After returning to the hotel, Zhang Hao lay down directly. He was really exhausted after the day.
At eight o'clock in the evening, Yang Huaqing woke up her husband:
"Wake up, it's time to eat."
"I'm not hungry, you go ahead and eat!"
Zhang Hao closed his eyes and shook his head.
He had just been lying down for less than two hours, and now he didn't want to get up at all.
Yang Huaqing quickly reminded: "Have you forgotten? Little Beth's birthday is today. As an uncle, you can't be absent without reason, right?"
"Hey, it's Chinese New Year, what's your birthday?"
Zhang Hao muttered.
After saying that, he reluctantly opened the quilt.
Yang Huaqing helped her husband get a new set of clothes and urged: "Hurry up, I'm waiting for you."
Zhang Hao got dressed, then went to the bathroom to wash his face to wake himself up.
Immediately afterwards, Yang Huaqing handed over a small gift box: "Here, this is a birthday gift for little Beth."
"what?"
Zhang Hao took the gift box and asked casually.
"You'll find out later."
Yang Huaqing sold it out.
Soon, the couple arrived at the restaurant.
Little Beth, who was wearing a birthday hat, saw her aunt and uncle arriving and immediately ran over with her short legs.
Zhang Hao picked up the little girl.
Yang Huaqing smiled and praised: "Wow, our little Beth is so beautiful tonight! The dress looks great too!"
"It's a dress made by my mother."
Little Beth said with a proud face.
Yang Huaqing reached out and scratched the little girl's nose, smiled and joked: "Little Beth has a good mother!"
Susanna turned to her daughter and said:
"Little Beth, come down quickly, don't tire your uncle."
Zhang Hao waved his hand: "It's okay."
Little Beth was very sensible and listened to her mother's words. She immediately slipped out of her uncle's arms.
Yang Haoxuan held a bottle of wine in each hand: "Brother-in-law, shall we drink white tonight? Or red?"
"Don't drink anymore, your brother-in-law feels a little upset in his stomach."
Yang Huaqing rushed to answer.
Zhang Hao spread his hands and looked helpless.
Yang Haoxuan wisely put away the two bottles of wine. The old lady started talking, but he didn't have the guts to resist.
After dinner, Suzanne took out the birthday cake.
The cake was made by Susanna herself. The style was very simple, without so many bells and whistles.
Yang Haoxuan helped insert three candles and lit them one by one with a lighter.
"Happy birthday to you……"
Everyone sang a birthday song together.
When the singing stopped, little Beth closed her eyes and made a wish, blowing out the candles with her last breath.
"Pa bang bang..."
There was sparse applause in the restaurant.
Immediately afterwards, Yang Haoxuan and his wife gave their daughter a set of paintbrushes as a birthday gift. Little Beth loves painting, so this gift was perfect.
Yang Huaqing directly took off an jade bracelet from his right wrist and put it on his eldest niece's hand. The bracelet was pure and smooth, but the ring was too big, so the little girl couldn't wear it for the time being. She could only wait until she grew up.
Susanna had no choice but to accept the precious jade bracelet for her daughter.
Although the price of jewelry has plummeted nowadays, the quality of this jadeite bracelet is top-notch, and it still costs millions, or even more.
Zhang Hao took out the gift box and stuffed it into little Beth's hand.
The little girl's eyes were shining with little stars, and she said with a sweet voice: "Uncle, can you take it apart, little Beth?"
"Open it, uncle is also curious about what gift is inside." Zhang Hao touched the little girl's head.
Yang Haoxuan couldn't help but said in surprise: "Brother-in-law, where did you buy the blind box?"
"What blind box? Your sister prepared the gift, but she didn't tell me what was inside."
Zhang Hao answered truthfully.
Yang Huaqing glared at her husband, then knelt down and helped little Beth open the gift box.
Inside is a pink children's smart watch with a very cute look.
"Wow, it's a watch!"
Little Beth was very happy.
Yang Huaqing said with a doting look on her face: "Does Little Beth like this watch?"
"I like it!" The little girl nodded repeatedly.
Yang Huaqing picked up the watch: "Auntie, can you help little Beth put it on?"
"Okay!" The little girl nodded eagerly.
Yang Huaqing helped little Beth put on the watch, and then taught the little girl how to use it. The function of the children's watch is very simple and has two main functions:
One is for positioning, and the other is for making phone calls.
Yang Haoxuan stared at his watch and couldn't help but asked curiously: "Sister, I didn't even see you insert the phone card. Can you still make a call?"
"This is not an ordinary watch. I asked people from the Secret Service to customize it. It is very similar to your brother-in-law's confidential mobile phone. It does not require a phone card or pay phone bills. It needs to be recharged once every six months. In short, it only needs to be wherever there is a mobile phone signal.
, you can use it normally.”
Yang Huaqing replied.
She customized a total of four watches this time, and planned to take the remaining three back to An An and the three younger ones. This kind of watch is safer.
"So powerful? Isn't it cheap?"
"The cost alone is hundreds of thousands. You two should pay more attention to it. It's best not to lose it. If you lose it, you must report the loss to me as soon as possible."
Yang Huaqing warned.
"Thank you, sister, we will pay attention."
Susanna nodded solemnly.
The eldest sister's family is indeed not an ordinary family. Even a birthday gift is so original.
…
On the fifth day of the first lunar month, Zhang Hao and his party left Qatar and continued their inspection along the Persian Gulf.
One month later, the inspection team completely ended its trip to the Middle East, and its next stop was the Indian Peninsula.
On March 6, the Indian peninsula finally arrived.
After replenishing supplies at Karachi Port, the convoy went straight to the largest city in the Indian peninsula: Mumbai.
Before getting off the boat, Zhang Hao specially called his brother-in-law.
"Brother-in-law, what do you want from me?"
"Nana is going to give birth soon. Your sister told you to stay on the boat, so don't go and stay with your wife." Zhang Hao explained.
The medical conditions on the ship are no worse than those on land. In order to ensure the safety of pregnant women, it is best not to go ashore easily, especially in chaotic areas like India.
"Ah? Isn't Nana's due date still half a month away? Why are you so anxious?"
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Yang Haoxuan looked reluctant.
After finally visiting India, he still wants to go ashore and visit this magical continent!
Zhang Hao suddenly lost his temper and said: "You kid, you are just playing around at this time? Can you be more mature? Fortunately, your sister doesn't know. If your sister knows, she will definitely teach you a lesson."
"I'll go ashore for a walk and then come back, just for half a day, okay?" Yang Haoxuan pleaded, "Besides, I promised Little Beth last night that I would take her ashore for a walk today."
"What if your wife is going to give birth?"
"This is easy to handle. I will rush back immediately after the baby is born. It's not far anyway, so I will definitely be able to make it in time."
Yang Haoxuan said indifferently.
After all, modern medical technology is advanced, unlike in ancient times, when giving birth was like going through hell.
Zhang Hao sighed helplessly: "Okay, half a day is fine, but I heard that India is very chaotic, so remember to bring a few more bodyguards. Also, try not to go to remote places. If you encounter danger, don't be brave and cooperate with the other party.
, save your life first."
"I see."
Yang Haoxuan patted his chest and promised.
An hour later, Zhang Hao and his party took the shuttle boat and officially set foot on the land of Mumbai.
Mumbai officials held a grand welcome ceremony, which was far larger than other cities.
"Dear Consul, madam, welcome to our Indian region. Please allow me, on behalf of all the Indian people... to extend a warm welcome to the two of you."
"Hello, Chairman Ambani."
Zhang Hao reached out and shook hands with the other party.
This man looked to be eighty or ninety years old. In order to show respect for his elders, he used the honorific title.
Chairman Ambani didn't know whether he was too excited or Lao Hu was confused. He held Zhang Hao's hand tightly and kept nagging.
Moreover, the words were mixed with Hindi, which Zhang Hao couldn't understand at all, so he could only keep smiling the whole time.
Fortunately, Mumbai Mayor Sinha saw that something was wrong and quickly arranged for two staff members to carefully help Chairman Ambani down.
Zhang Hao immediately breathed a sigh of relief, and then quietly wiped the sweat from his forehead.
While apologizing, Mayor Sinha explained: "Consul, I'm really sorry. Chairman Ambani suffered from a serious illness last year. After recovering from the illness, his mind became sober and confused at times."
"It doesn't matter, people are like this when they get old."
Zhang Hao smiled and waved his hands.
As for why an 80-year-old man is appointed as the district chairman? There are many reasons, but the main reason is for balance.
Unlike other regions, the entire Indian region appears to be a whole, but internally it has long been fragmented. Everything from a city to a street is controlled by different families.
In the vast areas outside the city, there are large and small forts. An Indian reporter once made statistics and found that all the forts in the Indian peninsula add up to more than 100,000.
It can be said that these Wubao owners are the real owners of this land.
Next, accompanied by Mayor Sinha, Zhang Hao inspected the guard of honor, delivered a speech, watched a song and dance performance, met with citizen representatives, and finally left the port in a car amidst thundering cheers.
On the way to the hotel, looking at the lights and feasting outside the car window, Yang Huaqing couldn't help but wonder:
"This place in Mumbai looks pretty good. I just took a closer look and there are not many people wearing patched clothes. And I didn't see any beggars along the way. Isn't it as bad as what is said on the Internet?"
"This is the regional headquarters and the largest port and city in India. Of course it's not much different!"
Zhang Hao explained casually.
Another point is that in order to welcome the arrival of the inspection team, the Bombay officials must do a lot of face-saving projects to avoid being embarrassed in front of the people of the entire federation.
Yang Huaqing took her husband's arm and said, "Husband, who is that An Niba? He is so old and he can still be the district chairman?"
"What's Anniba? It's Ambani. Don't remember it wrong, so as not to make a fool of yourself and embarrass others." Zhang Hao quickly corrected him.
"Ambani, Ambani...I remember."
Yang Huaqing practiced it carefully several times.
Zhang Hao nodded with satisfaction, and then explained: "You should have an impression of Ambani. He has been the richest man in India for twenty years and has a high reputation locally.
Today, the Ambani family is also the most powerful family in the Indian peninsula. It is said that they control a population of half a million people and have tens of thousands of private armed forces.
Let’s put it this way, except for him as the district chairman, no one else can convince the public if they come to power. They can only let Ambani work until he dies, and then his son Ambani Jr. will take over.”
"What? He's not the emperor, so why did he become hereditary? This is too ridiculous."
Yang Huaqing said in disbelief.
Zhang Hao shrugged and said helplessly: "There is no way, the central government does not want to take over the mess here, so it has weak control over India."
"Then we can't just let them do whatever they want, right?"
"Actually, this is pretty good."
"What's better?" Yang Huaqing asked quickly.
Zhang Hao explained patiently: "At least people can pay taxes on time every year, and there is no fiscal transfer payment, which is equal to pure income. Isn't this good?
If we insist on getting involved, given the current situation on the Indian peninsula, expenditures will definitely exceed incomes, and it may still be a bottomless pit, and the advantages and disadvantages will be clear at a glance."
"No wonder they say politics is dirty. You are too realistic and have no regard for the lives of ordinary people." Yang Huaqing sighed.
"It's not that we don't want to take care of it, it's just that we have more than enough ambition but not enough power. Besides, we must first settle the internal affairs in order to deal with the outside world. Only when the local area is sorted out can the central government be free to deal with other major regions." Zhang Hao said without concealment.
"It's all sophistry. Anne is not that easy. Although the country has made some achievements in recent years, it still has a long way to go. When you really free up your hands, I'm afraid there won't be a few people left here."
Zhang Hao smiled, and suddenly felt a sense of powerlessness. What his wife said was indeed the truth. In the dream, even more than ten years later, the local people still had not got rid of the problem of food and clothing.
Wanting peace is almost an empty talk.
Seeing that her husband was silent, Yang Huaqing took the initiative to change the topic: "Okay, let's not talk about this anymore. I heard that the temple here is very spiritual. Let's go and pay our respects when we have time."
"Yeah!" Zhang Hao nodded simply.
…
On the other side, Yang Haoxuan was holding little Beth and wandering around a flea market next to the port. Although the place was not very big, it was very lively.
Like other cities, the market not only sells second-hand goods, but also has many food stalls.
Little Beth was young and was quickly attracted to a kind of deep-fried meatballs, shouting to eat them.
Yang Haoxuan immediately walked over with the little girl in his arms.
Little Beth grabbed her father's collar and urged excitedly: "Dad, this is it, I want to eat it."
Yang Haoxuan looked at the dark oil in the pot and immediately backed down: "Hey, little Beth, this doesn't taste good. Can we switch to another one?"
After all, it is difficult for the stall owner to be too straightforward in order to avoid causing unnecessary trouble.
"No, I want to eat this."
The little girl stared at the oil pan expectantly. The stall owner was very skillful in his movements. He threw a small piece of dough into the pan and soon it became bigger. It was fun and attractive.