Chapter 308 What is Foot Massage?
'Oh my god!'
This was the first sentence Xiao Peng said after seeing the Beijing Hotel in Minsk.
He is no longer a bumpkin who has never seen the world, but he still cursed when he saw the Minsk Beijing Hotel.
Xiao Peng has seen many five-star hotels, but this is the first time he has seen a five-star hotel built in the War Memorial Park in the city center.
Moreover, this architectural style is absolutely unique in Minsk, where most buildings are in the former Soviet style: it is a standard Chinese style, with floor-to-ceiling windows seven or eight meters high in the hall, which is very imposing.
Xiao Peng originally wanted to ask Kashin to be a translator, but it turned out that there was no need at all. There were Chinese employees here, and even most of the Belarusian employees could speak Chinese.
When you arrive in Minsk, you will find many surprising things, for example, there are quite a lot of people learning Chinese here.
Just like in China, when people see foreigners, they will shout "Hello" to them. In Minsk, Xiao Peng also encountered people shouting "Nihao" to him, and some children even ran up to Xiao Peng to show off their Chinese.
This was a "Western scene" that made Xiao Peng feel very proud.
In fact, Xiao Peng could see this as soon as he got off the plane: Chinese was everywhere in Minsk Airport.
There is a craze for learning Chinese in Belarus. It is a bit of an exaggeration to say that Chinese can be seen everywhere here, but it is indeed very common.
Even the police cars here are all Huaxia Geely. Xiao Peng didn't have much impression of anything else in the city. He just visited several Huawei and Xiaomi stores.
Minsk has three universities with Confucius Institutes. Two of them have Chinese language departments as a subject on the Gaokao exam, and there are seven Confucius Classrooms across the city—a significant number for a city of just two million.
Kasin looked at the French windows and was puzzled: "Oh my god, a building like this can pass the review?"
Xiao Peng asked in confusion, "What do you mean?"
Kashin explained, "Belarus' building codes are the same as those of the former Soviet Union. As you know, this is a high-altitude area, so according to regulations, building exterior walls must be at least 50 centimeters thick. This is the glass here? It definitely doesn't meet the standards."
Hua Chong, standing by, answered the question: "This hotel was built by a presidential decree signed by Lu. It's the product of cooperation between Hua and Bai. All the materials used in the construction, including the furniture and equipment, are duty-free."
Xiao Peng whistled: "So this is considered a Belarusian state-owned enterprise?"
Kasin smiled and said, "Just look at the number of service staff here."
Xiao Peng was stunned for a moment and then started laughing.
He looked around and saw that there were at least thirty people in the hotel lobby, including security guards, cleaners, doormen, front desk staff, waiters, and so on! Despite so many people, no one was actively serving; everyone was just chatting there spontaneously.
Putting state-owned enterprises and private enterprises side by side makes one feel the difference immediately. In Belarus, those state-owned enterprises always occupy the best resources, but the problem of bloated staff is also too serious, right? In just this hall, Xiao Peng saw four cleaners...
Moreover, a not-so-small problem occurred before they even checked into the hotel.
Xiao Peng wanted three people to stay in a presidential suite.
To be honest, the presidential suite here is really not expensive, about 1,600 Belarusian rubles a night, which is about 500 euros. More than 70% of Belarusians do not have such a high monthly salary, but the presidential suites in five-star hotels are not meant for ordinary people, right?
Xiao Peng is now a real "rich man", so what's the point of making money if he doesn't live in the presidential suite? So before he came, he booked the presidential suite.
But when Xiao Peng arrived, he was told: The presidential suite was sold out! Someone else had already moved in!
Xiao Peng was furious, but the Chinese girl at the front desk told him that a Belarusian military official had been admitted there. They'd just gotten out of the Minsk sanatorium and were looking for a change of pace. The girl apologized, saying, "Although this is a joint venture with Chinese management, you still have to adapt to local customs."
A typical Soviet legacy. It's really annoying.
Xiao Peng was so angry that he wanted to change hotels, but when he saw the Hunan restaurant and Liangzi Foot Massage...
Just bear with it!
But you can't treat yourself badly even so.
Xiao Peng booked an executive king suite! This room is second only to the presidential suite in size. It costs 1,200 Belarusian rubles a night.
He wanted to book two executive king suites for Hua Chong and Ka Xin, but they both refused.
Needless to say, Kasin had been told by Walter to protect Xiao Peng's safety when he arrived, and Hua Chong was also tasked with this task. The two of them insisted on living with Xiao Peng.
After half a day of research, I finally found out that this executive king suite consists of three rooms: a bedroom, a living room and a small dining room. The hotel will add two extra beds in the living room for free.
After all, he had booked the presidential suite in advance but couldn't get it. It was indeed the hotel's problem. If this place wasn't called "Beijing Hotel", Xiao Peng would really make a fuss!
But I have to say, as a Chinese, it is really suitable to live here!
He tasted the most authentic Hunan cuisine in the whole of Europe.
Zuan tofu, dry-pot tea tree mushrooms, Dong'an chicken, steamed cured meats, Xiangxi grandmother's dishes, stir-fried pork with chili peppers... Xiao Peng and the others were so full of food that their faces turned red.
Why is your face so red? It's spicy!
Hunan cuisine, also known as Hunan cuisine, focuses on being spicy and soft. Xiao Peng is a good eater, after all, his parents used to do this!
But even after eating, he still gave a thumbs up: the chef's skills here are really amazing! He even thought about poaching some of the staff.
However, Xiao Peng was not satisfied with all the dishes. For example, the chopped pepper fish head and chopped pepper fish here were just average. However, this had nothing to do with the chef's skills.
The key is the fish.
In Hunan cuisine, both chopped pepper fish head and chopped pepper fish are cooked with silver carp, commonly known as "fathead fish". However, this place is close to the Dnieper tributary, and there are only silver carp but no bighead carp, so only silver carp can be used to make these two dishes.
Silver carp and bighead carp have similar names, but the taste and texture of the meat are very different, and the market price is also quite different. Compared with silver carp, silver carp has more bones and less meat and is not tasty. The chopped pepper fish head and chopped pepper fish made from it are naturally not as delicious as those made from silver carp.
However, Kasin particularly enjoyed these two dishes, saying that silver carp has been his favorite since he was a child. The first time he ate silver carp prepared this way, he couldn't stop!
You’re kidding me!
Didn't I know you love salmon? Go ahead and crave it, no one's laughing at you!
"Boss, what should we do after dinner?" Kasim asked Xiao Peng.
Xiao Peng thought for a moment and said, "After dinner, I'll go get a foot massage. I'll call Ivan and ask about the old professor. We'll take a rest tonight and go see him tomorrow."
"Foot massage? What is it?"
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