Chapter 467: Lin Family

Chapter 467: Chapter 467: Lin Family

Mrs. Jiang looked somewhat uncertain. "It will probably take about two to four hours. I’ve never been there. Do you know where it is?"

Mrs. Qian nodded. "My husband also has a small villa over there, though it’s smaller and more remote than the Lin family’s. It takes us nearly six hours, so getting to the Lin family’s villa should take at least four."

"Did you hear that? It’s still a long way to go. Why don’t you take a nap first?" Bai Suihe thought, instantly communicating with Gu Xingyang in her mind.

Gu Xingyang blinked. Her mother really treated her like a pig. Even if she slept a lot, she couldn’t just fall asleep on command. She could at least coax her a little!

"That is quite far." Madam Li had been preoccupied with this matter since yesterday and hadn’t slept well. She couldn’t help but yawn.

Squeezed together in one carriage with so many people, they normally wouldn’t be able to rest well. Fortunately, the Gu family’s carriage was different from theirs. Not only was it shock-absorbent, but even the carriage panels were lined with a layer of cotton, making it warm and cozy to lean against.

"We still have plenty of time. Should we take a short nap?" Madam Li suggested.

Bai Suihe had the same idea. She placed Gu Xingyang in her designated little berth, which was lined with a thick cotton mattress. "You little rascal, go to sleep for a while."

Gu Xingyang waved her little hands. She wanted her mother to coax her; she was still a baby, after all.

Bai Suihe reached out and gently stroked her head. "Sleep peacefully. The ladies and I all need to rest."

"Your little girl is so easy to take care of," Mrs. Jiang said. "I rarely see her cry or make a fuss."

They had seen many well-behaved children, but this was the first time they had seen such a sensible baby at this young age.

"That’s because you haven’t seen her throwing a tantrum," Bai Suihe replied, having already prepared her excuse. "Whenever we go out, she gets exceptionally energetic. She’ll definitely be a playful one in the future."

When the ladies heard this, they found it made perfect sense. What child didn’t like being out and about?

"Being playful means she’s smart," Mrs. Qian chimed in with a compliment. "Plus, it saves you a lot of trouble. Sigh, those bratty boys in my family were so rowdy when they were little. If they were all this well-behaved, I would have definitely given my husband a few more children."

Madam Li said, "I don’t share your thoughts. Not everyone can have a well-behaved child. I’m afraid I just don’t have that kind of luck. What if I gave birth to another little terror?"

Mrs. Jiang covered her mouth and chuckled. "That’s because we didn’t know Sister Bai back then. Otherwise, we could have properly asked her for some parenting advice, and maybe we would have suffered a lot less."

Bai Suihe felt a little guilty. What parenting experience did she have?

"Maybe my child was simply born to repay a debt of gratitude," Bai Suihe said, pretending to be deep in thought.

Hearing the humblebrag in her words, the other ladies refused to let her off the hook. They immediately lunged forward to tickle her, and the group quickly burst into a fit of laughter.

Lying in her little berth, Gu Xingyang couldn’t help but roll her eyes. With all their racket, they actually had the nerve to tell her to sleep? She would have to be completely oblivious to the world to fall asleep in this noise.

As she thought about it, she yawned, slowly narrowed her eyes, and quickly fell into a deep sleep.

The voices of the women who had been playing around gradually quieted down. They hurried to use this time to rest and recharge their energy.

They didn’t wake up until they felt the carriage slow down and heard a commotion coming from up ahead.

"That was a wonderful nap," Mrs. Jiang praised. "Sister Bai, I’ll pay you some Silver later so you can get me a carriage like this too."

"Exactly! In the past, whenever I accompanied my husband to the countryside, the trip would always take half the life out of me. But your carriage is different; it’s just too comfortable." Mrs. Qian marveled, touching and looking around the interior. "You should just open a carriage workshop. The business would definitely boom."

Bai Suihe was tempted for a moment, but as soon as she thought of the shipyard, her reason quickly returned.

"It’s not that simple. Don’t be fooled by how comfortable this carriage is; it cost quite a lot of money to build.

"Just to figure out the shock absorption alone, I had to find many craftsmen to come up with a solution, not to mention the interior furnishings, which took a lot of effort," Bai Suihe explained, not completely shutting the idea down. "But since you ladies like it so much, I’ll gift each of you one later.

"However, I’ll only provide the carriage itself. You’ll have to get your own horses."

Although they were allowed to use horse-drawn carriages, every household had a strict quota. Furthermore, they had to register the horses with the County Magistrate. If a war broke out, they would have to dutifully hand them over to the government.

"That’s only natural," the ladies said in unison. It wasn’t that they wanted to take advantage of her generosity, but the carriage was simply too comfortable and enticing.

Courtesy demanded reciprocity; they would just prepare a lavish gift in return for her later.

As they spoke, they pulled back the curtain to look outside. Bai Suihe asked Lin Hua, who was driving the carriage, "What’s going on ahead? Are we there yet?"

"Madam, we have entered the village roads ahead. The path is quite narrow, so we’ve slowed down," Lin Hua replied. "Lin Wei just went ahead to ask. We should arrive in about fifteen minutes."

Just as he was replying, the carriage in front of them suddenly came to a halt.

Faint sounds of an argument could be heard. Since the ladies were already tired of sitting and wanted to stretch their legs, they simply lifted the curtain and had Lin Hua set down the carriage stool so they could step out for some fresh air.

When they stepped down, the passengers in the other carriages followed suit. Everyone quickly gathered together, wanting to know what exactly had happened up ahead.

Since they all knew they were going on a long trip this time, they had brought their domestic servants along. They immediately dispatched their men to go and see what was going on.

Lin Wei followed the servants to the front. Upon arriving, he saw two carriages stuck in a standoff, facing each other head-on.

The village road was so narrow that it was difficult for them to pass each other. The opposing party only had two carriages, whereas their group had a long convoy behind them. Naturally, it would be much faster if the other side backed up to make way.

However, the people on the other side clearly didn’t think so. They insisted that Lin Wei’s side clear the path.

Hu Waner hadn’t expected any hiccups right when they were almost at their destination, especially since the journey had been so smooth. Mr. Lin went to negotiate with the other party, but when they saw he was just a teenage boy, they began to act unreasonably and refused to yield.

"We are in a hurry to get to Zhang County! Quickly clear the road for us!"

"We cannot make way," Mr. Lin said in a mild tone. "If it were just our single carriage, we would have yielded. But there are over a dozen carriages behind us. We simply have no room to retreat.

"Sir, we hope you can do us a favor and make way for us. We are willing to offer some compensation."

Mr. Lin’s attitude was already very sincere, but the other party clearly didn’t buy it. "Who doesn’t have a few pieces of Silver? How about we give you a few taels of Silver, and you clear the road for us?"

Mr. Lin was at a loss. He had devoted his whole life to studying the teachings of the sages and truly didn’t know how to resolve this situation.

What the other party said seemed to make sense too. After all, their convoy had just turned into this narrow path. Logically speaking, it would be best for them to back out.

"Hurry up! If you delay our business, you won’t be able to bear the consequences." The man’s fierce and malicious expression made Mr. Lin shrink back slightly.