Chapter 348: Chapter 348: Crying Injustice
"Beat her to death!"
Everyone was shouting, and the scene was descending into chaos. The crowd pressed forward, a disorganized jumble of bodies.
Phoenix Golding’s face went pale with fright. She never imagined that a simple report would infuriate the villagers this much. She couldn’t comprehend the source of their anger and was convinced the Thorne family had instigated it.
"I didn’t report anything! Uncle Preston, you’ve got it all wrong! I really didn’t do it!"
Phoenix Golding cried out her innocence, a look of grievance on her face. She and Jacqueline Spann had the same thought: ’Preston Thorne must be bluffing.’ She hadn’t gone to Team Leader Lowell directly. The school district’s vice-principal, Old Jacobs, had been the one to call him. She hadn’t shown her face at all, so how could anyone know she was the one who made the report?
"Still trying to argue? If it wasn’t you, then who was it? You’re the most shameless person on all of Millstone Peak. It couldn’t have been anyone else!" Phoebe Huxley shouted.
Raina chimed in, "Nobody in the village knew my family was raising rabbits! Only your family knew! Who else would do something so despicable?"
The others all nodded in agreement. "We really didn’t know Third Grandma was raising rabbits," they chorused.
The woman who had thrown the shoe added, "I live right next to Third Grandma, and even I had no idea."
Raina continued, "My Jim caught those little rabbits on the mountain. They were too small to eat, so we thought we’d raise them until they were bigger. We didn’t tell a soul. Who knew this bitch would get jealous and report us? To pull such a vile stunt—the kind of thing that’ll make you birth a son with no asshole! The work group came to investigate twice, and each time they asked me if anyone else in the village was raising livestock. Both times, I said no!"
"My mother knows exactly who in the village is raising a few pigs or a few chickens, and she keeps her mouth shut!" Phoebe Huxley chimed in. "She didn’t rat anyone out. We all live in the same village. How could you stab your neighbors in the back? Is that even something a human being would do?"
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were perfectly in sync, one picking up right where the other left off. The villagers’ faces filled with gratitude. The Thorne family might be a bit domineering, but they were loyal. They had been backstabbed themselves, yet they hadn’t sold out their fellow villagers. Now *that* was true integrity!
In comparison, a petty person like Phoenix Golding seemed all the more despicable and shameless. Just looking at her made people want to beat her up.
Raina and Phoebe Huxley exchanged a knowing glance. Their words had, of course, been coached by an expert—Shane Thorne. This approach both exposed Phoenix Golding and put the villagers in their debt. It was, as they say, killing two birds with one stone.
"I didn’t know Uncle Byron’s family was raising rabbits either. None of you knew, so how could I? I go to school every day; I don’t know what’s going on in the village," Phoenix Golding retorted slyly.
The villagers hesitated again. That did make some sense. If none of them knew, how would Phoenix Golding have found out?
"You might not know, but your daughter does!" Phoebe Huxley roared.
Tang Xiaonan gave Felix Thorne a firm pat on the head. Felix took a few steps forward, holding Amanda Chapman by the hand. Tang Xiaonan then shouted, "When my cousin and I were cutting grass on the mountain, Jacqueline Spann was eavesdropping at the bottom of the slope! She found out our family was raising rabbits!"
"That’s right! That shameless girl was eavesdropping like a thief! If she hadn’t yelped when a thorn pricked her, I never would’ve known someone was down there!" Amanda Chapman shrieked. But being so small, she lacked an intimidating presence.
Felix Thorne picked up Amanda Chapman, who repeated her accusation in a louder voice. The villagers all turned to look at Jacqueline Spann, who was standing in a corner. They hadn’t expected her to be involved. Eavesdropping so sneakily certainly wasn’t the behavior of an upstanding person and didn’t match the praise Jacqueline Spann usually received for being so virtuous and capable.
Jacqueline Spann’s fair face flushed bright red with a mixture of anger and shame. Her eyes welled with tears as she choked back a sob to defend herself. "I didn’t hear a word you said! I was at the bottom of the slope picking herbs the whole time. I had no idea you were up there! Don’t you dare make such baseless accusations!"
