Chapter 1176 The Country That Gathered Together
After hearing Walter's words, Kate said directly: "I know that you are a bodyguard for the famous 'Salvage King'! I saw you on the Salvage King's live broadcast. I suspected that I saw it wrong, and then I looked for the video to confirm it many times before I was sure that it was really you!"
Walter was a little embarrassed: "When we were on a mission in the Middle East..."
Kate interrupted Walter directly: "Sir, to be honest, I admire you. What you did in the Middle East was right! And the facts have proved that it was the right choice for you to leave the army at that time. Otherwise, you would not have had the opportunity to be a bodyguard for the 'Salvage King'! Wow, I'm so envious!"
"Huh?" Walter was stunned.
Kate said, "Being a bodyguard for the 'Salvage King'! What an enviable job! When my comrades talk about it, they're all envious! Unlike us, who work ourselves to death every day to earn so little money!"
Walter's previous depressed mood was swept away after hearing this. That's right! Being a bodyguard doesn't sound as good as "Major", but who has to be the bodyguard, right? Who wouldn't envy being the bodyguard of the Salvage King?
Thinking of this, he straightened his back slightly: "Kate, what are you doing? Are you doing an exercise?"
Kate lowered her voice: "Sir, there's a Level 4 incident here!"
"What?" This time it was Walter's turn to exclaim.
Bruch and Kate were not so familiar with each other, so he had been standing by the Spyker car and chatting with Walter and others in the car. When he heard Walter's exclamation, he hurried over and asked, "Boss, what happened?"
Walter glanced at Bruch and said, "A level four incident has occurred here."
"Hiss." Bruch also took a breath. "Level 4? Boss, we need to get out of here. We have to ensure the boss's safety!"
Kate's face lit up with joy after hearing this: "Is the 'Salvage King' here too?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Xiao Peng got out of the car: "Walter, what's going on?"
Kate was very excited when she saw Xiao Peng: "Xiao... Xiao..."
Xiao Peng smiled and said, "My name is not Xiao Xiao, my name is Xiao Peng."
Kate quickly said, "Uh... Salvage King, that's not what I meant! I'm your idol!"
After hearing this, everyone looked at Kate helplessly.
Xiao Peng nodded seriously: "Yes, you are my idol. Anyone who wears a uniform to protect the people deserves respect."
Kate finally realized that he was about to cry: "No, no, no, I mean you are my idol!"
Walter was completely helpless: "Kate, what's wrong with you? You are a major after all! Why are you so nervous?"
Kate scratched her head and said, "Sir, I'm not kidding. 'The Salvage King' is truly my idol! I even learned Chinese specifically for 'The Salvage King'—'Beat the Japs!' The person who taught me Chinese said that anyone who knows this phrase is a good friend of the Daxia people!"
"Pfft!" Xiao Peng laughed. "He's right! That's right, your pronunciation is quite standard! Anyone who can say this is a good friend of the Daxia people. Just call me Xiao!"
Kate suddenly took out a small notebook from her pocket: "Xiao, can you sign for me?"
Xiao Peng was very upset. Signature? This is really classic!
He didn't refuse, picked up the small notebook and wrote his name: "Forget about signing, even taking a photo is fine. What's your name?"
Kate said hurriedly: "Kate Fenemalen."
Xiao Peng wrote a blessing to Kate in Chinese, Dutch, French, and German, then returned the notebook to Kate: "Is this all right?"
Belgium has three official languages: Dutch, French, and German. Their three regions essentially speak three different languages: Dutch and German in the north, and French in the south. Xiao Peng wasn't sure what language Kate primarily spoke, so he simply wrote them all down to show off his language skills.
In fact, Belgium is a very strange country. When I came here, I found that this country feels like two countries forced together.
Although this country is not big, it is divided into three major regions: the French-speaking Walloon Region in the south, the Dutch-speaking Flemish Region in the north, and the bilingual region of the capital Brussels. The Walloons and the Flemish people seem to be incompatible and despise each other.
There's a fascinating phenomenon in Belgium right now: aside from the king and prime minister, virtually everything is split equally: Cabinet seats are split equally between Flemish and Wallonia, and the same applies to ministers. National television and radio broadcasts are bilingual, in both Dutch and French. Signs in the bilingual capital, Brussels, are written in both languages. Universities are divided into French and Dutch departments, with some universities even splitting into two, one for each side. Some even teach entirely in English—don't bother me!
Belgium is actually a patchwork country.
In short, the present-day Wallonia region originally belonged to the Frankish Empire, the Flemish region belonged to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and the eastern part belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In the end, the three regions came together to form what is now Belgium.
After the founding of Belgium in 1831, the development between the north and the south was extremely unbalanced. The Walloon region developed rapidly relying on coal and iron ore resources, while the Flemish region mainly relied on agriculture, so it was not enough to compete with the Walloon region. At that time, the Walloons said: French is the only official language in Belgium. Although the Flemish people were angry, they had no choice: who made them richer?
At the Berlin Conference of 1885, the European powers partitioned Africa. King Leopold II of Belgium was awarded two million square kilometers of Congo as his personal domain, and he began a brutal rule over the country. This harsh outcome presented an opportunity for the Flemish region to develop: Congolese rubber raw materials were sent back to Belgium for processing and re-export, and Flemish ports like Ampwit developed a shipping industry, which subsequently developed a financial sector. This elevated Flemish status led to the reinstatement of Dutch as the official language of Belgium.
But no matter what, as the status and strength of the Flemish and Walloon peoples grew, they became even more dissatisfied with each other until now, while the German-speaking areas in the east could not afford to offend anyone and simply lived freely on their own. As a result, Belgium has become the current mixture of the three.
So Belgians are all language geniuses—basically, anyone picked out can speak two or three languages. And that’s how Belgium is today: like a couple bickering all the time, bickering and fighting while still pursuing development.
Xiao Peng handed the notebook to Kate: "Kate, what happened here? Why are there so many armed soldiers here?"
Walter answered Xiao Peng's question; "Boss, we have to leave here. A level 4 incident has occurred here."
"Level 4 incident? What does that mean?"
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