Chapter 328: Tanks and Armored Vehicles for Sale
Pascal is a man who knows how to enjoy life. He arranged for us to stay at the Nemo Resort and Spa, a five-star hotel next to Lanzhelan Beach.
Although it was a five-star hotel, Xiao Peng could tell that Ukraine's economy was struggling. A night in a five-star hotel's ocean-view presidential suite cost only 10,000 hryvnia, or about 300 euros including tax. Xiao Peng now understood why Europeans and Americans stayed in luxury hotels when they visited China; it was all about the currency exchange rate.
At the C2 Hotel in Marseille, a double suite with sea view costs 400 euros including tax. Here, you can get some of that money back by staying in a presidential suite.
Why do so many Ukrainians make a living in China? One dollar earned in China is equivalent to more than four dollars earned in their own country. Can they not go abroad?
The benefits of being a boss are obvious: Chen Cheng and others are busy at the dock, while Xiao Peng and others are having a great time in Odessa.
However, Xiao Peng discovered a very outrageous common sense error.
There is a statement that most people agree with, which is the difference between the three major races in the world: black people are accustomed to tropical climates, while white people are accustomed to cold climates; and yellow people are adapted to temperate climates.
But after going through this process, Xiao Peng felt that there was something wrong with this statement.
White people originally lived in Europe, and later moved to Oceania and North America. Except for Northern Europe and Russia, the rest of Europe is really not cold!
Take Odessa, for example. What's its latitude? It's roughly the same latitude as Harbin! But compared to Harbin's winter temperatures of -20 to -30 degrees Celsius, here, even -5 degrees Celsius is enough to make people cry out in fear of freezing!
The temperature here can easily get high. It's only May now, but the temperature has already reached 30 degrees Celsius at noon! And at night it's over 10 degrees Celsius. This high and low temperature is really unbearable.
At this temperature, Lanzhelan Beach is already full of tourists. Nemo Resort and Spa has a swimming pool and a private beach. Looking down from the balcony of the presidential suite, the swimming pool is as full as dumplings at noon.
Fabian focused all his interest on the bikini beauties in the hotel, while Xiao Peng and Pascal toured the city.
Honestly, Odessa, as Xiao Peng put it, is "really fucking beautiful!" Its nickname, "Pearl of the Black Sea," is well-deserved. The city also boasts a vibrant artistic atmosphere. For example, the Odessa State Opera and Dance Theatre boasts a history of over 200 years, hosting recitals by masters like Tchaikovsky and Liszt.
Pascal wanted to watch a ballet here but couldn't buy a ticket. The ballet level in the former Soviet Union is very high, but it is really hard to get a ticket here as it is already the tourist season.
But not only did they see the ballet, they also had the best seats in the house: that's the privilege enjoyed by residents of the Presidential Suite at the Nemo Resort & Spa.
Damn the privileges of the rich!
It turns out that Xiao Peng hated this when he had no money, but he enjoyed it very much when he became rich. This is the character of ordinary people!
Otherwise, what's the point of making money?
Feng Guozhang's great-grandson (Feng Gong) once said: "If you have money, don't pretend to be poor; if you don't have money, don't show off; just be happy when you have nothing to lose." Being happy is better than anything else, so who cares what others say?
Xiao Peng and Pascal had a great time in Odessa.
In fact, the security in this city is not very good. Because there are many tourists and all kinds of people live here, it is a mixed bag. It can be said to be the most complicated city in the whole of Ukraine. Xiao Peng and Pascal encountered robbery and were cursed for no reason while walking on the street. Especially at night, the area near the bar streets is even more chaotic.
But Xiao Peng and the others are not afraid: We are going out with bodyguards, okay?
The two people also like to play in different places. Pascal's favorite place in Odessa is actually the Odessa cemetery maze.
This place used to be a quarry, and Odessa was built with the stones mined here. Two or three hundred years ago, it became a passage for smugglers and a place for various gangs to hide their belongings. Women who were trafficked by human traffickers were also imprisoned here. During the October Revolution, it became a gathering place for rebels and guerrillas. During the Cold War, it became a fuel depot. . . .
Xiao Peng really couldn't understand why Pascal liked to come here.
This is just like Pascal couldn't understand why Xiao Peng liked to go to the "Seven Kilometers".
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ukraine faced a shortage of goods. Some merchants imported goods from the sea and set up stalls here. Over time, the number of stalls increased. Today, Seven Kilometers is the largest wholesale and retail market in Ukraine and one of the largest in Eastern Europe.
This is a veritable "Great Wall of Steel." All merchants here sell their goods in containers. The entire market is divided into six areas, each of which is made up of thousands of containers. Each merchant occupies two stacked containers: the upper one is the warehouse, and the lower one is the storefront.
Why does Xiao Peng like to be here?
Over 70% of the goods in this market are Chinese-made! Furthermore, at least 2,000 Chinese businesses and tens of thousands of Chinese people are doing business here. Since the establishment of Seven Kilometers, every Chinese Consul General in Odessa has periodically visited Seven Kilometers to conduct market research.
Xiao Peng went to "Seven Kilometers" for no other reason than to "shop, shop, shop", and everything he bought had to be transported to the Odessa port by truck.
The key is that the products here made Xiao Peng miss them so much: Wang Shouyi Thirteen Spices, Wangzhihe Fermented Tofu, Weilong Spicy Strips, Red Star Erguotou, Pixian Doubanjiang, Pickled Pepper Chicken Feet, Sweet Noodle Sauce, Qia Qia Melon Seeds, Doubanjiang, Vacuum-packed Stinky Tofu, Sichuan Hot Sauce, Silkworm Pupae, Preserved Eggs, Hot Pot Base... Xiao Peng wanted to buy everything! The most extreme thing was that he even bought several boxes of Wangzhihe Stinky Tofu!
There are also many domestic products in France, but the management there is strict and many things cannot be imported. For example, things like preserved eggs and stinky fermented tofu are difficult to buy there. But in Ukraine, there are no taboos. When I arrived at the "Seven Kilometers", I felt like I was back in China. It was exactly the same as the small commodity wholesale markets in China, with people selling everything from food, clothing, housing and transportation!
But if these were the only things sold, it would be too uncharacteristic of a fighting nation: you can also buy many things here that are beyond your imagination.
Anyway, Xiao Peng saw armored vehicles, tanks, and even S-300 missile launchers. Missile launchers over ten meters long were being openly sold there—something you'd never imagine seeing anywhere else! And it wasn't illegal at all; their government was selling these things openly online!
Xiao Peng was still considering whether to buy a tank to play with when Kasin called.
"Boss, something happened to Fabit!"
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