Chapter 695: Dollar’s Strange Illness

"I’m just trying to discuss it with you! You have to act fast to snap up a good young man. What if someone else snatches him away?" Phoebe Huxley retorted.

"Adrian is only twelve! Whose son gets engaged at twelve? I think you’ve lost your mind!"

Felix Thorne’s face darkened as he shot back. He didn’t want to discuss the topic anymore. Even if the boy in question was Adrian Hawthorne, he wasn’t happy about his daughter getting married off so early. ’Once a woman gets married, her comfortable, carefree life is over.’ He wanted to keep his daughter with him for a few more years.

"Hurry up and get dinner started. Make that fish head and tofu soup. Tang Xiaonan loves it," Felix Thorne ordered.

Phoebe Huxley pouted, but she scooped a bighead carp from the water tank and deftly began to clean it. School would be out in a few days, and when her two oldest children returned, she would stew a chicken. The thought of her four missing laying hens made her angry all over again, and she muttered a few curses. ’Damn thief, I hope you choke to death on your next meal!’

Dollar seemed a little better, so Tang Xiaonan finally had the appetite to eat dinner. She drank a bowl of the fish soup poured over rice. Before she went to bed, Adrian Hawthorne came over again. He and Tang Xiaonan fed the leftover bone broth to Dollar.

But Adrian Hawthorne couldn’t figure it out. ’Dollar clearly wants to eat. His eyes are saying he’s hungry, but he just can’t get it down. What kind of strange illness is this?’

"We’ll see how he is tomorrow."

Adrian Hawthorne stroked Dollar’s fur. The dog licked his hand gently. His spirits seemed a little higher, but he was still weak. He hadn’t eaten all day, having only managed a bowl of bone broth.

But two days passed, and Dollar showed no improvement. He could only take some meat broth, and even then, it had to be fed to him bit by bit; he couldn’t drink on his own at all. After three days without solid food, Dollar had visibly lost weight, and his coat had lost its shine. He looked worse and worse.

Tang Xiaonan was so anxious she was practically running in circles. ’At this rate, Dollar will starve to death!’ But the veterinarian from Dusklight Village was still helping a cow give birth. Apparently, the mother cow was having a difficult labor, and there was no telling when the calf would be born. Dollar probably couldn’t wait that long.

Adrian Hawthorne had planned to go into the city on business, but he stayed behind for Dollar. He was afraid he might not see the dog’s final moments. Adrian Hawthorne’s affection for the dog was no less than Tang Xiaonan’s, and he was just as heartbroken.

"What are you trying to say? Can you tell me? Please?"

Adrian Hawthorne picked up the limp Dollar. The dog licked his hand and let its head rest weakly against him. The poor thing couldn’t say a word.

"Let’s take him to the hospital. Otherwise, Dollar’s going to die. He’s going to die..."

Tears streamed down Tang Xiaonan’s face. ’If Dollar dies, this New Year will be ruined. Next year will be ruined, too.’

"There aren’t any hospitals that treat animals. Once that calf is born in a few days, your dad will go get the vet. Don’t cry," Phoebe Huxley said, comforting her daughter.

"Dollar is suffering so much! He can’t wait!" Tang Xiaonan didn’t want to wait. She wanted to take Dollar to the People’s Hospital, but she was afraid the doctors would just throw them out.

"We’re going to the hospital. Let’s go. Right now."

Adrian Hawthorne agreed that a trip to the hospital was necessary. He picked up Dollar, ready to head to the town clinic.

Phoebe Huxley was helpless to stop them. She grumbled, "They’ll definitely throw you out. Taking an animal to a doctor... they’ll chew you out!"

Jim Thorne sat in the back holding Dollar, with Tang Xiaonan in the front. The three of them and the dog headed for the town clinic. Just as Phoebe Huxley had predicted, the moment the doctor heard they were there for a dog, his expression changed instantly. If it weren’t for his professionalism, he probably would have tried to hit them.

"Go home right now. Stop causing trouble here."

The doctor irritably tried to shoo them away. Tang Xiaonan pleaded, "Sir, Dollar is very sick! He hasn’t eaten in three days, and he throws up everything he eats. Please, just take a look at him. I’m begging you!"