I am a master in India

Chapter 448 Counterfeit

The manager slammed the door shut, but the blonde woman inside still didn't glance at Barum.

He had just mustered the courage to sit down next to her when there was another loud knocking on the door.

"It's over when you hear a knock like that. Understand?" It was the manager's voice.

"understood!"

Barum moved closer to the woman on the bed, and she neither resisted nor showed any intimacy.

He stroked her temples and gently tugged at her hair, turning her face towards him.

She looked very tired, as if she was exhausted, and there were bruises around her eyes, as if someone had hit her.

She smiled at him, a smile all too familiar to Barum: the smile a servant gives to his master.

"What's your name?" she asked in Hindi.

This one can speak Hindi too! That country must have Hindi schools specifically for girls.

He can swear!
"Barum".

She laughed, "This name is quite uncommon; it's related to water."

“You’re right, my family lives on a tributary of the Ganges. We used to be fishermen there,” Barum said. “That’s the name my father gave me.”

She burst into laughter, a high-pitched, silvery laugh that made her golden hair sway up and down with her laughter.

Barum's heart pounded; her perfume seemed to penetrate his very being.

"Let me tell you, when I was little, my family also gave me a name, which means 'little stream' in our language. That's how my family treated me!"

"Wow." Barum said as he sat cross-legged on the bed.

They started chatting, and she told him she hated the mosquitoes and the manager of the restaurant, to which Barum nodded.

They chatted for a while, and she said, "You're not bad-looking, and you're quite likable."

Then she ran a finger through his hair.

At that moment, Barum jumped off the bed and said, "Sister, why are you here? If you want to leave this hotel, why don't you go? Don't worry about the manager, I'm here to protect you! I'm your own brother, Barum Nissat!"

Well, the above is Barum's imagined scenario of a hero rescuing a damsel in distress.

What he really meant was:

"Seven thousand lovely rupees for only twenty minutes! Time to begin!"

These are his actual words.

He pressed himself against her, pinning her arms behind her head with one hand. Then he moved one hand down and the other stroked her blonde hair.

Just then, Barum suddenly screamed. Even if you pointed a gun at his head, his scream probably wouldn't have been that loud.

“What’s wrong, Barum?” she asked.

Barum jumped off the bed and slapped her.

An even louder scream suddenly rang out.

My goodness, these foreigners are really scary when they shout.

The door opened immediately, and the manager walked in, as if he had been eavesdropping outside the door the whole time, his ear pressed against the door, grinning foolishly.

Barum grabbed the girl's hair and yelled at him, "This isn't real blonde hair!"

The roots are black! The blonde color is dyed on!
The manager shrugged. "Only seven thousand rupees? What more do you want? Real blondes cost forty or fifty thousand."

Barum lunged at him, grabbed his chin, and slammed his head against the door.

"Give me my money back!"

The woman screamed behind him, and Barum turned around to look.

He made a big mistake; he shouldn't have been distracted. He should have dealt with the manager on the spot.

He fell for the feint attack.

Ten minutes later, Barum rolled out of the hotel with a bruised and swollen face, and the door slammed shut behind him.

Vitiligo didn't wait for him, so he had to take the bus home, rubbing his head the whole way.

Seven thousand rupees! He really wanted to cry his heart out!
Do you know how many water buffaloes that much money could buy? He could feel his family's fingers pulling at his ears.

After being stuck in traffic for an hour, he finally got back to his Windsor apartment.

Barum washed the wound on his head at the communal sink and then spat out more than a dozen mouthfuls of phlegm.

"To hell with all that," he said, scratching his backside before listlessly walking toward his room.

He kicked the door open and was stunned.

There was a person inside the mosquito net, and he saw the profile of someone sitting cross-legged.

"Don't worry, Barum. I know what you've been up to."

A man's voice. Who cares? At least it's not his family coming to collect debts. That was his first thought.

Satya lifted a corner of the mosquito net, looked at him, and wore a cunning smile.

“I know exactly what you’ve been up to.”

"gentlemen?"

“I called your name, but you didn’t respond, so I came down to check. But I know exactly what you were doing. The driver, the one with the pink lips, told me everything.”

Barum's heart pounded as he looked down at the ground.

“He said you went to the temple to pray to the gods for my health.”

“Yes, sir.” Barum breathed a sigh of relief, sweat streaming down his face. “He’s right, sir.”

“Come inside the mosquito net.” He lowered his voice, and Barum entered the net and squatted down beside him. Satya looked at the cockroaches crawling overhead; it was his first time here.

“Barum, you’ve done a good job. I was too harsh on you before. I had no idea you lived in a place like this.”

“It’s alright, sir, I’m used to it.”

“Barum, I’ve almost finished my business, but there’s still some final touches to be done. Once that’s done, next time we come to Delhi, I’ll find you a different place to stay.”

Barum just smiled but didn't say anything.

"What's causing these red spots on your palms? Did you pick them yourself?"

"No, sir, it's a skin condition. I have it behind my ears too, look, these pink spots."

Satya instinctively leaned back to avoid it, but quickly recovered.

He moved slightly closer, the scent of his perfume filling Barum's nostrils.

"I never noticed before, is your disease contagious?"

"No, sir. Many people have this disease, even the poor."

Is this disease curable?

"No, sir. The diseases of the poor can never be cured. My grandmother had tuberculosis and died from it."

"It's the 21st century now, and any disease can be cured. Once this is done, go to the hospital for a checkup, and I can reimburse you for the expenses."

“Thank you, sir,” Barum said gratefully. “Where are you going now?”

"No, it's nothing, I just came down to take a look."

"Sir, please let us go upstairs. This is not a place for someone as noble as you."

"It's good to clear my head, you know? I finally met Mr. Sue recently. He was very generous, and my business was done. And those girls too. In short, all my efforts over the past few days have finally paid off."

“You need to eat something, sir. You look very tired.”

Satya smiled, a radiant, childlike smile that seemed to trust everyone.

“Barum, you’re always thinking of me. Yes, I do want to eat something, but I don’t want to go to any fancy restaurants anymore. I’m tired of those restaurants. Take me to a place where you can eat.”

"what did you say?"

“I want to try something new. To be honest, I’m curious about what you usually eat.” Satya was in a great mood and was unusually unconventional.

"Okay, sir."

They went outside, and Barum led him across the street and into a teahouse.

"Barum, you order the food. Just some ordinary dishes that people would eat."

He ordered okra, cauliflower, radish, spinach, and lentils, enough to fill the stomachs of a poor family or a rich person.

Satya ate, burped, and then ate a little more.

"This is so delicious, and it's only twenty-five rupees! You guys are eating so well!"

After he finished eating, Barum asked him for a serving of yogurt.

He laughed after taking a sip, "I like the food you guys eat!"

Barum smiled, thinking to himself: I also enjoy the food you eat.

And the blonde woman, he ultimately didn't get to enjoy.

Ron will be staying in New Delhi for the time being, firstly to wait for the Golden Quadrilateral Highway project to be finalized, and secondly because the Sunshine Smart City is about to open.

This massive commercial district, covering 350 acres, has seen its first phase of construction officially completed after 27 months.

The next step is for brands to move in and for stores to be decorated; it should be ready to open in three or four months at most.

Judging by the timeline, it should be around September or October of the second half of the year.

Actually, construction on the shopping district in Mumbai started earlier, but it may not officially open until the end of the year.

When that land was acquired, there were still several abandoned factories and employee dormitories standing there.

The demolition alone required a long mobilization period, and the removal of abandoned buildings was also a major project.

Unlike New Delhi, which is a complete suburb with large tracts of open land and wasteland, it doesn't require so much effort.

Since he had nothing better to do, Ron decided to start inspecting the operations of the Sunshine Hotel.

He came in a hurry and hasn't had a proper look around the place since it opened more than a month ago.

The five-star hotel in Varanasi did open at the beginning of the year, but Ron hasn't had time to go back.

New Delhi is more important; location determines everything.

To be honest, Ron didn't really care much about making a profit when building this hotel.

With an initial investment of nearly $200 million, it might take more than ten years to break even.

This is because the Sunshine Hotel is located near the Capitol Building, in a prime location.

Placing it elsewhere would be a loss-making venture, as the maintenance costs alone would be substantial.

But Ron doesn't do business based on immediate profits.

For him, or for the entire Suer Group, five-star hotels are primarily used to entertain clients or partners.

Most importantly, it provides convenience for those officials; when they go to the Sunshine Hotel, they can simply have their expenses recorded on their bills.

Does it matter whether or not money is ultimately paid?
Ron doesn't need that little bit of money, and it would be better if he didn't give it to Ron at all, otherwise where would the favor come from?
To put it bluntly, for him, five-star hotels were merely supporting facilities for his business, and also a form of covert bribery.

Making money is not important; what matters is providing good service to our customers.

Wow, he really put a lot of thought into the construction of the Sunshine Hotel.

(End of this chapter)