Chapter 965 A Joyful Journey
Xiao Peng declined Melanie's suggestion. After all, taking a few unworldly newbies out into the desert wasn't a good idea. However, he agreed to take Renault and the others to the gas station he mentioned, so he could refuel and rehydrate. In the desert, you never have too much gas or water.
There are actually some black market oil shops in the desert, but the quality of the oil there is so bad that using it will ruin your car.
Another reason Xiao Peng didn't want to go with them was that he didn't want to be a third wheel! He figured Zhu's girlfriend had left with them, and the two girls must have stayed because of Renault and Perrin. He guessed they were two couples.
But in fact, he guessed wrong, these four people were not really in a relationship.
All four of them are from Lorris, France, which can also be understood as people from a small mountain village in France. They grew up together and were admitted to the University of Paris X together. They are the type of people who would have been in love a long time ago if they wanted to.
Xiao Peng was quite envious of their friendship. He wondered what had become of those bastards like Shao Feng and Liu Baorong.
But they hadn't been together for long when Xiao Peng started to wonder if it would be better for him to go along with them: they hadn't been gone long when Melanie arrived in his car—after all, the seats in their car were getting hot—and she brought a walkie-talkie with her. The two of them chatted merrily on the walkie-talkie the entire time, which was much more entertaining than driving alone.
"Sir, do you live in Marseille?" Perrin asked.
"It's La Ciotat, a small town near Marseille." Xiao Peng said, "Can you please stop calling me 'Commander'? I'm telling you, you can call me 'Xiao'!"
"It's better to call you 'Sir'!" This time it was Renault's voice: "I really don't want to hear the word 'Xiao' right now."
Xiao Peng's face was filled with black lines. Who the hell did I offend by being named Xiao?
"Um...what are you doing here? Why did you think of traveling here?" Xiao Peng asked in confusion.
Renault said, "The topic we are researching is North African humanities, so let's come and take a look."
Xiao Peng smiled and said, "That's great. We have a saying in our country: 'Reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles.' It's a good thing to travel more and see more. I am also seeing the world with my own eyes now."
Melanie, who was sitting next to him, curled her lips and said into the intercom, "Do you think he speaks like Professor Holmes?"
Laughter erupted over the intercom.
Melanie explained: "Professor Holmes is our professor. An old scholar in his seventies!"
Xiao Peng coughed dryly twice. "I'll just take it as a compliment to my extensive knowledge. As for any other meaning, I'll simply ignore it."
The laughter on the intercom became even happier. Melanie said with a smile, "Chinese people are much more humorous than I thought. You are not like those Chinese students in our school."
"Oh? What are the Chinese students like in your school?" Xiao Peng asked puzzledly.
Amanda's voice came over the intercom. "There are basically two extremes among the Chinese students at our school. One is the type who studies like crazy and is admired by everyone. We have a saying at school: 'No matter how hard you work, there will always be Chinese people who are better than you.' And then there's another saying: 'No matter how much you enjoy playing, there will always be Chinese people who enjoy playing more.' Well, that's the other kind of Chinese student. There's a girl at our school who rented a three-story townhouse in the 6th arrondissement of Paris for 120,000 euros a month! This caused a sensation in our school, but it seems like she rented this house for a party! But no matter which type she is, she's definitely not a humorous person."
Melanie was watching Xiao Peng's expression. "Huh? Sir, how come you don't have any thoughts when you hear that an international student spends so much money on renting an apartment?"
"Me?" Xiao Peng was stunned after hearing this: "What should I think?"
Melanie said, "A female university student spends that much on rent. She's not just renting for a month! This place costs 1.44 million a year, and if you factor in her living expenses, that's 3 million euros a year! From what I understand, if converted to your currency, that would be over 23 million a year, right? How is she supposed to earn back all that money?"
Xiao Peng shook his head. "Why does she need to earn all this money? The fact that she can spend so much only means her family has more money! If your family was that wealthy, would you still live in the dormitory like other students? Of course, there are people like that, but they are really rare. Why do people make money? Isn't it just to make their lives more comfortable?"
After hearing Xiao Peng's words, everyone fell silent.
Renault laughed and said, "Sir, if he really has money, why would he rent that house? Wouldn't it be better to just buy it?"
Xiao Peng replied: "It is precisely because he has money that he chooses to rent it instead of buying it."
Everyone was confused after hearing this.
Xiao Peng explained, "Buying this house requires considering annual taxes, renovations, and property value depreciation. In the short term, buying a house might seem more cost-effective, but in the long term, if he doesn't plan to live in Paris long-term, he'll need to hire someone to manage and rent it out, which is a significant expense. And what if the house can't be rented out? Furthermore, if the tenant messes up, the landlord will be held liable. For a billionaire, this isn't a good idea. All in all, while renting this house might seem like a waste of money, it's a lot less hassle. To become wealthy, the first thing you need to learn is to weigh the pros and cons. So, if it were me, I'd rent this house instead of buying."
After hearing Xiao Peng's explanation, the intercom fell silent again, but then burst into laughter.
Perrin almost laughed himself to death: "Sir, if all Chinese people were as humorous as you, I would only make friends with Chinese people from now on."
Xiao Peng was stunned: "How am I funny?"
Renault said, "You look more like a billionaire than a billionaire himself! Could a billionaire join the peacekeeping forces? Would a billionaire suffer alone in a car on the African continent? I simply don't believe it!"
Perrin's voice came: "Sir, I understand what you mean. My life can be poor, but our spirit cannot be poor. We must make our spirit as rich as that of a billionaire!"
After he finished speaking, there was another burst of laughter.
Xiao Peng smiled faintly and didn't explain much. Why explain this to them?
Aren't they the same old me? I don't believe anything I see, and I'm quick to deny everything I see. Tsk tsk, I'm still young, but how come I've changed so much in the past few years?
Xiao Peng chatted with them and set off on the road together, and finally arrived at the gas station on the map.
Xiao Peng was shocked when he saw them from a distance: "Oh my god, why are there so many people here?"
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