The crucial event in breaking the ice occurred when he and his wife used used their medicine kit to help two locals injured a stampede that began when a brawl broke out at a cockfight they were attending. 

The crucial event in breaking the ice occurred when they were able to stop the local police from raiding a cockfight by using their status as esteemed foreign guests to convince them that nothing illegal was happening on the premises. 

The crucial event in breaking the ice occurred when he and his wife ran from a police raid on a cockfight and hid with the locals instead of using their status as foreigners to escape suspicion.