### Chapter 1: The Audacious Request
On the morning of January 11, 1986, at Fraser International School in Mumbai, India, the air buzzed with the usual banter and bullying. A short, rotund boy smirked as he addressed a frail, pale young man before him.
"Mr. Gupta, have you arranged the tuition fees for next semester? Ready to move to Dharavi in a few days? That's quite a step down, isn't it? Dharavi, the largest slum in Mumbai... Can our Mr. Gupta adapt to such conditions?" His voice dripped with sarcasm, prompting laughter from his entourage.
The young man, Jogo Gupta, with a weary expression and a hint of resignation in his eyes, responded tersely, "You don't need to worry about me." He turned away from the mocking group and headed towards the school gate, their derisive laughter echoing behind him.
"If you don't have rupees, you can borrow them from me. I'm very generous. See you after the holidays, I hope, haha~~" the fat boy's taunt followed him out.
"Oh, I have traveled through time, but the situation is dire," Jogo lamented internally.
Originally, Jogo had been a young man born in 1995 in China. Orphaned early, he grew up under the care of kind benefactors and managed to carve out a modest white-collar existence. But one fateful day in April 2023, he read an old news piece about Gautam Adani, once the second richest man in the world. Adani's fortune had been decimated by $100 billion in a mere week due to a short-selling scandal.
Adani, a man who had risen from the lowest caste in India to become a billionaire, had experienced a meteoric rise. By early 2022, he had surpassed Mukesh Ambani, the previous perennial richest man in India. Despite a significant financial hit, Adani's wealth still comprised "thousands of small goals of wealth." Jogo had mused, "Is it so easy to make money in India? China is too complicated. If only I were in India~~"
Then Jogo lost consciousness.
When he awoke, he found himself in the body of a 16-year-old Indian boy named Jogo Gupta.
Jogo Gupta hailed from a relatively affluent middle-class family, evidenced by his attendance at an international school, where tuition and miscellaneous fees amounted to at least 30,000 rupees annually. Public schools, by contrast, charged mere dozens of rupees per semester, highlighting a significant gap in teaching quality and environment.
Now in the eleventh grade, equivalent to the first year of high school in China, Jogo grappled with the schooling system in India. Primary school began at age six and lasted eight years, followed by two years of junior high, two years of high school, and three years of college.
Fraser International School was a mid-tier private institution in Mumbai, far from the elite echelon where boys learned equestrian skills and golf, and girls took piano and ballet lessons. Jogo's parents couldn't afford such extravagance.
His father, Dingwar Gupta, owned several small workshops dealing in cotton textiles. Their annual income hovered around 100,000 rupees, placing them solidly in the middle class of Mumbai—a metropolis where the rich were extraordinarily wealthy, and the poor exceedingly impoverished.
In 1986, the average monthly salary for employees in China was about 106 yuan, roughly 3 yuan a day. The official exchange rate was 1 US dollar to 3.45 yuan, while on the black market, it fetched more than ten yuan. In India, 1 US dollar could be exchanged for 12.6 rupees. Thus, 1 yuan was equivalent to about 3.65 rupees officially, though for easier calculation, it could be rounded to 4 rupees.
Converted to RMB, the Gupta family's annual income was approximately 25,000 RMB, nearly 20 times China's annual per capita income. Even in early 1990s China, families earning 10,000 RMB were rare. Yet, in Mumbai, this income placed them merely in the middle class, insignificant compared to India's true wealthy.
Jogo's father hailed from Gujarat, later known as the Indian version of Guangdong due to its strong economy. "Fellow countrymen," Jogo thought wryly, noting that both Adani and future Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi were also from Gujarat.
Adani's fortune, Jogo recalled, was intertwined with Modi. The privatization of Mundra Port in Gujarat under Modi's tenure as Chief Minister had been a turning point. When Modi became Prime Minister, Adani's investments paid off handsomely. This close political-business relationship was a significant factor in the Wall Street short-selling report against the Adani Group.
"Modi facilitated Adani's rise," Jogo mused, contemplating the potential of political investments. But Modi, currently not a high-ranking official, wouldn't recognize Jogo as a future ally.
Adani's ventures offered inspiration. If Jogo could anticipate and follow Adani's path, he might secure substantial rewards. The Indian version of reform and opening up was imminent, and Jogo was determined to seize the opportunity.
However, his father's recent bankruptcy presented a substantial obstacle. Gupta Sr. had begun in the slums of Dharavi, eventually becoming a modestly successful small business owner. But a massive foreign trade scam had wiped out their savings and left them owing nearly a million rupees to the bank. In despair, Gupta Sr. attempted suicide and now lay in a hospital bed, while Jogo's mother was also hospitalized due to the shock.
Only the previous night had Jogo learned of these calamities, just before he took a fall and hit his head, leading to his current situation.
Now, Jogo needed to generate money to pay off the debt, or his family would be relegated to the slums. The idea of living in such squalor terrified him.
As Jogo walked towards the State Bank of India's branch in North Central Mumbai, where his father had secured the loan, he mulled over his plans. The credit manager, Kunal Singh, was a close friend of his father's. Perhaps he could negotiate for some grace period.
Mumbai's chaotic streets buzzed with tuk-tuks, rickshaws, and even the occasional car, while sacred cows meandered freely, causing traffic jams. A group of striking port workers marched nearby, shouting slogans and holding signs. Strikes and demonstrations were common in India, Jogo knew.
At the bank, Singh was busy but asked Jogo to wait in his office. Jogo sat alone, contemplating his next steps while the radio broadcasted news about a Chinese trade delegation seeking partners in Mumbai.
His mind whirred with possibilities. Could this be an opportunity? If China's trade delegation was struggling to find partners, might he find a way to involve his family's textile business?
Singh returned, carrying a small black bag. A Sikh in his early forties, Singh wore the traditional turban, marking his cultural identity. Despite their caste differences, Singh and Gupta Sr.'s friendship spoke to the elder Gupta's character.
Jogo steeled himself. "I want to borrow 200,000 rupees," he declared.
"Did I hear you correctly?" Singh looked incredulous.
"No, you heard right. I need 200,000 rupees," Jogo repeated.
"Jogo, do you understand what you're saying? Your father hasn't repaid his debt, and you're asking for more?" Singh's amusement turned to disbelief.
But Jogo was resolute. This was his only shot at salvaging his family's future and seizing the opportunities he could foresee.