Dong Qiangqiang's Story of Leaving Germany

Facing wind and rain, Dong Qiangqiang was anxious to take Wang Shunan into the building, but Wang Shunan was not in a hurry. He got to know all the buildings around the teaching building one by one before he was willing to continue moving forward.

When they were only a few steps away from the Economics Building, they saw the door of the entrance closest to them was suddenly pushed open from the inside, and a figure ran out panting, without an umbrella, and ran past the two of them like the wind without even looking at them.

Dong Qiangqiang looked at the man's back and shouted, "Ji Fengping, where are you going?"

Hearing someone calling him, Ji Fengping stopped and looked back, only to see Dong Qiangqiang and a strange girl looking at him. Although he didn't know the other person, he still walked towards the two of them out of habit, saying as he walked, "The projector in the lecture room seems to have a small problem. I'll go back to the dormitory to get a screwdriver or something."

"Can you fix it? Why don't you wait and see?" Dong Qiangqiang tactfully reminded the other party, "If you can't, don't break it again."

Ji Fengping could of course hear Dong Qiangqiang's worry, and explained with a smile: "Today is Saturday, and the university's maintenance technician will not be at work until after 11 noon. This fault has occurred once before during debugging. I saw the technician fix it before, so I roughly know (where the problem is). It's not difficult."

Although Dong Qiangqiang was still a little worried, he didn't want to hold on to him. He pointed at Wang Shunan and introduced him, "This is Wang Shunan, who will give a speech on traditional Chinese medicine in a while. He is a doctor at Kiel University Hospital." He turned to Wang Shunan and said, "This is Ji Fengping, who is from the Computer Department of Trier University and a member of the China Week Preparatory Group. He will be responsible for the projector and computer you will use for your speech."

"Hello Ji Fengping, I'll leave the projector to you. I've also brought my computer. If it can't be repaired (in the classroom), forget it." Seeing that he was Dong Qiangqiang's friend, Wang Shunan was also particularly polite.

Ji Fengping smiled innocently, without further greeting, turned around and ran away.

Since they would have to wait in the classroom, Dong Qiangqiang simply took Wang Shunan to the display board area to see the results of their recent days.

What surprised him was that although the teaching building had just been opened for a short time, quite a few people had already gathered in the hall. What was even more interesting was that in the past, most of the visitors were students, but among the visitors today, there did not seem to be many students, but a large proportion of elderly and middle-aged people, and there were even young parents who brought their children to see the exhibition.

Wang Shunan was also surprised, but what surprised her was not the large number of visitors, but the fact that many visitors greeted Dong Qiangqiang warmly after seeing him, as if they were old friends who had known each other for a long time. These people included not only Chinese but also foreigners, not only young foreigners but also elderly foreigners.

She stood behind Dong Qiangqiang and watched all this silently, feeling envious and emotional.

Dong Qiangqiang glanced casually at the crowd like a radar and successfully locked onto Fang Shuang. He greeted him, and Fang Shuang walked through the bustling crowd and came to the two of them.

"This is Fang Shuang, the vice president of our student union." Dong Qiangqiang introduced the two sides, "This is Wang Shunan, my preparatory classmate, now studying medicine at Keele University. She comes from a family of traditional Chinese medicine practitioners. She will be the one giving the speech later."

"Are you Wang Shunan? I've heard a lot about you. Welcome. I've always heard Dong Qiangqiang talking about you, and today I finally meet you in person." Fang Shuang enthusiastically reached out and shook Wang Shunan's hand, "Thank you for coming so far to support our China Week event. It has been raining recently, and we were worried that you might not come until last night. You've come so far, so I'll ask Dong Qiangqiang to treat you to our special dishes at noon."

"Hello, when Dong Qiangqiang told me about our event, I promised him that I would definitely come. This time I came here for both communication and learning. I would be very happy if I could make some contribution to China Week, and it would also be considered as a contribution to the fight against SARS. It's not hard work, I just did what I could, so the vice chairman doesn't need to praise me."

"Where is Zheng Chunhua?" Dong Qiangqiang asked.

"She was here just now, and asked me if you were here, saying she had something to talk to you about." Fang Shuang looked up and looked around. "As soon as the door opened this morning, reporters from three newspapers came. She must have asked the reporters to taste Wanfu snacks first. She should be back soon. Do you need me to call her?"

"Three newspapers?" Dong Qiangqiang was surprised. "Wasn't there only one before?"

"It seems that the other two companies came here on their own after reading the report." Fang Shuang explained.

"Then you two can chat first. I'll just walk around by myself. See you later." Wang Shunan said politely and sensibly stepped aside.

"Was everything normal when I came here this morning (in the exhibition area)?" Dong Qiangqiang asked Wang Shunan who was lost in the crowd of visitors.

"That's all normal. Your two-shift system is indeed effective. Although it's a bit tiring, it's indeed effective."

"Why are there so many people here today?"

"It's probably related to the continuous reports in the newspapers. After all, Trier is a small place, and everyone would definitely like to join in the fun when something new comes. I guess everyone is tired of strolling around those few streets in the city."

"Tell me when Zheng Chunhua comes back. I'll go accompany my classmates first." Dong Qiangqiang is tall and strong. He quickly locked onto Wang Shunan, who was carefully reading a photo in the crowd, and moved closer.

"You prepared all this content by yourself?" Wang Shunan looked at the content on the display board with envy and admiration on his face, and exclaimed, "The subject matter is novel, the pictures and texts are rich, and what's more valuable is that it both eliminates the evil and promotes the good. It's really good. No wonder so many people come to see it."

"It wasn't me, it was a group of us who did it together, it's the collective wisdom and strength." Dong Qiangqiang humbly corrected and immediately added proudly, "And we paid for it all ourselves, and up to now no one has been paid, and we all have to sacrifice our personal time."

"In our area, everyone prefers to do less and take care of their own business. Those who can do this are considered great. No one will take care of (this kind of thing), let alone spend money and time (on it)." Wang Shunan tilted his head, seeming puzzled. "How did you suddenly think of doing this?"

"I can understand other people's ideas and practices, and so can I. In the beginning, it was not me who took the lead and was determined to do this, but our student union president Zheng Chunhua, a girl with great leadership and courage. I will introduce her to you later. It was also under her inspiration that I joined the preparatory group, and only then did I work together with everyone to slowly plan and complete the things you see now from scratch, little by little, like ants moving house. Although there are still many imperfections that need to be improved, but..."

"Wait, you said this is not perfect?" Wang Shunan pointed at the exhibition boards and the visitors who were shoulder to shoulder behind him, and said in disbelief, "Aren't you asking too much?"

"Time is tight this time, but if I do it again, I am confident that I can reach a higher level," Dong Qiangqiang said confidently.

"Let's talk about this later. First, answer my question. You, no, it was Zheng Chunhua. How did she suddenly think of organizing China Week?"

"Whether it's print media or television, the media here always intentionally or unintentionally report on SARS with a special touch. You've been here for quite some time, so you must understand. Some immature Germans will direct their resentment at Chinese students after reading the news, and even extend it to all Asian students, because they can't tell the difference between Chinese, Japanese, Koreans and Southeast Asians. After SARS, there have been several attacks on Chinese students in this city. We also hope to tell more Germans through this exhibition that everyone is a victim of SARS, and China and Asia have suffered much more than them this time, and the price we paid for this is also huge and painful. They have experienced two world wars and should be able to understand this state of mind."

"I understand. According to what you said, we also discriminated against Chinese students due to SARS, but it was not as serious as yours." Wang Shunan turned back and stared at the display board for a long time before saying softly, "I really think that you are really amazing to have achieved what you have now."

"Let me tell you a secret. These photos and text descriptions you see now are our second production. The first production was completely destroyed on the first night of the opening."

"Now that you mention it, I have some impression. I think I saw this part of the photo just now. Do you know who did it? Has it been found now?"

"The university cannot install cameras, so we can't find anyone and can only blame ourselves for our bad luck."

"What about these now?" Wang Shunan turned around and looked at the display board beside him in surprise.

"Fang Shuang had people rush out yesterday, and last night we also had a group of enthusiastic volunteers rushing overtime to finish the decoration before the building was locked."

"Now that so many people have come to see the exhibition, how do you feel?" Wang Shunan stroked the photo with his chubby little hands, "Do you feel a great sense of accomplishment?"

Dong Qiangqiang casually took the message book from under a nearby display board and handed it to Wang Shunan, indicating that she should read it herself.

Wang Shunan flipped through the pages casually, his expression gradually becoming solemn and serious.

"You have been studying Chinese medicine since elementary school. Does Chinese medicine have any good solutions for infectious diseases like SARS?" The time was almost up, and Dong Qiangqiang began to turn the topic to the speech.

"My medical experience is too shallow. I have never heard of or encountered such a powerful virus when I was studying medicine with my grandfather. Maybe I can use the method of killing plague, but I'm not sure." Wang Shunan said honestly.

"My father was infected and tried traditional Chinese medicine, but it didn't work. In the end, he used Western medicine to control the disease, but it had side effects."

"It may be more accurate to call Western medicine 'modern medicine' as you said. Germany is the birthplace of modern medicine. Its theoretical basis is based on anatomy and physiology, and it is developed with the assistance of biology, physiology, pathology, biochemistry, molecular biology and other disciplines. In addition to surgery, chemical drugs are the main medical means of modern medicine. Compared with traditional Chinese medicine, modern medicine does have treatment methods with faster treatment effects, shorter cycles and better results. This is an objective fact, but traditional Chinese medicine and modern medicine are not substitutes, but complements. Each has its own strengths."

"I use my father's example to remind you that when you talk about Chinese medicine later, someone may ask you whether Chinese medicine can cure SARS. If it can, why hasn't it been cured yet? If it can't, then Chinese medicine is not so special. You should be prepared for such unfriendly questions in advance. There are all kinds of people here."

"Don't worry, I've encountered all kinds of obstacles when giving speeches before." Wang Shunan smiled confidently, "I'm sure."

Just as Dong Qiangqiang was about to continue speaking, he heard someone calling his name from behind them. (End of this chapter)