I am a master in India

Chapter 16 Exploding gold coins fiercely
Ron only found out that Henry and Anna were traveler journalists after he had worked for them for two days.

Most ordinary tourists who come to Mumbai do not change their accommodation frequently, and their food will be fixed on one or two flavors.

But Anna and her friends are different. They have tried all kinds of hotels in Mumbai, from youth hostels costing 100 rupees to suites costing 3000 rupees a night.

Not to mention the food, over the past two days, they were often seen shuttling between restaurants of all sizes with different flavors.

If this attitude is put on the screen in a few decades, he will definitely be a travel blogger.

After asking around, Ron found out that they came to Mumbai not only for tourism but also for a mission.

"So you'll record everything you see and hear in Bombay?"

"Yes, we have a commission from Lonely Planet. You know, those backpackers who travel around the world, they almost regard this magazine as the 'Bible'.

Our mission is to conduct on-site visits and select the most suitable restaurants, hotels, and tourist attractions..."

Ron's eyes lit up; he smelled an opportunity.

"So... lovely and respected friends from France, are you satisfied with our service over the past two days?"

"Of course, it is no exaggeration to say that you have saved Mumbai's image in our hearts."

"So Mumbai Travel Information is worth a mention, isn't it?"

"Haha, Ron, I promise your name will be on the commission sent to Lonely Planet."

Look, isn’t this free publicity?
"Anand, our employer is so considerate, shouldn't we buy them a drink?"

"What are you trying to say Ron?" Anand looked at him warily.

"Where's the whiskey I gave you last time?"

"No la."

"Have you finished?" Ron remembered there were two bottles.

“It was sold.”

"Don't you really want to drink it? Why sell it?"

“Oh, yes!” Anand sighed, “I wanted to drink, and I had already drunk it in my heart.

But if you sell it on the black market, the money you get can buy two bottles of very low-quality, but very cheap, Indian whiskey, and you can drink it to your heart's content.

And then there'll be plenty left over to buy my wife a nice new red sari, toys for the kids, some tickets to an air-conditioned Indian movie, and two days' worth of food. A great deal, Ron."

Well, he almost forgot that Anand still had eight or nine children to raise.

Fortunately, the two spoke in Marathi, which Anna and Henry could not understand.

At this moment they were holding their cameras and taking pictures non-stop on the street.

The two of them found everything new and interesting: the white cow lying on the road with a calm demeanor, the luggage storage that looked after the passengers' luggage, and the freshly brewed milk tea on the roadside.

"Henry, there is something I want to discuss with you."

"What?" Henry, who was holding the camera, looked up.

"Can you please develop an extra copy of the photos we took in the hotel and restaurant? I'll pay for the film."

“As long as you don’t publish it in other magazines, I think it’s fine.”

"That's great!"

Ron successfully made a killing again, and now he has all the pictures for promotion.

Oh, it would be great if there were more guests like this in the future.

Hotels are getting more expensive each night, and the food is also varied.

Ron is not afraid of them asking for too much, but he is afraid that they will not spend money.

You have to spend as much as you can, only then he can get a commission.

For example, the two people in front of us spent all the 300 US dollars they exchanged in less than half a day.

This is the third time that Ron, the middleman, has provided them with foreign exchange services.

...

Mumbai's streets are already crowded with people, but animals also roam and live there, both in numbers and in a wide variety of species.

In the bustling crowd, goats were wandering around, dogs were kicked when they failed to steal food from roadside stalls, chickens were crawling under the wheels of rickshaws, and a monkey would suddenly jump down from the roof.

Ron was running around the streets these days and was accidentally tripped by a pig walking around.

Or you might be in an alley, blocked by a slow-moving old cow, with an elephant urging you on from behind.

The whole city is a mess. How can it still be called the New York of Asia?
The third brother is so shameless! Take for example the hotel profiteer we just met. The fat guy promised a 15% commission on the bill, but when Ron and Anand went to collect, he changed it to a commission on the accommodation fee.

Anna and her friends spent a total of 1600 rupees in this hotel, of which the room fee was only about 500.

Because of his cheating, the commission went from 240 to 75, which was reduced several times.

"The local profiteers are so rude!" Ron never expected that this store would even cheat its own people.

"Sorry Ron, I didn't know it would be like this. It was fine last time."

"Forget it, I'll blacklist this store from now on. That fat guy will come back to beg me one day."

Anna and his friends have been in Bombay for a week and just left by train this morning.

Although India is backward, its railway network is still quite dense, and ordinary people and tourists mostly rely on trains for travel.

Now that his employer was gone, Ron sorted out the bills and started collecting them everywhere.

As the first business for the Mumbai travel information company, their gains were actually quite good.

The guide service fee for one week is 3000 rupees, and the hotel and restaurant's various commissions are around 12000 rupees.

According to industry rules in Mumbai, as middlemen, their commission rate usually fluctuates between 10% and 25%.

This is the case with the hotel and restaurant industries: their costs are actually very low. Their only weakness, or risk, is the lack of a stable customer base.

After all, a hotel can be used for decades after it is built, and the maintenance and labor costs are insignificant in India.

The same goes for food ingredients in the catering industry. As long as business is good, there will be huge profits.

In order to avoid leaving their rooms empty, the hotel is usually willing to cooperate with Ron and his team.

Larger hotels are more famous and have less shortage of customers, so the commission rate is not high, only around 10%.

On the contrary, small hotels, facing competitive pressure, can give Ron and his team a 20% rebate.

These individual operators have average risk tolerance, but their willingness to cooperate is much stronger than that of medium and large hotels.

As long as there are guests, there is money to be made. It’s better than having an empty room every day.

Fifteen thousand rupees, this is the profit Ron and his team made from their first order.

Well, the above is the part about legal operation.

Less glamorous are the income from the foreign exchange black market.

Anna and her friends were tasked with exploring the restaurants, and they spent the whole week eating and drinking to their heart's content and enjoying various services in Mumbai.

Ron exchanged two to three thousand dollars for their expenses, otherwise how could he get such a large commission.

Anand, who was taking advantage of the situation, had the fat on his round face trembling with excitement.

"Ron, we've made some money, why don't we go find some excitement?"

"What excitement?"

"The Whore Street, and it has a reserved program."

"Wait, I don't understand what you are saying?"

"You know, Ron, we are both Indian men who grew up eating curry and have a lot of needs in that area."

Ron rolled his eyes. Indeed, no one could match Third Brother in this respect.

"I have to cash out the last batch of US dollars today, so I don't have time."

He doesn't have the heart to do these things now, and with little Nia around him every day, Ron's taste is very picky.

However, the future operation of the company needs to be carefully considered. Smith and Anna mentioned above were unexpected customers.

They are all super fat sheep, but such good things do not happen often. Ordinary tourists are the cornerstone of the development of Mumbai tourism information companies.

Well, the next step of promotion should be put on the agenda.

Thinking this way, I unknowingly arrived at the old place.

It was still the three-story building near Colaba, and Ron was already a regular customer here.

He was about to walk towards the counter when he suddenly heard a flurry of footsteps and shouting downstairs.

After a series of clanging sounds, several people came hurriedly over, supporting a wounded man.

"Johnny?" Ron was surprised to find that the injured person was someone he knew.

(End of this chapter)