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" Oh there is no need," Mother Lin was a bit awkward while talking with Old Madam Shen, she had heard about the maternal family of Su Wan but she had no idea how to act with them, should she apologise for buying their granddaughter or should she thank them for letting her sons stay married to her sons, she had heard about the Shen family and knew that if they wanted to take Su Wan away from her sons, they could have done that with ease, they had both the money and the power to do so.
Thus, when she heard Old Madam Shen mention gifts, she blushed in embarrassment and said, " Wan Wan being married to our family is good enough, she has been our lucky charm from the day she stepped inside our house. My sons' lives have gotten better and better and I cannot ask for anything more than that."
When Old Madam Shen saw that Mother Lin was an honest woman, she heaved a sigh of relief. Even though she had never heard anything bad about Mother Lin from Su Wan's mouth, she was still a bit worried after all what kind of mother in law leave her pregnant daughter-in-law behind all alone, though she understood that Mother Lin did not know that Su Wan was pregnant before leaving but still… somewhere she was a bit upset with the attitude of her while munching on the fermented century egg which she was holding in her free hand. Lin Yan looked at his wife who was eating in-laws.
However now that she was talking with Mother Lin and Father Lin, she realised that they were simple people and did not have much thoughts which put her heart at ease, even Shen Junxi's smile turned a bit sincere.
On the other hand, Su Wan had no idea that her grandmother had put her in-laws on the test already, she was sipping on tea leisurely while munching on the fermented century egg which she was holding in her free hand. Lin Yan looked at his wife who was eating the century egg and hoped that the one in her belly comes out a bit less chubby than all the eggs that she had eaten till now.
" Wan Wan, have you heard about the Great Ocean City?" Lin Rui asked since they were busy, Lin Rui could not tell a lot of things about the territory where they were going, he only told bits and pieces to Su Wan who listened carefully while trying to get the rest of the information from books.
" I have read a little about the place," confessed Su Wan as the carriage drove past the town that was bustling with the crowd and then started to drive past the paths that were covered with forest, trees and wide clearing. " The book I read all said the same thing, that the ocean city has a tragic lifestyle. They fish a lot of things out of the ocean but most of the things that they catch are not edible and the things that are edible, they cannot be sold for much money."
She paused and then added, " And because of the soil being not suitable for farming they can not grow a lot of things in that place leaving them to rely on the grains that are brought from the other cities which further caused them to be under a pile of debts."
Lin Rui nodded after he was done listening to Su Wan's words and said, " You are right but the territory is more than that, it's said that the place is covered with bandits and thieves but if you ask me there are even more terrible things living around that territory, I have heard that the village outside the territory which was given to us comprises of human traffickers, and they are really good with their hands. Because they have sticky fingers they can steal children and women who are unmarried with ease and then sell them to make sure that they have a stable income."
When Su Wan heard this, her brows furrowed even more. This was not written in the book.
Seeing what was going on in her head, Lin Rui smiled and then said, " Of course, no one will write such a thing since they are not proven. There are a lot of rumours about that place but no one knows what really goes around that territory which is why I am telling you to make sure that you keep an eye on things …. Because once we go there——"
" I will be responsible if a child or woman is trafficked." Su Wan finished for him with a sullen expression on her face, she knew that this matter was not as simple as she thought!
Lin Rui and Lin Yan exchanged a glance with each other and when they saw that Su Wan was thinking they decided not to disturb her instead they turned to look out of the window while Su Wan thought of a way to keep the traffickers under her belt.
Soon night fell and they travelled past quite a lot of distance from Dong Tong Town, Su Wan who was getting tired of sitting in the carriage for an entire day, asked the carriage driver to stop the carriage at the next inn and got down when she saw that the carriage driver had pulled their carriage in front of a shabby looking inn.
When she saw the condition of the inn, she was a bit annoyed but compared to sleeping in the carriage she would rather sleep in the bed of this inn and it was not like she will not be able to get a clean bed with the money that she was carrying on her.
The innkeeper saw the party of so many people coming inside his small inn and smiled so wide that his eyes crinkled until they could not be seen. He rushed forward and then looked at Lin Jing and Shen Junxi who were leading the group and greeted them with a happy smile, "Welcome sirs and madams, how can I help you ?"
Shen Junxi glanced around the inn, his eyes falling on the shady-looking people who were looking at them and covered Su Wan along with the Lin brothers behind him as he turned his head and asked the innkeeper, " How much to clear up the entire inn?"
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