"I know. I saw in the report you submitted that the reason you stated in the report was that the cost of treating Ganges water was too high."
"Yes, the cost of treatment is very high," said Shatish. "There are more than 60 cities upstream of our original water intake point. Domestic sewage, industrial wastewater, garbage, human and animal feces, and corpses are all discharged into the Ganges, and most of them are not treated.
Our tests found that every 100 milliliters of Ganges water contains more than 100,000 E. coli, which is 200 times the world standard. This means that the fecal content in the water is very high.
Drinking and bathing in Ganges water will increase the risk of digestive tract diseases and skin diseases, and many people along the Ganges have died from waterborne diseases due to frequent drinking of Ganges water;
Although there is a high overlap between people who have already produced antibodies in their bodies and our target customer group of Galaxy Goddess, their repeat purchase rate is not high. Our main customers are still wealthy people of high castes.
Although our mineral water has undergone multiple layers of purification, one of our high-caste customers still contracted giardiasis after drinking Galaxy mineral water. There is no other way. In order to prevent this from happening again, I can only plan to improve our purification process again.
But after calculation, I found that it would be more cost-effective to directly improve the quality of the water source rather than improve the purification process. So I arranged for people to dig a deep well in the factory. The water quality is very good and can be directly drunk according to international standards.
After changing the water source, the sales of Galaxy Goddess have been increasing, especially among the wealthy upper castes who are very fond of our brand. "
"Shatish, you did a great job, but..." Nan Yi dragged out his voice and said, "You should expand your thinking. In addition to the Ganges River, Varanasi also has Sarnath. In the eyes of Buddhists, this place is a holy place."
“Boss, do you mean that we should find a fake water source near Sarnath and then create a sub-brand?”
"Let your thoughts wander a little more."
Shatish was stunned for a moment, and asked tentatively: "Cooperate with people in Buddhism?"
"Well, water is water. You can associate it with something magical, but don't give it any effects that it doesn't have. I don't want to hear marketing words like "cure all diseases." Do some market research and take action if it's feasible."
"Okay, Boss."
Nan Yi and Shatish's discussion came to a temporary halt, and the group continued to visit the factory.
The hygiene standards of the Galaxy Goddess factory are quite high. Every worker wears protective clothing and protective gloves. The assembly line and the floor are spotless. This hygiene standard is a bit out of tune with India and can be regarded as a model of hygienic production in India.
It was a bit hot wearing protective clothing. Enduring the stuffiness, Nan Yi followed Shatish to visit the factory, and then they came to the car parked outside the site.
"Shatish, the Galaxy Goddess factory has been upgraded to the Galaxy Goddess Food and Beverage Group. In the future, Galaxy Goddess will not only produce mineral water, but also fruit juice drinks and snacks. India is the world's largest mango grower and producer, and the supply of raw materials is relatively stable. Mango juice and dried mangoes can be the main products of Galaxy Goddess in the future."
"Boss, my major has always been chemical engineering. If the business of the Galaxy Goddess grows further, I am worried that my ability will no longer be able to manage it."
“I know that Wangmu Fruit has been engaged in primitive fruit planting and sales over the years, earning very basic profits. Now, Wangmu Fruit’s layout in major fruit producing areas around the world is almost complete, and the next step is to layout the field of deep processing of fruits.
The Milky Way Goddess will become our testing field and training ground, where elite soldiers will be trained and then rush to the global battlefield. Queen Mother Fruit Industry will delve deeply into the fruit field, focusing only on dried fruits and fruit juices, and will not get involved in other beverages.
However, fruit juice made from real ingredients will definitely not be able to beat chemically synthesized beverages. In the future beverage market, synthetic beverages will definitely account for the majority of sales. We will not directly participate in this market, but we cannot give up either.
Edible flavors, edible additives, including edible seasonings, are all areas we need to get involved in.
You are Nan's first chemical talent, and I am optimistic about the candidate who will lead Nan's layout in the chemical field. Your future is still in the field of chemistry. I hope you will not be reluctant to give up some jars and pots, and do not fail in a small puddle.
You know what I mean, right?"
Nan Yi’s meaning was very simple. The Galaxy Goddess would soon be separated from the Shiva Chemical Group and placed under the umbrella of Queen Mother Fruit Industry. In addition to industrial chemicals, Shiva itself would also enter the field of edible chemicals in the future.
"Boss, I know what to do."
Shatish is an old man who came from the earliest days of the Chai Wan Information Planning Committee. He stayed in Hong Kong for quite a long time and can speak some Cantonese.
At this time, he said something in Cantonese just to play the emotional card.
"Keep working hard. I came to Varanasi mainly for tourism, so my work schedule is not that tight. I will visit Unity Fertilizer and Victory Pesticide tomorrow. We will also go to Varanasi University in the afternoon."
"Okay, Boss, I'll pick you up at the hotel tomorrow morning?"
"No, just wait at the factory."
After leaving the Galaxy Goddess Factory, Nan Yi and Sophie Marceau strolled on the streets of Varanasi again.
There are countless temples in Varanasi. You can come across a temple if you walk in any direction. Nan Yi and his companion headed towards Varanasi University, visiting one temple after another along the way. Every three-foot temple gate and every inch of road was filled with sweet dog food sprinkled by the two of them.
I sweated outside during the day and was still sweating when I returned to the hotel at night.
Sweat seemed to have become a pendant on Nan Yi and the other man's bodies. From morning to night, they could rarely stay dry.
Sophie Marceau is about to end her seven-day mandatory vacation. During these days, she is trying to seize the time to make some revenge purchases. Although Nan Yi's wallet can handle it, the other one is a little shy.
After sweating a lot, Nan Yi went to the bathroom to take a shower . As soon as he came out, Sophie Marceau came in front of him with the phone in her hand.
"Woman, calling from Tokyo."
"Um."
Nan Yi wiped his hair with a towel and pointed to his ear. Sophie Marceau saw Nan Yi's action and put the phone to his ear.
"Yami, go ahead."
"President, three things. The candidate for Galaxy Goddess CEO you were looking for has been found, and the information has been faxed to Han Zhenhe. There are several reports that need your approval urgently, and the people who deliver the reports are already on the plane. In addition, Price, the troublemaker, reported that something happened in Sierra Leone. We delivered a batch of goods, but did not receive the diamonds."
"Were there any casualties?"
"No."
"Is that what Sanko meant, or did his men act on their own?"
"The person in charge of the deal at RUF this time is a new player called Mata. The most likely possibility is that he acted on his own initiative."
"How much is the cargo worth?"
"The exchange is worth $8 million, and our normal shipping price is $1.2 million."
"We are the only ones who didn't receive the diamonds. What about other jewelers?"
"It seems we are the only ones who didn't receive it."
Nan Yi thought for a moment and said, "Tell Price to contact Sanko. Either he will give us an explanation, or we will ask him for an explanation."
"Hayi."
After hanging up the phone, Nan Yi began to wonder if there were any changes in Sierra Leone. In the past few years, Scarlett Mining Group cooperated with Sierra Leone forces through EO channels and directly sent people there to mine diamonds.
Later, the situation changed and some people began to call the diamond "blood". Nan Yi saw that something was wrong, so he asked Scarlett Mining to withdraw its personnel and change from self-mining to purchasing. Instead of paying directly, he exchanged the diamonds with agricultural products.
Neither the government army nor the rebel group RUF in Sierra Leone are good guys. Scarlett Mining has learned from other jewelers to bet on both sides and make friends with both sides. It doesn't matter whose diamonds they are, as long as they are diamonds, they will take them.
Jewelers exchange dollars and weapons, while Scarlett Mining exchanges agricultural products. Their business is not as sophisticated as that of jewelers. Agricultural products are large in size, so one transaction requires an entire ship, so the freight expenses should not be too high.
But it is impossible to be more sophisticated. The diamond business involves not only jewelers, but also arms groups and mercenary groups behind them. Various forces are intertwined. Arms are the forbidden fruit of certain forces. If Scarlett Mining dares to get involved, it will offend certain forces.
Nan Yi never thought of getting involved in the arms trade, and there was no need for him to touch arms at all.
Perhaps that is why RUF feels that it cannot afford to offend jewelers that deal in arms, but can afford to offend Scarlett Mining, which only deals in agricultural products.
"Adam, what's wrong?"
"Nothing, just a little problem with the business. Go take a shower and I'll have someone come over to change the sheets."
Sophie Marceau turned over and said lazily: "I don't want to move, carry me over."
"Naughty, go by yourself."
"If you don't hold me, I won't wash."
"I can't do anything about you."
Nan Yi walked up to Sophie Marceau, picked her up, and walked a short distance. His chest, which had just been dry, became slippery again.
When Nan Yi arrived at the bathroom door, he just put Sophie Marceau down, and Sophie Marceau laughed and pulled Nan Yi into the bathroom together, and then... Nan Yi had to take a second shower.
The next morning, Nan Yi and his companion went to visit Tuanjie Fertilizer again.
The main products of Tuanjie Fertilizer are ammonium carbonate and urea. Most of the production processes of these two fertilizers overlap. Tuanjie Fertilizer uses the one-step synthesis method of ammonium carbonate to synthesize urea, so strictly speaking, ammonium carbonate is an intermediate product of urea, and the production cost of ammonium carbonate is lower than that of urea.
Both ammonium carbonate and urea are nitrogen fertilizers. Roughly speaking, their effects are almost the same, but they each have their own advantages and disadvantages, and each has its own fertilization techniques.
"Boss, after years of research and improvement by my technical team, the synthesis process of Unity Fertilizer is already one of the most advanced in the world. The next step is to build our own nitrogen fertilizer industry chain and sell it to the outside world on the basis of meeting our own consumption."
"According to the current international situation, the relative prices of primary agricultural products, especially those that are staple food, are difficult to rise. If we take one acre of land as an example, from sowing to harvesting, whether it is wheat, corn or rice, since the last autumn crop, no farmer in any country has been able to make a profit. Shatish, why is this?"
"Boss, over the past five years, the global prices of oil, electricity, and labor have all been rising, which has led to an increase in fertilizer and pesticide prices. If you only focus on small areas of farmland, you won't be able to make a profit unless you ignore the labor cost."
"Labor, haha, how many countries have set wage standards for farmers?" Nan Yi sneered and said, "Throughout history, several powerful countries today have developed from the agricultural scissors gap. When they were weak, they dumped agricultural products at low prices to the outside world, exchanged them for money and machines to develop industry, and forcibly raised the status and price of the garbage agricultural machinery they produced, and sold them to farmers in a predatory manner.
Bullying farmers and protecting workers is a national development idea recognized internationally.
Nowadays, the speed of international information flow is getting faster and faster, and more and more people know what the situation is like outside. Everyone will spontaneously make their eating manners look better.
Reducing the burden on farmers will be the international mainstream in the future, but can this burden really be reduced?
I think it's uncertain. On the surface, it may decrease, but secretly it will either remain the same or increase. The way of collecting taxes should change, from direct grabbing to hiding in other categories.
For example, daily consumption, education, water and electricity bills for agricultural machinery and irrigation, and fertilizers and pesticides.
The prices of fertilizers and pesticides will continue to rise, and at a rapid pace. The tax costs and raw material costs of such companies will increase, as will the operating cash flow. In order to ensure profit margins, the prices of finished products will naturally increase exponentially.
No one would start a business with a working capital of hundreds of millions but a profit of only a few thousand.”
Nan Yi paused and continued, “For a long time in the future, economic development will be the international mainstream. In order to attract foreign investment, underdeveloped countries will naturally make concessions on taxes.
Shiva will proceed in three steps. The first step is to continue to improve the production technology of fertilizers and pesticides, and strive to remove the most advanced one behind;
The second step is to build a fertilizer and pesticide supply chain for Shennong Nanliang. Part of Shiva’s production capacity will be directly assigned to farms in various places and become farm-affiliated assets. I don’t want us to pay taxes again for the fertilizers and pesticides we use ourselves.
The third step is to export our production technology to all underdeveloped countries in the world that are undergoing economic reforms and attracting investment. We will expand vigorously during the period of tax incentives, and when the incentive period ends, we will choose to sell, close, relocate the factory, or continue to operate it, depending on the specific situation.
Our goal is to profit from the trend, and once it becomes unprofitable, we will consider transformation.
But before doing this, register another chemical company in India. This company will nominally become the second largest shareholder of Shiva, blurring the geographical attributes of Shiva and making it look like both an Indian and an American company. "
"Boss, underdeveloped countries tend to be superstitious about being the biggest and the best. Officials are afraid of taking responsibility. When it comes to cooperation and introducing enterprises, as long as there is a choice, they will definitely choose the best. If we, Shiva, want to expand smoothly, we need to improve our reputation, but this is inconsistent with our consistent low-key purpose."
“So, you need to achieve the first and second steps as quickly as possible. Before the third step is implemented, Lord Shiva will carry out a shareholding reform and introduce several real and fake shareholders;
During the execution of the third step, the bad crowd group will cooperate with your work, and the branches established for external export will most likely have shareholders who eat dry shares;
Moreover, the person in charge of the branch will be appointed by the headquarters at the beginning. After normal operation, he will be replaced by the local person in charge. Local control will be the core strategy of our strategic expansion.
Starting from tomorrow, I want to see the plan in forty days, which means that after you find the answer I want, you still have about thirty days to make the plan.
Of course, hehe..."
Nan Yi smiled jokingly and said, "Maybe you won't be needed to make this plan."
Shatish also smiled to join in the fun. He knew very well that Nan Yi would not fire him because of the Dawan Raheja incident. He had to find the answer, but he was not worried at all that his position would be unstable.
We visited the Tuanjie Fertilizer Factory in the morning and the Shengli Pesticide Factory in the afternoon, and the day passed quickly.
Towards evening, Shatish took Nan Yi and the other person to Beniya Bagh Road, a vacant land near the southwest of Beniya Park. This land had been bought by Shatish and was planned to be used to build an office building.
A few minutes ago, this office building was going to be called Beiyin Building, but now it has been renamed Sophie Building.
Needless to say, this name must have been given by Sophie Marceau.
It doesn’t matter to Nan Yi what the office building is called, she can change it if she wants.
Nan Yi looked around the open space for a few seconds, then asked Shatish to take him to see a residential area just south of Beniya Park.
There is a large piece of vacant land next to this residential area, which is very suitable for building staff dormitories.
"Does this land belong to the city hall or a private person?" After looking at the vacant land, Nan Yi asked Shatish.
"It belongs to the city hall. I have already discussed it with Mayor Sonam Taiwa. As long as we can provide employment for 3,000 people, the city hall can give us this piece of vacant land for free. If we can provide employment for 3,000 more people, this residential area can be given to us. The city hall will be responsible for the resettlement of the residents here."
"This Sonam is quite pragmatic. If she agrees, will Deepak Devi, the local king of Varanasi, agree?"
"Boss, Deepak's main forces are in the countryside. He has no say in Varanasi."
"The local king is permanent, but the mayor is transient. To show our sincerity, we should say hello to Mr. Deepak. You should communicate with him first and find out what he likes. I plan to visit him in person with gifts."
"Boss, what identity do you plan to go there with?" asked Shatish.
“Shatish, which college did you graduate from?”
"Cambridge."
"What is your family's financial situation like?"
“Before I started working, I was only moderately well-off in India.”
"So, for a poor student who graduated from university less than five years ago to establish a chemical group, it would be more reasonable to have capital support behind it. I am the front-line spokesperson of London Capital behind Shiva, the president of British Capital South Asia."
…
The Hindi name for the Indian king is "Raja". The original meaning of this word is the lord of the land, without much connotation of superiority or inferiority. Therefore, even if they are both Rajas, their power can be very different.
The Raja who occupies a lot of land will be given the adjective "big" and be named "MahaRaja". "MahaRaja" is the original word for "land king", but in fact it does not mean "land" at all.
There is a saying that the Chinese translation community translated the unconquered and free "MahaRaja" into "Maharaja", and the "MahaRaja" ruled by the British colony into "Indian King".
In the past, local kings had great power. They held the power of life and death over their own territories. As long as they paid taxes to the Governor-General of India on time every year, the rest was theirs. The Governor-General had no right to interfere in the affairs of their territories.
After India's independence, some local kings were suppressed, their lands and wealth were confiscated, and their families fell into decline; some surrendered their ruling rights but were able to retain their lands and wealth, becoming wealthy local families;
Some still retain spiritual rule over their territories, such as the Wadiya royal family in Karnataka. His Majesty the Wadiya royal family still leads the procession during the annual Dussehra celebrations.
In name, the local kings no longer have the power to rule, and the rule of law has penetrated into every corner of India, but in reality, within the local kings' territories, local government officials still have to act according to the kings' wishes.
If you want to carry out urban construction, you must first ask the local king whether he agrees or not. There is no other way. No matter which direction you develop in, east, south, west or north, you must pass through the local king’s private land. If the local king does not agree, nothing can be done.
Needless to say, as for agricultural construction, we should first ask the local king, then the big landlords, and then ask the landed farmers for their opinions. Once everyone agrees with the plan, we can start moving forward with the plan.
First, seek opinions, then submit it to the higher authorities for approval. Once all the procedures are completed, the official's term of office has expired and he has moved to another place to work.
Therefore, whether subjectively or objectively, agriculture cannot be moved at all, and no one is willing to touch it, as it is a thankless task. Few people are willing to plant trees for others to enjoy the shade. After all, there are thousands of surnames in the world, and the surnames Lei and Jiao are small surnames that cannot make up a big part of the world.
After five or six days, Marion had not returned yet, and Nan Yi and Sophie Marceau had visited all the places available in Varanasi. Just when Nan Yi was bored and considering whether to return to Mumbai first, Shatish called and said that Deepak invited him to visit the Tivedi family.
The Tivedi family’s manor is located in a village called Ganga. Ganga means Ganges. It has to be said that the name Ganges Village is a bit exaggerated.
There was no need for Nan Yi and his companion to go to Ganges Village on their own. The day after Shatish called, Nan Yi and Sophie Marceau got up early and were drinking coffee on the hotel's open-air terrace when someone from the hotel came to inform that a man named Jacky Tiwidi was looking for Nan Yi.
After receiving the notice, Nan Yi followed the waiter to the hotel lobby. In the lobby, Nan Yi saw a man wearing a neat shirt on the upper body and trousers on the lower body. He was meticulous and tidy, and he didn't feel hot even in the summer.
Nan Yi walked up to the man and smelled the scent of disinfectant.
"Hello, Mr. Tividi."
"Hello, Mr. Adam. I am Deepak's uncle, Jacky. It is the busy irrigation season for rice fields now. He needs to stay at home and it is not convenient for him to come to Varanasi. I am here to greet you on his behalf."
"Mr. Tiwedi, there's no need to be so troublesome. I can go to Ganges Village by myself." Nan Yi said politely.
"No trouble. I'm usually in the city. I wonder when Mr. Adam will be able to leave?"
"Please wait for another half an hour, Mr. Tividi. I will go upstairs to clean up."
"Please."
Going upstairs, Nan Yi and Sophie Marceau packed up and went downstairs to meet Jackie.
Jieqi originally invited Nan Yi and the other person to ride in the car he brought. In order to welcome Nan Yi, he brought two cars. However, after knowing that there were 12 people in Nan Yi's group and there were six cars, he sent one car back and got into Nan Yi's car himself, leaving only one car as his means of transportation back to the city.
Ganges Village is more than 170 kilometers away from Varanasi. At the beginning, we took the repaired road. Although the road surface did not look very good, there are few cars in India and the road damage was not serious, so it was quite easy to walk.
After driving nearly 50 kilometers, we entered a single lane in the countryside from a multi-lane road. The road surface was just compacted with pebbles and stones. It was the rainy season, and after repeated erosion by rain, the road surface was bumpy. The car drove through the depressions from time to time, splashing puddles of mud and water. Soon, the car body became dirty, and even the front windshield was not spared. Even on sunny days, we had to turn on the wipers.
We drove for more than 80 kilometers, alternating between rugged roads and highways. After turning countless bends, the road surface suddenly changed, from a narrow bullet head to a wide bullet shell area. The road widened, and trees were planted every ten meters on the roadside.
Looking out the car window, Nan Yi thought to himself, "Fuck, Indian steelwood, the hardest tree in the world. Judging from the height of the tree and the diameter of the crown, these trees must have lived for at least a hundred years."
Just when Nan Yi wanted to ask Jie Qi, Jie Qi had already proudly introduced: "Mr. Adam, the road under our feet now is the private road of the Tiwidi family. It was paved when my grandfather's grandfather's grandfather was alive. The road surface is paved with bluestone strips up to one meter thick, and there are reasonable drainage channels, so there will be no water accumulation on rainy days;
Going another ten kilometers ahead, you will enter the private territory of the Tiwidi family. Whether it is the land, rivers, minerals, or the people on the land, they all belong to the Tiwidi family. "
"70 years for the first master, and at least 210 years for the third master." Nan Yi estimated in his mind and said, "Mr. Tividi, were the iron birch trees on the roadside also planted by your ancestors?"
"Yes, but it was 40 years later than the road was paved, which is 190 years ago. According to our ancestors of the Tiwidi family, our Tiwidi people must be as strong and tough as the iron birch tree. They can overcome any difficulties and will not be defeated."
"Mr. Tividi, your English pronunciation is really standard, with a hint of a London accent."
"Ah, to be honest with you, Mr. Adam, I am actually a Mr. NRL, which means not a native Indian or grew up abroad. I am the latter. I grew up in London and studied medicine in Cambridgeshire at university." Jacky said calmly with a little pride.
"Fuck, you're so good at pretending. Why don't you just say it's Cambridge or Oxford? And Cambridgeshire? I went to university on Earth." Nan Yi complained in his heart and asked, "Is Mr. Tividi a doctor now?"
"I haven't treated patients for a long time. Now I mainly do management. Priya Hospital is my hospital. I have opened branches in three states. I need to travel everywhere. Next, I plan to open branches in Mumbai and New Delhi."
"Saving the dying and healing the wounded, Mr. Devidi is engaged in a noble profession. It reminds me of one of your compatriots, Dr. Devakanas Santaram Kotnis. I am very grateful for his help to China."
Jie Qi was stunned for a moment. He had no idea who Nan Yi was talking about. However, he did not ask further questions in a timid manner. Instead, he said politely, "Thank you for your high evaluation, Mr. Adam. I am not that noble. Being a doctor is just my profession."
Nan Yi didn't want to dwell on the doctor's topic, so he pointed out the window and said, "Mr. Tiwedi, I noticed that some people were walking on the road, while some were walking on the path a few meters away. Are those on the path Dalits?"
Jackie looked out the window, then turned back and said, "Yes, in fact, our Devidi family treats all the people on our land equally and does not discriminate based on caste. However, the people of lower castes disagree. They do not want to associate with Dalits and isolate them from their communities. They do not want Dalits to walk on the road."
"Ah, I see."
Nan Yi believed that what Jacky said was true. For the Tiwidi family, there was no need to treat Dalits differently. They should pay more attention to who can create greater value for them. It was just that the mainstream people wanted to treat Dalits differently, and they were happy to go along with it.
Under Jackie's guidance, the car soon arrived at a manor nestled in the mountains and beside the water. Through the garden, a vague building could be seen in the distance. The area should not be as big as Peacock Villa, but it looked much more magnificent than Peacock Villa. The whole building seemed to be built with huge stones, and there were intricate carvings on the columns and walls.
Before the car reached the gate of the manor, Nan Yi saw a person in charge of looking out on a high place knocking on a piece of iron. Then there was a noise in the manor, and people came out from all directions and gathered on the main road of the garden, arranging themselves in an orderly manner.
"70, 40, 50, 90, 110, no, there should be 120..." When Nan Yi counted to 500 people, he was too lazy to count down. "The local king is the local king. Tsk tsk, what a grand ceremony. It takes hundreds of people to welcome a guest."
The last time Faraqua gathered more than 200 people, Nan Yi felt that it was a bit too much, but today he wanted to experience an even bigger scene.
When the car stopped, Nan Yi turned around and whispered to Sophie Marceau, "Take off your shoes. It will be rude to wear shoes during the foot kissing ceremony."
"My feet are sweaty."
"fine."
After saying that, Nan Yi bent down and took off his shoes.
"Mr. Adam, you don't have to take off your slippers." Jackie said when he saw Nan Yi's actions.
"I should. I don't want to be too rude."
After Sophie Marceau took off her shoes, the school beauty got out of the car and opened the back door. Nan Yi got out first, then held Sophie Marceau's hand and helped her get out of the car.
At the gate of the manor, a man and woman in luxurious clothes stood there, with several followers standing beside them, saluting Nan Yi and his group.
Nan Yi held Sophie Marceau's hand and walked slowly towards that side.
The school beauty took out two gift boxes from the trunk and followed the two men. The others stood beside the car and did not follow.
Walking closer, Deepak Tividi clasped his hands together and saluted Nan Yi and the others, "Mr. Adam, Ms. Maso, welcome to Tividi Manor."
"Hello, Mr. Tividi, Mrs. Tividi." Nan Yi and Sophie Marceau also put their hands together to return the greeting.
On the way here, Nan Yi and Sophie Marceau had introduced themselves to each other. Jackie unnoticeably revealed the names of Deepak Tiwidi and his wife Fatia Tiwidi to Nan Yi and the others. Not only their names, but also their ages and a simple description of their appearance were "accidentally" revealed.
This meant that before Nan Yi and his party arrived, an invisible visiting card had already been delivered. Deepak already knew in advance how many people would come, and Jackie had "accidentally" revealed in advance the etiquette that Nan Yi and his party would enjoy.
Therefore, the foot-kissing ceremony was not something Nan Yi analyzed based on his understanding of Indian etiquette, but was clearly notified to him.
After the two sides exchanged greetings, a man who should be the butler of the Tivedi family came up and kissed the feet of Nan Yi and Sophie Marceau. After that, the two followed Deepak and his wife into the manor.
Along the way, servants would kiss Nan Yi and his friend's feet from time to time.
Fortunately, not every servant should be different from the others, and those servants who come out to pay their respects should be different from the others, perhaps they must be of a certain rank, or they may be house-born children, and only loyal servants of the Tivedi family are eligible.
He took small steps of 50 centimeters for a total of 762 steps. Nan Yi's instep was touched 69 times. He walked nearly 120 meters before finally entering the manor's building area.
The Tiwidi couple entered the room first, and Nan Yi and his companions waited at the door. After a while, Fatia Tiwidi came over with a copper tray with an oil lamp in her hands. She came in front of Nan Yi, dipped the middle finger of her right hand in a dish with a little red, raised her hand and touched Nan Yi's forehead, then picked up two grains of something unknown from another dish and pressed them on the red dot between Nan Yi's eyebrows.
The red dot, Nan Yi knew it was called Dileg, which means a lucky mole. The two grains at the back, Nan Yi felt like rice, probably glutinous rice.
After Fatia Tiwidi had applied the auspicious mole to Nan Yi, she picked up the tray and circled it around Nan Yi's collar twice. Sophie Marceau also went through the same procedure.
In the past, only married women were allowed to have auspicious moles painted on their faces. However, in recent years, perhaps due to considerations for the tourism industry, this requirement has been relaxed a bit. Nan Yi has seen young girls with auspicious moles painted on their faces on the streets of Mumbai.
"Mr. Adam, Miss Marceau, please come in."
As soon as Fatiya Tiwidi finished work, Deepak immediately greeted her.
Nan Yi took Sophie Marceau's hand and walked into the building, and once again saluted the Tividi couple with his hands clasped together. At this point, the welcoming ceremony, which had been streamlined many times, was completed.
Fortunately, Deepak has no elders above him, otherwise Nan Yi and the others would have to perform the foot-kissing ceremony.
"Mr. Adam, Ms. Maso, please taste the tea grown by our Tivedi family first. Our tea is grown on the top of the mountain without any fertilizer or pesticides, and is pollution-free. It is picked purely by hand."
Deepak led Nan Yi and the other man to the reception room. After inviting them to take a seat, he began to introduce the tea that a servant had just brought over.
The servant put down the tray and Fatia took over the rest of the work, pouring tea and milk into the teacups.
"We also raise our own dairy cows. They usually eat pure green and pollution-free grass. Two servants take good care of each cow to ensure that the milk they squeeze out is absolutely pure."
Deepak seemed to know what would annoy Nan Yi and the other man. His two arrogant hints were just right, and he spoke English with a London accent, so it was obvious that he had also lived in London.