Chapter 709: Famished Dollar

Karen Ford looked thoughtful. Although she acted old beyond her years, she was willing to listen to reason. Still, she felt her mother was wrong. ’How can the countryside be so different from the city? Aren’t they all just people?’

"Fine, tell him. I’m sure Grandpa will support me too."

Karen Ford’s tone softened a little, and Claire Jacobs breathed a sigh of relief. Her father, while an upright and incorruptible judge, wasn’t inflexible. A truly excellent judge wasn’t an emotionless robot, but one who considered the actual circumstances to deliver a verdict that best suited the local conditions.

Her father was just such an excellent judge. During his decades on the bench, he was honored as a model worker every year and had handled countless cases. She still remembered from her childhood, when her father worked at a local court, that if some defendants and plaintiffs lived in extremely remote mountain villages with poor access, her father would take a clerk and travel by bicycle over mountains and across rivers to hold the trial right in their village.

Furthermore, for many cases, her father would conduct investigations in the villages themselves and make rulings based on the practical circumstances, leaving both the defendant and plaintiff genuinely convinced by the outcome. That was a truly good judge, not some unfeeling robot who only applied the letter of the law with a one-size-fits-all approach.

"Give me the fabric."

Karen Ford held out her hand again, staring intently at Claire Jacobs. She wasn’t about to let her mother pull any fast ones right under her nose.

The corner of Claire Jacobs’s mouth twitched, but she obediently handed the fabric to Karen Ford, casting a few more longing glances at it. ’It really is a fine piece of material. It would make a beautiful coat. What a shame.’

’Was I too naughty as a child? Is that why heaven sent me such a little taskmaster of a daughter to keep me in line?’

Sigh!

Tang Xiaonan and the others left the hospital, carrying Dollar. With the wire that had been wrapped around his neck removed, Dollar was much more energetic. The moment they were out of the hospital, he began to whine and struggle in Jim Thorne’s arms, as if he wanted to be let down.

"Where are you going? Get back here!"

Jim Thorne’s grip loosened for just a moment, and Dollar leaped down and took off. He hurried after the dog, while Adrian Hawthorne followed behind, holding Tang Xiaonan’s hand.

Dollar didn’t run far. He stopped in front of a steamed bun stall, squatting down to wait with his tongue hanging out as he stared eagerly.

"Get that dog out of here! You’re blocking my customers," the stall owner shouted at Jim Thorne, clearly annoyed. A few of the more timid customers wouldn’t come closer after seeing Dollar, and it was hurting his business.

Ever since the government relaxed its policies, more and more people had started setting up stalls in the city. All one had to do was get a sole proprietorship license from the Bureau of Industry and Commerce to operate legally. There were three breakfast stalls right at the hospital entrance, and all of them were doing excellent business.

"I’m buying some buns."

Jim Thorne pulled out some money, and the owner’s expression immediately softened. "What kind of filling would you like?"

"Meat buns, of course! Give me ten!"

Jim Thorne ordered with a flourish. In his eyes, what was the point of a bun without meat? All those vegetable, shiitake, and dried greens fillings were just plain vegetables to him. Nothing beat the aroma of a real meat bun.

The owner’s smile grew even more benevolent. He wouldn’t have minded if ten more Dollars had come along. In business, after all, a pleasant attitude is key to making a profit.

When Adrian Hawthorne and Tang Xiaonan walked over, they saw Dollar wolfing down the steamed buns. He looked absolutely famished. One bite took down half a bun; a second bite, and it was gone completely.

"Eat slower, don’t choke."

Jim Thorne advised with a grin from the sidelines. ’As long as he’s eating, it’s a good sign.’ Dollar paid him no mind; he was starving, and the buns were far more important.

Tang Xiaonan finally felt at ease. She crouched down to stroke Dollar’s fur. ’Poor thing,’ she thought, ’he must have been starving.’

"You kids these days... feeding perfectly good buns to a dog. What a waste of food!"

Feeding a dog meat buns on the street was quite the spectacle in those days. Before long, a crowd had gathered, and some of the older onlookers, unable to bear the sight, started to criticize them openly.