The third or fourth day of the Lunar New Year was always the liveliest time at Li Ye's home, because people from the "Qingshui Gang" and the "Hong Kong faction" would gather in the capital to pay New Year's calls to Li Ye, their "invisible boss," while discussing the direction of development for the coming year.
Only this year, Li Dayong, Pei Wencong, and the others had arrived a little late. Hao Jian, Jin Peng, and the rest had been here for quite some time, yet they still had not shown up.
Li Zhongfa said worriedly, "Could their flight have been canceled? Planes still aren't as punctual as trains. They won't fly in rain or snow. That time I went to France, I got tossed back and forth several times.
"One moment they said it would take off three hours later, then they said it was canceled, then they said it could fly after all. It was pure nonsense."
Jin Peng said with a smile, "Advisor, there are two sides to that. It takes eight hours by train from Qingshui County to the capital, six or seven by car.
"But Pei Wencong only needs at most four hours to fly here from Hong Kong. If everything goes smoothly, he'll be even faster than us. If it doesn't go smoothly, then he has to wait too. There's nothing to be done!"
Li Zhongfa slowly shook his head. "I still prefer trains. They're safer."
Li Zhongfa had spent the past few years running an instant noodle business and often traveled abroad for inspections, but between planes and trains, he still favored the latter.
At that moment, Hao Jian suddenly said, "Actually, if trains were a little faster, I think they wouldn't be any worse than planes. I rode that Shinkansen in Japan—five