Dong Qiangqiang's Story of Leaving Germany

Chapter 1104. Turning the Page

But no matter how curious he was about this question, he couldn't ask it in detail. If he did, it would either be equivalent to admitting it in disguise or increase Li Lei's suspicion. He immediately decided: no matter how the landlord would evaluate Lao Bai after Li Lei met him tomorrow, he had to firmly protect Lao Bai's good image today. Li Lei was a big mouth. If the other party really exaggerated what he heard from him, he would have no place in Trier in the future. But Dong Qiangqiang couldn't fool Li Lei about the house. After all, he was the one who told him that he must find a good house before moving to another city, and other things can be decided after the house is settled.

"You said Yulia is back? You're meeting the landlord tomorrow?" Dong Qiangqiang changed the subject tactfully and asked very carefully, "Did the landlord tell you that over the phone or did you hear it from someone else?"

"I heard from Zheng Chunhua that she had just handed over all the matters concerning the landlord's house, and the landlord asked her to tell me that we would go to see the house together tomorrow." Li Lei was unusually well-behaved.

"Don't you want to know what you need to pay special attention to when talking to the landlord? The first thing is not to gossip. I don't know where you heard those nonsense, but it's best to be careful when talking to the landlord and don't say everything. Germans don't like to hear this." Dong Qiangqiang said with disgust, "In fact, many Chinese students have lived in the landlord's house before, and they moved out because the student dormitory was approved or it was too far from the university and inconvenient to commute. At least since I moved in, I have never heard of anyone being kicked out. As for Lao Bai's short stay, it was because SARS had already shown signs of ending at that time, and he had to grab the first batch of tourist groups to Europe, so he couldn't continue to stay here to enjoy the country life, unless he didn't want to make money."

Although Li Lei was skeptical about Dong Qiangqiang's previous words, he believed his words this time. When Li Lei was still in Hanover, he had heard about Lao Bai's travel agency business and Lao Bai himself. The time when Lao Bai was driven away was indeed the eve of SARS being completely eliminated. If it was not for making money, it really didn't make sense.

"Okay, I will remember to be careful with my words. Anything else? Tell me everything and I'll pay attention." Li Lei expressed his opinion hurriedly.

“The landlord likes cleanliness, so the kitchen and bathroom must be kept clean after use and cleaned regularly.”

"The landlord hates the smell of cooking fumes from Chinese people, so you can't cook at home. You'd better think about this carefully."

"The landlord doesn't like doors and windows being damaged, so we can't install a net at home."

Dong Qiangqiang recalled the rumor that Li Lei was a social expert in Hanover: "The elderly don't like noise, so you should keep quiet as much as possible. If you have visitors, it's best to report in advance."

"Old people hate tenants who drink too much. Try not to drink from the bottle at home, especially don't let the landlord see you drunk during the day." This is the lesson learned by old Bai Xue.

"The elderly may also set a time for you to read books and newspapers to her every day."

"Wait, what the hell is this?" Li Lei asked in confusion.

"You can think of it as a German corner. There are many poultry and animals at home. If you don't like animals, at least you should treat them kindly."

"That's definitely no problem."

"There's nothing else to say. Just follow the rules, ask questions when you don't understand, and don't take things for granted."

"What about you? You've been in Trier for more than a year, right? Why don't you move out? Haven't you got the student dormitory yet?"

"I came down a few days ago and refused."

"Rejected? Who rejected it?" Li Lei didn't react for a moment, thinking he had misheard. "You didn't reject it, did you? Why? The student dormitory is so nice, why did you reject it?"

"Not suitable."

"Hey, you really don't know how to appreciate your good fortune. It would be great if I could live in your student dormitory." Li Lei sighed in confusion, "By the way, can you ask for it back? You can rent it to me next time, and I'll give you a little extra money. It's so close to the university, so it's much easier. I don't have to get up early, and I can go back to the dormitory to take a nap if I feel sleepy at noon."

"Are you here in Germany for health preservation?" Dong Qiangqiang asked unhappily. "Ah? Health preservation? No. Why do you ask?" Li Lei didn't know how he had said something wrong again and upset Dong Qiangqiang. He originally wanted to talk to Dong Qiangqiang about his grievances and confusions when he met with different people in private these days. When he saw Dong Qiangqiang's attitude turn bad, he suddenly felt that it would be boring to continue talking and he would not get Dong Qiangqiang's understanding and support, so he had to end the topic in a hurry.

Because of Li Lei's phone call, Dong Qiangqiang didn't recover until the end of the training class. The effect of the class was extremely poor for the first time. He didn't know why answering a call from Li Lei made him so tired.

After class, he went to the agreed place to find Lao Ding. As the bus arrived at the station, Dong Qiangqiang jumped off. He saw Lao Ding waving at him from afar, so he also waved a few times. He took two steps in the direction of Lao Ding when his cell phone rang again.

Dong Qiangqiang suddenly realized that most of the calls to him were not good news.

This time it’s Xu Tongying.

Compared with almost no contact in the first half of the year, Xu Tongying has been contacting him very closely recently. He knew it was because of Lao Bai. Just when he was ready for a new round of complaints from Xu Tongying, Xu Tongying rarely mentioned the second quarter data or listed Lao Bai's new crimes. Instead, he greeted Dong Qiangqiang calmly.

"Dong Qiangqiang, are you busy now? Do you have time to chat for a while?"

Xu Tongying is at least half an investor, so Dong Qiangqiang has to make time for him even if he doesn't have time. Besides, it's summer vacation. However, Xu Tongying's friendly attitude makes him feel uncomfortable, and he vaguely feels that this conversation may be different from the previous ones.

"First of all, I have to make it clear to you that my tone and attitude were not very good during the previous communications. Although I cannot deny that SARS in the first half of the year affected Le Bai's business, I still have to apologize to you. Please don't take my words seriously in the past."

  Dong Qiangqiang quickly started the deep recall mode, but could not find any record of Xu Tongying saying harsh words to her. Could it be that she remembered it wrong?

"Oh, I didn't take it to heart. We all want Le Bai to get better and better." After saying this, Dong Qiangqiang couldn't help but admire his own ability to speak nonsense, which he did so effortlessly.

"Before I pushed Walter too hard, it was mainly the investors' intention, not mine. But the investors' impatience is understandable. After all, they invested real money. Who wouldn't be afraid when they see the CEO not doing anything? No one's money comes from the wind, right?"

"Lao Bai had no choice at the time. He lost all his groups. He was like a skilled cook without rice, but he couldn't make a meal without rice." Hearing that Xu Tongying was picking him out, Dong Qiangqiang subconsciously excused Lao Bai, "Even if he didn't have the courage at that time, it can't be blamed entirely on him. No one has ever encountered something like SARS. Not knowing how to deal with it is not a stain or a bad record."

"Okay, there's no need to say these words. It's all in the past. What's important to Le Bai is the present and the future. Do you agree?"

Seeing Xu Tongying's attitude of "From now on, we'll completely put the past behind us", Dong Qiangqiang felt that Xu Tongying was about to get to the point, so he held his breath and listened attentively.

At this time, his cell phone vibrated again. Coincidentally, Duanmu also called from the United States. Dong Qiangqiang hesitated for a second and hung up Duanmu's call.

"I totally agree," Dong Qiangqiang thought Xu Tongying was going to bring up the same old tune again, such as salary cuts and second quarter data, and then he heard Xu Tongying ask, "Do you know what Lao Bai is busy with recently or what he is doing?"

"Isn't he organizing a tour group? The group I took was assigned to me by him last week."

"What about things outside the tour group? Has he told you anything about company-related matters? Think about it carefully." Xu Tongying said patiently.

Dong Qiangqiang thought about it carefully again and realized that Lao Bai had indeed not mentioned anything special to him.

"He asked me last time if I could take a tour group to Berlin. I said no, so he asked me to prepare to go to Munich in mid-September to attend an automotive forum and to sort out the plan for Trier's 'Wine Road' as soon as I have time. As for the rest... that's all. What's wrong? Does he have another problem?"