Volume 5: The Age of Storms Chapter 0724: Encountering the Lightning Mother in the Castle
“In the temple, we eat the same food as the holy rats because we believe that the holy rats here were once our relatives, and we were also holy rats, but now we have reincarnated as humans.
Holy rats are very sacred. Do not harm them. If you accidentally harm them, you must compensate God with a holy rat made of pure gold."
As soon as the priest finished speaking, the foreigners were shocked. Being able to travel abroad does not mean being rich. A large number of travelers have to spend a long time preparing for a trip. They just love traveling and are willing to spend their hard-earned money on this. If they step on a real mouse and get a golden mouse as compensation, that would be like asking for their lives.
Every foreigner became cautious and paid attention to his feet at all times, for fear of stepping on the money-eating beast on the ground.
The same goes for Nan Yi. Although he can afford to pay, he doesn't want to lose money here. Even though the purity of gold in India is not high and even though he can probably bargain for a price, he still doesn't want to pay. He won't spend a penny that shouldn't be spent.
For more than 600 years, thousands of believers have come to the temple to worship every day. In 1927, plague broke out in India and countless people died, but only the temple here was safe and sound. This is also a "miracle" in a way.
In fact, this is nonsense. The rats here have good food and drink and live a more carefree life than humans. How could they be infected with plague bacteria?
Listening to the priest's introduction, Nan Yi learned that the Rat Temple stipulates that prayer and rat feeding ceremonies are held twice a day, morning and evening. During the ceremony, believers beat drums and chant scriptures in the temple.
When the mice heard the drumbeats, they swarmed out of the holes in the wall and rushed to the plate in front of the statue of the goddess Dago in the center of the temple to grab food. After eating the food, they ran back to their holes in groups.
In Rajasthan, people not only do not beat rats, but even worship them and regard them as sacred animals. Hindus regard rats as gods in Hinduism and believe that rats are messengers of the holy god Ganesi.
Local people also believe that respecting rats will bring good rewards, and they would even rather starve themselves than let them suffer any injustice.
The Rajputs worship rats very much. If someone is engaged or going on a long journey, they must first go to the rat temple to worship for three days and three nights. They believe that rats are messengers of God. As long as they are pious to rats, God will bless the engaged men and women to live together forever, and will bless those who are traveling far away to have a smooth journey and safe travels.
Some students would come to the temple to worship before big exams, especially before the physics exam. The prayers in the temple would be particularly pious because they knew it worked. The end of physics is theology, and physicists would listen to God's words, not to mention physics teachers.
When the mice were almost done eating, the priest in white clothes said again: "Everyone is welcome to enter the temple to worship. I will give you another tip. Once you see the Rat King, you must kneel down and worship, otherwise the Rat King will not bring you luck."
"Let's go."
Nan Yi greeted the school beauty and the tiger cub, then turned around and walked through the silver gate and went outside.
After leaving the Rat Temple, Nan Yi and his party went to Jodhpur, a city in the western state of Rajasthan, near the southeastern edge of the Thar Desert.
Jodhpur is like other ordinary cities in India, with busy streets, sacred cows running around, and a few monkeys popping out from the roofs from time to time. The difference is that Jodhpur is close to the desert and the weather is relatively dry. The sacred cows here are mostly white, even the ones pulling the carts. The monkeys here are also white.
In contrast, the ochre-colored buildings are dotted with a number of buildings with blue walls.
"The blue buildings are the residences of the Brahmin caste in the past. Hi, Mr. Adam, I'm Karen David from Anaghar."
Nan Yi and his group had just stood at the triangular intersection for a while when a woman came up to Nan Yi.
"Hello, Miss David."
Nan Yi glanced at Karen David. He couldn't see many Indian features on her, but rather many yellow features.
"Mr. Adam, knowing that there will be quite a few of you coming, the company has arranged a minibus, which is parked in an open space three hundred meters away. Shall we go over now?"
"No hurry, I wonder what position Miss David holds at the Anagar Company?"
The reason why Nan Yi chose Rajasthan as the destination of his trip was that in addition to traveling, he also wanted to do some business by the way. Anaghar Company was the company with which he was going to conduct business negotiations.
"I am the general manager of the business department."
"Wow, then please ask Manager David to take us on a tour of Jodhpur, and we can talk about business on the way."
"Of course, is there anywhere in particular you'd like to go, Mr. Adam?"
"Adam, just call me Adam."
"Okay Adam, you can call me Karen."
"OK, Karen, I'm not familiar with Jodhpur. Let's start from here and treat it like shopping. We can go wherever we want without rushing to visit any particular attraction."
"Okay, then I'll show you around Jodhpur city."
Karen David said this as she led Nan Yi and his group forward, occasionally pointing to a building and introducing it.
Time passed, and more than an hour passed in a blink of an eye. Nan Yi and his group had walked a long distance. When they saw a cafe on the side of the road, Nan Yi invited Karen David to go in and sit down on the pretext of being thirsty.
Jodhpur is a tourist city with many foreigners hanging out here. With a quick glance, Nan Yi saw several Western backpackers in the cafe.
After ordering drinks, Nan Yi said to Karen David, "Karen, do you have any samples with you?"
"Yes, wait a moment."
Karen David said as she picked up the bag she was carrying, opened it and took out a transparent plastic bag filled with white powder.
Nan Yi took out a handkerchief from his pocket and spread it on the table. He took the plastic bag, held one corner and shook it a few times, then tore off a corner with his hand and poured some white powder onto the handkerchief.
After observing for a while, Nan Yi asked casually, "What level is this?"
“A+, after secondary purification.”
Nan Yi took a spoon and pressed the powder a bit. After compacting a piece, he used the spoon to spread it out. He looked up and signaled to the tiger cub.
The tiger cub nodded, pinched a little powder on the handkerchief with his fingers, then put his fingers into his mouth and rubbed them on his teeth.
"What are you doing? I'm letting you have a taste of it. Do you think we're doing a drug deal?" Nan Yi couldn't help but spit when he saw the tiger cub's actions.
"I was just tasting it," the tiger cub said, smacking his lips. "It tastes similar to protein powder, astringent and sticky."
"Adam, are you Chinese?"
When Karen David heard Nan Yi speaking Chinese, she asked.
“Yes, your father is Chinese?”
“No, my mother is Chinese.”
"Oh, fate."
Nan Yi nodded, reached out, pinched a little powder and rubbed it on his fingertips.
“How many grades does your company have for this product?”
"There are four levels in total: A+, A, A-, and B+."
"I'll give you an address. Please send 10 kilograms of samples of each grade. We will test the samples. Once we approve your samples, we will use the samples as the standard for future purchases. If the quality is lower than the samples, we will not accept the goods. So, please don't be tempted by the samples."
"Of course, Anagar Company is very honest." Karen David smiled and said, "I wonder how much you need every year, Adam?"
"Tsk tsk, what a question. How much do you need every year?" Nan Yi muttered to himself and said, "We don't need to add 'every year' for now, nor do we need to talk about how many rupee tons [thousand tons] I need. Let's first look at the quality of the samples, and then we can talk about the issue of transportation.
There are no problems with quality and transportation. Let's run a few shipments to get used to it. If possible, I plan to take over more than 80% of the goods from your Anagal company."
"Adam, are you sure? Our Anagal company can supply more than 1 million tons a year."
Nan Yi smiled and said, "Haha, Karen, if I want to sign a contract for an order of 1 million tons per year, would you dare to sign it?"
"I dare not. The climate in the guar bean growing areas is changeable, especially in Rajasthan, which is prone to continuous drought. The yield cannot be guaranteed. If you want to sign a long-term contract of 500,000 tons, I will sign it with you."
"Are you sure? What if I say that the penalty for breach of contract in our contract increases ten times?" Nan Yi said with a playful smile.
"That depends on the other details of the contract."
"Very good. I hope that our cooperation can be successfully concluded." Nan Yi said, taking out a piece of paper and a pen and writing down an address on the paper. "Please send the samples here. There is a fax number on it. Please fax the company account number and the detailed cost of the samples."
Karen David took the paper, glanced at it, and put it away. "Don't count the cost of the sample. We at Anagar don't make a profit from samples."
"uh-huh."
When Nan Yi brought the coffee to his lips, it was in Maracaibo, Venezuela, far away in South America.
Peeping interest groups.
Engineers Conrad and Cameron had just finished a human anatomy class and had a cool drink in the lounge, took a short nap, and then walked back to the office they had just left.
In the office, the teacher who had just given them anatomy lessons was gone, replaced by two other people.
"Hi everyone, my name is Ford, and I'm here to tell you about the characteristics of stunt driving and dangerous driving, as well as criminal psychology."
"Hello everyone, my name is Hikvision, and I will introduce the characteristics of license plates in different countries, the techniques for changing license plates, and the traffic rules of different countries."
Bang bang bang!
Devin, who was standing by the wall, clapped her hands and walked up to Ford and Hikway. "Everyone, starting today, the Voyeurism Interest Group will be officially reorganized into Meerkat Technology. Conrad and Cameron headquarters are very interested in the smart city concept you submitted. You two will be transferred to the Fortune Tree Project Research Group to be responsible for the research and development of the traffic monitoring system. Submit a research and development budget to me as soon as possible."
Conrad and Cameron smiled and high-fived each other to celebrate. They had a feeling that their applications must have been approved, otherwise they would not have come to study anatomy and criminal psychology courses today for no apparent reason.
"The purpose of Meerkat Technology is that customers eat meat and we drink soup. Every product we sell must bring customers 10 times, 100 times, or even 10,000 times the profit."
Devin said, clapping her hands again, "Everyone, please continue to study hard. I have to go home early to be with my new girlfriend. Bye."
“Wow!”
"Damn it!"
Dewen's last words made the engineers in the office very jealous and angry, and they all screamed.
Dewen, who had just walked out of the office door, turned around and gave everyone a thumbs up, and then... turned her finger over so that it was facing downwards.
“Fuck!”
There was another commotion in the office.
"Sorry, I have to take a call."
Nan Yi apologized to Karen David, took the phone from the school beauty and walked to the corner.
"say."
"Boss, it's me, Dewen."
"No need to introduce yourself. You are the only one who calls me Boss."
"Ahaha, boss, I just got a new girlfriend, she's 181cm tall and has a ..."
"Bitch, let's talk business." Nan Yi said depressedly.
"Haha, the real thing is that she is going to participate in the Miss Universe pageant next year and she is in need of a sponsor."
"Well, send me her resume. I'll have someone check if she has the potential to be Miss Universe. If she does, I'll sponsor her."
"Okay, boss, the smart city project has been launched. Who should we contact after we get results?"
"Huizesang from the 1984 Common Prosperity Association, I plan to hand over the results of my research to a Chinese company. Are you tired of staying in Venezuela? If you don't want to stay, I will find you a new place."
"No, there are so many beauties here, I don't want to leave yet."
"Stay as long as you like, but make sure you exercise and don't get wasted. There will be work for you next year."
"Boss, I'm a woman, I don't use my body for sex."
"You are awesome, hang up."
After hanging up the phone, Nan Yi returned to the table.
"Karen, how long does it take to get to Mehrangarh Fort from here?"
"It won't take long. We are only a few minutes away from Sadar Market. It only takes ten minutes to walk up the hill from Sadar Market."
"Then how long do you think it will take to visit the Mehrangarh Fort? I'm thinking whether to eat first or go for the tour first."
"If you want to visit, one hour is enough. Even if you want to stay longer, two hours is enough."
"Oh, then let's go up the mountain first."
Nan Yi took another sip of coffee and followed Karen David out.
After a quick walk, the group arrived at the Mehrangarh Fort on Bird Hill.
Well, the building is quite majestic, and the homemade cannons on the fort are well maintained. With gunpowder and bullets stuffed into them, they should not explode after firing two or three shots.
Most of the man-made scenery can only be viewed from a distance and cannot be touched. When you are really in it, you will feel that it is just like that and it is really not worth traveling thousands of miles to see it.
It is better to look at the photos taken by the photographer carefully selecting the best time and angle, use your brain to imagine the scenery in a better direction, incorporate all possible and impossible illusions and expectations into it, and then don't try to break the fantasy.
While touring, Karen Devi acted as a part-time tour guide and introduced the history of Mehrangarh Fort to Nan Yi, thinking about how the king defeated someone here in the past...
Karen Devi had absolutely no talent for being a tour guide and had no idea what Nan Yi, the prospective guest, wanted to hear. She didn't know how to talk about the affair between the general and the queen, even if it was just a made-up story.
History, after all, is meant to be listened to for fun, just like asking a cuckolded man to objectively record and evaluate the process of his wife's affair with her lover. No human being can be objective.
Besides, sometimes only thirty years separate the hero from the criminal.
After thirty or so years, Xian Xiuyu and her husband will probably be able to enjoy various preferential policies.
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh...doop!"
"No, it should be 'whoosh whoosh, bang bang!'"
Nan Yi was just leaning over the muzzle to look inside when he heard a man and a woman arguing nearby, speaking Chinese.
Turning around, I saw something strange. Not many people can travel abroad these days. Even if they do, they rarely choose to come to India. Even if they come to India for tourism, they are unlikely to go here. They are more likely to visit places related to Journey to the West, such as going to Delhi to see Hanuman, the Monkey King of India.
After taking a casual look, Nan Yi retracted his gaze and said, "Karen, there seems to be a performance in the patio we just passed by. Let's go and take a look."
Karen David looked at her watch and said, "Now is not a good time to go. They only have a formal performance every hour and a half, and the last performance was less than ten minutes ago."
"What a coincidence." Nan Yi shrugged and said, "I saw in the travel brochure that Mehrangarh Fort is the private property of the Joda family?"
"Yes, the Jodha family was the former prince of Rajasthan. In the past, their family's power was mainly in Jodhpur. Now many buildings in the city, including a lot of land, still belong to their family's private property." Karen David said with envy.
"Oh, that's amazing." Nan Yi praised, then said apologetically: "The sun is too strong, and I feel a little thirsty. I see there is a restaurant selling drinks in the castle, let's go over and sit down."
"Okay, I'm a little thirsty."
Nan Yi was about to leave when a voice called out from behind, "Nan Yi?"
"It turns out to be Sister Zhou and Brother Liu. I'm sorry, I didn't recognize you just now." Nan Yi turned around and looked carefully, then said apologetically and politely.
"Why are you here?" Zhou Lilin, who was called Sister Zhou by Nan Yi, walked up to Nan Yi and asked.
Chen Feng once took Nan Yi to a gathering of a small circle. It was at this gathering that Nan Yi met Zhou Lilin and her fiancé, Brother Liu Liu Zhi, and Zhou Lilin’s elder brother Zhou Lidian.
Nan Yi's mind flashed with lightning, and in an instant, he replied: "I came here to look at the samples. The other company invited me to take a look around here . Sister Zhou, are you on your honeymoon?"
"No, we'll definitely invite you to the wedding. We're just here to take a look around and relax."
"Oh, I'm just going to go get a drink, wanna join me?"
"Okay." Zhou Lilin smiled and said, "Lao Liu and I are unfamiliar with this place, and it's great that we met you. We will follow you from now on. Please don't sell us out."
"Haha, I wouldn't dare to do that even if I had two guts. Wait a minute, let's just have fun. I'll let her go back first." Nan Yi said, and then turned to Karen Devi and said, "Karen, I'm sorry, we ran into two acquaintances. Let's stop here today. When the test results of the samples come out, we will contact you as soon as possible."
"It's okay. I'll arrange for a car to wait at the foot of the mountain, and I'll be waiting in the car too. Adam, you can contact me anytime if you need a car."
Nan Yi contacted Anagar in the name of Scarlett Agricultural Group. For Anagar, this was a potential big customer, and Karen David could not help but pay attention to it.
"Okay, thank you for your help."
After sending Karen David away, Nan Yi took Zhou Lilin and Liu Zhi to the restaurant in the castle.
…
