Translation of geheim

In the beginning it looked brutal but it worked. He brought my wallet back to me and asked me to count the bills in it. I was stunned and could not believe what just happened. He repeated his order.
Hemingway is trying to tell us a story about two people cannot fulfill their desires and needs, such as having free sex, drinking alcohol, spending the nights in bars and clubs and generally having fun.
We managed to get a few hours of bad sleep and arrived at the destination called Lao Cai, the capital of the province with the same name. It was only 370km from Hanoi, but the ride lasted nine hours.