Dong Qiangqiang's Story of Leaving Germany

Dong Qiangqiang ignored Lao Bai's question, stood up and poured all the soup in his bowl into the sink, quickly washed the dishes and pots, and put the cutlery on the drying rack. The water on the cutlery dripped from the rack onto the tray under the rack. Dong Qiangqiang scooped out all the leftovers from the filter net of the sink drain and put them into the kitchen waste bin. The landlord was particular about garbage classification, and he always did a good job in these details.

After doing all this, he pointed at Lao Bai's bowl and asked, "Do you want to eat these?"

Lao Bai looked at him calmly. Seeing that he didn't eat, Dong Qiangqiang reached out to take his bowl. When his hand was about to touch the bowl, Lao Bai reached out and gently pushed the bowl to his left, and Dong Qiangqiang grabbed nothing.

Dong Qiangqiang knew that Lao Bai must get an answer, so he turned around and picked up the rag beside the sink, lowered his head to wipe the water off his hands, and put the rag back to its original place before looking at Lao Bai's face and saying word by word: "There are some things I don't want to say, but since you asked, it would be too dishonest if I didn't say it. We haven't communicated much during this period because I feel that as a friend, you don't respect me, and it's not just once. Now I really don't know how to communicate with you."

"If you mean that I told Lei Lanting about the Volkswagen stock, I admit that it was my fault. I was drunk and spoke without thinking. I apologized to you." Having said that, even Lao Bai himself had to admit that this explanation was really pale and powerless, but this was the only way he could excuse himself now.

"Lao Bai, I didn't want to tell you about the stock matter at first because it not only involves huge financial risks, but also involves my business partners. But in the end, I still chose to tell you despite the pressure and doubts from my business partners because you and Le Bai encountered such a difficult problem as SARS, and there might not be any effective way to increase the company's revenue in the short term. But I also mentioned to you very formally that everything I told you was a secret between you and me, but not only did you not keep the secret, you also made it known to everyone. Lei Lanting came to me, and even Liao Cheng, who I just met, came to ask me, how can I talk to you again? What should I say? Accuse you of having no space in your heart?" After he started talking, Dong Qiangqiang didn't want to hide it anymore. As the saying goes, it's better to talk about it today. He wasn't afraid that Lao Bai would get angry or turn against him. What was there for him to be angry about? "And what you said just now was right. We are separated by a wall. You apologized to me through text message and I really shouldn't have picked your gift again."

Lao Bai heard Dong Qiangqiang's sarcasm and wanted to defend himself, but after racking his brains he could not find any reason.

Silence gripped his throat.

This time, Dong Qiangqiang didn't ask any more questions. Instead, he took away his dishes and put them on the drying rack after washing them.

"If we really can't achieve the performance by the end of the year, I want Liao Cheng to come in and be the new investor of Lebai, and clear out Tang and Ji. Of course, Xu as well. Lei Lanting said he can also try to help me find a new financial backer, so I..." Lao Bai revealed his true thoughts in a tired voice.

"That's why you use my secret as a bargaining chip to make deals with others, but have you ever thought about it? Even if you find a new investor, you have to do your own business well first. Only business is your amulet. Don't you realize that all your troubles started after you met the financial sponsor?" Dong Qiangqiang said this and suddenly thought of himself. He was stunned.

The two of them fell silent at the same time, making the room suddenly extremely quiet. The sound of spring thunder outside the window gradually faded away. The airflow rushing into the kitchen made the wide-open window bump continuously. The air was filled with an earthy smell. The continuous drizzle poured into the kitchen through the window. Dong Qiangqiang turned around and closed the window.

"I've already taken down the roll-up banner." After a while, Lao Bai cautiously started a new topic, "Someone went to Lebai for consultation these two days, but I didn't see you have a plan before catching cicadas."

Although Lao Bai showed goodwill, Dong Qiangqiang still wanted to ask, "Can you ask before writing my name on the roll-up banner next time?" But then he thought, the roll-up banner has been there for two days, and it doesn't matter whether it is removed or not. It is meaningless to dwell on this issue now. Considering that their relationship is likely to get worse in the future, some things are better said now.

"The landlord said you can only live here until mid-May and then you have to move out." Dong Qiangqiang did not mention that the landlord was annoyed by Lao Bai's habit of drinking regardless of time and place.

Lao Bai nodded and said, "She talked to me today and returned the money to me. Don't worry, I won't stay here and will go back in the middle of the month."

Going back naturally refers to going back to Hanover, which has a subtle implication of "I won't be a bother to you anymore."

"Go back and drink less. When you have time, think about how to develop business." Dong Qiangqiang felt that this should be the last time he would give her advice.

Old Bai frowned, staring blankly at the table in front of him, feeling his throat dry: "Last year, I was still fantasizing about raising money first, then working hard to do business, trying to save more money, so that I could see both parents during the Spring Festival this year and get married on May Day. But man proposes, God disposes. Although I raised the money, I had no hope of winning the bet. The business was gone, the money was not earned, and my lover ran away. Now thinking about it, it's like having hundreds of dreams in one breath, but I can't remember them all when I woke up.

Dong Qiangqiang felt sad when he first heard this, but after thinking about it carefully, he felt that something was wrong. He hesitated for a long time and didn't know how to respond, and finally said nothing.

Seeing that Dong Qiangqiang didn't express his opinion, Lao Bai stood up tactfully and assured: "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about you anymore." Dong Qiangqiang watched him walk to the kitchen door and turned around: "By the way, Xu Tongying may look for you again soon. She said she has something to ask you."

"Does she want to buy stocks too?" Dong Qiangqiang asked with a faint smile.

Lao Bai frowned as if he had eaten a fly, and left the kitchen hesitantly.

After two days of rain, the sky finally calmed down on Saturday morning. Although the rain had not completely stopped, the raindrops were so light that they could be tolerated without an umbrella. Dong Qiangqiang walked out of the house and looked into the distance. A single blue-gray cloud that was as full as a thick marshmallow was moving rapidly westward along the Moselle River.

When he arrived at the train station, the broadcast announced that the train would be delayed by ten minutes.

Dong Qiangqiang, who had plenty of time, leisurely bought bread and coffee for himself and Wang Shunan. Then he sat on the bench on the platform, throwing bread crumbs to attract the stupid pigeons on the platform while waiting patiently.

With a long whistle, the train came into the station from far away. Because it was too early, there was no one else on the platform except the ticket inspector. There was only a fat figure with a schoolbag coming down from the rear of the long train and waving at him. Just as he was surprised, he heard the figure calling out his name from afar.

"Wang Shunan?" Dong Qiangqiang couldn't believe his eyes as he looked at his old friend who was getting closer and closer. "Is it really you?"

He remembered that Wang Shunan was a well-proportioned girl during last summer vacation. After not seeing her for almost a year, Wang Shunan's pointed chin had turned into a chubby and cute round face, and her jawline had disappeared. What was even more exaggerated was that her whole body had swelled up like a balloon. In their first impression of each other when they met again, Dong Qiangqiang felt that the only thing that had not changed was Wang Shunan's spirit.

"What's this? I didn't recognize you at first sight." Dong Qiangqiang handed the bag of food and drinks to Wang Shunan, "Here, your bread and coffee."

"Don't mention it. It's hard to describe." Wang Shunan looked Dong Qiangqiang up and down for a while, and said with relief, "You are still the same as before. There is no change."

"Who said that?" Dong Qiangqiang patted his belly and comforted the other person, "Since you sit every day, you have a big belly, but the thief meat is cunning and hides itself."

The two of them quickly walked to the car, and while they were fastening their seat belts, Dong Qiangqiang couldn't help but be curious: "Seriously, what's going on?"

"You mean my weight? Winters at the seaside are much colder than in Hanover. The heating is not for water but natural gas. I don't want to turn on the heating because it's too expensive, so I eat high-calorie snacks to keep warm. You also know that German chocolate is cheap, and it was on sale last Christmas, so I stocked up on a big box of various chocolates."

"Logically, you grew up in a city in the south without heating, so your ability to resist the cold should be no problem. Do you need to eat so much chocolate just to keep warm?" Dong Qiangqiang found it unbelievable.

"Haha, I still can't hide it from you. Besides the cold weather, isn't it the pressure of exams and make-up exams that's huge? All of these have turned into my appetite. Look, God is punishing me by not being able to wear last year's clothes. If I don't lose weight quickly, I'll have to spend money to buy new clothes in the summer. It gives me a headache just thinking about it."

"Then let's go directly to the classroom? You'll have a lecture in the morning, and I'll treat you to lunch at noon. After lunch, I'll take you around the city. It's not easy to come here, so don't be anxious. Take a leisurely stroll and then go back to study hard. Just treat it as a change of pace. Otherwise, no one can stand reading books every day."

"The guest should follow the host's wishes. I'll listen to you once I'm here." Wang Shunan obediently squeezed himself into the back seat.

When they arrived at the university, the sky was about to clear up, but the rain inexplicably started to get heavier. Fortunately, they had an umbrella in the car. There was still some time before the TCM seminar started, so they walked from the parking lot to the direction of the economics department building with the umbrella. As they walked, Dong Qiangqiang introduced his story after arriving in Trier. (End of this chapter)