I'm a Master in India

Anna and her companion were worried about encountering counterfeit currency again in private exchanges, as they weren't Indian and couldn't distinguish genuine rupees from fake ones.

Therefore, embracing the idea that it was better to exchange a little less and be safe, they decided to go to a bank this time.

Ron understood their concern and indeed took them to a nearby bank.

"How many US dollars do you want to exchange?"

"$300. I think that should help us get by for a while."

Anna stated a conservative figure. After a series of scams, they were now very cautious.

"OK, at the official exchange rate, $300 can be exchanged for 5400 rupees. Now, give me the money."

At Ron's prompting, Henry hesitantly took out $300.

After taking the money, Ron didn't head towards the bank counter. He also took out his wallet and counted out several large-denomination rupee notes.

"Look, this is 5400 rupees. But I'm adding a 15% premium, bringing it up to 6210 rupees."

As he spoke, Ron walked towards the service window with the money. In front of Henry and his wife, he put the $300 into his own pocket.

Then, he handed the 6000-plus rupees in his other hand to the bank clerk behind the bulletproof window.

"Miss, please exchange this money for smaller denominations, 100 rupee notes."

The bank clerk took the money and ran it through the bill counter. After confirming there were no issues, she counted out a stack of 100 rupee notes.

The entire process took less than 5 minutes. Ron then walked up to the dumbfounded Anna and Henry with the exchanged money.

"See? I told you there wouldn't be any problems."

Faced with his bright smile, the French couple felt a mix of amusement and exasperation.

"Ron, it's not that we don't trust you..."

"Relax, I understand."

The reason Ron went to the trouble of processing the money through the bank was to show them two things.

His money was legitimate, and he could indeed exchange money for them at a rate 15% higher than the official rate.

A whole 800 rupees more; no one could refuse such a difference.

"If you trust me, for future exchanges, just come directly to me. For amounts over $500, I'll give you 20 points extra!"

Wow, Henry and Anna slightly opened their mouths. They had never heard of such a crazy exchange rate.

"There's nothing to be surprised about. Everyone in this country, including Delhi, needs US dollars."

Ron indicated that this was a small matter. The scale of the foreign exchange black market was larger than the Indian government imagined.

Money from gangs needed laundering, trading companies needed dollars for transactions, and the wealthy needed dollars to purchase international luxury goods.

With the Indian government's foreign exchange reserves dwindling, the black market exchange rate was naturally rising.

"Alright, my dear French friends, what can I do for you now?"

Although the contract hadn't been signed yet, Ron had already stepped into the role.

"We've been hungry for half a day. Let's find a place to eat first, and then find a truly clean and cheap hotel. As for tomorrow's itinerary, we'll discuss it tonight."

"No problem, but before we go to eat, I have a small suggestion."

"Ron, please, go ahead."

"Madam Anna, to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings, I suggest you wear a shawl."

Anna looked down at herself, puzzled. Her bare-shoulder tank top perfectly showed off her proud figure and sexy abdomen.

There was nothing wrong with it. French women have always been so romantic and confident.

"Take another look around you."

Anna's gaze swept around, and she instantly felt like she was being stabbed in the back, like she had a bone stuck in her throat, like she was sitting on pins and needles.

On this street, she didn't know how many pairs of Indian men's eyes, openly and secretly, were staring at her, without blinking.

One guy in a striped shirt almost had his eyeballs fall out of his head.

"God! Why are the police standing with them too?" Anna finally sensed something was wrong.

Henry seemed to have thought of some terrible rumors at this time. He looked around nervously, afraid that the people around him would suddenly pounce on them.

Ron gestured for them to calm down, then walked straight across the street and bought a shawl for 20 rupees.

"Put it on."

Anna obediently did so. When the exposed skin was covered, the gazes of the surrounding Indian men instantly cleared.

"Alright, now it's time to find a place to eat!"

Ron's calm smile gave Henry and his wife great comfort.

They knew they had finally found the right person this time. Mumbai wasn't all bad.

"Anand, lead the way! These two international friends are already hungry."

"Yes, sir!" Anand replied in broken English.

He had been practicing his spoken English diligently under Ron's guidance recently.

Now that he had the chance to speak, his chubby mouth opened and couldn't be closed.

"Two friends from France, you look like happy people. Happy people always have good appetites."

"The restaurant is in front, just a little further, not far."

"I will take you to the best restaurant, with the best Maharashtrian cuisine, I guarantee you will say it's delicious.

All the guides in Mumbai like me eat there. This place is very good, the money to bribe the police only needs to be half of the usual price, really very good."

"Ahem, there's no need to introduce that." Ron reminded him softly from the side.

But Henry and his wife burst out laughing. They suddenly felt that Mumbai, besides the scammers, also had some very lovely people.

Anna and Henry were the first customers received by the Mumbai tourism information company.

After settling them into the hotel in the afternoon, Ron and Anand found a milk tea shop to discuss future plans.

"Ron, I didn't quite understand what you said. How exactly should this company operate?"

"It's simple. Just like what we did today, provide tourists with a one-stop service. Whatever they need, we provide it, with no taboos!"

Acting as guides, finding drivers, choosing hotels, booking restaurants – they would do all of this, with income mainly coming from service fees paid by tourists.

However, service fees alone weren't enough to impress Ron. They would also negotiate commissions with hotels and restaurants.

"That's what most guides do. Why do we need to establish a company?" Anand couldn't quite understand.

"There are many people doing this in Mumbai, and the competition is fierce, but almost everyone is working solo.

"That won't work. Especially with the mindset of fleecing the sheep, it's difficult to make this industry big and strong.

"The purpose of establishing a company is to accumulate economies of scale. With scale, we can negotiate for more commissions."

Ron first had Anand describe all the industry secrets he knew – which hotels were reliable, which restaurants were delicious, which markets had a good reputation...

He recorded everything in detail, and then focused on selecting partners.

The two drank milk tea, ate snacks, and chatted until late at night.

"Over the next period, we'll go to each place on the list and negotiate. Competition in the catering and hotel industries is also fierce. If they have a stable source of customers, they won't be stingy with a little commission."

"Then how can we have a continuous supply of sheep to fleece?"

"That's another matter, and it's the second key problem we need to solve – promotion!"

"Promotion?"

"Any business is inseparable from promotion, but we'll talk about that topic later. Now, tell me more about what kind of gray transactions can be done on these tourists."

Doing legitimate tourism business wasn't impossible, but Ron felt it was too slow to make money.

Since ancient times, gray transactions have been highly profitable; they are the sweetest part of the sugarcane.

The foreign exchange black market was one of them, but it wasn't all of the gray area.

Besides that, there were many... many...

Otherwise, why would Ron start a company? In India, he didn't mind becoming an outlaw.