Chapter 649: Regret

Phoenix Golding was unhappy. "I only bought it three years ago and barely used it. It’s practically new—it should be worth at least one-fifty."

"They’re only willing to pay one hundred. You don’t have a single penny right now. Sell it to get through this rough patch. You can always buy another one when you have money later. Just look at yourself. What man would want you like this? Once you’ve cleaned yourself up and made yourself pretty again, I’ll find a good man for you."

Linden’s mother held up a mirror. Phoenix Golding saw the old, ugly woman in the reflection and shut her eyes in fear. ’How did I end up looking like this?’

"Sell it."

Phoenix Golding finally relented. Her mother was right. She had to get her health back before she could find a good man. She was still young; she couldn’t just sit at home and wait to die. ’I will make a comeback,’ she thought.

The two of them chatted for a bit, and Linden’s mother brought up the Thorne family’s recent good fortune, her tone dripping with envy. "They bought a big television, said it cost over a thousand yuan. Every night, a whole crowd goes to their house to watch it. Hmph. It’s like the Thornes have bought off the whole village."

Phoenix Golding gritted her teeth in hatred. The more prosperous the Thorne family became, the more she despised them. She blamed them for her current misery. A spark of life returned to her as she said hatefully, "It’s just a fleeting moment of glory. Just you wait. Their luck will run out sooner or later. Once I’m better..."

She couldn’t finish her sentence. Linden’s mother was still holding up the mirror. Seeing her own haggard, aged face, Phoenix Golding’s confidence suddenly vanished, replaced by a wave of despair.

’Look at the state I’m in now,’ she thought. ’No job, no beauty, no reputation, and my health is ruined. What do I have left to fight the Thorne family with?’

Linden’s mother, however, was full of regret. "If I’d known, we never should have had a falling out with the Thorne family. You don’t know, but that bastard from the Hawthorne family has made a comeback. I heard he has rich relatives in Tristone and connections to get cheap fabric. The Hawthornes are a big deal now. The whole village is trying to curry favor with them. That wretched Phoebe Huxley is over there pedaling a sewing machine every day. She can make a whole yuan a day!"

Adrian Hawthorne had warned Phoebe Huxley and the others not to tell anyone their real wages. They were only to say they earned one yuan a day. Preston Thorne and the others had also warned their families that no matter who asked, they should stick to the one-yuan story and add that the work wasn’t even available every day. Jealousy was everywhere, and when people turned malicious, they could be more venomous than vipers. It was a necessary precaution.

Even so, the villagers were green with envy. They could work themselves to death in the fields and not make a yuan a day, all while being exposed to the wind and sun. Pedaling a sewing machine, on the other hand, meant sitting indoors, sheltered from the elements. It wasn’t even physically demanding. Earning a yuan seemed so easy.

However, Preston Thorne had also made it clear that to do this work, you had to provide your own sewing machine. Anyone with a sewing machine could do it. But that was a high bar to clear. Only a few families in the village owned one, and they were all working for the Hawthornes now—all except for Phoenix Golding.

Linden’s mother sighed. "The village chief said anyone with a sewing machine can do the work. A yuan a day... If we hadn’t had a falling out with the Thorne family, you could have..."

Though her mother didn’t finish, Phoenix Golding understood perfectly. Her heart filled with a mixture of regret and resentment. How was she to know that bastard from the Hawthorne family would actually have his day? And those shameless bastards from the Thorne family... they never used to give the Hawthorne mother and son the time of day. Then, after the New Year, for some crazy reason, they suddenly started getting close to them. And now they were reaping all the benefits.

"That Hawthorne bastard is a fool, too. The Thorne family used to be the worst bullies to him and his mother. They show him a little kindness and he’s suddenly eternally grateful. What a pathetic bootlicker!" Phoenix Golding cursed, furious.