In a high-speed train carriage bound for Lin'an City, a potbellied man suddenly rose from his first-class seat and headed toward the door to the business-class carriage.
The fat man was the general manager of a major company, traveling to Lin'an City to negotiate a big deal.
Because the matter was urgent, the tickets had been booked in a rush. He should have been traveling in business class, but his secretary had failed to secure him a seat there, which left him rather unhappy.
He had resigned himself to it. First class would do; the journey was only four or five hours anyway.
But to his surprise, in the hour since boarding, he had seen only five people enter business class, and no one else had gone in since.
As someone who often traveled for work and liked taking high-speed trains, he naturally knew how business class was laid out.
There had to be at least ten seats, right?
So why had the tickets shown as sold out when only five people had gone in?
The fat man guessed that more passengers might board at a later stop, but a first-class seat really was torture for someone of his size.
So he went to find a train attendant, hoping to get upgraded to business class.
If someone boarded later, he could just offer them some extra money. Surely that would be fine.
It was a good plan, but the attendant told him business class was full, and no other passengers would be boarding later.
That explanation left the fat man displeased.
He had clearly seen only five people go in. How could it possibly be full?
Still, he did not argue with the attendant. That would be beneath him.
But he genuinely could not bear staying in first class any