Chapter 210 Give me 110 to use
The definition of high-speed rail varies from country to country. For example, in the United States, any train that travels faster than 145 kilometers per hour is considered a "high-speed rail."
France's 'high-speed rail' is still quite fast, with the highest speed reaching 270 kilometers per hour, and the newer ones can reach 300 kilometers per hour. However, the newer ones are usually used to go to other countries.
They were riding the old 'TGV', which is now called 'INOUI' but is the same thing in a new bottle.
To be honest, this speed is about the same as that of a high-speed train in China. That's why Daniel said to Stallone, "It would be better if it could be faster." (See the movie "Taxi 3")
This high-speed train also has first-class and second-class cabins, so Pascal naturally booked a first-class ticket.
The first-class cabin was almost empty. Aside from Xiao Peng and his group, the vast cabin was only populated by a few people. Although many foreigners choose to experience the first-class cabin on China's high-speed trains, that's because of the currency exchange rate; in their own countries, they'd be reluctant to do so.
Rich people all go to fly, right?
The night before his departure, Xiao Peng played games late. Feeling a bit sleepy after boarding the train, he leaned back in his chair and fell asleep. Pascal and the others watched him sleep while they chatted animatedly on the other side.
After all, although they have traveled to several countries, most of them were in Europe. Now they are going to China, which is a completely unfamiliar country to them. They are a little excited.
However, Xiao Peng didn't sleep for too long. Not long after, someone pushed his shoulder.
Xiao Peng opened his eyes and looked in front of him. There was a man and a woman standing there, wearing blue and red suits. They were French high-speed rail staff.
Although they have automatic ticket checking at the station, there are still staff on the train who will randomly check tickets.
Xiao Peng saw them and was about to take out his ticket when a black man in the seat across from him suddenly jumped up, pointed at the staff and shouted, "What do you mean? Why are you checking my ticket? Is it because I'm black? You're being racist!"
It is absolutely impossible to say that all black people are like this, but there are indeed quite a few such guys in France. No matter what mistakes they make, they will use "racial discrimination" as an excuse to bite back.
The high-speed rail staff had no expression on their faces; they were used to it.
The male staff member said, "Sir, this has nothing to do with skin color. We also asked this Asian friend to check his ticket. This is our job. Please show me your ticket. If you don't have a ticket, you will be fined heavily and your personal integrity record will be recorded!"
The black man pretended to touch the ticket, but anyone could see that he didn't have one at all.
Xiao Peng curled his lips and handed his ticket to the female staff member. After checking that it was correct, the female staff member handed it back to him. Xiao Peng lay back in his seat and prepared to continue sleeping.
As I said, the high quality of foreigners only exists in the articles of Chinese public intellectuals.
At the time, a strange thing happened in Shanghai, a city known for its "highest quality" citizens: the Shanghai subway caught 120,000 fare evaders in a single year! This was just the number of people caught, not including those who weren't.
So those public intellectuals on the internet desperately criticized this incident, saying that the Chinese people were too poorly educated and that foreign countries wouldn't be like this. Many people also desperately echoed this point.
This incident only illustrates two truths: the first is the so-called "one-fifth theorem", which means that no matter what someone says to five people, even if it means "eating shit is good for your health", there will definitely be one person who will believe it; the second is "there are so many frogs in the well".
Are the French people well-educated and don’t evade fares?
There's a saying in France: 'le seul sport de franaise, l'épreuve unique de la solitarité franaise', which translates to: Fare evasion is the only sport left in France and the only proof of the solidarity of the French people.
Many French people have never bought a train ticket in their lives but have never missed a trip.
If someone approaches you from behind while you're going through the automatic ticket gates on the French subway, don't be alarmed. They might not be trying to steal or rob you; they might just be trying to get on the subway. Helping others evade fares is perfectly normal in France.
But it’s bad enough that he evades the fare on the subway, but he also evades the fare on the train; it’s bad enough that he evades the fare on the train, but he also enjoys the first-class cabin. This "Nico" is really too bold!
The black man searched for a long time but found no ticket. So he said to the staff, "I was in such a hurry to get on the bus that I lost my wallet. My ticket was in my wallet! It must have been stolen. It must have been a damn gypsy thief!"
The male staff member was unmoved: "Sir, anyway, you don't have a ticket now. I'm giving you a chance to buy one, otherwise you will face severe punishment."
Xiao Peng nodded secretly after hearing this. The staff member handled the matter very gently and just asked him to buy the ticket.
In France, there are many people who evade fares, whether on the subway or on the railway. Only occasional staff will conduct random checks. Although the chance of being checked is very small, the consequences of being caught evading fares can be very serious.
If you're not a French resident and are caught evading a fare, you could be deported! Regardless of whether you're a French resident or not, being caught evading a fare will tarnish your reputation, impacting your future job prospects and potentially even facing a fine of up to €3,000 – a significant amount!
It seems that the staff member's handling of the matter was really quite gentle.
But the 'Nico' said after hearing this: "Damn it! I already said my wallet was stolen! Where would I get the money?"
The staff member spread out his hands and said: "Sorry, that's not my problem. If you can't make up for the fare, I can only notify the police to handle this matter. Please pay the total 110 euros for the ticket price that day."
There is something interesting about buying train tickets in France. If you want to save money on train tickets, you have to buy them online.
They can book train tickets up to ninety days in advance, but the longer in advance the better the discount. It depends on the train operation conditions at that time. If there are not many people on the train, the discount will be bigger.
But if you buy tickets at the train station? You can only buy full-price tickets!
Just like Xiao Peng and his friends’ train tickets were bought by Pascal yesterday, each ticket cost 85 euros, which was 25 euros cheaper than the full price ticket!
The black man was stunned after hearing this. Should he notify the police? What about the man's integrity? What about the fine?
"Sir, please show me your ID," said the male staff member.
The black man glared at the male staff member: "Wait a minute! What's the rush?"
Looking at his expression, the staff member didn't say anything, but watched what he was going to do.
He glanced around and saw Xiao Peng lying there. The black man walked up to Xiao Peng and said, "Hey, Huaxia guy, do you have any money on you? Give me one hundred and ten dollars!"
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