Dong Qiangqiang's Story of Leaving Germany

"I also have to take the exam, and I don't have the energy. Besides, have you forgotten? I also beat Chen Xiaofei. My background is tainted, so I can't take on this important task, so you should find someone else."

"A gentleman is judged by deeds, not by heart." Zheng Chunhua seemed to have expected Dong Qiangqiang to say this. "I saw it during the preparations for China Week. Not only do you have a warm heart to serve everyone, but you are also very capable, which is very rare. Besides, didn't you gain a lot from this event?"

Dong Qiangqiang admitted in his heart that what Zheng Chunhua said was not entirely wrong. He did learn from organizing China Week how to coordinate team work, how to interact with different people, how to handle emergencies, and how to manage his time. He was also able to balance studying while working on projects. However, these did not make him think about becoming the president of the Student Union.

"I really have no interest in this position. Let's not discuss it anymore." Dong Qiangqiang firmly refused and opened the back door. He put his hand on Zheng Chunhua's head and gently reminded her, "Keep your head down and be careful."

Dong Qiangqiang slowly and forcefully put Zheng Chunhua into the passenger seat. Watching Dong Qiangqiang skillfully buckle her seat belt, Zheng Chunhua couldn't help but sigh: "Sometimes I think you are very enthusiastic, but sometimes you are very indifferent. I thought you were not a sophisticated egoist and were willing to do more for your compatriots."

Before Dong Qiangqiang could refute, Zheng Chunhua suddenly yawned with her hand covering her mouth. "Forget it, it's just a suggestion. You see, I just don't want the student union to decline after I leave, so I hope you can become the next one and keep training yourself, making yourself better and better, and grow together with this platform. But if you really have no interest, then I can't force you." She leaned back in the chair, stretched, and sighed, her voice full of fatigue. "Let's go, everything is finally over."

It was late at night, and there were no people or cars on the road. The car quickly drove to the downstairs of Zheng Chunhua's building. Dong Qiangqiang helped Zheng Chunhua get out of the car. Zheng Chunhua seemed absent-minded and asked: "What kind of job are you doing now? Are you still a tour guide? With your classmate?"

"I haven't played it this semester, mainly because I just entered the advanced stage and am still getting familiar with the classes." Dong Qiangqiang grinned, "Because of SARS, there are no domestic tours, so apart from the seven-country tour, I haven't been a tour guide again."

"Then you don't want to find a job?"

"Of course I do. Otherwise, it would be terrible to live off the savings."

"The university's foreign affairs office recently has a department recruiting student workers. They need to go one or two afternoons a week, one to two hours each time. The monthly salary is calculated based on the working hours, and the maximum cannot exceed 400 euros. Are you interested?"

Dong Qiangqiang's eyes lit up when he heard this: "That's great, what exactly do we do?"

"It's mainly clerical work. For example, when the teachers in the admissions office are too busy, you will be responsible for helping to screen out university applications that don't meet the requirements. The Italian girl who did this job before was my classmate. She just got an internship at a company, and this position became vacant. If you are interested, I will ask for you and give you a call. You can contact them yourself. You need to discuss the specific work content and working hours with the department head yourself."

Dong Qiangqiang thought that if he could get this job, it would be perfect. The job location is at the university, so it would be easier to balance studying and working. However, he had just rejected Zheng Chunhua, so he felt a little embarrassed to ask for help. So he smiled and nodded: "I'm interested, please help me ask."

"I'll tell you when I've made the contact." Zheng Chunhua said good night and limped away at the door of the building.

It has been more than two weeks since China Week. Although it still rains from time to time, it is an indisputable fact that the weather is getting warmer. There are a few days when the temperature at noon is even as high as the outdoor temperature in July in previous years. The meteorological experts in the news have predicted that Germany will definitely be hit by a heat wave this summer. Although the high temperature warning has not yet been issued, the sales of electric fans in supermarkets have secretly become popular. After all, the experts' warnings are still ringing in our ears. It is getting hotter and hotter outdoors. If we don't buy now, do we really have to wait until we can't stand the heat to buy? Young people aged 15 or 16 are the first to change from spring clothes to summer clothes on the street, followed by middle-aged people. The elderly stubbornly stick to their dressing philosophy and refuse to bow to the gradually rising temperature too early.

On a sunny morning, a white Volkswagen slowly drove into a quiet upscale neighborhood in Hanover. The neighborhood is located on the southeast edge of Hanover, very close to the city of Hildesheim next to Hanover. Here, the tall buildings in the city center gradually flatten, and the river meanders through large tracts of farmland, extending to the dense forests in the distance.

Due to the lack of road signs, the driver took the wrong exit at a roundabout, but the car finally stopped steadily in front of the garage of a two-story, deconstructivist-style independent villa. After the car was turned off, a woman with a ponytail and a windbreaker pushed open the car door, holding a bouquet in her hand and a bulging brown paper bag in her arms. She stepped out of the car carefully, stood beside the car, took off her sunglasses, and quietly stared at the building in front of her, recalling the scene when she first came here.

The villa is surrounded by tall and straight green plants of different varieties, which appear lush and full of vitality under the bright sunshine. Like many German-style buildings, the villa also adopts the traditional standard gray tiles and white walls, supplemented by smooth and simple lines, large geometric blocks, transparent mirror-like large floor-to-ceiling windows and four rows of solar panels neatly laid on the sloping roof. The overall look gives people a fresh, bright, simple and avant-garde sense of technology. The whole building is perfectly embedded in the rich pastoral landscape painting.

The woman rang the doorbell, and the pleasant melody that came out of the doorbell was Vivaldi's "Spring" that she heard when she first came four years ago. This was somewhat beyond her expectations.

There was a sound of footsteps coming from behind the gate, and a German voice that sounded elderly said loudly, "Please wait a moment."

The camera high up on the gate pillar made a slight sound, and the woman outside the gate looked up. After a few seconds, the dark brown iron gate on the left slowly opened backwards. An elderly woman with gray hair stood behind the gate on the right, smiling at the woman waiting outside. She smiled kindly and said, "Long time no see, Tong. Welcome to visit us." The old woman was about sixty or seventy years old. Although there were more gray hair than white hair on her head, it was well-cut and not messy. The thick hair was a bit inconsistent with her age. Her face was thin, and the fine lines at the corners of her eyes were like fine fishing lines. Her wheat-colored skin was stretched on her high cheekbones. The eyes behind the gold-rimmed glasses staring at Tong Lele were bright and full of wisdom. She still maintained a well-proportioned figure and a straight back. Even though she was half a head shorter than Tong Lele, people could still feel her imposing aura.

Tong Lele leaned over and gently placed the brown paper bag on the ground. She took two quick steps and presented the flowers to the old man with both hands. As if she was meeting the person for the first time, she bowed slightly and said respectfully, "Good morning, Professor Leonie. Long time no see. You look really good."

The professor opened his arms, hugged Tong Lele actively, and then put his hands close to her face. Then he took her hand and walked slowly into the house along the gravel path in the courtyard.

There was a gardener pruning flowers and plants in the yard. When she saw the professor walking by, she nodded and greeted her, then lowered her head and continued to tidy up the plants.

Tong Lele didn't pay much attention when she came here before, but this time she found that the professor's yard was no smaller than that of landlord Dong Qiangqiang, but there was no vegetable garden or poultry. It seems that there is a big difference in life between Germans.

She saw many flowers that she couldn't name sparkling in the sun and swaying in the wind. The professor patiently taught her to identify the gentle foam flowers, gorgeous orchids, crested irises, and lovely silver bells.

The two chatted and laughed as they walked slowly. The professor placed Tong Lele's hand in his palm and rubbed it. He tilted his head and asked softly, "I've heard about your mother. Is she okay now?"

"Thank you for your concern. She is still in hospital but is doing much better than in March."

"God bless her, I hope she will recover soon. The news here said that SARS is especially dangerous to the elderly, you should especially remind your parents to be careful. If you need my help in any way, please feel free to contact me, I will be happy to help." The professor cast his eyes towards the blue sky, his thoughts sinking into memories, "When I met them, they were about your age, and they followed the other junior brothers and sisters to call me senior sister. Forty years have passed in a flash, and it seems like it just happened yesterday."

"My parents often say that they were able to get through that difficult time thanks to your care. My mom says my dad was very stupid at the time and was always scolded by the teacher. It was only because of your special tutoring that he was able to pass the exams. My mom often laughed at him because of this."

Hearing the words of her old friend's child, the professor seemed to have returned to her adolescence. She showed a childlike clear smile and looked at Tong Lele lovingly. She used her slender fingers with protruding joints to gently tuck a strand of Tong Lele's hair that hung down in front of her forehead behind her ear. She looked at her from side to side for a few seconds and nodded, "Chinese people are all smart, and your mother is indeed smarter. Now it seems that you have inherited all her advantages: smart, beautiful, and talented in art. I didn't understand why you said you didn't want to pursue a doctorate when you graduated. In fact, it's not just me. Your parents also have higher expectations for you. If you had chosen to pursue a doctorate at that time, maybe I wouldn't have retired so soon."

A trace of embarrassment flashed across Tong Lele's face, and she didn't know how to respond to the teacher.

The professor touched her arm sympathetically and said comfortingly, "Don't think about it, it's all in the past."

"Teacher, I thought you would stay in the school and teach students. I didn't expect you to retire so soon." Tong Lele finally found a topic.

"I'm already 66 years old. Although I'm still one year away from the official retirement age, the hospital took good care of me and let me retire."

"I remember that you were always in good health and loved teaching. Why did you retire so soon?" Tong Lele paused for a few seconds and added, "This is actually what my parents wanted to ask you."

"After teaching for a lifetime and getting older, I just want to do the things I wanted to do but didn't do when I was young. That's it."

The old man and the young man, the teacher and the student, talked about the past in a low voice, and soon walked to the door. The professor stopped and asked: "Have you thought about that matter clearly?"

Tong Lele nodded solemnly.

"Well then," the professor smiled again and opened the door, "Let's go in and talk." (End of this chapter)