicable rage welled up inside him.

’Damn it,’ he thought. ’I can’t stand vixens like her.’

A malicious impulse took hold of Jim Thorne, and he deliberately bumped into her. Before the woman could even react, a sharp pain shot through her body. Most of the water from the two boiling-hot mugs had spilled onto her arm. She was wearing a short-sleeved dress, and her right arm was scalded a frightening red. It looked painful just to see.

"I’m sorry... I... I didn’t mean to... This is my first time on a train, I lost my footing..."

With a look of sheer terror on his face, Jim Thorne perfectly played the part of a clueless country bumpkin on his first trip out into the world. The other passengers had been about to scold him, but when they saw he was just a kid from the countryside, they couldn’t bring themselves to do it.