After finishing his conversation with Paster Beaton, Wayne then spent a short while in Mr. Basque's study—don't misunderstand, he was invited by the butler—which could be considered enjoying the treatment of “temporarily disappearing during the ball.”
Mr. Basque did not discuss any topics about “the situation” or “transactions” with Wayne; he was simply reminiscing.
However, he wasn't reminiscing about Wayne's “past.” Mr. Basque somehow pulled out an old document, which looked like the original minutes of a Whig Party meeting from back then.
The content wasn't a secret; it seemed to be an internal discussion and approval of the party's upcoming election platform before a certain general election.
It roughly spoke of issues like “promoting industrial development with protective tariffs,” “calling for the creation of various schools, charitable organizations, and cultural groups,” and raising funds to promote “internal improvements” and vigorously construct canal and railway systems.
The Whig Party is now “gone,” and it's unknown how many years have passed since that election, so their election platform discussed back then naturally holds no meaning now.
However, at the collective signature section at the end of the document, Wayne saw two names he was familiar with: one name's surname was “Constantine,” and the other name, for many years, Wayne had always called “the Mayor.”
The brief surprise quickly faded. Wayne thought about it and felt that this was actually “within reason.”
The simplest example: with so many small towns in the West, compared to “just building a small town and waiting for the steam train to build its way over,” it's certainly more reliable to “choose a location on the future steam train route to build a town.”
The Steam Train Company shares in Wayne's family probably came from this—
America, even the Federation, is decentralized, so the construction of steam train lines naturally wouldn't have a single project department responsible for “building from start to finish.”
It must have been people from various places “relaying” according to tacit understanding, building sections separately within their spheres of influence, and finally connecting them.
Since they contributed effort, according to America's national conditions, there must be a return, otherwise who would follow along?
Then it's not surprising why Blackstone Town is currently the “western terminus” of a steam train line—Blackstone Town only needed to connect the line to its own land to complete it. For now, no one is continuing the connection, so it's naturally the terminus.
Wayne looked down at the document, while Mr. Basque sighed beside him:
“I didn't have much interaction with your father back then, but I have a deep impression of him. I remember he was once called an ‘ambitious young man.’
“Looking back now, he was actually one of the few people in the party who could truly carry through with his beliefs, far superior to those rabble who abandoned the party as soon as the election situation became unfavorable.”
Wayne merely “listened casually” to these words. Rather than Mr. Basque “recalling Mr. Constantine after seeing Wayne,” it was more likely he “happened to come across these old records while checking Wayne's background.”
Reminiscing and building connections, it's not shameful.
But then Mr. Basque's tone suddenly shifted, completely baffling Wayne:
“I did have some acquaintance with your maternal grandfather. It was also due to his influence that I didn't provide too much help to your father back then—whom your maternal grandfather called ‘the scoundrel who tricked my daughter to the West.’ I thought if he couldn't make it in the West, he might honestly return to the East Coast to develop.
“When I met your maternal grandfather last year, he happened to be wiping your mother's portrait again and complaining that your father had killed her.”
No, wait a minute.
Didn't I “lose both parents” and only have an uncle left? Now even my uncle is gone, so why did a “maternal grandfather” suddenly appear?
Why didn't you tell me before you gave birth to him?
Mr. Basque didn't notice Wayne's worldview being “refreshed” and seemed to still be lamenting the past:
“If you have time later, you can visit him in New York. Although because of your father, his attitude towards you might not be very good, as his old friend, I guess he would still want to see the only bloodline your mother left behind.”
Wayne finally recovered a bit. From a rational perspective, this situation is actually not difficult to understand. His relatives on his “paternal” side have indeed all passed away, but his relatives on his “maternal” side are still alive.
It sounds like their relationship is a bit delicate, so it's normal that it seemed distant in Wayne's memory.
However, emotionally speaking, Wayne had never thought about this aspect since transmigrating, assuming he was “fed and the whole family was not hungry.”
Suddenly being hit with this, he felt his worldview seemed a bit unreliable…
Asking an outsider what his maternal grandfather's name was felt a bit strange,
Especially since Mr. Basque had just finished expressing his sentiments, if Wayne immediately said he “didn't actually know” his maternal grandfather, not even his name, it would be akin to “slapping someone's face,” which would appear impolite in the situation.
Fortunately, such things are not difficult to investigate. Wayne's home would certainly have letters and records left by his mother, and the Mayor probably also knows about these old matters. A letter asking would solve it.
So Wayne could only nod silently, indicating his agreement with Mr. Basque's view, “If I have the chance, I will go see him.”
“Very good. No matter what attitude your maternal grandfather shows then, I think he will actually be happy in his heart.”
Mr. Basque smiled and nodded, continuing the topic, “Your development in Virginia is quite good now. Would you consider settling in Richmond in the future?
“New York is also good; industrial development there is far better than in the South. However, the industry you are engaged in is private detective work, and the South seems more suitable for that. Those cunning capitalists will certainly not be more generous than the manor owners when paying bills.”
But my “starting point” is in the West…
Moreover, there are thousands of acres of land next to the train station. If it develops in the future, even if a plot is allocated for Lina to open a grand hotel, it would at most be a “drop in the bucket,” a small piece.
The reason Wayne dared to “start a business” so freely here was because he had family assets in the West. Even if he couldn't rent it out at all, just riding a horse and scattering seeds everywhere on the land, the grain harvested by chance might be enough to pay taxes and feed himself.
Therefore, Wayne didn't have too many thoughts on this matter:
“We'll see about these things later. Currently, besides our Detective Agency's temporary base in Georgeberg, the rest of our stable commissions are basically along the steam train line. It's hard to predict where we'll end up by following the line all the way.”
Mr. Basque also seemed to agree, “Indeed, young people still have a long way to go. I saw tonight that you and Victor seemed to get along well; you can interact more with each other in the future.
“Like you, his identity and experiences are somewhat special compared to ordinary people, and you are both Extraordinary People. Perhaps you two can have more common topics to discuss.”
The Beaton Family's “dad” just left, and now “grandpa” has arrived…
Wayne couldn't help but start to sympathize with the “grandson,” and at the same time, he readily agreed, “I will. I estimate I'll be in Virginia for the next few years, so there should be many opportunities for us to interact.”
Being able to participate in the Cathedral's “small meeting,” and having the old man escort him, that guy's future development probably won't be bad.
Building a good relationship with him now can be considered “value investing.”
