Chapter 625: The Heartbroken Old Couple

Byron Thorne and Raina hadn’t heard the news yet, but almost half the village had already run over to see the commotion. Meanwhile, Goldie Thorne was still on the road, surrounded by a crowd and bragging his head off.

"Over a thousand yuan! Don’t you go touching it. If you break it, you’ll have to pay for it!"

The curious villagers immediately snatched their hands back, breaking out in a cold sweat. Over a thousand yuan! They wouldn’t be worth that much money even if they were sold off.

"Goldie, you’ve struck it rich! Over a thousand yuan... You’ve really struck it rich!"

"What kind of work are you doing out there, Goldie? Bring us along to get rich, too!"

The villagers were green with envy. They worked themselves to the bone all year just to make three or four hundred yuan, and that was only if the weather was favorable. Most of that money was spent on feeding the family, leaving little to save. Yet here was Goldie Thorne, having easily earned over a thousand yuan. The comparison was enough to make you sick with anger!

"Oh, it’s just something I do on the side. It’s not a lot of money. You all have the truly stable life here in the village. Don’t be like me, I’m just a good-for-nothing!"

Goldie Thorne said with false modesty, filled with self-satisfaction. In the past, everyone in the village had called him a good-for-nothing and looked down on him. ’Hmph, now the tables have turned,’ he thought. ’I have to really show off.’

In reality, the television didn’t cost over a thousand yuan; it was only five hundred fifty. Adrian Hawthorne hadn’t made much of a profit from him, as he would have sold it to anyone else for over seven hundred. Goldie Thorne had been making good money lately. He had originally planned to buy a 14-inch model, but in the end, he decided to bite the bullet and get a 17-inch one. If you were going to show off, you might as well go big. Besides, he could always earn more money.

’Besides, what was the point of earning money if you weren’t going to spend it?’

Goldie Thorne’s philosophy on spending was quite ahead of its time, and the complete opposite of his parents, Byron Thorne and Raina.

Byron Thorne and Raina were completely bewildered. ’A television?’

"Third Grandma, your Goldie has really made something of himself! He brought home a television that cost over a thousand yuan! It’s huge—just like watching a movie!"

Someone ran over, exaggerating as they spoke, and everyone else’s eyes went red with envy. Over a thousand yuan... For them, this was more shocking than it would be for someone in modern times to hear about a person buying a villa for over ten million yuan in cash. The phrase "green with envy" didn’t even begin to capture how they felt.

Raina completely ignored the part about the television. Her attention was fixated on the price: over a thousand yuan. A murderous glint appeared in her eyes and her fists clenched. ’That spendthrift! To think he had over a thousand yuan of his own money stashed away! I’m going to beat that little bastard to death!’

Equally furious, Byron Thorne had already grabbed a broom from the corner, ready to teach Goldie Thorne a bloody lesson.

’Spending over a thousand yuan to bring home some useless thing... That wastrel is asking for a beating!’

Having had his fill of bragging, Goldie Thorne returned home feeling utterly satisfied. He saw that his doorway was packed with people, crowded in layer after layer. But even through the thick crowd, Goldie Thorne could feel the intense, murderous aura radiating from his parents.

’This is bad,’ Goldie Thorne thought, and his first instinct was to flee. But then his eyes landed on the television, and he felt a wave of reassurance. ’With a treasure like this here, Mom and Dad definitely won’t beat me.’

"Let me through!"

Goldie Thorne yelled, and the villagers automatically parted to make way for him. They stared, eyes red with envy, at the television on his cart. The large characters of the brand name on the box were clear as day. He really had struck it rich.

He had just reached the doorway when Byron Thorne’s broom came swinging at him. "You wastrel! Spending so much money on a hunk of metal! Is that money burning a hole in your pocket? I’ll beat you to death, you good-for-nothing!"

Raina also joined the fray, brandishing a feather duster. "I’ll beat you to death, you little troublemaker! Your father and I scrimp and save every penny, and you’re out there living it up! I’ll skin you alive!"