Chapter 645: The Black-bellied Second Brother

"Where did you spend it? You little spendthrift bastard, spending so much money!"

Phoebe Huxley grew even more furious when she heard. He’d actually spent nearly a hundred yuan! It was more painful than carving flesh from her own bones. The little bastard was asking for a beating.

Getting beaten was starting to piss Jim Thorne off. Since he was going to get hit no matter what he said, he stuck his neck out and yelled, "I treated my friends to some food! Grandpa Tate said a real man should make lots of friends and not be stingy."

The corner of Tang Xiaonan’s mouth twitched. ’That’s a pretty good reason,’ she thought, ’but Phoebe Huxley isn’t going to listen. After all, a hundred yuan is a huge sum of money.’

Sure enough, the words had barely left his mouth when fists rained down on him. After a flurry of SMACKS and THUMPS, Felix Thorne and his wife had finally vented some of their anger. They hauled Jim Thorne off to find the money. With a miserable look on his face, Jim saw his second brother gloating on the sidelines and yelled, "Second Brother hid money too! He’s got about two hundred yuan on him!"

’Why should they only confiscate my money? If I’m going down, I’m taking everyone with me! Otherwise, it’s just not fair.’

Patrick Thorne said calmly, "I have less than a hundred yuan on me, and it’s all right here. But I need to buy some gifts to thank Ellie Ashton’s father. This business deal was all thanks to Mr. Ashton’s help. I also need to save some money for study materials."

He pulled a handful of money out of his pocket—a mix of small bills and coins. But in reality, hidden in a pocket in his underwear was another hundred yuan, brand new. It was a roll of ten ten-yuan notes, held together with a rubber band.

Phoebe Huxley was very pleased. Her second son was still the sensible one. He was also a good student, so she never had to worry about him. The most troublesome one was her third son.

"You absolutely should thank Mr. Ashton. He helped you out so much. Second Brother, don’t be stingy. Buy some nice gifts, and we’ll grab a couple of chickens from home, too."

Phoebe Huxley decided to give the Ashton family the two fattest old hens they had, along with some other local specialties. Even that didn’t feel like enough to express her gratitude. After all, the Ashton family had helped them earn enough money for a whole new house.

Patrick Thorne nodded. "I have a plan. We don’t need to buy too much the first time. There’ll be more occasions for gifts in the future."

He was planning on building a long and steady relationship, not just a one-time exchange.

Phoebe Huxley was even more gratified. Her expression softened as she said, "As long as you have a plan, that’s what matters. Just let us know if you need anything."

Then she turned to Jim Thorne, her expression instantly turning stony. She smacked him on the back of the head. "If you were half as sensible as your second brother, I’d be laughing! Now hurry up and get the money!"

Jim Thorne... was furious!

’My second brother is clearly the scheming one, but Mom and Dad can’t see his true colors. It’s infuriating!’

"Second Brother has more than a hundred yuan on him... he’s got more... OW!"

Before Jim Thorne could finish, Felix Thorne smacked him. With a dark expression, he roared, "Your second brother knows how to earn money for the family to buy a house, and what do you do? You get a little money and squander it all on food and drinks! You have the nerve to complain?"

Tang Xiaonan couldn’t bear to watch anymore. ’What a complete blockhead. How can he be so dense?’ The saying "to make a great effort only to get nothing in return" was practically written for her third brother. He handed over the money and still got a beating.

She glanced at the calm and composed Patrick Thorne, filled with secret admiration. ’The most cunning one in this family is definitely my second brother.’ If Patrick hadn’t met with that accident in the book, the Thorne family might never have fallen on such hard times.

Thinking of Patrick Thorne’s tragic fate in the book, Tang Xiaonan’s heart sank. The accident happened when he was fifteen—which was next year. She had to be vigilant and prevent that tragedy from happening.

Jim Thorne was marched into his room, where he pulled out his secret stash of money from under the bed boards. It was a total of one hundred and fifty yuan. The moment he took it out, Phoebe Huxley snatched it away. After counting it three times, her expression finally softened quite a bit.

"Mom, please leave me a little," Jim Thorne pleaded. "I don’t have a single cent left."