I'm a Master in India

The December air in Mumbai finally held a hint of coolness, but it was only enough to warrant a light jacket.

The temperature, hovering around twenty degrees Celsius, would even be considered early summer in other places.

Ron hastily threw on a thin shirt and got into Anand's taxi.

Their destination was in central Mumbai, which was practically the suburbs, at least thirty kilometers from the Fort area.

"Ron, do you really want to be a landlord?"

"That's right, it'll be my first asset."

"What do you plan to do with the land?"

"It used to be a textile factory, I'm planning to convert it into an electronics factory."

"Electronics factory? I thought you were going to rent it out to farmers. I know a lot of good farmers, they're in the rural areas of northern Maharashtra."

"What are you thinking? This is Mumbai, even if it's the suburbs, it's the suburbs of India's largest city!"

"Alright, actually, I'm not just an excellent tour guide, I'm also a good farmer, but factories aren't my thing."

Hearing his explanation, Ron couldn't help but laugh.

Anand had once talked about his hometown, a remote village in northern Maharashtra.

His father was the village chief, highly respected. Unfortunately, Anand didn't inherit his mantle, choosing to come to Mumbai instead.

There are many young people like this in India, they would rather live in slums than return to a rural area where there's nothing.

"I just don't understand, Ron. You have your own company, you make a lot of money, why do you want to run a factory?"

"Where does most of our money come from?" Ron asked.

"Of course, it's from foreigners."

"Be specific."

"Commissions, and foreign currency," Anand replied while driving.

"That's right, foreign currency. And how do we exchange the money after we get foreign currency?"

"Of course, we give it to Hadhkhan, he has good rates!"

"That's where the problem lies!" Ron snapped his fingers.

"What problem?" Anand shook his head, "Did the black market exchange rate drop again?"

"That's one aspect, but it's not the main point. A large part of our profit relies on the foreign exchange black market, that's not our territory."

No matter how the exchange rate changes, the black market is the most profitable business. This is true for Ron, and for Hadhkhan.

It's too important, the profits it brings make everyone who understands its rules covet it.

"Ron, did something happen?" Anand asked uneasily.

"No, I'm just preparing for a rainy day."

"I don't understand, we're cooperating very well with Hadhkhan right now."

"That's because we haven't gotten big yet. When the company monopolizes most of the foreign customer base here in Mumbai one day, the problem will come."

Hadhkhan once said to him jokingly: Ron, your company has connected half of my men together.

This might really just be a joke, or even a compliment, but Ron often felt tense because of it.

This isn't a good thing. When his company monopolizes most of the foreign customer base, it also indirectly monopolizes a large portion of the foreign currency inflow in the black market.

Where will Hadhkhan's men go to collect money then? Will Ron willingly hand over that portion of the price difference then?

Or even if he's willing, will Hadhkhan still trust him like he does today?

He's still weak now, and he has reached a gentleman's agreement with Hadhkhan early on. But once his strength grows, the balance will inevitably be challenged.

Ron has no intention of getting involved in Mumbai's underground black market, and he doesn't want to be a gang boss, that's not where his ambitions lie.

So, from the very first time he met Hadhkhan, Ron has been consciously looking for other avenues.

Running a tourism business is of course very good, the market is almost blank, with no competitors.

But the prerequisite is to be able to operate steadily, the black market is a hurdle that cannot be bypassed.

The larger the volume, the more obvious the conflict. There's no need, he doesn't need to compete with the gang for the foreign exchange black market.

He looks further ahead, he has many plans in mind that focus on the future, all he lacks is the initial capital accumulation.

Now he can take a small step, this trip to buy land is the beginning of his future plans.

As for the tourism company, he will continue to run it, but it probably won't be the main focus in the future.

In the taxi, Anand was still thinking about Ron's words, his intuition told him there was something wrong, but he couldn't say where.

"Ron, are you worried about competing with Hadhkhan for territory in the future?"

"You're not completely stupid, Anand."

"I don't understand, why can't we cooperate? Just like now."

"Because this kind of thing isn't up to just you and me. I run a company, he has an entire gang behind him."

"So what, Indians are loyal and righteous, we can discuss it in advance."

"What did I just say about you?"

"Uh... I'm not completely stupid?"

"No, I take that back!"

Amidst the bickering, the taxi had already arrived. The outside was more desolate than Ron had imagined, completely unworthy of the term metropolitan suburb.

Looking around, the nearby residential areas were sparse, without even proper buildings, all dilapidated bungalows and shacks.

On the outskirts of the residential area, there were also many wastelands and forests, Sharma's textile factory was located near here.

The factory buildings there looked deserted, with overgrown weeds everywhere in the corners, and yarn, rags, and disassembled machine parts scattered on the ground.

Ron turned to look south, the bustling Mumbai metropolitan buildings could only be seen as a vague outline here.

This doesn't look like a suburb at all, at most it's just an upgraded version of a rural area. But precisely in terms of geographical location, it is indeed located in the city center of Mumbai.

Outrageous, so freaking outrageous.

Under their feet, the roads in the city center were uneven. The roadsides were piled with uncleaned garbage, and the gazes of the occasional passersby were timid and curious.

The only advantage was that it was not far from the sea, they could hear the sound of the waves. Because of the frequent sea breeze, there was no unpleasant smell like the streets of South Mumbai.

Ah ha, fresh air, Ron finally found something to praise.

By the way, Bollywood studios are not far from here, they are located on the northwest side of this godforsaken place.

Remember what Kavya said back then? From Bollywood to Mumbai city, that's called going back to the city.

Even the local Indians don't consider this place to be Mumbai city, which shows how remote Sharma's textile factory is.

Anand parked the taxi on the side of the road, they were preparing to enter the factory area on foot.

Scattered debris blocked the way, let alone cars, even motorcycles couldn't get in.

Before reaching the entrance of the textile factory, Ron saw a man wearing a turban waiting there.

"Are you Mr. Soor?"

"Yes," Ron nodded.

"Mr. Sharma asked me to take you around, we have to be quick, before the workers notice."

"What do you mean, where is he himself?"

"He can't come here, someone is watching him, that would spoil things."

Ron and Anand exchanged a look, well, things were worse than they thought.

"Then lead the way, we need to see a lot of places."

Ron wasn't planning to just take a quick look, this was the foundation of his next plan.