I'm a Master in India

The area near Karna Village has now become a construction site. Not only are various machines roaring at the small hill, but even a road roller is rolling back and forth at the village entrance.

The children on the small square in front of the tea stall no longer chase after trucks.

They were so shocked by the huge road roller that they couldn't speak. Some timid children cried loudly when they saw the monstrous iron wheel rolling over.

More teenagers gathered around the road roller excitedly, pointing and gesturing. This was the first time they had ever seen such a steel giant.

“Look at that big iron wheel, it's bigger than a water buffalo!”

“That's its hoof. The place it steps on is harder than stone.”

“This monster doesn't even need to eat grass. I wish my family had one.”

“Idiot, it drinks oil, just like a truck.”

The teenagers chattered, looking at the driver in the yellow cab with faces full of admiration.

They just didn't know if he needed people to work. If they could climb to the top of the giant beast and sit down, it would be incredibly cool!

The Boss of the tea stall watching the excitement from a distance sneered. These little brats were still daydreaming.

This was a construction team, not a snakehead taking people to the city for work.

If they wanted to make money, they didn't need to go that far. They could just go to the construction site to the east; they could always find work.

Tsk tsk, that big iron wheel was indeed scary. The bumpy muddy ground was leveled like marble after being rolled over by it.

The Boss of the tea stall heard from the workers who came here for tea that they needed to build the road first, connecting it directly to the main road leading to Varanasi.

The cement produced later would be transported from here to other cities in Uttar Pradesh.

This scene was truly grand. Karna Village had never had so many people before.

Some were leveling the ground, others were building roads. The few kilometers from the village entrance to the mine area were full of people, densely packed people, at least a thousand.

There were workers from outside, and also people from Karna Village.

Men and women from the village all came out, carrying their blackened hammers and crooked bamboo baskets, going out to beg the construction site manager for work.

Winter was not the harvest season, and there were no grain crops to exchange for money, but life still had to go on.

In previous years, the men in the village would go to the city to work at this time. Now that there was a construction site at the village entrance, they naturally didn't need to go that far.

They were tired, bending their backs and panting heavily, the marks on their shoulders almost merging into their flesh and blood.

But they were smiling. The new landlord gave them wages, and their women were by their side. This was simply like living in paradise!

The Boss of the tea stall felt a bit uncomfortable. He wasn't used to seeing smiles on the faces of lower castes.

But this should be a good thing, right? He wasn't sure. If the villagers had money, maybe they would come to the tea stall for a few more cups of tea.

“Muna!” The Boss of the tea stall suddenly saw a familiar figure.

He was wearing a khaki uniform, walking proudly on the road like a rooster in the village.

This little bastard had climbed up the social ladder now and had never come to the tea stall again.

“Boss.” Muna put his palms together and bowed.

“Why are you here today?” The Boss of the tea stall asked, glancing at him sideways.

“My cousin Lina is getting married and is still short of some dowry.”

“Borrowing money?” The Boss's neck was held even higher.

“My brother is getting married right after my cousin. He can pay back the money after he gets the dowry. I'm also working as a servant in the master's house and have income every month.”

“I heard you found a good master. Why don't you ask him to borrow money?” The Boss asked knowingly.

In India, servants would never show their bad side to their masters.

For example, drinking, gambling, and being a vagrant were all major taboos for servants. Once discovered, they would definitely be driven out by the master.

Borrowing money was not a major taboo, but it certainly wouldn't please the master, so Muna wasn't that foolish.

This was the servant status he had earned with his life, and he absolutely could not lose it.

“Just three thousand rupee. We can pay it back in less than a month. That construction site,” Muna pointed to the small hill in the distance, “I can bring people in to work.”

This was a kind of delegated authority, a symbol of status. The fact that Muna could introduce villagers to work on the construction site showed that he was highly valued by his master.

“Who is your cousin marrying?” The Boss of the tea stall asked.

“Someone from Mangal Village. His wife just died.”

“Who is your brother marrying?” he continued to ask.

“A girl from the next village. Her family raises cattle.” Muna became more confident.

“Raises cattle” refers to the Yadav caste, which is very powerful in Uttar Pradesh.

After the other party heard that Muna had been taken in as a servant by the Boss of the construction site here, they agreed to the marriage.

In the past, Muna's family could never have imagined such a good thing. It was simply like a pie falling from the sky!

The Boss of the tea stall knew that Muna's family had the capital to repay the money.

“You'll pay back 3500 rupee after one month, and 4500 rupee after more than three months.”

“Deal!” Muna gritted his teeth and agreed.

This was naked usury, and what was more black-hearted was that he borrowed three thousand, but might only receive a little over two thousand.

But there was nothing he could do. His cousin was getting married, and as the bride's family, they were bound to be heavily extorted.

They had to give the groom's family a new bicycle, cash, silver bracelets, and also organize a grand wedding.

They could only do these things one by one. His cousin Lina's situation was special, so the dowry naturally had to be a bit higher.

Indians are particularly fond of organizing weddings, and they like to make a big fuss, the grander the better.

Muna's family had already prepared a large barrel of strong liquor, just waiting to drink to their heart's content at the wedding.

3500 rupee was a huge sum of money, a large amount. Many people in Karna Village didn't have that much in their entire lives.

However, Muna was not worried about the high-interest loan he owed, because his brother would also get married immediately after his cousin got married.

His grandmother had already prepared to heavily extort the girl's family. They were being eaten by others, and they also had to eat others.

After getting the money from the Boss of the tea stall, Muna was in high spirits.

In the past, that old guy had often hit him on the head with a large spoon dipped in syrup. Even now, Muna still had small white dots on his neck and arms.

Now, he could go and borrow money with confidence.

Muna touched his khaki uniform. It was his armor.

The master was staying at Crow and their manor for the past two days. He had to serve him well, especially making sure to show his face often.

Hmm, it would be great if he could get a silver whistle.

Muna walked happily on the hard dirt road rolled by the road roller, his chest puffed out even more.

Hmm, who was that?

A car came from the south, raising a cloud of dust.

Muna didn't recognize many words, but Mirzapur on the license plate was very familiar.

The white SUV drove straight towards him, its headlights flashing and its horn blaring.

Muna wanted to dodge, but the car was coming straight at him, as if it was going to hit him directly.

Screech! With a harsh braking sound, the car stopped less than twenty centimeters away from him.

Muna was so scared that he curled up into a ball. He thought he was going to be run over by the tires, just like the small grass under the road roller's iron wheel, being crushed into the dirt.

“Hey!” The window of the SUV rolled down, and a drunk young man called out to him.

“What?” Muna was still shaken.

“Do you know who is doing the construction here?” The young man pointed to the road roller in the distance and asked.

“They are from the big city, Varanasi. Are you guys…”

“Idiot! You don't even know Rambai?” Another young man in the car cursed.

“Rambai?” Muna was confused.

“Rambai? This kid hasn't even heard of the Tripathi family's name?”

Tripathi? A flash of lightning went through Muna's mind, and he instantly realized something.

But he still had a foolish look on his face, just looking at the people in the car to please them.

“What kind of knowledge can a country mouse like this have?” The leading young man was too lazy to argue. “Kid, do you know how many people are there?”

“A lot!” Muna gestured exaggeratedly.

“How many exactly?” The young man frowned.

“Ten thousand! The entire Karna Village is there.”

“Nonsense, how many people can a rural village have?”

“Rambai, do you want to go and see? In Mirzapur, no one dares to disrespect Karim Bai.” His companion encouraged.

The young man was a bit tempted, but finally waved his hand, “There's a very important party today. We'll come back next time.”

“Rambai, is there a girl you like attending the party?” Laughter came from inside the car.

“I'm definitely getting laid tonight!”

The SUV drove away with a whoosh, taking with it bursts of exaggerated laughter.

Muna wiped his sweat, his eyes still shaken. How did Karim Bai's people end up in the countryside?

No, he had to inform the master quickly.

While Muna was rushing to the construction site, Ron was inspecting the mine.

“Mr. Sur, look, these are high-quality limestone, calcium oxide, with a very high grade.” The expert in charge of the mine was still the same one from last time, Gaul.

“Can it be directly used for processing cement?” Ron rubbed the lime in his hand.

“The mined limestone ore needs to be crushed and screened first, which makes transportation easier and the processing efficiency at the cement plant higher.”

A large excavator had already dug a large pit in the mine, big enough for two large trucks to drive in side by side.

Workers were reinforcing the support steel plates in the tunnels, and the drilling rig behind was waiting. It would go into the bottom of the pit to drill holes.

After being filled with explosives, with a loud bang, the limestone blocks would be scattered everywhere.

Then workers and trucks would enter the site to further break, load, and transport the limestone ore.

This was roughly the mining process, and it had just begun.

“When will the first batch of ore be ready?” Ron was a bit impatient.

“If we wait for the equipment to be in place, it will be about two months. Small-scale manual mining can be done in half a month.”

As early as last year, after obtaining the permit, Ron had already placed equipment orders with Neon.

Some special engineering vehicles were not available in India and could only be bought from abroad.

These machines were what Japan was best at, but they were too expensive.

The long shipping time was also a problem, usually taking four to eight months.

Ron would use domestic equipment if possible, and buy second-hand if possible. But key equipment could not be bought second-hand, only new.

“Let's start with manual mining and store the mined ore nearby. Once the cement plant starts, no amount of ore will be enough to process.”

“Yes, Mr. Sur.” The expert Gaul responded respectfully.

He was also from Uttar Pradesh, of the Vaishya caste. He had always been very flattering to local strongmen like the Sur family.

“What about the cement plant, how is the progress?”

“The foundation has started. The factory buildings can be completed in three or four months. The trouble is the rotary kiln and the conveying tower, which will take at least six months.”

“Is there any faster way?” Ron frowned. This kind of large-scale mining was indeed difficult.

“The original wet kiln in the mine can be used for now, it's just less efficient.” Gaul shrugged.

Ron suddenly realized that Crow and their old manual cement kiln were still there and had not been dismantled.

“Let's try it first, just to gain some experience.”

“I will arrange for people to handle it.”

Ron wanted to say something else, but Muna rushed over in a hurry.

“Master, I just met Karim Bai's people!”

“Who?”

“Karim Bai, the King of Mirzapur.”

“What are they doing here?”

“I don't know, but they definitely aren't up to any good.” Muna stated definitively.

A person's name and reputation precede them. This kind of thing hardly needed guessing.

“Never mind Karim Bai. This is the Sur family's territory.”

Ron waved his hand indifferently. The king of the underground in a small county town? Who was he trying to scare?