Chapter 418: The sewer of German conscience is blocked...
Xiao Peng sighed, "Now I have the right to say that I am rich and willful!"
Now they were on their way to the Zugspitze glacier ski area.
The car was too big for Xiao Peng to drive, so Walter had to drive alone. Marseille is in the south of France, while the Zugspitze is in Bavaria, central Germany. It sounds like a long way off, but in reality, the journey wasn't as arduous as imagined.
It's only a little over a thousand kilometers from Marseille to the Zugspitze.
We cannot use China's land area to judge other countries, that would be bullying. France is only as big as Sichuan Province, let alone Germany, which is even smaller.
The Chinese always call their old neighbor Japan "Little Japan", but what's the truth? Germany is not even as big as Japan!
Traveling from France to Germany is basically the same as traveling from one province to another in China.
Moreover, they did not go directly to Bavaria, but first went to Heidelberg in the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg, on the border with France, to pick up Walter's family first.
However, upon arriving in Heidelberg, Xiao Peng and his team were dealt a blow. Just before their arrival, Heidelberg had experienced a historic downpour, causing the Neckar River to swell and the city's sewer system to collapse. The streets were flooded with dirty water, and the entire city was stinking. Those who knew this was Heidelberg might mistake it for Venice, the "Water City"! The entire city was living in knee-deep water.
Xiao Peng and his crew didn't dare drive into the city, so they could only wait for the water level to subside on the Aodeng Hills plateau outside the city. However, after waiting for a day, the situation still didn't improve.
"Does this count as stepping in shit?" Xiao Peng complained, "How long will this situation last?"
Walter said apologetically: "Boss, this is all my fault. If I hadn't picked up my family, this wouldn't have happened. Alas, the sewer system here has collapsed more than once or twice! Can't the damn relevant department personnel pay more attention?"
Fabian patted Walter on the shoulder and said comfortingly: "Brother, it seems that your German civil servants are not much better than ours in France."
Xiao Peng was drinking champagne and nearly spit it out when he heard Fabian's words. What was this? 'The best among the short guys'?
"Actually, we Chinese have always liked Germany." Xiao Peng said leisurely.
"Why?" Fabian and Walter looked at Xiao Peng together.
Xiao Peng laughed and said, "For a long time in our country, the internet has been filled with all sorts of talk from so-called 'public intellectuals,' all sorts of things. They've all been compiled into catchy rhymes. I'm thinking of a way to put it: 'Americans have domineering passports, Germany's conscience is a sewer, Somalia has universal healthcare, Russia is giving away houses for free, Singapore doesn't practice hereditary inheritance, India's Ganges River has therapeutic benefits, Iraq welcomes devolution, Egypt protests without being bombarded, Britain is wonderful, Greece is a hardworking nation, and Japan's summer camps are amazing.'"
Walter and Fabian were a little confused after hearing this: "What is this mess?"
Xiao Peng said, "Do you know how the Northern Arab Spring began? Take Tunisia for example. At the time, the Americans fostered tens of thousands of online public intellectuals there, who then published various statements that Tunisia was not good for praising foreign countries in order to guide public opinion, which led to the subsequent chaos. This situation also occurred in China. For a long time, there were also various so-called "public intellectuals" who made up all kinds of stories to fool the ignorant masses. For example, what did the "American domineering little passport" mean? Those public intellectuals said that the American passport has a sentence printed on it: "No matter where you are in the world, the powerful America is always your strong backing. Please remember that you are an American citizen." And they said that the back of the Chinese passport says "Please strictly abide by local laws and observe local customs and habits." Look at how domineering the Americans are in this comparison?"
"Is that true?" Fabian asked.
Before Xiao Peng could say anything, Walter said, "I don't know what it's like in China, but on the back of American passports it says: 'The Secretary of State of the United States of America requests that relevant persons grant this citizen convenient passage and provide legal assistance and protection when needed.' I've seen their passports when I was on a mission in the Middle East."
Xiao Peng snapped his fingers. "You're right." He pulled out his passport and continued, "Our passport says, 'The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs requests that military and political authorities of all countries provide convenient travel and necessary assistance to those holding this passport.' Passports from all over the world have similar messages. Rumors like this are easy to spot: anyone who has seen a genuine passport wouldn't fall for it. They use this method to convince the ignorant to believe their lies, creating disunity and hoping to create chaos, just like what's happening in North Africa. There are many such rumors, such as 'universal healthcare in Somalia,' which claims that even in Somalia, free treatment is provided to all citizens..."
Walter frowned and said, "Somalia? There are hospitals in that country? Let me think... Oh, there is a hospital in Somaliland, which was built by you Chinese people decades ago. Apart from that, I haven't seen any other hospitals in Somalia."
Xiao Peng smiled and said, “Walter, your experience is even richer than I thought. You’ve traveled to many places!”
Walter thought for a moment and said, "Boss, I can't say anything else about the nursery rhyme you just mentioned, but there are a few things I can refute. 'Welcome to Iraq'? When we're there, we have to be careful of being shot at at any time. Their people don't have the slightest intention of 'welcoming Iraq'. They only have hatred for us Westerners!"
Fabian also said: "Britain is wonderful? Does this mean that British food is delicious? Come on, is there anyone on this earth who doesn't know that the British eat shit every day?"
The French never know what it means to hold back when criticizing the British.
Walter asked in return, "Boss, there's a line in that jingle that goes 'Germany's conscience sewer'. What's that about?"
Xiao Peng laughed and said, "There's a city in our country called Qingdao, nicknamed the 'Unfloodable City.' No matter how heavy the rain, the accumulated water in the city will dissipate within a few hours. The city is nestled between mountains and the sea, with many hilly terrains, so accumulated water can drain quickly into the sea. However, some public intellectuals claim that Qingdao's lack of flooding is due to the sewers built by Germany during its colonial rule. The sewers built by the Germans in Qingdao were less than three kilometers long. How can they possibly solve Qingdao's current drainage problems?"
"Don't these people think before they speak?" Walter said angrily. "Let them come to Germany! There's no need to go anywhere else, just come to Heidelberg! We're also surrounded by mountains and rivers! But every time it rains, it becomes like this! Have they asked us Germans for our opinions before they praise us so much?"
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