National Salvation Society

To be honest, Andrei had never been to the Moulin Rouge before, even though he had heard so much about it. But the heavy workload of his studies was overwhelming him. Although the teachers hadn't assigned any homework this Sunday, Andrei still didn't dare to relax, because the midterm exams were coming up soon.

The exams for electrical engineering are quite different from those for art subjects. It's said that in the last class before art exams, some teachers would say to their students, "Ah, gentlemen, according to the school's requirements, we have to take this damn exam. Good heavens... Ah, the school requires the entire exam to be graded on a 100-point scale, with at least two questions. Hmm, tell me, which two questions will we be asked?"

So the students started chattering about the exam content, and the teacher smiled and invited one student to the blackboard to write down the questions everyone mentioned. Then, naturally, the whole class voted democratically. After the vote, the teacher went over the two selected questions, and then everyone prepared for a few days before the exam.

After the exam, the teacher collected all the papers, rolled them into a tube, sealed it with a piece of white paper, wrote "All 100" on the paper, threw it into the academic affairs office, and the exam was over.

But things are different for "Electrical Engineering." Several days before the exam, the teacher had already told everyone, "This exam has two major questions, each worth fifty points. If you get one wrong, you fail and can consider transferring to another major. We don't need idiots here!"

As for anything like democratic voting, forget about it. Compared to art professors, engineering professors are all killers. Some of them make half or even more students retake or repeat courses every year. Electrical engineering is a newly opened subject, so it's unclear how it will turn out, but it's said that in some previously popular majors, people get kicked out every year. Andrei thinks that electrical engineering will definitely be no exception. If he's not careful during the exam and gets a zero (two big questions, wrong answer, no points for the process; right answer, points deducted for the process—it's really easy to get a zero), then he'll be in real trouble...

"Anatole, we'll be taking exams soon... You know, our subjects are different from yours..." Andrei said.

"Alright, to hell with exams! Andrei, tell me, what number were you in when you walked into the classroom last time?"

I don't know when it started, but two bad habits have become popular in some science and engineering departments at the University of Paris. One is that students are assigned a fixed number, and no matter which classroom you are in, you have to sit in the seat with your number. It is said that this is to clearly monitor who is absent from class and not to be deceived by people answering for others.

Another bad habit is that student seat numbers are changed after every exam. The rule is this: everyone waits outside the classroom for the teaching assistant to call roll in descending order of exam scores. The student who gets first place gets to enter the classroom first, choose a comfortable seat, and the teaching assistant registers their new seat number. Then it's second place... For students ranked lower, this is practically public execution. If they choose to skip class at this point, they will definitely be expelled, and their tuition will not be refunded!

"The fifth one," Andrei replied.

"Look, you're still far from danger!" Anatole said nonchalantly. "Just go and take a look, it won't take much time. You can't bury yourself in the library, classroom, and laboratory all day long. It's good to go and see it occasionally to broaden your horizons. Otherwise, one day when you return to Saint Petersburg, your sister will ask you, 'Brother, what is Paris like?' Are you going to tell her, ' Paris has many classrooms, libraries with lots of books but too few seats, and all sorts of laboratories'?"

"No matter how I introduce Paris to my sister, I would never introduce her to a place like the Moulin Rouge," Andrei replied.

However, despite saying that, Andrei was genuinely very curious about the Moulin Rouge. In fact, if a young man wasn't interested in the Moulin Rouge, then he must have a very serious problem.

So Andrei decided to go with Anatole to the Moulin Rouge to see it for himself, but only to see it for himself. In any case, he would be back the next afternoon to go to the library to read.

Of course, "The best time to visit a place like the Moulin Rouge is always at night. So, having already decided to go and see it for themselves, Andrei and Anatole immediately got into a carriage bound for Montmartre Heights."

Business is booming in the Montmartre Heights these days, as evidenced by the large number of carriages heading Matt. In fact, this is the busiest time at the Moulin Rouge, but also the busiest time on the road leading to Moulin Rouge, as traffic jams are frequent due to the sheer number of vehicles, leading many to complain that the road is simply too narrow and insufficient.

After conducting numerous personal investigations, Minister Lucien discovered a very distinctive feature of the road traffic leading to Montmartre Heights: every afternoon, a large number of vehicles would travel to Matt from all directions, while very few vehicles would travel from Matt to other areas. Conversely, in the mornings and forenoons, most of the time, only vehicles would be returning from Montmartre Heights to other areas.

Minister Lucien then creatively proposed the measure of time-limited one-way streets. Now most of the roads leading to Montmartre Heights have become so-called "time-limited one-way streets." That is to say, from afternoon to evening, vehicles on these roads are only allowed to travel towards Montmartre Heights, while in the morning and forenoon, vehicles are only allowed to travel from Montmartre Heights towards other directions.

Even so, Andrei and Anatole did not reach Montmartre Heights until it was almost dark.

The two disembarked at Montmartre Heights station, from where they could already see the iconic red windmills of the Moulin Rouge in the distance. The sunset was painting Moulin Rouge red windmills with its last rays of rosy light.

The streets were already quite dark, and municipal workers were lighting the gas streetlights one by one. Although it was night, the streets were becoming increasingly lively. Every shop had a variety of lights hanging in front of it, dazzling the eye.

Anatole, beaming, pulled Andrei aside and said, "My friend, have you never seen a night like this? You'll never see anything like it in Saint Petersburg."

"Yes, Saint Petersburg isn't that bustling, and at this time of day, it's freezing cold on the streets of Saint Petersburg," Andrei laughed.

"Several friends have also arranged to meet here today," Anatole added.

The two walked through the bustling crowd toward the red windmill. Along the way, Andrei noticed that policemen on horseback patrolled almost everywhere.

"Why are there so many police officers here?" Andrei asked, frowning.

"Of course! What kind of people come here most often every night? Rich people, of course! And when is it most lively here? At night. If there weren't enough police here, wouldn't the streets be full of pickpockets?" Anatole said.

As the two talked, they gradually walked to the entrance of the Moulin Rouge. A luxurious carriage passed them from behind and drove directly into the Moulin Rouge parking lot.

To ensure smooth traffic flow, ordinary public carriages could only stop at the station. Only carriages belonging to the wealthy, who were willing to pay a special fee, could drive directly to the Moulin Rouge. There was a dedicated parking lot for private carriages. This parking lot was very expensive and required advance reservations; ordinary people simply couldn't secure a parking space. As a result, in Paris today, being able to get a parking space at the Moulin Rouge has become a symbol of status. There's even a legend that parking space number one at the Moulin Rouge is reserved exclusively for a very important person.

However, none of this really concerned Andrei and his group. After all, most Russia students studying abroad eventually return to Russia, because they are mostly aristocrats.

Anatole was a regular at the Moulin Rouge, and he led Andrei Moulin Rouge with practiced ease. The show hadn't started yet, but the Moulin Rouge's main hall was already packed with people.

Anatole led Andrei into a private room where several young men and women were already seated on a large sofa.

Before the performance even started, Anatole took the opportunity to introduce Andrei to the young men, and then introduced Andrei to his friends.

Just as Andrei had imagined, Anatole's friends were mostly art students, and many of them were very talkative. Each of them was more outgoing than Andrei. They were all young, and with fine wine and beautiful women to keep the atmosphere lively, they quickly became friends.

After a few drinks, everyone became more talkative, and the topic quickly shifted from how great Paris was to complaints about Russia's backwardness and dullness, and then to how to change Russia and make Russia a country as great as France.

"It's difficult." Andrei shook his head. "What you see is only the surface prosperity, but beneath it lies another astonishing force—the power of industry. All of France's policies are aimed at promoting industry, and to this end, they have eliminated everything that hinders industry. In Russia, there are plenty of such things."

"Andrei, you're right! Yes, we are all children of Russia, and we have a responsibility to change everything. We have a group called the 'National Salvation Society,' would you like to join?" asked a tall man named Marklov.