As they were about to leave the VIP lounge, Vasily asked tentatively:
"Mr. Speaker, would you like to meet the performers rehearsing? Everyone's worked very hard these past few days. You could give them a little encouragement!"
Wang Ye hesitated, then shook his head. "Not yet. Let's wait until the official performance is over."
He was mainly afraid of "frightening" Tonya. They had only just met, and Tonya still thought he was merely a low-level theater employee, a recent college graduate.
Only an hour had passed, and he would suddenly appear before her as some "important figure." Wouldn't that shock Tonya terribly...
That would not do. It did not fit Wang Ye's usual "low-profile" style!
Hearing this, Vasily did not insist. He simply led the way attentively, guiding Wang Ye out of the theater.
The next item on the schedule was naturally an inspection of the ceremony venue.
Since the ceremony was being held to celebrate the pipeline's official opening, it was naturally arranged at the oil field itself—the pipeline's starting point.
Fortunately, it was not too far from Irkutsk. Several cars sped out of the city, and after about an hour, the group arrived at the ceremony venue.
Irkutsk Oblast truly deserved its reputation as an old industrial region. Its roads were quite well developed—though that was limited to major routes and the roads connecting urban areas to major factories, oil fields, and mining districts.
Many people were still busy at the ceremony venue. There was not much to see, really. Wang Ye and Vasily strolled around for a few laps, offered some words of encouragement to the staff, and then everyone took a group photo.
That concluded the inspection...
Then they turned back toward the city. On the road, Vasily asked ingratiatingly:
"Mr. Speaker, we'll be returning to