Chapter 336: Chapter 336: The Work Group Has Indeed Arrived
Preston Thorne was startled and kept shaking his head. "Absolutely not. There’s no way anyone is raising rabbits. It must be a malicious rumor."
Comrade Hu looked at him with a cryptic smile. "We’ll know if it’s a rumor once we take a look. These are strict orders from Team Leader Lowell. Don’t bother telling me, Captain Thorne. It’s useless. Team Leader Lowell even sent Comrade Yang down for this."
He jutted his chin toward Comrade Yang, who was walking briskly up ahead. Preston Thorne’s heart sank. ’They’re determined to make an example out of Millstone Peak. But which family is actually raising rabbits?’
"Comrade Hu, do you know which family the informant named?"
"Byron Thorne. He’s your cousin." Comrade Hu was happy enough to grant him this small favor.
’After all, with Yang playing the bad cop, there was no need for me to make any enemies.’
The color drained from Preston Thorne’s face as his mind immediately jumped to conspiracy. ’It must have been those bastards from the Golding family. Our own people would never do something so vile. Damn it! When I find that scumbag, I’ll make them regret it!’
"My cousin, Byron, has always been a law-abiding citizen. He would never violate policy. Someone must have filed a false report."
In his heart, Preston Thorne wasn’t confident at all, but he had to sound certain. What made it a real pain was that there was no time to even send a warning. On the surface, Preston Thorne appeared relatively calm, but inside, he was frantic, secretly praying the Thorne family didn’t actually have any rabbits.
Nina Thorne had been on edge the whole time, thinking about the work team. ’For them to suddenly show up in the village like this can’t be good news.’
Amanda Chapman poured the fresh grass into the rabbit hutch. The six rabbits began to eat with relish. CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH. The sound was like falling rain, and she found it rather pleasant.
"Eat up. I’ll be braising you all for dinner soon enough."
Amanda Chapman smiled as she scattered the grass. ’In my eyes, these six rabbits are six pots of fragrant, delicious meat. And they can have baby rabbits, which will grow up and have more baby rabbits... on and on. We’ll be able to eat meat every day!’
Nina Thorne suddenly slapped her forehead and shouted to Amanda, "Amanda, put the rabbits in a basket! Quick!"
She ran outside, grabbed a large basket, lined it with a handful of grass, and reached in to grab the rabbits.
"Nina, what are you doing?"
"Just hurry, Amanda! I’ll explain later."
Nina frantically managed to grab two of the rabbits. Amanda, much more nimble, caught the remaining four in no time. They stuffed them all into the basket and secured the lid.
"Amanda, take the rabbits and hide up on the mountain! Quick! If you run into anyone, just say you’re going to cut grass!"
Still bewildered, Amanda Chapman slung the basket onto her back and left. Nina threw all the grass from the rabbit hutch into the chicken coop, then grabbed a shovel to clear the droppings into the vegetable patch. But the shovel was too long for her, and she almost hit herself with it. She had no choice but to go find Raina for help.
"Where are the rabbits?"
Raina was bewildered, too. ’What on earth is my granddaughter doing, acting so strange?’
"Grandma, the work team from town is here! I had Amanda take the rabbits up the mountain. You have to shovel up the droppings, quick!"
"Let them come. What’s there to be afraid of? The work team is always coming down to the village to scrounge for a free meal. You’re making a mountain out of a molehill, you little girl." Raina was completely unconcerned, showing no fear of the work team whatsoever.
After much pleading, Nina finally coaxed her grandmother into shoveling the droppings. Meanwhile, Amanda had barely stepped out the door when she ran into Preston Thorne, Comrade Hu, and the other man. Though she didn’t recognize the latter two, the fact that Preston Thorne himself was escorting these strangers meant they could only be the comrades from the work team.
Quick-witted, Amanda ducked behind a tree, not daring to move a muscle. She inwardly marveled at her cousin’s brilliant foresight. ’If we’d been even a moment later, we’d have lost our rabbit meat, and Grandpa and Grandma would have been fined and reprimanded.’
