Thursday.
Early morning.
After breakfast at the breakfast stall run by his old classmate Yao Cui's family, Dong Xuebin's phone rang. He did not even have time to exchange a few words with Yao's Father and Yao's Mother. After greeting them and leaving five yuan on the table, he tucked his phone under his arm and hurried to the roadside. Pulling open the car door, he got into his Land Rover.
"Hello, General Manager Liang."
"Xuebin, I asked around for you."
"Thanks. How did it go?"
"None of my friends can spare the time either."
"The round-trip flight won't take long. One or two days will do."
"The main issue is that your place is too remote. There aren't any projects they're interested in."
"General Manager Liang, we have plenty of projects too, and there are policy incentives. How about I send you a general list of the projects we have this time?"
"Forget it. Maybe next time."
"All right. No matter what, thank you."
"No need to thank me. I didn't manage to help you with anything."
Putting away his phone, Dong Xuebin shook his head helplessly. Resting a hand on the steering wheel, he wearily lit a cigarette. He rolled down the window, leaned back in his seat, and closed his eyes for a while. Since yesterday afternoon, Dong Xuebin had been contacting old friends. He had spent the entire afternoon making calls, and after returning home, he had contacted quite a few more people. He had practically asked every businessman who had ever dealt with him. But the situation still did not look good. Despite all his connections, he had not managed to bring in even one person. It was not that he lacked influence; his relationships with those people were simply too ordinary. Back when Yantai