Transmigrated as the Villain Boss's Precious Darling-Chapter 145: Are You Well?

"I can also speak the foreigner’s language. Grandpa Tate taught me."

Tang Xiaonan then recited the 26 letters of the English alphabet. Felix Thorne and the others listened, completely baffled. They couldn’t understand a single word. What was this gibberish she was speaking?

Shane Thorne’s eyes, however, lit up. Although he had never studied English in school, he had picked up a few phrases while teaching at Hangzhou Middle School. English was widely taught there. At the time, Shane Thorne taught Chinese literature, and the English teacher was on good terms with him. To be precise, they were drinking buddies.

This was because the two shared common interests—a love for drinking and women.

But even though Shane Thorne was far more handsome than the English teacher, the man was much more popular with the girls. It was all because he could speak a foreign language, wore a suit and tie, and would recite Pushkin’s silly poems to them in English. ’Hmph, it didn’t sound like much to me,’ Shane thought, ’but those women were completely smitten.’ The English teacher captured the girls’ hearts without spending a single cent.

While Shane Thorne despised the English teacher’s methods, he was also green with envy. After identifying the root of the problem, he resolved to learn English. But despite being a brilliant scholar, his tongue was too stiff, and he only managed to learn a few everyday phrases. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

The moment he heard Tang Xiaonan’s pronunciation, he knew the little girl had a nimble tongue. In the words of that English teacher from back then, someone with a tongue like that could learn even gibberish faster than others.

"Not bad... Very good indeed... Xiaonan has a gift for languages."

Shane Thorne nodded repeatedly, his gaze as soft and sweet as spun sugar—even more loving than when he looked at his own grandson. The old man had a soft spot for smart children who were good at their studies. Unfortunately, none of his own children or grandchildren had inherited his academic talent.

In fact, for generations, besides Shane Thorne himself, the Thorne family hadn’t produced another descendant with stunning academic achievements. Frederick Thorne had barely made it through high school and failed his university entrance exams. His performance was average, but he clearly wasn’t cut out for academia. Even so, Frederick was the most educated of his generation in the Thorne family. The rest had mostly not even finished elementary school, and like Jim Thorne, they scored in the single digits on tests and simply couldn’t get the hang of studying.

Shane Thorne was deeply heartbroken by this. He was worldly and knew that a good education was the only way to leave the mountains. He himself had already gotten out once, but due to misfortune, he had no choice but to return.

But none of the younger generation had managed to test their way out. Although they could live peaceful and happy lives farming on Millstone Peak, they were all mediocre talents. Shane Thorne didn’t want his kinsmen to fade away into the river of time. Ordinary clan members didn’t even deserve to have their names recorded in the family genealogy. If things continued like this, the Thornes’ family records couldn’t even be compiled anymore.

Besides, the Thornes had once had their moment of glory. During the previous dynasty, they had produced a Palace Graduate who had even been interviewed before the emperor himself. It was only after producing this esteemed scholar that the Thornes started keeping a family genealogy, which had been passed down to this day. But in the two hundred years that followed, they had only produced a few County Graduates, and now, they couldn’t even manage that.

Shane Thorne worried that after he died, there would be no one left to maintain the genealogy. Now, he finally saw a glimmer of hope. His grandniece, Tang Xiaonan, had talent!

’It’s a pity she’s a girl, but it’s better than nothing!’

Tang Xiaonan felt Shane Thorne’s affectionate gaze and immediately grew smug. She straightened her back, her expression full of pride.

’Hmph, I’m not that stupid Tang Xiaonan anymore! That’ll show the author!’

"Can you speak it in conversation?" Shane Thorne asked kindly.

Tang Xiaonan nodded. "A few phrases."

"How do you say, ’How are you’?"

Shane Thorne wanted to test the little girl. He didn’t know much himself, just a few lines of daily conversation.