Mr Wong Goes West by Nury Vittachi Read Free Book Online Page A

are big money. They can’t take risks. They have to get everything right.’
    ‘Quite so,’ said Sinha. ‘I imagine a craft like this would cost hundreds of millions of US dollars. So if there is some deal where they are selling a fleet of these, we must be talking very large amounts indeed. A single purchase of a small fleet of aircraft can add up to more than a billion US dollars.’ He turned to Wong: ‘I hope you’re getting a good slice.’
    Now the subject of money had been broached, the feng shui master was happy to turn his attention away from the food and deign to join in the conversation. ‘Normal fees, I bump it up a bit, maybe sixty or seventy per cent, plus big surcharge for express service. But one bad thing. The man wants me to fly to London to do some work for someone else after.’
    Sinha looked puzzled. ‘You are invited to go on a free trip to the United Kingdom, all expenses paid by a wealthy organisation, but you are reluctant to do so? Is this logical?’
    ‘I think I will not like UK. Too many foreigner.’
    ‘That’s true. There are a lot of UK people in the UK. Odd, that. But you could always hang out in Gerrard Street. You’d feel at home there. They do an excellent
cha siu bau
, and you can even get a good plate of
dau miu
. Indeed, Cantonese is the main language of Gerrard Street, as it now is for large swatches of Vancouver. London might be fun. I haven’t been there myself for, oh, half a decade or more.’
    The feng shui master shook his head. ‘Too much trouble. Besides, I have plenty of worry on my mind. Maybe should stay here, raise some money. I have to make a payment of big, big bucks to Arun Asif Iqbal Daswani in ten days’ time.Harmoney deal turned out to be big, big trouble.
Aiyeeah
.’ He grimaced at the memory of the morning’s meeting. ‘Daswani messed up plenty but still he wants me to pay. Not fair, but what can I do?’
    Sinha put his elbows on the table. ‘Ah. You owe money to Arun Daswani? That’s bad news indeed. He’s not the sort of person to get on the wrong side of. That alone might be a good reason to get out of town and on to the other side of the planet as promptly as possible. Anyway, if you need big bucks at high speed, surely the London deal is what you want? The royal family, no less! Surely it will be easy money?’
    Wong scowled. Given his long history of loathing all things Western, it would be hard to reconcile himself to having to spend several days there. And he always felt long-haul trips were bad value because of the travelling time. ‘Maybe they pay full fees, but overseas trips take so long. I get maybe two-three days’ pay, but have to travel one-two days to get there, another one-two days to get back. End up wasting seven-eight days for only two-three days’ money. Too much time, not enough cash.’
    Sinha dismissed this with a wave of his hand—which unfortunately sent a piece of onion into Joyce’s hair. ‘Nonsense. You have to factor the travelling time into your bill. Make them pay for it. Better still, with the royal family, there is no need to hold back when you are writing an invoice—so just make up a number. They can afford it. They’re as rich as Croesus.’
    Wong had no idea who Crease-Us was, but it occurred to him that Sinha might be right—he was dimly aware that a royal family in the West was likely to be super-wealthy. He had encountered non-rich royals several times in places such as Indonesia and Malaysia, but the royals of London should have money, one would think.
    Joyce enthusiastically backed up Sinha’s assertion. ‘He’s right. They are
totally
loaded. Filthy rich.’
    ‘Filthy?’
    ‘It means,
really, really
.’
    Wong couldn’t hide the lust for money that was beginning to sparkle in his eyes. ‘I can charge them three-four times usual rate?’
    The Indian shook his head. ‘No. I think six or eight times the normal rate would be more like it. Just think of the Queen’s property portfolio.