"Compensate for what? It's just a few bucks. Let's leave it at that. It's good to help each other out when you're away from home!"
Goldie Thorne took the man's leather suitcase down and tossed Jim Thorne's tattered schoolbag onto the upper bunk. Jim didn't care; he could sleep on either bunk, so he let Goldie decide.
"Thank you so much. The name's Marsh, Aston Marsh," the portly man introduced himself.
"I'm Thorne, as in the Saffron Dynasty. Name's Goldie Thorne. This is my nephew, Jim Thorne, my niece, Tang Xiaonan, and he's my cousin-nephew, Adrian Hawthorne."
Goldie Thorne introduced everyone in one breath. Tang Xiaonan's lip twitched. 'People are so naive these days,' she thought. 'He just met the guy and he's already spilling our family's details. Isn't he afraid of running into a con artist?'
"So, Goldie, are you taking your niece and nephews out for a trip?" Aston Marsh asked with interest.
