I am a master in India

Chapter 392 A Different Kind of Bribery

The visitor was Balam, the Finance Minister of New Delhi, a Tamil.

He was in charge of financial matters, which naturally included all kinds of state-owned banks.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Ron led him into the store.

“Manish, that concludes our guest reception for today. How was that?” Ron turned around.

"Of course." He eagerly took out a sign and hung it outside the glass door.

The shop became quiet, and the waiter and the female receptionist left on their own. Manish then took on the role of servant, serving tea and water himself.

"Mr. Balam, have you been here before?"

“No,” he said, glancing around at the various cigarettes and cigars. “I didn’t expect there to be such exquisite little shops in New Delhi.”

“My business has only been around for less than two years, so it’s normal that you haven’t heard of it, sir,” Manish quickly explained.

"However, the variety is quite extensive, and the storage is very professional," Balam commented.

“Yes, it is my honor to be noticed by you two gentlemen.” Manish smiled broadly and nodded.

“These aren’t ordinary cigars; each one has a story,” Ron said, looking into the window.

"How so?" Balam became interested; he had a taste for this kind of thing.

"That limited edition Cohiba box is from the collection of Walmar, the owner of Connaught Place."

“So it was that guy.” Balam nodded.

Varma is now a retail tycoon in Delhi, and he used a lot of violence to acquire the Connaught Place land.

This is why Manish is nervous; there are some people he really can't afford to mess with.

“Manish, tell me the story behind these cigars,” Ron winked at him.

"Uh yes."

Manish reluctantly recounted how billionaire tycoon Varma haggled desperately over a cigar, ultimately only managing to get a 10% discount.

This little-known and strikingly contrasting anecdote made Balam laugh heartily.

Then, to his astonishment, Ron walked over and took out the treasures that Valmar had entrusted to him.

"Come, Mr. Barum, try something that's someone else's favorite, how about it?"

Even the dignified Minister of Finance was taken aback by him.

However, Barum then became excited and began to taste other people's favorite things, which is not without its own kind of minotaur behavior.

That's not all. At some point, Ron had Anil bring out the premium whiskey that had been prepared beforehand.

So the group quickly picked up their wine glasses and started puffing away.

Manish had already gotten into character, and he began to introduce the treasures in the window one by one, as well as the stories of the people behind them.

Balam thoroughly enjoyed listening to those amusing anecdotes, some of which involved personal matters.

When the mood strikes, one takes out the cigar from the corresponding display window and savors it slowly.

And you know what? He thoroughly enjoyed the process.

It's not that the cigars in Manish's shop are particularly expensive; I've smoked most of the cigars in Balam, so there's nothing special about them.

It's the stories behind these cigars that truly pique one's interest. And to make matters worse, these are the possessions of the protagonist in the story, now held tightly in one's own hands.

Tsk, that smug self-satisfaction is hard not to be captivated by.

After smoking several cigars and drinking a few glasses of whiskey, Balam finally waved his hand and stopped.

Manish wisely retreated to the back room; what followed was beyond his control.

"Speak, Sur, what is it about?"

"Sigh, nothing escapes your eyes." Ron said insincerely, offering flattery.

"That old man Verma always praised you for your business acumen and shrewdness; I've finally seen it for myself today."

“It’s just showing off my limited skills,” Ron poured him a glass of wine. “It’s a matter of foreign exchange.”

"Foreign exchange?"

"Yes, as you know, Suer Electric has an export business."

“Sur, you know these are extraordinary times. The country’s foreign exchange reserves are only a few hundred billion dollars, which cannot be used lightly.”

“I know I don’t want to take advantage of that foreign exchange; I want to exchange it myself.”

"A letter of guarantee?"

"No, the guarantee amount is too low and won't be of much use to my business."

"Then tell me what you plan to do?" Balam asked, somewhat curious.

“I don’t need rupees, I have cash, and I don’t need the government to guarantee my loan. I just want to take this money abroad and exchange it for US dollars.”

"The international monetary market?" Barum immediately understood; as the finance minister, he knew all about these things.

"Yes, I need a constant stream of US dollars, over a billion."

"Over a billion?!" Balam was so shocked he almost dropped his wine glass.

“It’s not a one-time exchange; it’s a long-term goal,” Ron explained.

"What do you need so many US dollars for? Your Suer Electric exports should be generating foreign exchange."

"For telecommunications services, as you know, I obtained a license. But to enable mobile phones to make calls anytime, anywhere, a large number of signal base stations are needed. We can only import them; there is no other way."

"A signal base station costs over a billion dollars?" Balam still found it unbelievable.

“That thing costs five hundred thousand dollars each, and Delhi alone needs more than a thousand of them. I can’t come up with that much money, so I can only build it area by area. This is a long-term project.”

Ron's reasons were valid and true. He ordered signal base stations from Hua Zi, and that came with green dollars.

He had enough in his personal savings account, but the rupee was constantly depreciating, so he had to be careful with how he spent the money. "The amount of money you need to transfer is too large, this is difficult."

"I'm not doing this for myself; I'm doing it for India's communications projects. Even if they won't let me exchange for dollars, will New Delhi allocate funds to support me?"

Balam shook his head; he was the finance minister, and there was no budget for this in the next few years.

“Most importantly, no one has suffered any losses in this matter. I used my own money and did not take out any bank loans. The government will not lose a single rupee, and neither you nor I have made any mistakes. I am not transferring assets; I am using the money to buy technology and then investing it in domestic construction.”

“You are a businessman of high moral character, Sue,” Balam had to admit.

“That’s more like it! As long as India’s telecommunications industry develops in the future, the success doesn’t have to be mine!” he said with righteous indignation.

"But."

“Mr. Balam, the political situation in Tamil may change in next year’s general election. You’ve heard, haven’t you? Jayalalita has regained the support of voters.”

"Oh, you know her?"

"The local branch factory of Suer Electric, as well as the port that is about to be put into operation, were all investments made under her leadership."

Ron gave him a look, and Balram immediately understood.

He is a Tamil and a former member of the Congress Party. However, with the decline of the Congress Party, he left the party last year and formed the Tamil Manila Parliament in his own constituency.

This is a small, independent party that is now part of the Tamil coalition government and has a cooperative relationship with the DMK.

However, as DMK continued its various questionable actions, its public approval rating plummeted, and it was clear to everyone that DMK's good days were numbered.

The reason Balam didn't directly join DMK was simply because he was waiting for a better offer.

Now that Jaya Larita is making a strong comeback, and Ron has a close relationship with her, Balam naturally has to take this relationship into account.

Ron also has a good relationship with the BJP, and with the national elections next year, Balam's thoughts are becoming increasingly clear.

"I will speak with the banks below, and you can only use the funds on your account, not take out a loan."

“Yes, I’ve always been very trustworthy,” he quickly assured.

“The whiskey is good today. I want to go back and rest.” Balam got up and looked around the cigar shop.

“Don’t worry, leave this to me.” Ron winked at Anil.

The latter immediately brought out a case of original imported whiskey and delivered it to Balam's car.

Our finance minister nodded in satisfaction, then sauntered into his car. A few cigars and a few glasses of whiskey put him in a good mood.

After a while, Manish, who had been hiding in the back room, quietly came out.

"Mr. Suer, my shop is about to close down."

"So early?" Ron glanced at the sky; the sun was still high in the sky.

“Oh, I mean, Castro’s cigarette shop is going to go out of business.” Manish looked dejected.

"How could that be?" Ron asked in surprise.

“Those people mean nothing to you. But to me, I can’t afford to offend any of them.”

Ron made one phone call after another, and the customers behind the shop window must have known that it was Manish who leaked their information.

They dared not blame Ron, but Manish was in a terrible predicament.

When Manish recalled the hardships he faced when he started his business, he became quite talkative.

His original dream was to become a pilot, and he even enrolled in a flight school in Kansas.

He worked many part-time jobs in the United States, including working in nightclubs, where he gradually discovered the potential of cigarettes.

He returned to India with his pilot's license, but obviously couldn't find a job because there was no place for him to use his skills.

His mother had a small shop that sold imported decorative flowers, so Manish took over the shop.

In his own words, he was adrift and depressed at that time.

He had a close relationship with his mother, but was distant from his father, who had been an air force officer.

Manish was eager to get into the cigarette business, so he tried to get close to India’s only cigarette importer.

This man was much older than Manish, and cigarettes were just a side business for him. His main business was selling arms, which he had been doing since the 60s.

Manish and his cooperation was unpleasant because he demanded a high profit from Manish before agreeing to cooperate.

A few years ago, he opened "India's first cigarette lounge" in the Royal Park of Hrulu Square, and business was booming.

His partner began demanding higher profits from him. Manish tried to negotiate, but the other party threatened to cut off Manish's supply.

The problem is that cigars are strictly controlled luxury goods, and the arms dealer got involved in the cigar business because he was importing weapons; the two are closely related.

Manishkh's relationship with the arms dealer broke down, and he was in dire straits.

He desperately searched the world for cigarette exporters to supply him, but everyone he contacted refused to do business with him. They didn't like dealing with Indians in the first place, let alone a young man with no background.

Due to a lack of funds, Manish only selected a few companies to discuss cooperation with, one of which was a Bahrain chief.

He planned to meet the chief in person, so he used the last of his money to buy a plane ticket to Bahrain.

After hearing his story, the chief surprisingly agreed to supply him with goods and even offered him a loan from the start.

That's how he opened the upscale "Castro Cigarette Shop" he has today, after going through countless hardships.

“Don’t worry, I’ve spoken to them personally, your shop will be fine.” Ron smiled and patted him on the shoulder.

Manish hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.

Ron didn't say anything and got into the car, but Anil glanced at him.

“You have no idea what the title ‘Mr. Sue’ means.”

If Mr. Sue could owe him even a small favor, countless people would rush to offer it.

(End of this chapter)