Chapter 456: Tilty's Friend
Finally, the painting fell into Tilti's hands, and she couldn't let it go.
Xiao Peng asked in confusion, "What's so good about this painting? From now on, take it out and look at it to see how you went crazy?"
Tilty gave Xiao Peng a 'hygienic eyeball': "What do you know! This is commemorative!"
Xiao Peng curled his lips and said, "I don't know what you can commemorate."
"What do you know?" Tiltie rolled up the painting and put it in her backpack. "Why? Do you feel sorry for not getting the painting?"
Xiao Peng spread his hands: "What do I regret? I saved money!"
Tiltie curled her lips and said, "Alright, after all, you are in this painting too. Thank you for giving it to me!"
"I didn't give it to you, you snatched it away!" Xiao Peng protested.
Tiltie smiled and said, "Anyway, the painting is with me. Come on, I'll buy you a couple of drinks."
"Please buy me a couple of drinks?" Xiao Peng was stunned: "Where are we going?"
"What? Are you afraid that I will sell you out?" Tilti asked back.
"What a joke!" Xiao Peng retorted, "I'm just worried you can't afford me!"
Tiltie said, "Let's go. I want to see how much you can drink!"
Xiao Peng followed Tilti on the subway, and they arrived at their destination not long after.
"What is this place?" Xiao Peng asked puzzledly after leaving the subway station.
This place doesn't look like a drinking place at all, but more like a gymnasium, surrounded by green space and many young people playing football here.
In fact, if you go to Europe, you'll find the reason why Chinese football hasn't improved: Chinese football players are "cultivated" from a young age, while in Europe, they genuinely love football. This is true in France and Germany. Young people there simply play football, and play football. And here, there are plenty of places to play football. There aren't square dancers competing for space with young people, and there aren't instances of square dancers being disruptive and then being pelted with feces and called "uncultured" for refusing to listen.
"Didn't you say you would treat me to a drink?" Xiao Peng asked puzzledly.
As a result, Tildy was stunned: "You haven't had dinner yet?"
Xiao Peng also came to his senses. This wasn't France. Germany's high latitude meant less sunlight, so dinner was served early, usually between 5 and 7 p.m. It was truly awful how different customs were in each part of Europe. Thankfully, this wasn't Spain, where dinner wouldn't be served until 10 p.m.
Xiao Peng waved his hand and said, "It's okay. Actually, I'm not hungry either. What are you doing here?"
As soon as he finished speaking, he heard someone shouting, "Tilti, you're here!"
"Hi, Clara, Bal, and Angela!" Tilti greeted the young people who were sitting over there watching people play football.
"Who is this?" a girl pointed at Xiao Peng and asked Tilti.
The girl's name is "Clara". She is a very cool girl. On her neck, you can see the tattoo spreading from her body. Her "Mohawk" hair is shorter than Xiao Peng's hair.
Tierti replied, "This is a Chinese friend we just met. You can just call him Xiao."
"Wow, this is the first time I meet a Chinese person!" Tilti introduced Clara and others to Xiao Peng.
When Bal shook hands with Xiao Peng, he used both hands and stroked the back of Xiao Peng's hand. Xiao Peng instantly got goosebumps: Bal is a man!
This is also one of the characteristics of Cologne: there are a lot of homosexuals.
Cologne's Gay Pride is held on either the first or second Sunday of July every month. At its peak, 750,000 people took to the streets of Cologne to participate in the gay pride parade. Compared to other German states, attitudes towards homosexuality are much more lenient here. The annual gay pride parade in July has become a regular holiday here.
Xiao Peng does not discriminate against homosexuals and can be friends with them, but it would be better if they don't touch him.
"What are you doing here? Playing football?" Xiao Peng asked a silly question.
Bale said happily: "My boyfriend is playing football over there, and we are watching him play."
You have a boyfriend and you still touch my hand?
Tierti said, "Xiao, take a break here and watch them play football."
What else could Xiao Peng say? He just made the best of it. He chatted with them casually.
These people are from different countries. Bal is Belgian; Angela is from South Africa; Clara's mother is Turkish and her father is German. However, she is not from Cologne, but from a place called "Gelsenkirchen", a small city in eastern Germany, which is considered the poorest place in Germany.
Don't assume there's no wealth disparity in Germany. Despite thirty years of reunification, East Germany still lags far behind West Germany. Only six cities in East Germany have a per capita disposable income exceeding 20,000 yuan, while 284 of West Germany's 324 counties and districts have this figure. This gap is still quite significant.
Therefore, many young people in East Germany would choose to go to big cities in West Germany to make a living.
Bal works as a waitress in a gay bar, while Clara and Angela are a singing duo who usually sing on the streets with guitars and sometimes perform live in bars - provided the bar invites them in. Their dream is to study at the Cologne Academy of Music and Dance.
They met at a bar while performing at a bar. Tildy is Swedish and was in Cologne for the carnival. They are now good friends.
Cologne's Carnival lasts an incredibly long time, starting at 11:11 a.m. on November 11th and continuing until Easter the following year. Since Easter typically falls between March 22nd and April 25th, this means the carnival can last for over five months, earning the city its nickname, "the fifth season." This extended period is packed with celebrations, including over 500 gala parties and masquerade balls!
However, the preceding events are just a warm-up. The closer you get to Easter Carnival, the more lively it gets. Even in winter, visitors to Cologne won't be bored.
These people actually enjoyed chatting with Xiao Peng, but the content was nothing more than the same old stuff: all kinds of weird questions about China.
It seems that their understanding of China is stuck in the 1940s and 1950s. Although more and more Chinese people are living abroad and traveling abroad, they still don't understand China, or are unwilling to believe it - people only want to believe what they want to believe.
"Don't you like football?" Tilti discovered the problem - Xiao Peng's attention was not on football at all.
Xiao Peng frankly said: "Football development in our country is really not very good. There is no place to play football outside the school playground. When I was in France, they played beach soccer and only asked me to be the goalkeeper!"
At this moment, Baal shouted: "Tilti! Be careful!"
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