Phoenix Golding's family was the last to arrive. The village entrance was already packed with people, everyone having brought their whole families along—the old and the young had all come. This concerned a matter of great importance to the livelihood of the entire village, so everyone was far more enthusiastic than they were for study sessions. They all wanted to know who the damn snitch was.
"The village chief said it's someone from our own village. Which rotten bastard did such a wicked thing?"
"People like that just can't stand to see others do well. Nowadays, whose family *isn't* over the quota? Sons need to get married, daughters need to be married off. If you don't raise an extra pig, how can you afford the wedding banquet? It would've been fine if we just kept it to ourselves, but no, this wretched scoundrel had to go and report it. They're deliberately trying to stop us folks at Millstone Peak from living a good life!"
