Dong Qiangqiang's Story of Leaving Germany

Dong Qiangqiang was quite unhappy. It was late at night and the landlord had gone to bed. Why did Lao Bai make such a big noise? He should know these basic etiquettes, but because Lu Wei was still there, he still resisted going upstairs.

Seeing that Dong Qiangqiang didn't pick up the paper, Lu Wei pointed his finger at the leftmost paper: "This is the admission letter of Handan University for the summer semester of 2003. The one next to it is the proof of enrollment in the university, and this one is..."

"Why are you showing these to me?" Dong Qiangqiang interrupted Lu Wei's explanation and asked knowingly.

"They can prove that I am now a real college student." Seeing that Dong Qiangqiang did not extend his hand, Lu Wei took the initiative to hand the paper to Dong Qiangqiang.

"Why are you showing this to me?" Dong Qiangqiang stared into Lu Wei's eyes, still not reaching out his hand, "You should show this to Feng Chong."

"Feng Chong... didn't answer my call." Lu Wei finally told the truth, "I wanted to explain it to him clearly."

"I want to know why you didn't tell him the truth right away?"

"At that time, I... really needed this job. I wanted to get it." Lu Wei's voice of defense was as soft as a mosquito. If it wasn't late at night, Dong Qiangqiang would definitely not have heard it.

"Did you get it by cheating?" Dong Qiangqiang still stared straight into Lu Wei's eyes, "I remember you were not like this before."

Lu Wei seemed to be hit by something and her body shook slightly. She stammered a few times but didn't say another word. She silently put all the documents in front of her back into her bag, then stood up and walked out.

Dong Qiangqiang was exhausted after a day's work, both physically and mentally. He was too lazy to ask or stop Lu Wei from leaving. However, he had not decided whether to send Lu Wei home. Just when he decided to call a taxi for Lu Wei, he heard a man's hearty laughter coming from upstairs.

The laughter was so penetrating that Dong Qiangqiang felt that the landlord should be able to hear it even though he was sleeping. He didn't know what Lao Bai was still doing so late at night.

"wait for me a while."

Dong Qiangqiang opened the kitchen door and went upstairs in two steps. The sensor light in the corridor seemed to be broken and did not light up. Dong Qiangqiang stood in front of Lao Bai's room in the dark and knocked on the door twice.

The moment the door opened, a dazzling light shot out from the room. At the same time, Dong Qiangqiang smelled a strong odor of alcohol. He couldn't help but turn his face to the bathroom at the end of the corridor as the door opened.

"Oh, it's Qiangqiang? Come in, come in. We were just talking about you, and it's like mentioning the devil." While speaking, the other party enthusiastically took Dong Qiangqiang's arm and pulled him into the door.

"Liao Cheng?" Dong Qiangqiang was a little confused for a moment, "Why are you here?"

"I... asked him... to come." An unclear voice came from behind Liao Cheng.

Dong Qiangqiang saw another pile of empty bottles on the table and two unopened bottles of beer on the ground. He couldn't help but frown and said, "It's getting late. Be careful when you talk and take things. It's very noisy downstairs."

"Old Bai didn't hold the bottle just now, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Liao Cheng kept apologizing, apparently worried that Dong Qiangqiang would chase him away.

Seeing that Liao Cheng was still sober, with no smell of alcohol on his breath and a polite attitude, Dong Qiangqiang glanced at Lao Bai who was lying on the ground drunk, and said "Don't let him drink anymore" before walking out the door. Seeing this, Liao Cheng followed him out the door.

"Is there something?" Dong Qiangqiang asked.

"Yes." Liao Cheng's expression was very subtle. He paused for a few seconds and pointed in the direction of the stairs. Dong Qiangqiang understood and walked towards the stairs.

"Tell me, what's the matter?" Seeing that the landlord did not come upstairs, Dong Qiangqiang breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's nothing, actually. I just haven't thanked you formally for our trip to the outskirts of Paris and for buying you a motorcycle."

"It's just a small favor. Besides, didn't you all donate to China Week and the fight against SARS? It can be considered as an offset."

"How can the two be offset?" Liao Cheng cleared his throat and continued, "Your matter is private, and the donation is public. Let's keep one thing to ourselves."

"You really want to thank me?"

"of course."

"Okay, then do me a favor and go back early," Dong Qiangqiang patted Liao Cheng's shoulders twice and nodded in the direction of Lao Bai, "He has been drunk to such an extent that he can't have a long conversation with you."

"I understand, I'll leave right away." Liao Cheng replied obediently. "Be careful." Dong Qiangqiang waved goodbye and was about to go downstairs, but saw Liao Cheng standing there without moving.

"Is there anything still in Old White's house?" Dong Qiangqiang asked.

"I didn't bring anything." Liao Cheng said with a smile.

"That's because Mr. Bai owes you money. Are you here to collect the debt tonight?" Dong Qiangqiang continued to guess.

“It can’t be considered a loan.”

"Then what are you..."

"To be honest, there is something I want to ask you about."

Dong Qiangqiang hurried downstairs: "Just tell me what you want to say, no need to beat around the bush."

"To be honest, I've been trading stocks since I was in college in China. After I came to Germany, I've always wanted to pick up my old trade again. But because I'm not as good at speaking the language as you guys, I haven't been able to find a brokerage firm after asking around for a long time, let alone where to open a stock account. I just heard Lao Bai say that you studied finance and are very good at this, so I wanted to ask you if you know the procedures or processes in this regard. If you do, would you mind telling me about it? Oh, I can pay for it, I understand the rules."

As soon as Liao Cheng opened his mouth, Dong Qiangqiang knew that Lao Bai was no longer able to keep secrets after drinking too much, but since Lei Lanting asked him, he was no longer surprised that Lao Bai could not keep secrets. He knew that even if Liao Cheng did not ask today, someone else would ask in a roundabout way another day. Dong Qiangqiang guessed that he had probably learned about the public preferred shares from Lao Bai, but he did not ask rashly, which was obviously much more cautious than Lei Lanting.

"I didn't study finance, I studied economics, national economics," Dong Qiangqiang corrected.

Seeing that Dong Qiangqiang did not directly answer his question, Liao Cheng became a little unconfident: "Oh, sorry, I always thought economics was finance."

"I can tell you how to open an account, but it's too late today. I'll call you in advance some other time."

Liao Cheng was overjoyed to hear that Dong Qiangqiang agreed so readily, but Dong Qiangqiang did not mention a word about the remuneration for the explanation. He was a little unsure whether Dong Qiangqiang would ask for a high price. He wanted to ask him again, but was afraid of annoying Dong Qiangqiang. He could only suppress the thought in his heart and comfort himself that as long as Dong Qiangqiang agreed, it would be a good thing.

"Then I'll wait for your call." Liao Cheng made a "answer the phone" gesture and was about to go downstairs, but suddenly remembered something and pointed at Lao Bai's room, "Then he..."

"When he's sober, he goes to bed. When he's still drunk, he sleeps on the floor. He's grown up, don't you still worry about him?"

"Okay, thank you for your concern. I'm leaving now."

"Close the door gently."

Dong Qiangqiang returned to the kitchen only after Liao Cheng's figure disappeared at the door.

The light in the kitchen was on. There was only a cup of water on the table. Not a single piece of paper was visible. Lu Wei was gone.

Dong Qiangqiang knew that Lu Wei must have left without saying goodbye when she was upstairs, so it was better this way as it would save him the trouble. No matter what, she should apologize and explain to Feng Chong. But no matter whether Feng Chong would forgive her or not, Dong Qiangqiang was determined not to get involved in the conflict between the two.

Dong Qiangqiang was woken up by a phone call early in the morning. He squinted at the clock on the wall. It was already past 7:30 and he overslept and didn't hear the alarm. If it weren't for the phone call, he might have missed assembling the awning or even the morning class.

It seemed that he was really exhausted yesterday. He glanced at the name on the phone screen and answered the call in a daze: "What's the matter so early? Fang Shuang."

"Come to the Economics Department quickly," Fang Shuang's voice was filled with uneasiness, "something happened in the display area."

Dong Qiangqiang jumped up from the bed, not expecting that Zheng Chunhua's words would come true.

"What happened?"

"The display board was destroyed. Everyone else has been notified. When we meet up later, we'll tell them to come over quickly."

Fang Shuang hung up the phone in a hurry. Dong Qiangqiang stood up and walked to the window, pulling open the curtains. The sky outside the window was dimming and brightening, and it looked even darker than yesterday. The rain was even heavier than yesterday, covering the sky as if it would never stop. (End of this chapter)