Dong Qiangqiang's Story of Leaving Germany

Chapter 1126. Asking others is better than asking yourself
Seeing Li Lei's hesitation, Dong Qiangqiang knew what he meant. He had no intention of eating and was about to hang up the phone for the second time. Li Lei heard the noise and quickly said, "Don't hang up."

"I've said everything I need to say. Is there anything else? Where do you want to go out (to eat)?"

Li Lei pretended not to understand and said to himself, "You just told me to go to the landlord to sign the rental contract as soon as possible, so as to avoid any more trouble. It's better to do it today than today. I will sign the contract and move in at the same time. Do you think it's feasible?"

"You have to ask the landlord if it's okay. There's no point asking me."

"What if she agrees and I move right away?" Li Lei hinted.

"Then let's move." Dong Qiangqiang didn't hear the hidden meaning in Li Lei's words.

Seeing that the other party didn't respond, Li Lei didn't know whether Dong Qiangqiang was pretending to be confused or really confused, so he had to make it clear: "To be honest, I have a lot of belongings in Hanover. Although the bus service at the door has resumed, I am afraid I can't get on with so many things. Can you please pick me up for the sake of our old classmates? Thank you very much. I have the final say on the dinner. Just let me know when you and Zheng Chunhua have decided."

Since he had to treat everyone, Li Lei thought he could only ask Zheng Chunhua for help. Dong Qiangqiang couldn't ask for too much when there was a girl in front of him, right?
He consoled himself: this time the expense was inevitable, and he could only accept his bad luck, because the house was really cheap. But now that the house was confirmed, many things could be done in one go before school started, saving time and worry, which was equivalent to spending less money.

Dong Qiangqiang had expected that he would have to help Li Lei move, and he didn't mind that the other party treated the introduction of the house and the help of moving as a meal, and said generously: "Okay, but I have to go to the city to do some work first, you pack first, and I will pick you up after I finish here. Please text me the address first."

With a car, no matter how much luggage there is, it is not a problem. What makes Li Lei even happier is that Dong Qiangqiang neither forced him to decide on which day and which restaurant to eat, nor did he ask him to refuel. He immediately made up his mind that if Dong Qiangqiang mentioned this matter in the afternoon, he would have to find a plausible reason to get away with it without offending Dong Qiangqiang.

Dong Qiangqiang followed his school habit, eating roujiamo at a Turkish restaurant near the university before driving into the city.

There is no water on the slope, and although there is water on the flat road, it does not affect the passage of vehicles. Public transportation has been restored to a large extent, but when going down the mountain, you can see many fallen trees on both sides of the road and large areas of grape vines on the distant hillside that have been washed away and are scattered and tilted.

The inner city of Trier is very small, and the ancient streets and alleys are full of traces of floods. The cobblestone roads are slippery, and the yellow-green and golden fallen leaves are huddled together in the puddles on the road to keep warm. The walls and glass windows on both sides of the alleys are covered with leaves of various shapes. The clouds threatening to rain have dyed the sky a depressing metallic gray. The only vitality in this gloomy weather is a few crows that are strutting in front of the bakery as if they are alone. They are huge in size and make annoying "cawing" sounds from time to time.

The brutal flood has passed, and the autumn atmosphere after the rain is calling for the rebirth of the entire city.

The TV sets on the street were crowded with people, and news about the flood was being broadcasted on TV: "The flood that broke through the dike a few days ago is receding rapidly, and the repair plans for several breaches are being further improved." said the reporter.

Dong Qiangqiang quickly went to one of the only two well-known Internet operators in the inner city. After listening to his consultation, the waiter of the first one did not rush to answer his questions. Instead, he began to enthusiastically promote packages that had nothing to do with his needs. He had to patiently explain it again. For some reason, the waiter suddenly became arrogant, left Dong Qiangqiang behind, turned into the warehouse behind the store and never showed up again. He neither answered his questions nor arranged for other colleagues to coordinate and solve the problem. He just left him in the store.

Dong Qiangqiang, who didn't know if he was discriminated against, didn't bother to complain. He ran out of the store and went straight to the second one.

The waiter at the second house answered all the questions politely: There are many kinds of home security packages. According to their experience, the most popular option for German families with a house of a similar size to the landlord's is to install a high-pixel camera at the front door, corridor and backyard. No other places need to be installed. However, the operator needs to conduct an on-site inspection before coming up with a final plan and quotation. The inspection is an appointment service, which means that the operator's engineers will not be able to visit the landlord's home for an on-site visit until next Monday at the earliest.

Dong Qiangqiang studied the package carefully and found that the price was quite affordable. The only difference was that apart from the high labor cost, all the hardware involved was a bit expensive. At this moment, he suddenly missed the hustle and bustle of Zhongguancun. He knew that if he wanted to build a computer, he could only buy parts on eBay in Germany and assemble it himself.

Dong Qiangqiang made an appointment with the second company's engineer to go to the landlord's house for inspection next Monday morning. After confirming the time with the other party, he was about to call Li Lei when Zheng Chunhua called unexpectedly.

"Are you up?"

"It's already so late, why don't you get up?" Dong Qiangqiang asked, "Where are you?"

"It's working. Your water pump has done a great job this time. It works great," Zheng Chunhua praised. "But I have to use it for a few more days."

"Use whatever you want."

"I sent Li Lei back to the Youth Hostel yesterday."

"Well, the landlord agreed to let him move in. I will pick him up this afternoon to sign the contract with the landlord. (He wants) to move in today."

"That's great. You two will live together in the future, and I won't have the trouble of picking people up and dropping them off like I did yesterday." Zheng Chunhua said with a smile.

"Why does this sound so awkward? Why are you calling me for something?"

"I'm just asking you what you're doing. There are a few classmates whose homes need water drainage, and I don't have enough manpower. If you're free, I'd like to invite you to come over."

"When you are free, give me the address. I will come to you after I send Li Lei back. Do you need to bring any other equipment?" "Nothing else is needed. Do you have a water pump?"

"The landlord might have it, I'll have to look it up, I'm not sure."

"If you have it, bring it here. If you don't have it, that's fine. Just bring it here. Moving the furniture mainly requires strong men. I'll send you the address later."

Li Lei had quite a lot of belongings. In addition to two large suitcases, there were also large and small cardboard boxes. Dong Qiangqiang secretly counted them and found that there were nearly twenty of them. He was very puzzled as to how a grown man like Li Lei could have so many things. It could only be that the pickup truck could hold them all, otherwise this trip would not have been easy for him.

Along the way, Li Lei kept baffling about the topic of exemption from classes, but Dong Qiangqiang refused to give in no matter how hard he tried. Li Lei had no choice but to give up.

Dong Qiangqiang drove a cart full of luggage to the foot of the mountain. He first took Li Lei to several supermarkets to familiarize himself with the shops, and bought enough daily necessities and food before taking him up the mountain.

He helped Li Lei move the boxes of all sizes into the house one after another. He remembered what the landlord had said and reminded him of a few things to pay attention to. Li Lei listened attentively and nodded, saying that the landlord had mentioned it yesterday and he would remember it, but if he forgot it one day in a fit of excitement, he hoped that Dong Qiangqiang would remind him in time. He didn't want to repeat Lao Bai's mistake and be kicked out of the house by the landlord.

Dong Qiangqiang was puzzled. He didn't expect that Li Lei's source of information was so accurate.

Li Lei didn't need to be present when signing the contract with the landlord. He searched the tool room again and confirmed that there was no second water pump. Then he drove straight to the address sent by Zheng Chunhua.

Compared to where Dong Qiangqiang lives, the students who live by the river are more unlucky this time. Their houses were flooded badly. Those who live in student dormitories are slightly better off as the dormitory property management can help them solve the problem. Many owners of private houses are not Germans. It is good enough that they do not extort compensation from the tenants. It is wishful thinking to expect them to help. They can only rely on themselves. If they encounter people with poor hands-on ability, they can only ask others for help.

Wanfu Restaurant is also close to the river and was not spared. Anyone would feel sad to see a newly renovated restaurant being flooded. Fortunately, Boss Li abided by the rules and bought property insurance in advance, so the losses are limited and a quick resumption of business is just around the corner.

It was late at night when he rushed home. There were no cars or people on the road. He tiptoed upstairs to his room, and before he even touched the chair, he heard a light knock on the door behind him.

The person standing at the door was Li Lei.

"I heard you were back, so I came to see you." Li Lei said as he slipped into the house without any hesitation.

Dong Qiangqiang didn't want to let him in, but he was moving too fast, like a yellow croaker. Thinking that it was his first day living here, he didn't want to order him to leave.

Seeing Li Lei trying to sit on the bed, Dong Qiangqiang pointed at the chair with disgust and said, "Li Lei, sit here. I have mysophobia and don't like others sitting on my bed."

Li Lei said "I understand" and quickly moved his body to the chair. His eyes rolled around as if he was looking for something in the room.

"You keep this room really clean. If you don't know, you might think it's a girl's room." Li Lei praised with a wry smile, "Just like when you were in Hanover. Your living habits are really good."

Although everything was neatly packed and Li Lei couldn't see anything, Dong Qiangqiang didn't like the other party's behavior. He frowned and asked with displeasure, "What's the matter so late?"

"It's okay, it's okay. I've signed the contract this afternoon. I'll report to you. You're the introducer." Li Lei was very happy to see that Dong Qiangqiang didn't mention the meal. He hoped that Dong Qiangqiang would forget about it completely.

Dong Qiangqiang nodded calmly and said, "Congratulations. School will start in September. Take care of everything you can next week and don't delay your classes."

"Yes, yes, I'll go to handle the change of address on Monday," Li Lei said, taking the initiative to show concern, "Have you had dinner? I just want to make a bowl of noodles for a midnight snack. If you haven't eaten yet, I'll make you a packet. I brought it here specially from China. It will be ready soon. Oh, the landlord said it's okay to cook noodles." Li Lei explained.

Duanmu called Dong Qiangqiang to revise the report, summarize the key points and sort out the important data. Seeing that Li Lei had nothing to do, Dong Qiangqiang became anxious. He didn't want to wait until the last day to report to Duanmu, so he unconsciously said in a shooing tone: "I've eaten. I appreciate your kindness. If there's nothing else, I have to read a book."

Li Lei's face changed color slightly, and he quickly tried to force a very forced smile: "It's better not to eat so late, it's healthy... Haven't you finished your exams? Why are you still reading?" After saying that, he lowered his head and rubbed his hands back and forth, with an expression on his face that seemed like he wanted to say something but stopped.

Seeing that Li Lei had no intention of leaving, Dong Qiangqiang knew that he still had something to say: "If you have something to say, just say it. There's no need to beat around the bush."

"Then I won't beat around the bush. It's still about exemption from class. I can't even keep up with dozens of courses in Chinese, let alone German and English. Old Dong, you have to do me a favor. I... you really don't have any review materials?" Li Lei made a move to stand up. Dong Qiangqiang mistakenly thought that he was going to kneel down and was about to stop him. However, Li Lei made a feint and just used force on his legs to move the chair legs to the side without his buttocks leaving the seat.

Dong Qiangqiang thought very clearly that if he gave it to him now, it would prove that he lied before. He insisted that he didn't have it. Li Lei didn't know how to be humble, so he could only ask a few questions about domestic university courses. Dong Qiangqiang was thinking about the report and didn't want to waste time discussing with the other party, so he simply lent him the Chinese textbook that Dong's father mailed from China. Li Lei took the book, flipped through it as if he had found a treasure, and left the room angrily after saying a few words and "I will talk about the exemption from class next Wednesday or Thursday."