Chapter 349: Chapter 349: Walls Have Ears
Vernon Spann also shouted, "Don’t you Thornes throw your weight around! You can’t take the word of two little girls as gospel. Besides, how do you know no one else in the village knew you were raising rabbits? Of course everyone’s going to say they knew nothing now. Even if they did, they wouldn’t admit it!"
Jacqueline Spann lowered her head and began to sob softly, looking utterly pitiful. The villagers shifted uncomfortably. After all, Jacqueline was only ten years old; they couldn’t bring themselves to assume the worst of a child.
"It was Jacqueline Spann! This isn’t the first time she’s done something bad. She helped Ulysses Spann steal my meat before! She’s just as bad as her mother!" Nancy Thorne’s chubby little face was flushed red with anger.
The villagers couldn’t help but chuckle, but they didn’t take the words of a six-year-old like Nancy Thorne seriously. A childish squabble was a minor thing, incomparable to a serious matter like filing a formal report.
Preston Thorne’s voice boomed from the stage again, the loudspeaker drowning out the commotion. "Quiet, everyone! I’ve already gotten to the bottom of this. It was Phoenix Golding who made the report. She has a lot of connections in the administration—I won’t name names—but my investigation was very thorough. I’ll stake my reputation on it. And it’s because of Phoenix Golding that we’ve been assigned the notoriously difficult Comrade Yang."
Preston Thorne paused before continuing, "Comrade Yang is exceptionally dedicated. She once held a record for conducting fifteen consecutive stakeouts. In fact, she already paid a quiet visit to our village a few days ago. I can’t guarantee she won’t do so again in the future. In short, this Comrade Yang is meticulous, goes strictly by the book, and isn’t afraid of a little hardship. Wind, rain—nothing stops her. She’s the kind of good comrade who won’t quit until she gets what she’s after."
To the villagers, this lavish praise for Comrade Yang automatically translated to—
’Comrade Yang is completely unreasonable and vindictive. She’s impossible to deal with, a total nightmare. Once she sets her sights on a village, she latches on like a leech and you can’t shake her off. Nothing, not wind or rain, can stop her. We here at Millstone Peak must have drawn the shortest straw for eighteen lifetimes to attract a demon like her!’
The villagers’ gazes on Phoenix Golding shifted once more, now burning with rage. ’An open attack is easy to dodge, but a hidden arrow is impossible to defend against.’ Who could possibly stand guard at the village entrance every single day, waiting for that demon Yang? What if she launched another surprise raid? What would happen to their chickens, ducks, and pigs?
"It really wasn’t me! I don’t know anyone in the administration... I didn’t report it..." Phoenix Golding looked panicked, her face slick with sweat. She had the obvious look of a guilty conscience, and her words were so feeble that not even a child would have believed them.
But she was still clinging to a sliver of hope. ’I didn’t approach anyone directly,’ she thought. ’There’s no way Preston Thorne could have traced this back to me. He must be bluffing to scare me.’
But Phoenix Golding had underestimated Preston Thorne’s capabilities, as well as the power of local gossip. The whole town had long known about her little affair. It was just that no one wanted to be the one to stick their neck out and make enemies, so they kept their mouths shut. With Preston Thorne determined to look into it, of course the truth would come out.
Phoenix Golding thought she had been perfectly discreet, but she failed to realize one simple truth: once a third person is involved, how can anything stay secret? Only the dead tell no tales.
Preston Thorne laid out the details of his recent investigation with perfect clarity. His authority on Millstone Peak was absolute, so of course, no one doubted his word. The villagers were filled with righteous indignation.
Phoebe Huxley shouted, "No wonder a brainless hussy like her could secure a permanent position! So, you hooked up with a big shot, did you? Got yourself a powerful backer and now you look down on the good people of Millstone Peak! You want to make an example out of us to score points for yourself!"
