I am a master in India

Chapter 285 Not Buying Is Not Patriotic

Johnny spent more than a month recuperating in Kandahar before slowly recovering.

Most of the shrapnel in his body was smaller than a coin, but it still nearly killed him.

Every time he moves his body or turns his head, he feels a sharp, stinging pain that makes him sweat profusely.

He also had wounds on his hands, and after they healed, dead tissue remained on his knuckles, leaving them stiff and numb.

Those are tissues damaged by the extreme cold; they can't truly heal, and will probably ache faintly every winter from now on.

After several months of wandering in the Arab world, Johnny had lost weight and was nowhere near as muscular as he had been before he set off.

However, his body and his mind became stronger and he could endure more hardship.

When they returned from Babayang, they bought a batch of weapons, intending to smuggle them into Mumbai.

The real weaponry wasn't the homemade pistols used by assassins.

They wrapped the guns in cloth, tied them into several bundles, and had several locals transport them out of the country.

Johnny rode in a different carriage from them and didn't greet them at all, but he kept thinking about the smuggled goods.

They need these things because a small revenge awaits them in Mumbai.

No one knows about Hadhan’s death yet, including his remaining gangs in Mumbai.

Once word gets out, the heads of the different businesses will definitely have ulterior motives.

Without Khad Khan's suppression, an internal conflict might break out.

This would create chaos and hinder Johnny and his team from eliminating the traitors.

So few people knew that he had returned to Mumbai, and he came to see Ron first.

“We’re out of money. The last few dollars we had were used to buy weapons at Barbara’s.” Johnny twirled his glass. “But I can’t go to Majid and the others; it would arouse their suspicion.”

"Did they know your route before you set off?" Ron asked.

"No, it's top secret. But everyone can guess that we'll be entering the country with Baba sheep."

According to the plan, they would travel by train or car directly to their destination. However, due to betrayal, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chased them all over the country within Babayang.

Many supplies were not collected in time, and the personnel were scattered. In the end, they had to ride camels through the mountains for more than a month.

This journey would only take a few hours by train, but they wasted far too much time.

The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) also relayed their information to Kandahar, which led to the armed raid on the cave camp.

Johnny believes that Hadhan's death was caused by a traitor tipping him off, and he is filled with rage.

"Why didn't Had Khan take you all with him when he left?" Ron frowned.

“He was too proud; he considered it his private matter and didn’t want to force them.”

“Pride killed him,” Ron sighed.

“Yes.” Johnny said, somewhat distressed.

So what kind of help do you need?

"Money, one million rupees. I need to find some good men; the previous ones are all untrustworthy."

Johnny dared not approach his former friends, and decided to hide himself until he had dealt with the traitor.

Everyone knows he and Khad Khan are inseparable, so if they ask, "How is Khadbay?"

Johnny was worried that he wouldn't be able to keep up the act and wouldn't be able to answer calmly, which might eventually give him away.

“You know what the Mumbai gangs will do after the news gets out, right?” Ron asked, looking at him.

“Of course,” Johnny replied firmly.

"The money will be delivered to you shortly."

"Thank you, Ron."

"I don't want to see Mumbai descend into chaos; I'm a businessman."

"I guarantee that this matter will not affect your territory, nor will it in the future."

“Live well, man.” Ron patted him on the shoulder and stood up.

One of my old friends is gone, and I don't know if I'll ever have another one.

The path of gangsters is indeed fraught with risks; living with violence day and night, it's no wonder that it can backfire.

He cut off his shady business early on because he was worried about getting too deeply involved and losing control of his own destiny.

If you're going to make money anyway, why not choose the honest and aboveboard way?

Johnny left, carrying a black travel bag.

Ron didn't ask him what his plans were, nor did he intend to get involved.

If he wanted, he could certainly take the opportunity to seize control of the underworld in southern Mumbai.

This city has one less person he fears; he could easily become another Black Emperor.

But there's no need. His level has long surpassed Hadhan's limits; he looks down on a world full of insects. Hadhan once earned $400 million a year through gold smuggling and exploiting exchange rate differences; he can now surpass that in a week.

Why tarnish his noble image for such a paltry gain? He aspires to be the sun god.

Oh, right, speaking of business, that damn antitrust case should also be dealt with.

Ron first spread the word through the newspapers: under pressure from competitors such as Onida and Videocon, Sull televisions might have to raise prices.

Why is Sullair TV, which everyone can afford, going to increase in price?
The antitrust allegations against Suer Electric were originally a topic of discussion limited to upper-level figures, such as editors, spokespeople, and business owners.
As soon as the news of the price increase came out, consumers immediately began to pay close attention.

They don't care about dumping at low prices, but raising prices will get in their way.

Because it's them who are paying the bill, not the few elite individuals.

Many people are starting to feel dissatisfied, saying that they've only had a few good days, and now they're going back to the old era of high prices.

The advertising slogan of Suer Electric Appliances, "Everyone can afford it," is still fresh in my mind; it represents the aspiration of most ordinary people.

Wouldn't it be better to sell home appliances at a lower price? With a TV, rice cooker, and juicer, you'd definitely be a middle-class family.

Suer Electric single-handedly boosted the number of middle-class households in India. What a truly conscientious company!

As a result, some bad people didn't want ordinary people to live a good life, so they forced Suer Electric to raise prices.

They are traitors, lackeys of the British, and everything they do is designed to make everyone pay for their expensive imports.

Dissatisfied citizens spontaneously organized demonstrations to protest the so-called anti-monopoly allegations and boycott imported foreign brands.

More people, however, began snapping up Suer televisions; 14-inch and 18-inch models, black and white and color, were all sold out.

More than half a year later, Suer televisions have once again become hot-selling items on the black market.

It's worth noting that after the capacity expansion, Mumbai alone has sixteen assembly lines, producing various models of televisions, with a monthly output of over 200,000 units.

This does not include the four highways that have been put into operation in Gujarat, the twenty highways under construction in Tamil, and the ten highways that are about to be completed in Uttar Pradesh.

Even with such a massive production capacity, it still cannot meet the booming domestic demand.

People were afraid that the price of televisions in Suhr would really go up, so they preferred to spend an extra one or two thousand rupees to buy them on the black market.

Rumors circulated that the government would order Sull Electric to raise its prices, at least to a level similar to other brands, which would be a minimum of 8000 rupees.

Doubling the price from 3999 rupees is unbearable for anyone. Many ordinary people have started becoming middlemen.

They plundered Suhr television sets from various shops, then sold them to black market bosses for a thousand rupees more, who in turn sold them at even higher prices to panicked, desperate buyers.

The economy thus begins its cycle, which is beneficial for GDP!

Faced with a surge of public opinion, the Mumbai Home Appliance Industry Association had no choice but to step forward and clarify the situation.

Some parts in the television industry are expensive to import, and they are already selling at a low profit margin of 8000 rupees, with the profit per television set being only a few dozen rupees.

They also released a so-called production cost report and insisted that their data had stood the test of time.

Suer Electric's dumping of low prices is completely destroying the Indian television market.

Before the matter could escalate, Suer Electric responded. Instead of directly refuting the claims, they published a report in the newspaper.

The content is an introduction to the complete self-sufficiency of Suer Electric's production line, from core components such as picture tubes and circuit boards to scraps such as knobs and casings.

All the reports are saying the same thing: none of the parts in Sull TVs are imported; they are 100% locally produced.

As the official spokesperson, Ashish shamelessly claimed that Suhr TVs were fully developed and that they had completely mastered the production technology, making them the first television manufacturer in India to achieve a breakthrough in core technology.

Now you know why Suer TVs are so cheap, right?

Suer, mastering core technologies!

Why can't other brands do it and have to import it from abroad?
That's because they're incompetent! They can only pass on the high costs to consumers, making the general public foot the bill.

This is a blatant slap in the face, and Onida can't even refute it.

Don't forget that a few years ago, the Congress Party government was still implementing the so-called "import substitution" policy. Indira Gandhi said:
"The public sector should be the foundation of Indian industry; only in this way will the country have more machinery and more steel. Only in this way can India's independence and freedom be guaranteed. Dependence on imports undermines India's independence."

After economic liberalization, the public sector is no longer the main body of industry, but private enterprises still bear this responsibility.

Suer Electric's actions are in line with national interests, so what right do comprador enterprises like Onida have to criticize others?
Yes, Suer Electric Appliances has transformed itself into a shining example of domestic products, while other competitors are seen as mere middlemen!

Ugh, how shameful!

After the report was published, more and more people supported Suer Electric Appliances.

Many fervent supporters shouted: Not buying Sur is unpatriotic.

The whole farce lasted until May, and the Mumbai court never issued any announcement.

The antitrust allegations against Suer Electric seem to be completely ignored. Perhaps the local courts are still waiting in line for cases, and it's not Suer Electric's turn yet.

No, you can't say that. In the last couple of days, a Supreme Court judge has approached Ron.

But it wasn't for official business; he was secretly looking for Ron to help him solve a problem.

Even judges in Mumbai sometimes cannot guarantee the safety of their own interests, rendering the so-called judicial system ineffective.

He had to turn to a parallel justice system, but not the mafia, but the good man Mr. Sue.

(End of this chapter)