The school beauty was left outside to be in charge of the reception. Nan Yi, along with the tiger cub and two other tall bodyguards, walked into the brightly shining gate.
After walking through the gate, you will come to a place similar to a patio. Turn left, then turn right, and after two sharp turns, you will come to a courtyard with walls about four meters high on all sides.
In the yard, a simple canvas awning was set up along the three walls, with a dozen rough long wooden benches placed underneath. Dozens of children sat side by side on the benches, curiously looking at the people who were standing in groups of two or three nearby and chatting.
Nan Yi looked at the people standing and talking. There were Arabs wearing loose cotton robes and headscarves, as well as Europeans, Americans and South Americans. There were not too many people in the latter two categories, and most of the people were Arabs.
A dark-skinned Indian boy, holding a tray in his hands, walked among the crowd and served them black tea. When Nan Yi and his companions appeared, the people who were chatting just now turned their heads to look at them, just a glance, then retracted their gaze and continued their conversation.
Nan Yi carefully memorized the appearance of everyone, then walked to a corner and stood there. As soon as he stood still, the Indian boy came over and served him black tea.
Nan Yi waved his hand to indicate that it was not necessary, then took out a 20-rupee note from his pocket, with two or three paisas in between, and stuffed it into the boy's hand.
As soon as the boy took the rupee, he felt that there was something inside. A light flashed in his eyes and he hurriedly thanked Nan Yi. Obviously, this child was very smart and had understood Nan Yi's intention and probably knew how to hide the paisa.
It was already July. India was flooded in places that should be flooded and dry in places that should be dry. There were cholera and war zones, both natural disasters and man-made disasters. These children were born in disaster areas and were recruited or bought directly by spies. They then boarded trains and traveled hundreds or thousands of miles to Mumbai, and voluntarily reported to the spies.
Nan Yi carefully looked at the children sitting on the long wooden bench. They were all delicate and thin. Some were curled up alone, some were hugging each other, and some had their fingers given to their playmates beside them as toys.
From time to time, the children would stare with wide eyes, curiously at the well-off buyers and agents. There was no fear in their eyes, only confusion and a hint of expectation.
There is a sense of affinity between people, which is the so-called first impression. Some people are easy to make people feel good about them. Children may expect that "the person they like" will buy them.
Nan Yi felt that he was not a person who could easily win the favor of children. The children's gazes stayed on him briefly and then turned back to other people. Following the children's gazes, Nan Yi saw an Arab man gesticulating as he spoke, and the jewel ring on his finger swayed from time to time, reflecting dazzling light.
Nan Yi understood, but there was nothing he could do. The most expensive item on his body was his watch, a restrained style. He guessed that the children would not understand the value of the watch.
"Are they bargaining?" Nan Yi retracted his gaze and said to Faraqui.
"Yes, Boss, it looks like they are close to a deal."
"Ask the big guy what the Arabs buy children for."
"OK."
Faraqui responded and left to look for the burly man. Three or four minutes later, he came back.
“Boss, Arabs love camel racing. Every time there is a race, the audience will invest a huge amount of money on a particular camel. At least millions of dollars will change hands in bets.
The thinner and lighter the camel jockey is, the better, so it won’t slow down the camel’s running speed, so they come here to buy children.”
"In order to control their weight, do the children have to go hungry?" Nan Yi asked after thinking for a while.
"Not only that, during the competition, the children are whipped. It is said that the children's crying can make the camels run faster." Faraqui spoke with indignation and helplessness.
"Only boys can be used as camel jockeys, right? What about girls..." Nan Yi waved his hand, "Forget it, you don't have to answer, I can think of it."
If a person does not set a moral bottom line for himself and releases all the evil hidden deep in his heart, he can do anything. What else can a little girl be used for? It is nothing more than those despicable purposes.
Suddenly, applause broke out, bouncing off the four walls and turning into a brief echo.
A little girl stood up from a long wooden bench, pinched her fingers like an orchid, twisted her waist and hips and started dancing. Her dance steps were a bit kitsch, but the song she hummed was melodious and beautiful. The little girl had yellow skin and obvious Mongoloid features.
Nan Yi heard the song humming by the little girl and found it had a Tai ethnic flavor, so he guessed that she should be from Assam or Nagaland.
Nagaland was separated from Assam not many years ago. The Assamese people, who make up the largest population in the two states, can also be said to be the Tai people. In the 13th century, a group of Tai people migrated there from Yunnan Province or Myanmar and established the Ahom Dynasty, which lasted for more than 600 years.
Assam was incorporated into India just over 100 years ago. Emotionally, the Assamese people do not identify themselves as belonging to India. Therefore, in some areas of Assam, the struggle has never stopped. The little girl in front of us should be the unlucky one affected by the war.
Nan Yi wanted to take this girl away, no matter how smart she was, whether she could be his and bring him a reward for his efforts. Even if it was a loss-making deal, he would do it.
"Faraqua, buy her at any price, and the boy who just served tea, too, buy her according to your means."
"Yes, Boss." Faraqui responded.
"Tiger cub, remember anyone who causes trouble." After Nan Yi and Faraqui finished speaking, they said to the tiger cub.
"clear."
After giving the instructions, Nan Yi left the yard and returned to the gate.
For Nan Yi, walking into this yard today already violated his principle of not standing under a dangerous wall, and it was impossible to let him participate in the auction in person.
In fact, Nan Yi did not wait for Hu cub and the other two outside the gate. He left three or four people to meet them and left first with the school beauty.
After getting back in the car, Nan Yi was considering whether to visit the old site of Chinatown in Mazagan or to sit in the Mondga Cafe. One is where the Chinese once lived, and there is also a Guandi Temple there; the other is a check-in spot for foreigners, and all serious non-Indians like to sit there.
"School beauty, go to Mondega."
Nan Yi doesn't need to cleanse himself now, he needs to vent his inner depression.
Café Mondga is on the same street as Leopold, only 200 meters apart. Café Mondga is closer to the Taj Mahal Hotel and the Gateway of India. It is just a small café, but it is a landmark of Mumbai.
Since it is a landmark, it is naturally a check-in spot for foreigners. When Nan Yi arrived, there was no empty seat in the cafe.
Standing at the door and taking a look, Nan Yi was about to leave when he heard someone calling his name "Adam".
Following the sound, Nan Yi saw a woman in a white T-shirt waving at him.
"Oops."
When Nan Yi saw the woman's face, her name did not immediately pop up in his mind.
Nan Yi's mind raced, and he immediately analyzed the woman. "She spoke New York Metropolitan English, and her pronunciation was obviously Jewish. She was a Jewish woman, and she called me by my name without adding Mr., so it must be related to Scarlett...
It shouldn't be a relative of the Cox family. I remember everyone in her family. It's not a connection with Las Vegas. I don't have many contacts there, and I haven't seen them at a Chinese restaurant on Christmas... Carnival cocktail party?"
Nan Yi eliminated all possibilities one by one, leaving only one possibility, which was the Carnival Group cocktail party he attended at the end of 1986.
"Ah , now I remember. This woman was standing next to Ted Arison. Judging from their looks and ages, they should be a father and daughter. What was her name? Arison? Damn, I don't know. I didn't greet her at the time, otherwise I wouldn't have known her name."
Nan Yi smiled at "?" Allison and walked towards her.
"Hello, Ms. Arison, are you alone?"
"Adam, you can just call me Sally."
"I know you very well." Nan Yi muttered inwardly, shrugged and said, "OK, Sally, so, are you in Mumbai on business or for tourism?"
"Carnival doesn't have any business in India. I came here to relax." Sally replied and then asked, "Adam, what about you?"
"I'm about the same as you. I'm here to relax and check out the market. Is this your first day here?"
"No, I arrived by plane last night. Which hotel are you staying at? I'm at the Taj Mahal."
"I'm not staying in a hotel. My friend has a house in the suburbs of Mumbai, and I'm staying there." Nan Yi didn't want to continue the topic of where to stay, so he said, "I've been here for a few days and I know a good restaurant. Can I invite you to dinner tonight?"
"Of course." Sally smiled. "It's my pleasure."
"What's your mobile phone number?"
"I don't have a mobile phone in Mumbai. You can call my room number 1252 in the hotel. I will be in the room in the evening."
"Okay, I'll call you around seven."
There was no ambiguous relationship between Nan Yi and Sally in front of him. They made an appointment to have dinner together after just a few words. In fact, Nan Yi had made it very clear that he did not have time to socialize with Sally.
So, after chatting for a few more words, the two said goodbye to each other in a friendly atmosphere.
Sitting back in the car, Nan Yi felt even more depressed. He had come here to see if there would be any romantic encounter, but who knew that he would have to attend another business engagement in the blink of an eye.
Ted Arison's name was on last year's Forbes Global Billionaires List. In a year when Japan performed very well, it was quite rare for his name to appear on the list. It is conceivable that the Arison family's wealth is extraordinary.
Nan Yi conservatively estimated that the Arison family had a fortune of at least several hundred billion U.S. dollars, infinitely close to 2 billion.
Ted Arison is a rich second-generation, his father is the owner of a shipping company.
In early 1950, he officially took over his father's business. The first thing he did was to sell the Tizengoff Shipping Company founded by his father to Zim Cruise Line. His ships began to fly the flags of Panama and Honduras to transport goods for Zim Cruise Line, and he went from being a businessman to a collaborator of others.
After the outbreak of the Korean War, the world's major markets were in a period of extreme depression. Ted, who was trying to make a change, knew that there was no room for development if he simply engaged in the shipping industry. So he sold his shipping company in Israel again and immigrated to the United States with many Jews at that time.
The business that had almost been established was sold for cash.
In the 12 years starting from 1954, Ted took root in the United States. Relying on his unique Jewish business ability, he used the wealth he had accumulated in the United States to successively establish air cargo companies and trading companies, one of which had a market value of 10 million US dollars.
In 1966, Ted suddenly made another surprising decision. He sold the company again and received a cash income.
Ted found an opportunity to return to the shipping industry, and the Jewish spirit of adventure once again supported him. He and Norwegian Knut Kloster partnered to form the Norwegian Caribbean Yacht Company.
With the funds obtained from the sale of the company, Ted helped Croster bring the fleet he had just formed in Europe into the United States. This model of introducing other partners' ships into new markets by forming new companies has achieved unprecedented success.
On the one hand, it saved a huge amount of money for purchasing yachts, and on the other hand, it quickly gained scale.
Since then, Ted has designed many cooperation models, which have become models for cooperation between American and European yacht companies.
In 1972, Ted and Krost decided to split the business. After a series of financing and mortgages, he founded Carnival Yacht Company, which was entirely his own. At the same time, he also began to get involved in the sports industry, leading a well-known basketball team in Miami to fight all over Florida - this team is the Miami Heat.
Since the 1970s, the Arison family's business has been developing steadily, and it can be said that they have reached the doorstep of the second tier of wealthy Jewish people.
The Nan Yi Association is involved with the Arison family, of course, because of Scarlett. Scarlett and Ted are both board members of the same charity foundation. Needless to say, the charity recipients of this foundation are Israelis.
The Arison family is from Israel, and Ted has always hoped to return to Israel to stage a grand homecoming. Because of this, Nan Yi paid attention to him. After all, Nan's entry into Israel was also part of the established plan.
"Nansheng."
The school beauty woke up Nan Yi who was immersed in thought, still holding the phone in his hand.
"Whose?"
"Lai Sheng."
Nan Yi picked up the phone and teased into the receiver: "Xiao Lai, you haven't reported to me for a long time. Today, we don't distinguish between superiors and subordinates. You don't have to call me leader. Just call me Lao Nan. Let's have a good heart-to-heart talk."
“Do you want to put the word old at the end?”
"No, no, today I just want to mingle with losers like you and listen to the voices from the bottom. Don't be restrained or have any concerns. You can speak freely."
"International long distance."
“I also have to pay to answer the phone.”
"I don't want to waste my time talking to you. Let's get down to business. My cousin is going to study in the country of Xian. Can you help take care of her?"
"Does your cousin still need me to take care of her?"
"I'm still young."
"Got it. I'll have someone check on it every now and then."
"Don't do it too often. Keep a close eye on her. The little girl is a troublemaker and hard to control."
Nan Yi pretended to be dissatisfied and said, "You really know how to make trouble for me."
"The more capable you are, the more work you will do. I'm hanging up now. I won't disturb your sleep."
"Sleep for nothing, I'm only two hours later than you."
Lai Biao replied to Nan Yi with a busy tone, and the call had been hung up.
"This grandson."
Nan Yi put down the phone and thought to himself: "It shouldn't just be Lai Biao's idea. Nothing can go wrong with this matter. We need to make good arrangements."
Thinking that he would go there and call New York in the evening, Nan Yi asked the school beauty to drive to Mocambo, a coffee shop not far away on another street.
Mocambo is also a coffee shop that foreigners like to visit very much, but compared with the other two, its positioning is more similar to that of a domestic foreign-related hotel, and its customer base is mainly targeted at foreign visitors.
Walking into the door of Mocambo, Nan Yi stood at the edge of the aisle and looked around the entire cafe, then his eyes were fixed on a table, or to be more precise, a woman who was reading a book at the seat.
After looking for a while, Nan Yi walked over, sat down opposite the woman and then greeted her.
"Hi, Hilga."
The woman put the book down, looked at Nan Yi's face, and said, "Who are you?"
"Patton, Benjamin Button." Nan Yi introduced himself.
The woman smiled slightly and put the book in her hand on the table. The cover of the book clearly read "Selected Novels of Fitzgerald".
“So, have you read this book?”
"Yes." Nan Yi responded and said, "You should have just arrived in Mumbai. You must really need Benjamin, who is very familiar with this place, to be your tour guide. The sun outside is being lazy. Now is a good time to go for a walk on the Seaside Boulevard."
"Aha, OK, Benjamin, how old are you?" Hilga asked meaningfully.
In the story of "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button", Benjamin Button is a person who ages in reverse. When he was born, he looked like an old man with white hair and white mane, but as he grew older, he became younger and younger, and finally turned into a baby.
In the story, Hilga is the daughter of a general during the Civil War and the wife of Benjamin. She married Benjamin, who looked like he was 50 years old, at the age of 21.
"The year is 1880, I am 50 years old, and you are 21 years old, Miss Hilga. So, Miss Hilga, would you like to hire a 50-year-old tour guide?"
"Why not?" Hilga said with a smile.
"Need to go to the bathroom?"
Hilga asked, "No, don't I look good now?"
"No, it's very beautiful, just like that."
"What are we waiting for? Let's go." Hilga picked up the book on the table, stood up and said.
"OK."
Nan Yi also stood up and followed Hilja out of the cafe.
When she reached the door of the cafe, Hilga raised her hand to hail a taxi that was waiting for passengers not far away.
Nan Yi held her hand and said, "No need to call a taxi. I have run Roger Barton Hardware Wholesale Company very well. I have already bought the first car in Baltimore."
"Benjamin, what are you waiting for? Go and drive the car over here."
After hearing what Nan Yi said, Hilja changed her accent and imitated the way the young lady in the stage play spoke.
"I don't need to drive myself, wait a moment." Nan Yi said to Xierjia, then turned back to the school beauty and said, "One car, pack up your things."
The school beauty nodded, turned around and walked towards the parking lot.
"Secretary or bodyguard?" Hilga asked, looking at the school beauty's back.
"No, she is a guard. General Moncriford sent her to protect his daughter." Nan Yi looked at Hilga seriously and said.
"Haha." Hilga laughed heartily, "Daisy, Daisy Hagman."
"Oh, no, you shouldn't tell me your real name. I still want to call you Hilga."
"Whatever, you can continue to call me Hilja."
"OK, Hilga, I'm Adam, but I hope you can continue to call me Benjamin, even though anyone called Benjamin is basically a dog." Nan Yi spread his hands and shrugged.
"OK, Benjamin."
Hilga said, stretching her body.
Watching Hilja stretching her body, Nan Yi felt that she was quite professional and should have some dancing skills.
Looking down, Nan Yi looked at Hilja's calf, then looked down again.
Hiljia was wearing a pair of sandals with her toes completely exposed, so Nan Yi could see everything. Hiljia's big toe looked a little deformed, with a thick layer of dead flesh on the fingertips, and her nails grew irregularly, looking like they had been pulled out and then had new nails grown.
The other toes are in similar condition, only slightly better than the big toe.
“Hehehehe!”
The villain in Nan Yi's heart smiled obscenely, secretly happy that he had met a treasure. Hilja was most likely a professional dancer with a solid foundation in ballet.
…