I am a master in India

Chapter 216 I'm a Good Person

Anand walked into the passage, and after a few steps, he suddenly encountered a right turn. His intuition told him that the road ahead was not easy to walk.

Several prison guards poked him in the back with their batons, urging him to continue forward.

He staggered through the archway and turned right. On both sides of the long corridor stood about twenty people, each holding a bamboo stick.

Anand had never been to prison, but he knew what it meant.

Upon reaching the iron gate at the end of the corridor, the people on this path will do everything they can to torment him.

Whipping, beating with sticks, kicking left and right... the best way is to run fast and shorten the time of torture.

Tragically, he is now completely numb and even walking is extremely painful.

Fear makes one's mouth dry, hatred makes one suffocate.

He walked slowly forward. The people there were wearing white shirts and white shorts, white hats, and thick black leather belts.

The brass buckle on the belt is stamped with a number and title; the title is cell warden.

Dormitory wardens are a type of police officer system inherited from the British colonial period.

Murderers and other repeat offenders serving long sentences are sentenced to at least fifteen years. For the first five years, they are ordinary prisoners. In the second five years, they receive certain privileges, such as working in the kitchen, laundry room, prison property, and cleaning crew.

During the third five-year period, they would often be promoted to dormitory supervisors, receiving the hat, belt, and bamboo stick, and thus gaining the power of life and death.

Yes, the dorm supervisors in front of Anand were all prisoners.

Prison guards hardly interfere in the daily operations of the prison; routines, order, and discipline are all the responsibility of the cell supervisors, including physical abuse.

Two rows of murderers, now transformed into prison guards, waited on either side of the corridor to serve Anand.

They raised their sticks, eyes fixed on him, ready for Anand to charge forward and deprive them of their amusement in beating him until he cried out in pain.

Anand didn't run; he couldn't run anymore.

He limped forward, inching forward step by step.

The bamboo stick swung down, striking the arms, legs, and back with a series of cracking sounds, instantly tearing the skin and flesh.

Some of them struck his head, neck, and face with their strong arms, whipping him with all their might, the bamboo sticks landing on his bare skin.

The pain felt like being burned by red-hot metal, or like being electrocuted.

When the end of the bamboo stick is struck, it creates a series of extremely fine cuts wherever it lands.

Blood streamed down his face and bare arms.

Anand was crying, muttering to himself.

He continued walking forward, step by step.

When the stick hits his face and ears, he twitches uncontrollably.

He walked at a moderate pace, his hands always at his sides, clutching his filthy trousers.

At first, the attacks were fierce, but as he went further in, the sticks on his body became less and less.

The attack almost stopped as they approached the end of the corridor.

They were wondering why this guy wasn't dodging or evading.

The people in the two rows of the corridor stopped what they were doing and looked at him.

“I’m a good person…I want to be a good person, Ron Baba…”

Sobs and whispers echoed in the corridor, his vision blurred with blood, a bloody mess.

...

"Still no news?"

“No, sir, Alibaba has already mobilized all its manpower to search,” Rajiv replied.

"Have Ranjit help scout out the black market as well; they have the best information."

“Yes, Mr. Sue.” Rajiv left with a worried expression.

Three weeks have passed, and there is still no word from Anand.

Ron tried many methods: he asked Ajay at the police station, Johnny from the mob, the black market, and the slums—he asked everywhere, but to no avail.

If those people were really after him, or were after a ransom, they should have contacted him much earlier.

As a result, he returned to Mumbai and received no hints or phone calls for a long time, as if nothing had happened.

Ron had to actively seek help from people, including asking for assistance from people in the leprosy slums.

However, he is now unsure whether he can still find Anand.

This is highly unusual. If he was indeed kidnapped, even during the transfer, there would be clues left behind.

For example, taking his car, his daily meals, his eating, drinking, and relieving himself—as long as he interacts with this city, he will inevitably leave traces.

But none of these are available. What kind of place could possibly achieve this?

Unless that group has a complete system of living supplies and is independent of this city.

"Boss." Amor knocked on the door.

"Come in." He snapped out of his reverie.

"The owner asked for ten million rupees."

“If he can get rid of those tenants, ten million rupees won’t be a problem,” Ron scoffed.

He wanted to buy the land northeast of Suer Electric Appliances, or more precisely, the several property buildings there.

The plans for the Sur Park have been approved by Maharashtra Chief Minister Nawal.

It is expected that the licensing and approval process will be completed soon.

Given this, Ron naturally needed to find a way to resettle the slum dwellers on his territory as soon as possible.

Besides being busy with Anand's affairs, he hasn't been idle during this period.

Ron is trying to acquire those old office buildings that he went to see with Amor and the others.

Unfortunately, when the homeowners there heard that someone was willing to be taken advantage of, they immediately started asking for exorbitant prices.

Completely disregarding the pathetic state of his life over the years, forced by circumstances to confront tenants with dilapidated buildings.

This is typical of Mumbai merchants: they never miss an opportunity to rip off their customers.

"Boss, should I take some men and teach him a lesson?" Amor's eyes hardened. He was no pushover; the Bania factory was destroyed under his watch.

"No need for all that trouble. Just tell him 100 million rupees, or he can prepare to be a landlord who never collects rent for the rest of his life."

"I'll do it right away."

“Wait,” Ron called Amor back, “what are you going to do about the tenants in the building?”

"Boss, don't worry, they'll move out obediently in less than a month."

Amor said a few words in a low voice, and Ron smiled wryly and waved him away.

The wicked need to be dealt with by the wicked; conventional methods cannot be used to deal with deadbeat tenants.

That homeowner is a bully who preys on the weak and fears the strong. Just because there's a law firm in the building, he doesn't dare to be forceful.

For so many years, those small companies have been able to occupy the building openly by paying him a few dozen rupees a month.

And this guy still has the nerve to ask for ten million rupees?

It's hard to say whether his monthly rent adds up to 10,000 rupees, but he really dares to dream of 10 million.

If it weren't for the upcoming news reports about the Suer Park development, Ron wouldn't have even bothered to give that million.

He just didn't want things to get too ugly and become negative news.

Speaking of Suer Industrial Park, this is also a major project.

According to the blueprints, maximizing the configuration would cost at least thirty million US dollars.

Converted to rupees, that's roughly 9 million.

Of course, this is India, so employee communities are just so-so; don't even think about sports fields or recreational facilities.

Wastewater treatment and environmental protection facilities can also be completely cut, as these are incompatible with India.

By removing these unnecessary frills, the project cost can be reduced to 5 million rupees.

Ron didn't have that much money; in October of last year, he had about 6000 million in readily available funds.

It is now early February 1994, and Suer Electric's total profit over these three months is 50 million.

The profit margin of water-cooled air conditioners is average, and with the winter season approaching, there is no significant growth.

Despite the low price, sales of inexpensive electric fans continued to climb, with nearly 150,000 units sold in three months.

Since acquiring Bania's electric fan factory, Suer electric fans have become more diverse in style and more reliable in quality.

Although the selling price is only three to five hundred rupees, the profit margin is barely maintained at forty percent.

However, this type of appliance has a mature market and stable sales, making it a reliable product.

Last year, Suer Electric's profit was only this much, barely reaching 100 million rupees.

This is still far from the 5 million rupees budget for the Sur Park, so Ron has to find other ways to make a living.

Last year, travel agencies sent more than 5,000 people to work in the Persian Gulf countries, with most visas issued every six months.

On average, each person makes a total of four outbound and inbound trips with the help of travel agencies.

The service fees alone amount to 40 million rupees. They also provide intermediary services for foreign workers, including housing, round-trip boat tickets, and bus tickets.

After deducting employee salaries and operating costs, the net profit is around 50 million.

Forget about the travel agency; let's not even talk about it. That small amount of money is only enough to cover Ron's daily expenses.

Other smuggled drugs and experimental drugs earn US dollars, but those cannot be touched.

After a quick calculation, Ron's capital was only 1.5 million rupees.

What to do when we're still short 3.5 million? Take out a loan!

With the endorsement of the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, banks are no longer a barrier.

So what if they've already taken out a loan of 30 million? Even the banks have to listen to the minister.

Although banking and administration are two separate systems in India, bank executives actually have very little say.

With just a little pressure from local officials, banks will readily release the loans.

In addition, the lack of regulation in the banking system has led to rampant corruption.

As long as the kickbacks are appropriate, the bank manager doesn't care whether the borrower meets the requirements.

Given Ron's current social standing, he could easily borrow two or three hundred million rupees.

Look, most of the money he spent on buying land and building the industrial park was paid by banks.

Mining and cement companies in Uttar Pradesh operate in a similar manner.

Using state-owned bank funds to quickly acquire state-owned assets is a form of oligarchic behavior.

Ron has already applied for the loan from the Indian bank and is just waiting for the process to be completed before construction can begin.

If you do the math, he already owes the bank four or five hundred million rupees, which is far more than his entire net worth.

It is completely insolvent; in other countries, it would have gone bankrupt long ago.

But this is India, and when he took out the loan, the bank didn't even bother to check his assets.

That's outrageous; it's all a makeshift operation.

What could he say? Of course, he'd just enjoy the benefits he'd already received.

Well, Ron plans to use the bank's money to buy himself another house.

He's still renting; the houses in the fortress area are just too old.

The truly affluent areas of southern Mumbai are located near the Malabar Hills.

If it weren't for Anand's situation, he might have already been looking for property.

Ron wondered how Freida's family was doing and decided to go check on them.

He had just stood up when the phone on the table rang.

“Ron, come to Bandera.” It was Mary’s voice.

"What's the matter?" he asked.

"We have found clues to Anand's disappearance."

(End of this chapter)