Dong Qiangqiang's Story of Leaving Germany

Chapter 1034 1034. Chinese Week (20)

Feng Chong initially thought it was inappropriate to place the summer Chinese training class next to Wanfu snacks. After all, teaching knowledge is not the same as teaching cooking. But after observing the popularity of Wanfu for a day, he decided to bow to reality. It's vulgar, so who is not a vulgar person? Given the popularity of Wanfu, it would be a crime not to take advantage of its popularity. Besides, the golden signboard of food can help him screen out potential customers who are interested in Chinese culture. If people can't even be impressed by Chinese food, then they will definitely not spend money to learn Chinese.

The fact turned out to be just as he expected. Although the advertisement was only run for one day, it opened for business on the same day and he quickly signed up the first person who signed up to learn Chinese. He was greatly encouraged and full of confidence. At this rate, he might be able to set up another class for himself in addition to the two summer classes assigned to him by the university. If all went well, he might even have more than one summer class. It seemed that the advertisement could not be withdrawn after the China Week ended.

Dong Qiangqiang's guess was almost right. Feng Chong really wanted to experience the feeling of being begged and rejected by the two people. However, he did not expect that not only did Dong Qiangqiang, the introducer, not ask for leniency, but even Lu Wei, the original owner, did not ask for help. Although he apologized, he did not show the slightest intention of continuing to teach the summer class.

  He didn't believe that Lu Wei hadn't seen the advertisement for the summer school. Even if Lu Wei was no longer in Trier, Dong Qiangqiang should have told her. He also didn't believe that Lu Wei could keep on wasting time with him. Teaching Chinese was such an easy and profitable job that it would be popular everywhere. Wasn't Lu Wei short of money? Then he, the deceived one, shouldn't be the one to beg first, right?

That doesn't make sense.

Although the car had four-wheel drive suitable for rainy and snowy weather, in the pouring rain, even with the wipers on full blast, he still couldn't see the road ahead. The winding mountain road with occasional lack of street lights and between steep and not steep made Dong Qiangqiang dare not drive too fast. By the time he carefully drove home, it was already past midnight.

Du Lan didn't call him all night. He hesitated whether to call Du Lan now. But he was worried that it was too late and would disturb Du Lan's rest. After struggling for a few minutes, he gave up.

Afraid that Lu Wei would "ambush" him again, he parked the car, sat in it and observed the environment outside for a few minutes. After making sure that there was no one there, he got out of the car, covered his head with a windbreaker and ran into the room.

The water from the shower was not only hot but also a little hot, and the fatigue of the night was slightly relieved. He walked out of the shower cubicle, and the wind blew in from the slanted window, bringing a cold greeting. He couldn't help but sneeze several times. He was considering whether to take a cold pill to prevent a cold, and then he heard louder and louder music coming from his room. It was extremely irritating in the middle of the night. He didn't know who would call him so late. He was worried that it was Dong's mother who called, and he was also worried that the high notes would irritate the landlord again, so he hurried back to the room.

As soon as the call was connected, I heard Du Lan on the other end of the phone anxiously said, "Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up. I've been taking classes non-stop recently and my mind isn't very clear. I found out I left my phone at home when I got to school during the day, and I couldn't call you because I was reading in the library at night. Is it raining where you are? It's raining heavily here in Munich, and I just got home. I saw that you didn't call me and didn't know if you were home yet, so I thought I'd hurry up and ask you. After I dialed the number, I remembered you might be asleep, and when I wanted to cancel it, you had already answered."

Du Lan's words instantly warmed Dong Qiangqiang's heart. He felt touched by the concern, but also a little guilty. He should have taken the initiative to call the other party to show his concern. Hearing Dong Qiangqiang say that he had just taken a shower, Du Lan felt relieved. Dong Qiangqiang turned on the hands-free phone and listened to Du Lan talking about her recent situation while wiping the water off his body with a bath towel.

Although the school has only been open for a month, Du Lan's academic workload is already quite heavy. After all, it is the Technical University of Munich. Although Germany does not have elite universities like those in Britain and the United States, there is still a distinction between ordinary universities and excellent universities in Germany's own education system. The Technical University of Munich has been one of the latter since very early on due to its all-round advantages.

Du Lan said in a very normal tone that she has endless lists of books to read and endless exercises of all sizes to do every day. She also meets with professors or teaching assistants regularly to discuss learning problems. She also participates in three research groups, which require her to frequently look up information, hold regular group discussions and speech rehearsals, etc. This takes about three hours or even more after class every day. For example, today is Friday, and many German students can go home to spend the weekend with their families after class, or get together to relax, but she does not change her routine every day: after a day of classes at school, she continues to study hard in the library. There is no distinction between weekends and study days, every day is a study day.

However, Du Lan also admitted that although it was hard, the more she read, the fewer professional problems she would encounter. The make-up exam last semester made her realize that even if she could accept that she passed the exam with a passing score, it would not be possible to cram and memorize in the last two or three weeks before the exam. She had to work hard in normal times. The biggest benefit of learning is that as long as you put in the effort, you will definitely get something in return. Although the amount of gain varies from person to person, it is much more cost-effective than many things that require effort but do not yield anything. And the gain will bring a sense of accomplishment. Whether in study, work or life, the necessary sense of accomplishment must be there, no matter how little it is, otherwise everything will be too boring to do and it will be difficult to persist in the long run.

Dong Qiangqiang does not feel bored by Du Lan repeating the same things every day. On the contrary, he is happy from the bottom of his heart. On the one hand, he knows that confiding in him is also one of Du Lan's ways to relieve stress. On the other hand, Du Lan's kind reminder is also an encouragement and spur to him. He will not be complacent with his temporary achievements. He is pleased that although he has to take time out every day to deal with the various trivial matters of China Week, there has been no delay in his studies. All the subjects he is taking, whether there is a final exam or not, are all progressing in an orderly manner.

Dong Qiangqiang's answer satisfied Du Lan, so she stopped nagging him about his studies and turned the topic to China Week. There were very few new things around her, and the things her friends and besties were busy with every day became boring and unremarkable after hearing too much. Listening to Dong Qiangqiang's stories about him was one of her few joys in life, especially since there were always so many stories about Dong Qiangqiang and those around him.

Confession is always a two-way process. Dong Qiangqiang would naturally confide his frustrations in study and life to Du Lan. At this time, Du Lan became a very good listener. She would listen to him quietly and stand in his position to sympathize with his grievances. When he said that he couldn't help crying when he heard red songs, she said that it must be due to his emotions. He said that the display board area was destroyed without reason, and she would be indignant and call the other party a scumbag with him. He said that he declined the kindness of the landlord's old lady to give him or borrow a suit, and she would say that our fine tradition is not to take a needle or thread from the masses. He talked about his understanding of the staged friendship between Lao Bai, Lei Lanting and Lu Wei, and she comforted him with Jerome David Salinger's words that growing up is a necessary decay for people.

Although they have known each other for more than a year and have experienced a lot together, being in different places and being apart for a long time did not make them fall in love as quickly as couples in the same place. Instead, they sometimes neglected to communicate because they were busy with their own things. Fortunately, along the way, except for the time with Lao Maozi, neither of them gave up this relationship easily, especially after encountering SARS, their communication increased instead of decreasing, and their hearts became closer than before, which was a blessing in disguise. Du Lan also acted more and more like a spoiled child on the phone, and Dong Qiangqiang no longer acted so serious all the time. Both of them began to become cute unconsciously.

Du Lan seemed quite interested in the cheongsam show described by Dong Qiangqiang, and asked about the details of several rehearsals and the catwalk in great detail. Dong Qiangqiang thought that this was the natural attraction of cheongsam to women, so he invited her to come over and take a look. It happened to be Sunday that day, and walking from morning to evening would not affect her classes the next day. Watching the live broadcast would definitely be more immersive and give a better experience than watching videos and photos afterwards.

Dong Qiangqiang was talking, but Du Lan didn't say anything for a long time. Dong Qiangqiang guessed that she was probably curled up in the quilt and called him. Listening to her story and the sound of rain outside the window, she fell asleep without knowing it. She said "good night" and hung up the phone. After reviewing the market in the evening, he studied in the exhibition area for a while, and chatted with Du Lan for a long time after driving home. The carbohydrates that Dong Qiangqiang had eaten in the evening had been consumed. He knew that it was difficult for him to fall asleep when he was too hungry, so he thought about heating up milk to help him sleep. He opened the refrigerator door but found that he had forgotten to buy milk. He rummaged through his own storage, found a pack of braised beef instant noodles that was about to expire and threw it into the pot, closed the kitchen door, and opened the two windows. Although cooking noodles did not violate the housing rules, the soup ingredients were added in, and the smell released was still very strong.

The boiling water easily tore open the square instant panel. The soft noodles were tangled together like scattered wool. The egg yolk thrown into the pot was quickly covered by a layer of white film. A few slices of bacon danced passionately in the boiling water. He turned off the fire, covered the lid, and was thinking about whether to find a large bowl or eat directly from the pot when he heard a slight movement of the door behind him. He thought the landlord got up at night, so he turned his head subconsciously, only to see Lao Bai push the door and walk in.

"You're still awake so late?" Dong Qiangqiang really didn't expect that Lao Bai would not only stay up so late, but also come downstairs to talk to him. It seemed that he was waiting for him. He pulled away the stool closest to him and said politely, "There's a lot of noodles. Let's eat some together?"

Regardless of whether there is a real conflict between the two people, they have to save face.

"Then I won't be polite to you," Old White came over with a big horse and sat down on the stool, "One bite will do."

Now we can only use a large bowl. Fortunately, it contains extra-large portions of instant noodles, so it won’t be too shabby for two people to share.

While the noodles were being served, Dong Qiangqiang secretly sniffed his nose and took the opportunity to observe Lao Bai. The other party did not seem to be drunk, and there was no smell of alcohol when he spoke. He was still sober and his movements were normal.

"Do you have something to talk to me about?" Dong Qiangqiang picked up a few noodles and asked while blowing them.

Lao Bai, however, didn't blow at all. He lowered his head and wolfed down a few mouthfuls. He stopped only when his mouth was burned by the noodles. He slammed his chopsticks on the table, and gasped heavily.

This scene gave Dong Qiangqiang a strong sense of déjà vu, as if he had experienced the same scene somewhere before. For a moment, he was a little dazed, thinking that he was still in Hanover. He saw Lao Bai's mouth opening and closing, as if he was saying something, but he couldn't hear a word because of the sudden thunder outside the window and the resonance of the kitchen glass.

"What did you say just now?" After the loud noise gradually faded away and the resonance slowly disappeared, he asked Lao Bai, "The sentence before the thunder."

"I want to ask you why you come back so late every day," Lao Bai stared straight into Dong Qiangqiang's eyes, "Are you deliberately avoiding me?"

Dong Qiangqiang wanted to reply to Lao Bai: I have full-day classes from Monday to Friday, and I have to go to Luxembourg for make-up classes on Friday. I have to deal with China Week in the past two weeks, so I come back late. Besides, there is no internet at home, so it is inconvenient to check things. But when the words came to his lips, he felt that he didn't need to explain anything to the other party. But it felt weird not to say anything at this time, and it would be like he was making excuses if he said it, which was even weirder.

He didn't look at Lao Bai, nor did he say anything. He just ate the little noodles in his bowl, as well as the poached eggs and bacon he had left for himself.

Lao Bai didn't rush him, just watched him finish the bowl of noodles, and then heard Dong Qiangqiang slowly ask back: "Why should I hide from you?"

I don’t know if it’s because Lao Bai ate the noodles too fast or for some other reason, but his face was a lot redder than when he came in.

"Why aren't you talking to me if you're not hiding from me?"