Chapter 746: Maternal Grandfather’s Romantic Affair

Mrs. Green took them to the market to buy groceries. Since it was the middle of the month, she brought along all the family’s remaining meat and fish tickets. It wasn’t much—just one ticket for a pound of meat and another for a pound of fish. Their entire monthly ration was only two pounds of meat and two pounds of fish, but thanks to Mrs. Green’s meticulous planning, they could almost always manage to have meat or fish on the table every week.

This month, however, she wasn’t planning on being so frugal. She wanted to give her daughter a proper welcome. They hadn’t seen each other in nearly ten years, and Mrs. Green wished she could prepare a magnificent feast for her: fried hairtail fish, pan-fried eel, braised pork belly, sweet and sour pork tenderloin, boiled shrimp, white-cut chicken... These were all her daughter’s favorites. Unfortunately, you couldn’t get them now even if you had the money. All she could manage was some fried hairtail fish and braised pork belly.

"Mom, don’t buy the meat. Just getting some hairtail fish is fine," Rosalind Green protested. She knew how important those two pounds of ration tickets were to the family. If they ate it all in one meal, they wouldn’t have any more meat until next month.

"Don’t you worry about it. I know what I’m doing."

Mrs. Green insisted, refusing to be persuaded. She bought a pound of pork belly and a pound of hairtail fish, along with some fresh seasonal vegetables. Mrs. Green smiled and said, "Let’s go home."

Rosalind Green watched her mother, puzzled. She felt her mother was different from before. Especially when she was around her father, her mother’s attitude was clearly much firmer than it used to be, and she spoke with more of an edge.

"Mom, are you and Dad okay?"

On the way home, Rosalind Green and her mother chatted as they walked. Adrian Hawthorne followed behind them, carrying the grocery basket and listening in on his mom and grandma’s conversation.

"What could be wrong with us? We’re getting on in years."

Though that’s what Mrs. Green said, a cold smile played on her lips, making it obvious that things were not fine. Rosalind Green pressed her with a few more questions before her mother finally relented. "It’s nothing, really. It’s just about that sister of yours. A few years ago, she wanted to come and live with us, and your dad and I got into a huge fight over it.

The neighborhood committee director and the women’s federation director both came to mediate. It made me finally see the light. This is a new society now; we women can no longer live our lives just swallowing our pride and suffering in silence. I used to put your dad on a pedestal. Now I don’t give him the time of day, and life is much more comfortable."

Adrian Hawthorne’s steps faltered for a moment. ’Sounds like that aunt of mine isn’t my grandma’s biological daughter. Looks like Grandpa was quite the philanderer.’

’Why can’t men control themselves?’

’His own father was like that. His grandpa was even worse. Then there was old Shane Thorne, who couldn’t keep it in his pants even at his age. And Felix Thorne—while he hadn’t actually done anything wrong, he was always pining for Phoenix Golding. As for Storm Xavier, he was just a piece of trash.’

’It seemed like eight or nine out of ten of the older men he knew were cheaters. It was pathetic. But there were good ones, too, like Old Master Tate and Second Uncle Tang. They were completely devoted to their wives.’

’In the future, he’d either not get married at all, or if he did, he would have to be completely devoted, loyal, and responsible to his family. Otherwise, what right would he have to call himself a man?’

Still, Adrian Hawthorne wasn’t particularly fixated on getting married. He much preferred the thrill of making money; being single was perfectly fine, too. Besides, he really had no idea what kind of girl he would even like. It seemed... there weren’t many who caught his eye.

Suddenly, a chubby, round face appeared in his mind’s eye, grinning at him and revealing a large gap in its teeth. Adrian Hawthorne curled his lip in distaste. But inwardly, he was already making plans: ’Tomorrow, I’ll buy some malted milk and White Rabbit candy and go visit Mad Lord and his friends. Since I ran into them, I might as well pay them a visit.’

"You mean the sister born to Dad’s concubine? Didn’t she get married off along with her mother? They made an agreement back then, so why is she trying to come back now?" Rosalind Green’s voice was edged with anxiety.

Adrian Hawthorne froze. ’So Mom knows about Grandpa’s affairs.’