New Gods of North America.

Chapter 562 Reminiscing about the past
After ending the conversation with Pastor Beeton,

Afterwards, Wayne spent a short time in the old Basque gentleman's study—don't misunderstand, he was invited there by the butler—and thus enjoyed the privilege of "temporarily disappearing during the ball."

The old Basque gentleman didn't discuss anything about the "situation" or "deals" with Wayne; they simply reminisced.
However, he wasn't recounting Wayne's own "old" past. The old Basque gentleman had somehow unearthed an old document that looked like the original record of a Whig Party meeting from back then.

The contents weren't exactly secrets; it appeared to be an internal discussion and approval process by a political party before a general election, outlining their upcoming campaign platform.

The topics discussed included "promoting industrial development through protective tariffs," "calling for the creation of various schools, charities, and cultural organizations," as well as fundraising to promote "domestic improvements" and the vigorous construction of canals and railway systems.

The Whig Party is now "gone," and countless years have passed since that election. Their campaign platform, discussed back then, is now utterly meaningless.
However, at the collective signature section at the end of the document, Wayne saw two familiar names. One name had the surname "Constantine," and the other name was "Mayor," which Wayne had referred to for many years.

The brief surprise quickly subsided, and after thinking about it, Wayne felt that it was actually still "within reason."
The simplest example is that there are so many small towns in the west. Compared to "building a small town randomly and waiting for the steam train to build it over by itself", it is certainly more reliable to "choose a location on the future steam train line to build a town".

That's probably how Wayne's family acquired their shares in the steam train company—

Since the United States was a fragmented federation, the construction of steam train lines naturally wouldn't have been handled by a single project team "from start to finish."
It must have been through a tacit understanding among people in different places that they "relayed" the work to each other, repairing it piece by piece within their respective spheres of influence, and finally connecting it together.

Since they've put in the effort, given the circumstances in the United States, they should definitely receive something in return; otherwise, who would follow them?
It's not surprising that Blackrock Town is currently the "western terminus" of a steam train line—Blackrock Town is considered complete once the line reaches its own land, and since no one else is continuing the line, it's naturally the terminus.

Wayne looked down at the documents, while the old Basque gentleman sighed beside him:
“I didn’t have much interaction with your father back then, but I have a deep impression of him. In my memory, he was once described as an ‘ambitious young man’.”

"Looking back now, he was actually one of the few people in the party who could consistently uphold his beliefs, far superior to those rabble who abandoned the party as soon as they saw the election going badly."

Wayne simply listened to these remarks casually. Rather than saying that the old Basque gentleman "was reminded of Mr. Constantine after seeing Wayne," it's more likely that he "stumbled upon these old stories while checking Wayne's records."
Catching up with old friends and building relationships is nothing to be ashamed of.

But then the old Basque gentleman changed his tone, completely stunning Wayne:

"I did have some connection with your maternal grandfather. It was because of his influence that I didn't offer much help to your father back then, the 'rascal who tricked my daughter into going to the West' that your maternal grandfather talked about. I figured if he couldn't stay in the West, he might obediently return to the East Coast to develop his career."

“When I met your maternal grandfather last year, he was wiping your mother’s portrait again and complained that your father had killed her.”

No, wait a minute.
I was already an "orphan" and only had an uncle left, right? Now that my uncle is gone too, how come a "maternal grandfather" suddenly appeared?
Why didn't you tell me before you had him?
The old Basque gentleman didn't notice that Wayne's worldview was being "redefined," and seemed to be still reminiscing about the past:
“If you have time later, you can go to New York to visit him. Although he may not be very nice to you because of your father, as his old friend, I guess he would still want to see the only bloodline left by your mother.”

Wayne finally calmed down a bit. Rationally speaking, this situation wasn't hard to understand. His paternal relatives were all dead, but his maternal relatives were still alive.

It sounds like their relationship was somewhat delicate, so it's normal that it appears distant in Wayne's memory.

However, from an emotional perspective, Wayne had never thought about this kind of thing since he transmigrated, assuming that he was "only one person to feed, so the rest of the family is not hungry."
Being suddenly given this shock makes me feel like my worldview is a little unreliable... Asking a stranger what my maternal grandfather's name is feels a bit strange.

Especially if Wayne were to immediately say that he "doesn't actually know" his grandfather, or even his name, right after the old Basque gentleman finished expressing his feelings, it would be almost like "slapping him in the face," and would seem rather impolite in public.

Fortunately, these kinds of things aren't hard to investigate. Wayne's family must have some letters or records left by his mother, and the mayor probably knows something about these old stories. A letter asking around should be enough to solve the problem.

So Wayne could only nod silently, indicating that he agreed with the old Basque man's opinion, "If I have the chance, I will go and take a look."

“Very good. No matter what attitude your grandfather shows at that time, I think he will actually be happy.”

Mr. Basque smiled and nodded, continuing the conversation, "Your business in Virginia is going quite well now. Would you like to consider settling down in Richmond in the future?"
“New York is also good, its industry is much better developed than the South. But you’re in the private detective business, which seems more suited to the South. Those cunning capitalists certainly won’t be as generous as the plantation owners when it comes to paying the bill.”

But my "birth 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 Lina is granted a plot of land to open a grand hotel, it will only be a tiny, insignificant piece of land.

Wayne dared to be so reckless when "starting a business" here because he had a family fortune in the West. Even if he couldn't rent out any properties, he could just ride his horse around scattering seeds in the fields and the random harvest of grain might be enough to pay his taxes and feed himself.

Therefore, Wayne didn't have many thoughts on this matter.
"Let's see about that later. Right now, apart from our headquarters which is temporarily in Georgeburg, most of our stable cases are along the steam train line. We'll keep going along the line, and it's hard to predict where we'll end up."

The old Basque gentleman seemed to agree, “Indeed, young people have a long way to go. I saw tonight that you and Vidocq seemed to get along quite well; you can visit each other more often in the future.”

"Like you, he has a unique background and experiences compared to ordinary people, and you are both extraordinary individuals. You might have more in common to talk about."

The Beaton family is like this: "Dad" just left and "Grandpa" arrived...

Wayne couldn't help but feel sorry for his "grandson," but also readily agreed, "I will. I expect to be in Virginia for the next few years, so there should be plenty of opportunities to meet each other."

Being able to attend the cathedral's "small meeting," and with the old man protecting him, that guy's future prospects are probably pretty good.

Building good relationships with others now can also be considered "value investing".

(End of this chapter)