Chapter 277: Robbers in the North, Thieves in the South

Jayalalithaa has always been very careful to protect her privacy, and there is very little media coverage of this matter.

So a slightly strange scene emerged: Amma’s portrait could be seen everywhere, but few people knew about her deeds outside of politics.

She is unmarried and childless, and has lived in an apartment in the city center with her female assistant for many years.

Except for family members like Kavya, who have the opportunity to visit, all others are refused.

This time, Ron was lucky enough to get a glimpse of the residence of the mysterious female chief minister.

The house is decorated quite luxuriously, and when you open the door you are greeted by a glittering golden light.

The chandelier is golden, the sofa is golden, and the corners of the glass table are inlaid with real gold.

The two ends of the living room curtains are decorated with clusters of golden tassels.

The ceiling lamp is also shaped like a pair of long golden branches, with the extended leaves holding up a hundred-watt light bulb one by one.

There was light everywhere, golden light.

In the first two minutes after entering the apartment, Ron was dizzy from the golden light coming from everywhere.

Soon his attention was attracted by the huge shoe cabinet at the door, which was more than one person tall and occupied the entire entrance along the wall.

Ron doesn't understand luxury goods, but he knows the logos of brands like Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Prada, and Hermès.

A rough count shows that there are at least hundreds of pairs of shoes in the shoe cabinet, including sandals, leather shoes, slippers and everything else, all luxury goods.

Oh, and bags, they also have a special collection area.

Ron didn't feel anything when he saw it, but Kaavia could hardly take her eyes off it.

"Pick out some that you like and take them away later." Jayalalithaa came out of the room.

She changed her simple image in front of the camera, not only changing into expensive saris, but also wearing various gold jewelry on her wrists, neck, and ears.

The most exaggerated one is the belt, made of gold, weighing one kilogram, with more than a thousand diamonds, emeralds and rubies on it, and a dancing peacock engraved in the middle.

Ron felt that the person walking towards him was not a person, but a moving display stand of luxury goods.

"This is your stuff, auntie." Kavya smiled and leaned over to whisper a few words to her. Jayalalitha nodded in satisfaction.

"Mom." Ron also went over to perform the foot-touching ceremony.

It was so damn luxurious that he was so shocked that he couldn't open his eyes.

"We're all family." She put her hand on Ron's shoulder, indicating that there was no need to be so formal.

“Things happening here in Tamil State are thanks to you.”

"That's nothing," she waved her hand, "Take good care of Kaavia."

"certainly."

As he was speaking, there was a knock on the door. The servant went to answer it, and soon a young man and woman in their twenties were brought in.

"Mom!" The young man rushed over, wishing he could kneel at Jayalalithaa's feet.

"Wake up! I've told you so many times. You're going to start your own family soon. Act like a grown-up."

"Mom, I will always be your son."

Ron was stunned and looked at Kavia. Didn’t they say that your aunt was unmarried and childless?

Kavya also looked confused, and it was obvious that she didn't know who the young man in front of her was.

At this time, Jayalalithaa was holding another girl's hand and talking about something. She was smiling and gave the other girl some gold jewelry.

"Oh, by the way, this is Sudakaram, my adopted son." Jayalalithaa introduced them to each other.

Kavya was puzzled, so she asked a few indirect questions.

This Sudhakaram is the son of a good friend of Jayalalithaa, who passed away this year, so he was adopted.

No matter how Ron looked at it, he felt that this so-called adopted son was a cunning person. It was because he had been staring at those luxury goods since he entered the door.

But Jayalalithaa doted on him very much. Not only did she give his girlfriend several pieces of gold jewelry, she also allowed them to take whatever they liked.

"Ram will hold his wedding in Madras in September this year. You all should come then."

"Okay." Kavia and Ron nodded.

This little bit of face must be given, even if neither of them likes the adopted son.

He even followed the example of politicians and tattooed his mother's portrait on his arm.

Jayalalithaa liked it very much, and after just a few words, she allocated 3 million rupees to him from the Tamil State Cultural Department.

Sudhakaram and his girlfriend are both in the entertainment industry. They set up a media company and specifically received subsidies from the government.

Well, this is a vampire.

Ron and Kavia didn't stay long after a quick lunch. The two of them seemed to be afraid of competing for their affection, and they kept talking the entire time, leaving no time for conversation.

Ron didn't bother with that, he didn't have time.

“Are you going back to Mumbai?” Kavya asked after they left the apartment.

"To be more precise, I'm going to Gujarat."

"Um?"

"I promised the local BJP that I would support him during the election."

The general elections in Gujarat have already begun and the results are expected in March.

This time their campaign theme is "Economy.Gujarat", and it is obvious that economic development is the top priority.

Industrialists like Ron are bound to become the focus of local media attention.

The BJP is very good at creating momentum and had released the rumor early on that Sur Electric would be settled in Gujarat.

In order to make money, Ron has to show up at the critical moment.

"I'm sorry I didn't have time to visit your parents this time."

"Your career is more important," Kavya shrugged. "They live in the suburbs, far from here."

Her family also has a manor, but it is not in the city, dozens of kilometers away from here.

"By the way, there's also your aunt's adopted son. I feel like she dotes on him too much. If it gets out, the media will make a fuss about it," Ron reminded.

"You know, her identity is very sensitive. She will never marry, let alone have children. Her adopted son is her only hope."

"Better give her a heads up," Ron sighed.

"I will."

Jayalalithaa was able to climb to the highest point as a Brahmin in a state that hated upper castes, and her image as an independent woman helped a lot.

When she first entered politics, she was treated roughly by her political opponents and people sympathized with her.

Her unmarried and childless status also dispelled the concerns of many people. At least such a helpless person would not develop any hereditary politics.

In short, this identity made her successful, but also constrained her. While gaining power, one must also pay a price.

Ron didn't want to collapse so soon after he had just gotten hold of a strong supporter.

His Sur Electric Appliance Factory had just started construction and the port had just been acquired, so the foundation had not yet been laid and it would take time.

Jayalalithaa seems to be deliberately keeping a low profile, but her occasional greed and extravagant habits will sooner or later lead her to a big fall.

After all, this was her first time being elected Chief Minister, so it was inevitable that she was a little carried away.

She is a contradictory person. You could say she is corrupt, but on the other hand she firmly believes that leaders should govern well.

For example, in developing industry, she is willing to use free land policies to invite foreign car companies to build factories.

As for other industries, she would get a kickback at the beginning, such as agreeing on a kickback ratio when signing a contract, or asking the company to give her a sum of money before building a factory.

After receiving the kickbacks, she would let her subordinates advance the project normally and require them to complete the tasks with quality and quantity.

To be honest, this approach is acceptable to politicians, businessmen and the public, and everyone is happy.

Even Ron felt that it would be great if all officials could achieve this level.

Don't forget, this is India.

Compared with the bandits in North India, officials in South India are more like thieves.

One is eager to take all the benefits, while the other secretly puts money into his arms within the tolerance of voters.

Ron stayed in Tamil Nadu for more than half a month, and it was already February when he returned to Mumbai.

The days unfold like lotus petals at dawn on a summer day, and then pass in a frenzy of busyness.

Before we knew it, it was already 1995. Ron seemed to have never been idle, and he didn't look like a lazy Indian at all.

I haven’t really enjoyed Mumbai’s Dabie Desert, and spent most of my time in the Sur Industrial Park.

The cathode ray tube production line, which started to be built in November last year, has finally started production.

From now on, more than 90% of the parts of Sur TVs can be produced in-house, and there is no longer the risk of being strangled by the supply chain.

Of course, the biggest benefit is that each TV saves $8 in costs, and the profit per 14-inch TV increases to 2,100 rupees.

However, two lines are too few, and they need to be doubled to barely meet the production capacity of the Mumbai factory.

The 18-inch line of cathode ray tubes is also being prepared and is expected to be put into production in the first half of the year. By then, Sur Electric will have acquired all the major models of black-and-white televisions.

Of the 110,000 units produced each month, 100,000 are 14-inch models. Production of 18-inch TVs has just begun, and currently the monthly output is only around 10,000 units.

But there is no need to worry, as two more 18-inch lines will be launched next month, easily doubling production capacity.

In addition, the newly built 18-inch color TV production line is also being debugged in full swing, which is several months ahead of schedule.

There is no way. The color TV jointly produced by Sur Electric and NEC has no problem selling even at a high price of 18,000 rupees.

Things turned out just as Mahalapye's Commerce Minister Bhujbal said. Although India announced its accession to the WTO, its tariff barriers did not disappear.

The government says it will gradually reduce tariffs over the next five years to give local businesses time to adapt.

As soon as the news came out, people from all walks of life were excited.

The prices of imported goods have not dropped, and people can only choose cheaper domestic products.

This was good news for the joint venture, and the newly launched 18-inch color TV was sold out in no time.

Compared to the high price of 25,000 rupees for the imported original product, 18,000 rupees is much more affordable.

SUR-NEC also uses Japanese technology, so the quality is definitely guaranteed.

So under this strange mentality, the hybrid goods that Ron originally thought would have a mediocre response were sold out very quickly.

He also hoped that NEC would give up this production line and then Sur Electric would take it away for free.

Now, Xiaotian was jumping up and down excitedly, shouting "Get on board!"

What could Ron do? Now that the market had been explored, of course he should seize the opportunity.

If the profits from the joint venture color TV business are to be shared with others, it is better for them to earn them themselves.

He placed a huge order directly with Dongda for twenty color TV production lines, to be delivered in batches, including both 14-inch and 18-inch lines.

Mumbai will be the first to start production, and Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu are expected to be put in place within a year.

Not only he but also Oda is ready to do something big.

"Mr. Soul!"

"Congratulations, Mr. Oda." Ron congratulated with a smile.

"You're finally back! Hurry! The workshop has stopped working and you need to make a decision immediately."

"What's going on? Didn't I ask them to produce at full capacity?"

"There are no spare parts and all the display tubes are used up." Oda said anxiously.

"That's your problem. I remember you were in charge of the communication regarding the imported parts."

"You haven't paid for the last batch yet, and this time we want more, 20,000!"

"Didn't you pay the deposit before?" Ron asked curiously.

"That's just a deposit! The deposit is not the full payment!" Xiaotian was so angry that he jumped up and down.

"Don't be impatient. Let me explain it to you slowly." Ron gestured for him to be patient.

(End of this chapter)