Outside the station, Bai Ji stretched mightily, feeling as if his whole body had fallen apart.
"Brother Yan, no wonder people say traveling far isn't easy. Just sitting in the car nearly took half my life."
Wang Yan smiled and accepted the cigarette the other man offered him. "Otherwise, why do they say that if you want to get rich, you have to build roads first? It's uncomfortable enough for people to travel, and goods are even more precious than people. Once the railway is built, things will get better. Then we'll be able to make a life for ourselves."
"Our lives would've been good anyway. This trip of yours practically sold out all the goods in the entire county. How could things possibly not get better?"
Wang Yan smiled faintly, neither modest nor proud.
He had personally gone into action, gone door to door and played the grandson for people. He had to come away with something to show for it, or all those years of experience would have been for nothing.
Of course, he had not truly acted like anyone's grandson. At the initial stage of dealing with strangers, he merely had to show that he needed something from them and respected them. Give him a little more time to talk, though, and Wang Yan became an honored guest.
After all, he was not some nobody. He had once been a model citizen promoted nationwide, and that carried considerable weight. Besides, he was not truly groveling or begging people for favors. He was solving their problems.
For instance, if someone's company had operational problems, business problems, issues with outside partnerships, and so on, he would give them a thorough professional analysis, making it all sound lofty and highly professional. He would first talk them into believing him, then