Chapter 537: Chapter 444 Black Tour Guide_1 After making her selection, Tang Qing insisted that Lin Jiaxue wear it for the day. She thought of taking it off owing to its value but was dissuaded by Tang Qing’s comment ’I like how you look wearing it’ and the warmth in his eyes. Following that, Tang Qing walked hand in hand with his ladylove. Under the lead of the store manager, they walked into Second Uncle’s office, which was kept off-limits to most people by a secretary. However, the secretary had visited Tang Kai’s house a few days back, was aware of Tang Qing’s status, and respectfully opened the door for them. Second Uncle’s office was indeed quite big, But sadly, it was smaller than ours in Sky Eye. Thinking of this, Tang Qing was reminded of Sky Eye’s weekly reports, especially manager Dou Jiao’s, filled with ’resentment’ in her emails. Even before they could settle things at one place, they had opened a map to Thailand, and that of a big corporation at that. This had worn Dou Jiao out because it was not just about dispatching the finance people. There was also recruitment of jewellery industry talent required, information related to the jewellery business had to be collected, especially international data, among other things. At the end of every email filled with ’complaints’, Tang Qing had responded with ’Keep pushing on.’ Including punctuation marks, it was a three-word reply. Dou Jiao was quite enraged by his message. She knew Tang Qing was coming to Thailand and had ’extorted’ him for quite a lot. However, her demands were mild compared to Qin Shiqi’s ’shopping list’. More than half an hour later, Tang Kai returned from his meeting. "Not bad, it suits Jiaxue perfectly. I assume Tangtang chose it." Tang Kai smiled at Lin Jiaxue. "Yeah, the craftmanship from Second Uncle’s company did a great job making it look so beautiful." Tang Qing couldn’t help but praise. Tang Kai laughed heartily: "Haha, that’s good. Let’s go, I don’t have any work this morning, so I’ll show you around this place first, buy some local products. I’ll get busy in the next few days." He needed to set up a sales network quickly, raise funds to buy more merchandise from Ling, increase company inventory, and take care of coordination with Sky Eye domestically. He has a lot on his plate. "Sure." answered Tang Qing. Second Aunt Youman and Tang Nian’er left early in the morning for Youman’s Chinese friends’ birthday celebration. Their timely receipt of an invitation to a wedding feast of a business friend of Tang Kai’s made for a good chance of a free meal. But that comes in the afternoon, so they decided to go shopping for some local products first because they’ll be touring other parts of Thailand in the next few days. They’ll go back in a week or so, the exact date is yet to be decided. Twenty minutes later, Tang Kai brought Tang Qing and the others to a street. ’West Mountain Second Way’ After Tang Qing translated it, he found the name quite strange but he wasn’t bothered by it. After all, he was here to shop, not fret over strange names. Because this street didn’t allow larger vehicles, they had to go on foot. Upon entering the street, they saw a range of Thai speciality stores selling food, medicinal herbs, handicrafts, animal furs, and so on. Many shopfronts displayed signs in Chinese, Thai, and English. The main message was about sales discounts and warm welcomes. "This is the largest speciality products sale area in Bangkok. It’s best not to enter random stores as many are notorious for overcharging foreigners, offering high prices for substandard quality. I’ll take you to my friend’s store. He’s Chinese too, and we’ve known each other and been in business for over a decade. His prices are fair and more importantly, his quality is good." Tang Kai explained as we walked. Hearing this, the words ’rip-off’ popped into Tang Qing’s mind, along with ’forced shopping’ and ’scam guide’. He was surprised that people lost their ’simplicity’ in these times. Thinking more about it, it did make sense. With the lure of profits, people might even resort to murder, much less selling substandard products at exorbitant prices. The future was rife with travel scams, shady guides, overpriced stores, fraudulent travel agencies, and whatnot. They were all after money like they were possessed. After a short while, They arrived at the end of the street. Following Tang Kai, they stepped into a store with signage in Chinese. ’Oriental Specialty’ The name was quite ’blunt’. The shop was quite big, About two hundred square meters. As they walked in, a middle-aged man who seemed older than Second Uncle greeted them from the reception, "Oh, Chairman Tang, long time no see. How come you’re free today?" "What else would I be here for if not for shopping? To patronize your business, of course." Tang Kai hugged the man, introducing him as Hua Dongfang, who had settled in Thailand even before him. When Tang Kai first arrived, Dongfang was already running this shop. In the initial days, Tang Kai had even partnered with him in the medicinal herbs business and used to deliver goods regularly to his store. As time passed, Tang Kai’s primary business shifted to gems and jewelry and the duo did not meet as frequently. However, the medicinal herbs business was not left behind. Part of the medicinal herbs inventory in this store was supplied by Tang Kai’s company. Dongfang was surprised at the turn of events. Tang Kai, who was not so well-off in the past, was now one of the wealthiest men in Thailand. He was even the chairman of the Thai Chinese Chamber of Commerce, holding various other prominent positions as well. Dongfang was overjoyed for Tang Kai. In these foreign lands, the local Chinese community was proud of the accomplishments of their own. This felt very different from their homeland "Well, thank you. It’s an honor to sell to a big boss like you. Take what you want, don’t be shy. You’re my guest." Dongfang said generously. "Alright, stop with the flattery. My nephew and the others are here to buy some goods to take back. You sell good stuff here. Tangtang, this is your Uncle Hua. He’s a great guy, been in business with me for many years." Tang Kai introduced him. "Hello, Uncle Hua." Tang Qing greeted politely. Tang Kai introduced everyone else and they all greeted Dongfang. "Your nephew, then? No problem, your nephew is my nephew. Take whatever you like, don’t be shy." Dongfang laughed as he announced. In his mind he couldn’t help but comment that the boy looks handsome and goes well with the girl at his side. "Tangtang, you guys can take your pick, I’ll sit here and catch up with your Uncle Hua." Tang Kai directed Tang Qing. "Sure." After that, Dongfang called a female Chinese sales guide to assist them with their shopping and moved with Tang Kai to a resting area nearby to share old tales. Twenty minutes later. They had picked out everything they wanted, big and small, from food to toys. "Tangtang, let’s go check out some other craft stores around here. Hua, join us, you’re familiar with this area, which will save us from being bullied by shopkeepers." Tang Kai got up and proposed. Hua Dongfang agreed, "That sounds good, if you’re not with someone who knows the ropes around here, they deliberately target tourists." After saying that. They stashed their stuff in the shop and hit the streets again. Hua Dongfang and Tang Kai lagged behind, Luo Ming really held sway here. Seeing him, some shop owners offered freebies. Tang Qing was unclear about how influential Hua Dongfang was, but Tang Kai did. Hua Dongfang had been running a shop here for over a decade. He was a martial arts practitioner in his early days and had quite many followers. He was indeed a formidable force during the chaotic times in the past. However, over time, he transitioned into legitimate business, but no one dared to underestimate Hua Dongfang. Because his elder son was a graduate from Valley Forge Military Academy in the United States and had served in the US Army for three years before retiring with the rank of Captain. Since returning to Thailand, he had been serving in the Thai military as an instructor with the rank of Colonel. Ordinary people couldn’t dare to mess with him. Tang Qing and his group were walking down the street. Suddenly. They heard a raucous sound up ahead. They saw a group of people with red hats gathered ahead. It looked like a tourist group, perhaps even from their home country. It’s in human nature to be attracted to drama, but in his previous life, Tang Qing would not have been interested in such stuff, given he was incapable of interfering. It would just be spectator sport, uninteresting. But in this life, he had very little to fear. If he encountered injustice, he was more than capable of addressing it. He quickly made his way to the front of the crowd. He saw three people at the center of the commotion in a heated argument. One of them was an old man with a girl who appeared to be his granddaughter next to him. On the other side was a skinny man who looked like a complete douchebag, seemingly very cocky. "Hey bro, what are they arguing about?" Tang Qing asked a young onlooker. Upon seeing Tang Qing, the young man quickly whispered an explanation, "The tour guide brought us here and forced us to buy things. Even though we did buy, it was all monstrously expensive. That man and his granddaughter didn’t have enough money, so when he mocked them a few times, and they couldn’t take it, they started arguing." So, that’s what it was. This felt like a terribly clichéd situation. Tang Qing originally didn’t want to intervene, considering it was not a big deal, but then he got really pissed off by one of the tour guide’s remarks. "You’ve to buy it anyway. If you refuse, be careful as I might call the Thai police. If they take you in, it’s gonna cost you a lot more than this to get out." Those were his exact words. He changed his tactics to threats when the business deal fell through. All the while he was threatening an old man and a young girl in a foreign country. That was unbearably annoying. And indeed, upon hearing ’police,’ the grandfather-granddaughter duo seemed afraid. They had no idea of the quality of the police in Thailand, but it seemed clear to them that the police would likely be on the side of the tour guide. Seeing that they were genuinely scared, and the hideous face of the tour guide, Tang Qing just couldn’t stand by and do nothing. Damn it. What kind of blasted travel agency, what the hell kind of a guide, and this shithead shop owner, do they all want to quit or something? Tang Qing walked straight up, wading into the crowd, and coldly said to the tour guide, "Whoever you are, bullying an old man and a young girl doesn’t make you any manlier." Seeing someone stand up for them, the guide felt a twinge of jealousy, seeing as the guy was quite good-looking. However, he wasn’t afraid of a Chinese man standing up to him. Judging from how Tang Qing was dressed and what he was carrying, it looked like he was just another tourist. A little intimidation and the man would back off. He’d dealt with guys like this before. "Kid, this isn’t the homeland. If you want to meddle in other people’s affairs, you’d better make sure you got the balls to back it up. You keep messing around, I’ll call the cops and have you arrested." The guide warned arrogantly, without a trace of fear. This, instead, made Tang Qing laugh out of irritation. I just popped a word, and you wanna call the cops on me, for Christ’s sake, is there no justice in this land? Is this your family’s territory? I mean, I am not that arrogant. "Oh? Go ahead and call the cops then, I’ll be waiting." Tang Qing smirked. Surprised at Tang Qing’s audacity, the guide was momentarily taken aback. However, he simply assumed that Tang Qing didn’t believe he had connections, so he emphasized, "You better think long and hard, I know the local police here. If you are taken in, it won’t be easy for you to get out." "Go call them quickly, stop blathering. Should I call them for you?" Tang Qing said impatiently. He found it annoying to engage in pointless chitchat with someone like that. If there was someone to call, he should do it instead of beating about the bush. Choked by Tang Qing’s words, the guide was taken aback. "You... you will soon re..." Before he could even finish his sentence and choke out the word ’regret,’ Tang Qing, unable to tolerate his ’clichéd lines,’ cut him off promptly, saying, "Hurry up, I’m waiting for you to call the police. Your words are toxic, please say less." Tang Qing’s ’Your words are toxic’ line put all the onlooking bystanders who understood what he said into fits of laughter. "Ha-ha, what a quote, ’Your words are toxic’, I’ll remember that." "This young man is brave, a real man." "Absolutely, he is not bad, very handsome too, I wonder if he has a girlfriend." "Stop daydreaming, I saw him come with that girl, no way he’d be interested in you." "....." All the laughter and mockery from the crowd left the guide unable to keep his composure. He pulled out his cell phone and prepared to ’call his connections’. PS: End of the first Chapter.