The settlement of Vorkuta was established in 1931 . In 1932, it became a labor camp that held a large number of political and economic prisoners in the Soviet Union .
A large number of coal mines were established in Vorkuta during the Second World War . The war required resources, so the Soviet Union built a railway to quickly transport the coal to all parts of the country .
As the coal industry developed, the city became more prosperous . Established as a permanent residential area in 1943, the city now mainly relied on coal, machinery repair, wood processing, and construction materials as its key industries .
As usual, judging from its population, one could tell that it was a smallish town . There were less than 200,000 inhabitants .
It was Li Du and his group's first time in Vorkuta, and the local Wi-Fi signal was very weak . Eventually, they managed to contact Steve, who sent them his address and mentioned that he had arranged for a car to receive them .
The group waited for some time but did not see anyone . In the end, they had no choice but to seek help . When Li Du spotted a local policeman, he brought someone along with him to ask for directions .
The airport policeman did not know English and could only speak Russian . Besides, he seemed to be a nationalist . When he heard them speak English, he asked, “American?”
Li Du replied, “American, China . ”
The policeman's face froze for a moment before he started to mumble in Russian .
Big Ivan walked over and started to speak to him in Russian . At the same time, he explained to Li Du in English, “This dude thinks that we are American spies and he wants to check our documents . ”
Li Du said, “Let him go ahead and check them . Our documents are OK . ”
The policeman demanded to see their passports, but Big Ivan shook his head and took out some Russian ruble bills to pass to him .
Having received the money, the policeman stuffed it into his bag clumsily and waved to them to follow him out .
Li Du asked, “Where is he taking us?”
Big Ivan said, “He said that he will help us get a car and send us into the city . ”
Coincidentally, once they exited the airport, a medium-sized bus with a logo of a smiley face painted on it drove over . The policeman and the driver exchanged a greeting . Then he pulled open the bus door, gesturing for them to get on board .
Li Du shrugged and got into the bus, but he felt that there was something strange about the vehicles . There were metal grills in front of the seats just like in police cars meant for criminals .
However, he did not have a chance to question the policeman . Once all of them got in, the policeman closed the bus door from outside and the bus started speeding down the road .
Li Du went up to ask the driver, “Buddy, where are we heading?”
The driver turned around and said two sentences in Russian . Li Du could not understand him, but he could smell the alcohol on his breath . This dude is driving drunk!
That scared Li Du . The bus was speeding and the driver was drunk . Is he toying with our lives?
On the other hand, Big Ivan was very relaxed . He said, “Boss, calm down . In such a place, all drivers typically drink a shot before they sit behind the wheel . The weather is too cold, so they have the habit of drinking to warm up before they drive . ”
Li Du asked, “Are they trying to kill themselves?”
Big Ivan wore a nonchalant look . He said, “Nothing worth worrying about . Everyone's like that . It's been like this for many years and there hadn't been any problems . ”
The city was big and scarcely populated . In a place like that, they had the luxury of driving as they wished . Even if the vehicle were not traveling in a straight line, there would likely be no accidents .
Li Du wiped the sweat from his forehead . He had just witnessed the toughness of civilian fighters . The pilot, the driver – they were of a similar breed .
From time to time, the driver would whip out a small steel hip flask and take a sip . Li Du was certain that it contained vodka .
Fortunately, the vehicle was speeding towards the town center . Not long after, they observe the city .
Of course, there were no skyscrapers in such a place, with most of the structures being low-rise buildings . The few local tall buildings belonged to the Vorkuta Coal Co . , Ltd and the Northern Steel Group .
Even when they entered the city, the vehicle did not slow down . Li Du did not see any taxi along the roads and hence, he did not try to tell the driver to let them get off so they could switch vehicles .
Finally, the bus arrived at the door of a dark red brick house . The driver stretched his head out of the window and honked . The main gate opened up and the bus drove in slowly .
Li Du grew anxious and asked, “What's going on? Where are we going?”
Out of their group, only Big Ivan was familiar with Russian . However, Big Ivan had fallen asleep . When he heard Li Du's words, he stirred and rubbed his eyes . Then he spoke up, “Don't worry, boss, everything will be fine,” he yawned .
The vehicle came to a stop and a few men and women in white coats appeared . They pulled open the door and said something in Russian .
Big Ivan waved his hands and said, “Time to get down . ”
Li Du alighted as told and after seeing him, the people in white coats frowned . When his pets got down after him, the White Coats seemed taken aback .
A lady who was about as tall as Brother Wolf and as wide as Godzilla spoke to the driver . Li Du did not understand and could only look to Big Ivan .
Big Ivan was surprised too . He listened to the conversation and suddenly yelled, “D*mn it, this is a mental hospital!”
Li Du really wanted to pinch himself . Was he dreaming? What was going on?
After letting out a shout, Big Ivan rushed to communicate with the lady .
One of the White Coats frowned and came over to chase Ah Ow, Ah Meow and the rest away . Li Du hurriedly stopped him and asked, “How do you do? Can you speak English?”
“Yes,” the White Coat looked at him, surprised .
Li Du quickly said, “Is this a mental hospital? There must have been some sort of misunderstanding . We are not mental patients . We are tourists who have come to this city for a holiday!”
White Coat smiled . “I know, you guys are not mental patients . You guys are tourists . Me too, and this is the first stop of our travels . Oh, your command of English is pretty decent . Are you the tour guide?”
If I'm a tour then you are a b*stard . The smile on White Coat's face was clearly meant to deal with idiots, Li Du could tell that much .
Hence, he said, “No, I'm telling the truth, doctor . We don't know how we ended up here . D*mnit, we are Americans and Chinese . We just arrived from the airport . ”
“Sure, I know . You guys came from the airport,” a well-built lady smiled and added, “Here, tourists, follow me . I will show you guys around . However, you guys cannot bring your pets along for sightseeing . Whose animals are these?”
Li Du rubbed his face . He knew that they have run into trouble . They have been mistaken for mental patients!
At that moment, somehow, he was reminded of the time he chanced upon an article on the web . The funny article was about how one could prove that they were sane if they were accidentally sent to the mental hospital .
At that time, when he had read the article, he felt that it was too far-fetched, and closed the web page . Now, he was especially regretful . If he had known earlier, he would have checked out the information .
In any case, he did not want to be mistaken as a lunatic and admitted to an asylum . He explained hurriedly, “We are normal, really . I am a rich man from America . These are my bodyguards . ”
Chapter end
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