Dong Qiangqiang's Story of Leaving Germany

Dong Qiangqiang woke up very early, but he didn't get up in a hurry. Instead, he lay on the sofa and listened outside the window for a while. The street downstairs outside the house was already playing with sporadic sounds of people, bicycle bells, cars, and dogs. The chirping and bird chirping were intertwined in the beautiful music. Compared with the inside and outside, the house seemed extremely quiet. There was no movement in his parents' bedroom and kitchen. Today was Sunday, and he thought that his mother might not get up because she was tired.

He habitually looked in one direction, and when he saw the empty walls, he realized that this was no longer the place where he lived before going abroad.

He turned over and sat up, took out his phone from the table and looked at the time. It was not yet 06:30.

The morning sun was warm and bright, passing through the morning light and the sky above the buildings, and filled the living room through the windows. Dong Qiangqiang saw silk-like lines rippling on the wall, and the small living room gradually became brighter.

Maybe this is the advantage of living in a high-rise building. Dong Qiangqiang murmured and slowly got up from the sofa and tiptoed into the kitchen.

He wanted to make a hearty breakfast for his mother, but when he opened the refrigerator, he found that it was empty. There were no traditional breakfast foods such as milk, bread, and sausages. There were only a few thin eggs huddled in the corner of the refrigerator in horror, as if they were afraid of Dong Qiangqiang. gaze.

Dong Qiangqiang rummaged through it again, and there was no trace of instant noodles in the cupboard.

He sighed and searched the kitchen carefully again in as low a voice as possible. He only found flour and rice, and the rest was only the leftovers from last night.

He picked out the only eggs and beat them evenly in the bowl skillfully. While heating the oil in the pot, he washed his face quietly by the sink, for fear of waking up Dong's mother who was still resting.

The pot got hot quickly. He threw a large handful of chopped green onions into the pot. When he saw the green onions gradually turning golden brown, he was about to pour the egg juice around the edge of the pot into the pot when he heard the kitchen door. The sound of the door opening and closing was heard outside.

Dong Qiangqiang didn't know why, so he opened the closed kitchen door a crack and looked out. He happened to see Dong's mother entering the house carrying large and small bags. Their eyes met, and both of them were surprised.

"Get up so early? Why don't you sleep more?" Mother Dong asked.

"Why did you go out so early in the morning?" Dong Qiangqiang sniffed his nose hard a few times, and a familiar fragrance rushed into his nose, "What did you buy that smells so good?"

"Fried dough sticks, soy milk, meat buns, red bean paste buns, dumplings, millet porridge, fried cakes... Come and help." Mother Dong said as she put the bag in her hand on the dining table. Dong Qiangqiang quickly reached out to help put it on the table.

"Why did you buy so much? How many meals do we need to eat here?"

"What's the matter?" Mother Dong was about to answer when she sniffed her nose sharply and looked towards the kitchen, "Did you have something on the fire?"

"Oops..." Dong Qiangqiang also smelled it and ran into the kitchen with quick steps.Sure enough, the chopped green onions in the oil pan had turned into a pile of black residue. He quickly took the chopped green onions out of the pot and quickly poured the egg juice into it. In less than a second, the egg juice turned into a whole mess. Fluffy egg pancake.He turned off the fire, put the eggs on a plate, opened the window wide, closed the kitchen door, and then went back to talk to Mother Dong.

"Why don't you get more sleep?" Dong Qiangqiang complained as he set out the dishes and chopsticks, "I'm back now so you don't have to do this anymore."

"I can't sleep for long when I'm old. Besides, I usually go downstairs to buy food at this time. It's very convenient. Here, try the meat buns here. They have thin skin and lots of stuffing. They are salty and light. I buy them every morning. Everyone at his house has to line up.”

Dong Qiangqiang reached out and took out a small meat bun, which was heavy in his hand.He carefully took a small bite, and the hot juice in the bun gushed out from the bite spot visibly to the naked eye. "Eat slowly, don't burn it..." Dong's mother looked at her son's eating face with a loving look on her face. It had been a long time since she had seen someone wolfing down food in this house.

"Yeah, it's delicious." Dong Qiangqiang commented, finishing the buns in three strokes and picking up another fried dough stick.

Seeing Dong Qiangqiang eating happily, Dong's mother felt so happy. The guilt of not cooking for her child last night was gone.

"What time can we visit the hospital?" Dong Qiangqiang wiped the "soy milk mustache" left on his mouth after drinking soy milk, "What time should we leave?"

"There's no rush. We won't be able to get in if we go too early. We'll arrive in an hour after we set off at nine o'clock."

"How do you usually go? By bus or by bike?" Dong Qiangqiang asked.

"Take the bus to Shangdi, take Line 13 to Xizhimen and take Line [-], then change to Line [-] at Fuxingmen, and go to Wangfujing."

"I remember when I went out in 01, there were only two subways in BJ. How many more have been added so quickly?" Dong Qiangqiang found that BJ had changed a lot while he was away. He remembered the construction site he saw next to the highway yesterday and couldn't help but sigh. , “It feels like it’s changing every day.”

"It was said on TV that one or two subways will be added to BJ every year. In ten years, there may be more than a dozen subways in BJ. It will be much more convenient to go out then, unlike now where there are always traffic jams."

"Isn't the BJ underground all empty? But I'm afraid it's the same in big cities. Paris, London, and New York all have subway lines that are like spider webs."

Dong Qiangqiang felt sorry for Dong's mother and said, "Mom, you took the subway if I didn't come back. Let's take a taxi when I come back. After all, the love hasn't passed yet and it's a bit unsafe. I'll pay for the taxi."

"You silly child," Dong's mother looked embarrassed, "your father and I have squeezed out all your money through frugality? You don't know how expensive firewood and rice are when you're not a family, so you'd better save some money. You'll have to use the money in the future." There’s just more space.”

"Yes, my money is all your money." Dong Qiangqiang coaxed Mother Dong, "But you have to listen to me this time. I will only stay for a week, and I won't have so much time to spend commuting."

Dong's mother thought that this was indeed the case. She didn't want her son to squeeze into the subway at this time, for fear that he might be up to no good.Later, she was complained by Dong's father that it was a small matter that delayed Dong Qiangqiang's studies.

"Then find a baseball cap and put your hair in it." Dong's mother reminded her. She was worried that Dong's father wouldn't like long hair and would quarrel with her son later. The son finally came back once, and he couldn't do it because of this, and let's talk about long hair. There's nothing wrong with having long hair. Her son looks handsome with long hair. At least she, as a mother, looks happy.

Seeing that his mother no longer insisted, Dong Qiangqiang quickly packed himself and the things he needed for the day, bought a bouquet of flowers at the flower shop downstairs, and took a taxi straight to Xiehe.

When he walked out of the community, Dong Qiangqiang saw clearly that this was a relatively new community. The exterior walls of the community were painted with semi-old paint, and the walls were basically still in good condition. However, there were no medical workers, no notice boards, or signs in the community. There is no warning notice posted at the door of the unit. It seems that the (military) situation is far away from here. Compared with Dong's mother and Dong Qiangqiang, who are wearing hats and masks and fully armed to protect themselves, the taxi driver's attitude is very indifferent, more like Dong's mother. Just like Dong Qiangqiang making a fuss out of a molehill.

Maybe it was because she got up too early in the morning, so Dong's mother quietly closed her eyes to rest and stopped chatting with Dong Qiangqiang.