I am a master in India

Chapter 207 Bad Omens

The area around Kana Village has now become a construction site. Not only are various machines roaring on the small hill, but there is also a road roller rolling around at the entrance of the village.

The children in the small square in front of the tea shop no longer chased after the trucks.

They were speechless with shock at the enormous road roller. Some timid children cried loudly as they saw the monstrous iron wheels rolling over them.

Many more teenagers excitedly gathered around the road roller, pointing and gesturing, as it was the first time they had ever seen such a steel behemoth.

"Look at that huge iron wheel, it's even bigger than a water buffalo!"

"Those are its hooves; the places it treads on are harder than stones."

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

"Idiot, it drinks oil, just like a truck."

The boys chattered excitedly, looking at the driver in the yellow cockpit with expressions of admiration.

I wonder if he needs help. If he could climb to the top of the giant beast and sit down, he would be incredibly proud!
The tea shop owner, who was watching the commotion from a distance, scoffed. These little brats are still daydreaming.

This is a construction team, not a human trafficker trying to take people to the city for work.

If you want to make money, you don't need to go that far. Just go to the construction site to the east, and you'll always find work.

Wow, that huge iron wheel is really scary. It flattens the uneven muddy ground like marble after rolling it over it.

The tea shop owner heard from the workers who came to drink tea that the first thing to do was to build a road that would connect to the main road leading to Varanasi.

The cement produced later will be sent from here to other cities in Uttar Pradesh.

What a magnificent scene! Kana Village has never seen so many people before.

Some were leveling the land, others were building roads. The area from the village entrance to the mining area was packed with people, at least a thousand.

There were migrant workers and people from Kana village.

The men and women of the village all pitched in, carrying blackened hammers and crooked bamboo baskets, and went out to beg the foreman at the construction site for work.

Winter is not the harvest season, and there are no food crops to exchange for money, but life still goes on.

In previous years, the men in the village would go to the city to work at this time, but now there is a construction site right at the entrance of the village, so of course they don't have to go that far.

They were so exhausted that they were bent over, panting heavily, and the marks on their shoulders from the straps were almost melting into their flesh.

But they were all smiling. The new landlord paid them, and the women were around them. It was like living in paradise!

The tea shop owner felt a little awkward; he wasn't used to seeing smiles on the faces of lower castes.

But he wasn't sure if this was a good thing; perhaps the villagers would go to the teahouse more often and drink more tea if they had money.

"Muna!" The tea shop owner suddenly spotted a familiar figure.

He walked proudly down the road in his khaki uniform, like a village rooster.

That little rascal has climbed up the social ladder now, and he's never come to this teahouse again.

"Boss." Muna clasped his hands together and bowed.

"What brings you here today?" the tea shop owner asked, glancing at him sideways.

"My cousin Lina is getting married, but she's still short of a dowry."

"Borrow money?" The boss raised his head even higher.

“My brother got married right after my cousin, and he was able to pay off the debt with his dowry. I’m still working as a servant in my master’s house, and I get an income every month.”

"I heard you found a good owner, why don't you borrow from him?" the shopkeeper asked knowingly.

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

For example, drinking, gambling, and being a wanderer are all major taboos for servants. Once discovered, they will surely be kicked out by their master.

Lending money isn't a major taboo, but it certainly won't please the owner, and Muna isn't that foolish.

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

“It only costs three thousand rupees, and we can pay it off in less than a month. That construction site,” Muna pointed to a small hill in the distance, “I can bring people in to work.”

This is a form of representation, a symbol of status. The fact that Muna could introduce villagers to work on the construction site shows that he is highly valued by his master.

"Who did your cousin marry?" the tea shop owner asked.

“He’s from Mangal village; his wife just died.”

"Who is your brother going to marry?" he continued.

“A girl from the next village, her family herds cattle.” Muna became more confident.

"Cattle herder" is a term referring to the Yadav caste, who are very powerful in Uttar Pradesh.

The other party only agreed to the marriage after hearing that Muna had been taken in as a servant by the owner of the construction site.

In the past, the Muna family would never have dared to dream of such a good thing; it was like a windfall!
The tea shop owner knew that the Muna family had the means to repay the debt.

“3500 rupees after one month, 4500 rupees after three months.”

"Deal!" Muna gritted his teeth and agreed.

This is blatant usury. What's even more insidious is 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 the bride's family was bound to be squeezed out of a lot of money.

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

They had no choice but to comply with these requests one by one. Lina's situation was special, so her dowry naturally had to be higher.

Indians particularly enjoy holding weddings, and they like to do them in a grand and extravagant way, the more elaborate the better.

The Muna family had prepared a large barrel of strong liquor, just waiting to enjoy it to their hearts' content at the wedding.

3500 rupees is a huge sum of money; many people in Kana village don't even have that much in their lifetime savings.

However, Muna is not worried about the high-interest loans he owes, because his brother will get married immediately after his cousin gets married.

His grandmother was already prepared to squeeze a hefty sum out of that girl; they were being taken advantage of, and they would take advantage of others in return.

Muna was overjoyed after receiving the money from the tea shop owner.

That old guy used to hit his head with a big spoon dipped in syrup quite often, and to this day Muna still has small white spots on his neck and arms.

Now, he can borrow money with a clear conscience.

Muna touched his khaki uniform, which served as his armor.

The master has been staying at the crows' manor for the past two days, so I have to take good care of him and make sure he gets to show his face more often.

Hmm, it would be nice to get myself a silver whistle.

Muna walked blissfully along the hard dirt road churned up by the road roller, his chest puffed out even higher. Hmm, who's that?
The car came from the south, bringing with it a trail of dust.

Muna doesn't recognize many words, but she is very familiar with the name Mirzabur on the license plate.

A white SUV drove straight toward him, its headlights flashing and its horn blaring.

Muna tried to dodge, but the car was heading straight for him, as if it was going to knock him flying.

With a screeching sound of brakes, the car stopped less than twenty centimeters away from him.

Muna cowered in fear, thinking he was about to be run over by the tires, like a blade of grass crushed into the ground by a road roller's wheels.

"Hey!" The window of the SUV rolled down, and a drunken young man greeted him.

"What?" Muna was still in shock.

"Do you know who's working here?" the young man asked, pointing to the road roller in the distance.

"From the big city, Varanasi. Who are you?"

"Idiot! Don't you even know Rambay?" another young man in the car cursed.

"Rambay" Muna was completely bewildered.

"Ramby, this kid hasn't even heard of the Tripati family's reputation?"

Tripatty? A thought flashed through Muna's mind, and he instantly realized something.

But he still looked silly, only looking at the people in the car with a fawning expression.

"What kind of knowledge could these country bumpkins have?" the young leader said, not bothering to argue. "Kid, do you know how many people are there?"

“Lots!” Muna gestured exaggeratedly.

"How much exactly?" the young man asked, frowning.

"Ten thousand people! The entire village of Kana is there."

"Nonsense, how many people can a rural village have?"

“Rambai, want to go take a look? In Mirzabul, no one dares to disrespect Kalinbai,” his companion urged.

The young man was somewhat tempted, but in the end he waved his hand and said, "I have a very important party today, I'll come next time."

"Rambay, is there a girl you like at the party?" Laughter erupted from inside the car.

"I'm definitely going to get my hands on it tonight!"

The SUV sped past, taking with it bursts of exaggerated laughter.

Muna wiped his sweat, his eyes still wide with shock. How did the people from Kalinbai end up in the countryside?

No, we have to notify the owner immediately.

As Muna headed to the construction site, Ron was inspecting the mine.

"Mr. Suer, look, this is all high-quality limestone, calcium oxide, very high grade." The expert in charge of the mine was the same one from last time, Gao Er.

"Can it be used directly to process cement?" Ron twirled the lime in his hand.

"The limestone ore that is mined needs to be crushed and screened first, which makes it easier to transport and makes it more efficient to process at the cement plant."

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

Workers are reinforcing the support plates in the tunnel, while the drilling rig is waiting to go into the bottom of the pit to drill holes.

Once it's packed with explosives, there will be a loud bang, and the limestone blocks will shatter into pieces all over the ground.

Then workers and trucks come in to further crush, load, and transport the limestone ore.

This is roughly the mining process, and we're only just getting started.

"When will the first batch of ore be available?" Ron asked impatiently.

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

Ron had already placed an equipment order with Japan after obtaining the license last year.

Some specialized engineering vehicles are not available in India and must be purchased from abroad.

This kind of machinery is perfect for everyday life, but it's too expensive.

The long delivery time is also a problem, usually taking four to eight months.

Ron uses domestically produced equipment whenever possible, and buys secondhand equipment whenever possible. However, he can't buy secondhand equipment for critical components, so he has to buy new ones.

"We'll start with manual mining, and store the extracted ore nearby. Once the cement plant starts operating, no amount of ore will be enough to meet the demand."

“Yes, Mr. Sue,” the expert, Gore, replied respectfully.

He was also from Uttar Pradesh, of the Vaishya caste. He always fawned over local tyrants like the Sur family.

"How's the cement plant progressing?"

"We've already started laying the foundation, and the factory buildings are simple and can be completed in three or four months. The troublesome parts are the rotary kiln and the conveyor tower, which will take at least six months."

"Is there a faster way?" Ron frowned; this kind of large-scale mining was indeed difficult.

“The old wet kiln in the mine can still be used, but it’s a bit inefficient,” Gore shrugged.

Ron suddenly realized that the artificial cement kiln that Crow and his crew used to have was still there and had never been demolished.

"Give it a try first, consider it as gaining experience."

"I will arrange for someone to handle it."

Ron wanted to say something, but Muna rushed over.

"Master, I just encountered people from Kalimbai!"

"Who?"

"Kalimbai, King of Mizabur".

"What are they doing here?"

"I don't know, but they definitely didn't have any good intentions," Muna asserted immediately.

A person's name is like a tree's shadow; such things are almost never guessed.