Chapter 332: The Haunted Ukrainian Train
"It's really a ghost!" Xiao Peng paused and repeated, "It's really a ghost!"
Xiao Peng's complaints are not without reason.
Of course, he didn't have too much free time to buy a tank for fun. In fact, here, if you have money, you can buy not only tanks, but even the new 'Kozak-2M1' wheeled armored vehicle. The bulletproof test was done in the forest next to 'Seven Kilometers'. The PK series 7.62 caliber light machine gun only scraped off the car paint and left some small holes. The glass was shot into pieces but could not be penetrated. The bulletproof effect was first-class.
But this thing is a bit expensive, one costs more than 300,000 euros, and how to ship it back to France or China after buying it is a problem. In the end, Xiao Peng could only restrain his desire to buy it.
Why did he want to buy a car? Because he wanted to visit Kiev! Odessa is the second largest city in Ukraine, so the largest city must be Kiev, their capital.
There are four ways to get from Odessa to Kiev: driving, flying, taking a boat, or taking a train. In the end, Xiao Peng chose the train. He also chose the overnight train.
I swear to God, Xiao Peng chose the train because he was definitely deceived!
Odessa Railway Station is arguably the most magnificent train station Xiao Peng has ever seen! A three-sided, Renaissance marble structure, its circular arcades frame tall stone columns. The columns are adorned with beautiful sculptures. At night, when it's illuminated, it looks like Odessa Railway Station, but those unfamiliar with it might mistake it for the Louvre!
They told Xiao Peng that taking the night train and sleeping right away to Kyiv sounded quite comfortable, so Xiao Peng decided to take the train with everyone!
When it came time to buy the tickets, Xiao Peng had a bad feeling: there were no automatic ticket machines or online ticketing. There were only two counters, where all transactions—buying, refunding, changing tickets—were handled. Their efficiency reminded Xiao Peng of Walter, the sloth from Zootopia. The four people in front of him waited for over half an hour.
After they bought the tickets and entered the Odessa Railway Station, which had a luxurious appearance and was known as the "Ukrainian Louvre", he felt something was wrong for the second time.
The train station looks luxurious from the outside, but inside, it's shabby and dilapidated. There's no security checkpoint or ticket gate; you just walk straight through the hall to the platform. Security is nowhere to be seen; everyone relies on the LED screens at the edge of the platform to find their train. Only here do you see the so-called "security check": an attendant at each carriage door checks your ticket. If your ticket is correct, you can board.
After seeing the train clearly, Xiao Peng felt "not good" for the third time: this platform is older than Xiao Peng's grandfather, and the train here seems to be from the same era as the platform.
Xiao Peng felt better after boarding the train. The trains here inherited the Soviet Union's wide-gauge design, making them more spacious than Chinese trains. They were all enclosed berths, each with a matte-looking mattress. Each bed contained a plastic bag containing bedding. He took a look and, damn! These bedding were probably almost as old as he was.
Honestly, Xiao Peng and his friends bought a "premium sleeper"! It's the same kind Xu Zheng and his mother stayed in in the movie "Lost in Russia," with two bunk beds. The four of them fit perfectly into one room. But this "premium sleeper" wasn't fancy at all, no wonder it was so cheap!
The price of a "premium sleeper" from Odessa to Kyiv is about 5 euros per person, or 30 RMB. This exchange rate drop is really nice.
There are quite a few people taking the train, as train is the main means of transportation in Ukraine.
The roads here are awful. This 'worse' isn't compared to China, the "infrastructure madman," but to the rest of the world. Ukraine has almost no highways, and most roads don't even meet minimum highway standards. Driving here feels like driving on a washboard.
What surprised Xiao Peng even more was that coal-fired boilers were used to provide hot water at the junctions between each carriage! Smoking was prohibited on the train, but no one cared if men and women smoked on board. There were no police on Ukrainian trains!
In fact, these are not the main reasons why Xiao Peng "saw a ghost".
The most important thing is: Walter, Bruch and himself were all carrying guns, but they just got on the train so brazenly?
There's a reason why there are so few Westerners! They're top-notch at courting death!
Seeing everyone looking at him, Xiao Peng shook his head and stopped thinking: "I'm thinking, you said they can bring guns into the car, aren't they afraid of anything happening?"
Bruch laughed and said, "Boss, you're overthinking it. Look, the bedroom doors in these rooms can be locked. There's no point in having a gun."
Xiao Peng thought about it and agreed. There were three types of sleeper berths on this train: one with three rows of bunk beds, like the hard sleepers on Huaxia trains; one with four people in a room, the "premium sleeper"; and one with two people, the "deluxe sleeper." The latter two had lockable doors.
But at this time, Walter said, "Bruch, we still can't relax. Can't you open the door lock like this in three seconds? The Ukrainian train incident happens frequently."
"Train case?" Pascal asked curiously.
Walter nodded. "Let's not talk about robberies and thefts. Just two months ago, a female reporter from Kyiv TV was taking her son on a train in a 'deluxe sleeper' when someone sneaked in and raped her in the middle of the night. She pleaded for help, but to no avail. You can see there were no train security guards on the train. She was a female reporter, and she was traveling with her son. This incident caused a huge uproar in Ukraine, and the Ukrainian side took it seriously, deploying about 40 security guards on all ten of their passenger trains."
Xiao Peng interrupted Walter when he heard this: "Wait a minute! Ten passenger trains? How many passenger trains are there in Ukraine?"
Walter replied: "Even though Ukraine is not well developed, it is still a country after all, and a major railway country. It still has hundreds of passenger trains."
"Pfft!" Xiao Peng snorted, "What's the difference between having this and not having it?"
"At least we've done it, right?" Pascal said with a smile. "Okay, let's experience a Ukrainian train trip."
Bruch said, "What's so good about it? It's just a snail! I'm not criticizing Ukrainian trains, I'm criticizing the entire world! After riding the Chinese high-speed rail, I realized that railway systems all over the world are rubbish! But boss, what should we do now? Just go to sleep? I can't sleep!"
Xiao Peng grinned. "I've been prepared for this for a long time. I had plenty of experience riding green-skinned trains back home when I was little. Come on, let's go and 'sell everything we have'!"
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