me and my buddies are building a silk road between our houses to make trading of spices, tea and oils easier

Perhaps my genuine biggest piece of socializing advice as someone who spent years of my life feeling wholly incapable of positively interacting with other people is to just ask the other person questions about themselves. Like that’s it. People love answering questions. They really love thoughtful follow-up questions. They love feeling like someone else is interested in them, their interests, their lives, their opinions. At some point in your questioning they will say something that reminds you of a funny / interesting story. Tell it. You will be remembered as the person who asks a lot of questions, makes people feel like they matter, and tells good stories. boom. done.