I am a master in India

Chapter 82 Which foreigner has not been cheated?

Ron and Leon still agreed to meet at the Montiga Café, a place they were both familiar with.

When Ron stepped into the cafe, Leon was still sitting by the window, but his expression was far less relaxed than last time.

"Looks like you've had a rough few days?" Ron sat down opposite him.

"You should be thankful that I can still sit here safely." Leon's eyes were complicated.

"what happened?"

"I was robbed, by the Indian police. It sounds ridiculous, but I was robbed by a country's law enforcement agency."

Leon still felt a sense of disbelief. He bet that if he told this story to others, his friends back home in Europe would think he was joking, a very clumsy and ridiculous joke.

"Ron, can you believe this kind of thing happened in Mumbai, India's largest city?"

"Honestly, I'm not that surprised. Tell me what happened."

Ron called the waiter and ordered two cups of coffee. He noticed that there was nothing in front of Leon.

"Thank God, I should have had a cup of coffee earlier." He held the cup with a pious expression.

"Dude, you don't even have the money to order, do you?"

"What else? Have you ever seen a foreigner sit in a coffee shop for more than half an hour without doing anything?"

"I smell the beginning of a sad story," Ron shrugged.

"Things happened so fast that you couldn't react." Leon took a sip of coffee, his expression gradually relaxed, "Just two days ago, after we first met.

I returned to the private hotel where I had stayed for a few days, and the owner handed me a cigarette, saying it was a very famous cigarette in India.

You know, we had been together for a few days and I trusted him, so I took the cigarette. And then at that moment, two heavily armed Indian policemen rushed out from the corner.

They told me in broken English that I was suspected of violating the local anti-smoking law. Then, obviously, they took all my belongings. My wallet, cash, camera, watch, and several leather-bound notebooks.

"That sounds like a trap," Ron commented.

"One hundred percent!" Leon cursed. "I gave that hotel owner a generous tip. And the local who introduced me to that hotel, they're all in cahoots!"

Leon finally understood why the man he met on the street was so enthusiastic. He even helped with his luggage and bargained with the vendor on his behalf.

Finally, Leon accepted his suggestion and stayed in that hotel. Looking back now, everything makes sense.

"And how did you get away?" Ron asked.

"They suggested to me that I could either confess my guilt and be deported, or they would let me off the hook and not pursue the money. What could I do? I couldn't even contact the German embassy."

"Ahaha. They took you away on the spot and left you with no way to contact the outside world."

"That's it!" Leon cursed again.

"Dude, don't travel alone in India, especially if you're a foreigner." Ron gave him advice.

"I bet they figured that out, and that's why they did it."

"I'm sorry that I didn't accept your offer last time. Otherwise..."

"No, I should have called you earlier. I was too confident. I thought I knew this place well enough. I'd lived in Mumbai on my own for over a week without any guide, and I was even proud of it."

"Where are you staying now? I said it was robbed." "Youth hostel, 100 rupees a night." Leon shrugged.

The place was barely habitable, but cheap. Leon pawned his prized Pelikan pen to pay for a few nights' lodging.

"So what are your plans now?" Ron asked casually.

"I want to go to Delhi. I have a colleague who is still there. But I have no money, you know." Leon looked very embarrassed. He knew that such a request was a bit rude.

"Why don't you call him? It won't cost a few rupees."

"All my business cards were taken away, and I couldn't remember the numbers. I only had a pen hidden under my tie, which saved me from being killed."

"The airfare to Delhi is around 1,000 rupees, and the train ticket is around 200 rupees."

"I choose train tickets! Any train ticket will do!" Leon said quickly.

"Dude, you have to give me a reason." Ron looked at him amusedly. "I'm in the tourist business, but now I have to pay the tourists. This doesn't make sense."

"I know, this is really hard to explain. After all, we just met, and I'm asking for this." Leon was a little embarrassed, but he quickly cheered up. "But don't worry, I will definitely give you a generous reward when we get to Delhi. I have money. I'm the marketing director sent by Siemens to India for research."

"Siemens?" Ron raised his eyebrows. "How do you prove it?"

"Well, all my business cards have been taken away. I can't prove myself now. But you know what Cipla Pharmaceuticals is? Its headquarters is in Mumbai."

“Of course, everyone in India knows Cipla.”

Cipla is India's second-largest pharmaceutical company, and Ranbaxy is the largest. They are both star companies in India, and the public is proud of these two generic drug manufacturers.

"Siemens has a medical imaging business, and the laboratories of Cipla and Ranbaxy happen to need this kind of equipment. That's my mission here. If all goes well, Siemens might even invest in India."

"I know this. The government has relaxed investment restrictions in most sectors this year, which has attracted many foreign investors to India."

"Yes, that's it!" Leon was very happy that Ron understood what he meant.

"Have you visited Cipra? They should be very interested in you."

"I went, but they didn't trust me. I had nothing to prove. I shouldn't have waited so long. I wanted to explore the local culture and assess whether it was suitable for Siemens investment."

Ron understood what was going on. Leon didn't want to alert Sipora too soon. He had other tasks to do, exploring India. He wanted to understand the real India, but he didn't expect to encounter what happened next.

"Now, after this period of personal experience, what do you think of India?" Ron asked.

"It's hard to say." Leon looked conflicted.

"Haha, okay! I'll arrange your train ticket to Delhi. Any questions for tomorrow?"

"No problem, the sooner the better! See, there are still good people in India!"

"Don't be depressed, man. There are good people and bad people everywhere in the world. We'll meet at Victoria Station tomorrow morning."

Regardless of whether what he said was true or not, the two hundred rupees worth of the ticket was nothing to Ron. He just thought of it as a story and the ticket as his reward.

Besides, with his relationship with the train station, it would be easy for him to get a free ticket.

"Oh, by the way, the two hundred or so rupees buys a regular seat ticket. Are you ready to experience India's famous human train?"

"What?" Leon suddenly had a bad feeling.

(End of this chapter)