Dong Qiangqiang's Story of Leaving Germany

Chapter 843 843. Memories of the fireplace

There are magnificent murmurs in the wind, and early morning cumulus clouds rest on the shoulders of the trees.

Dong Qiangqiang jogged on the path outside the woods. According to Zheng Chunhua, this might help him get rid of depression. He didn't know if it would work, but it didn't cost money to try.

Although there is no sunny weather and clear sky with high clouds and clear sky in the other three seasons, fortunately, the air with soil and grass plants is still fresh.

He greedily breathed in the heady country air and listened to the frost crunch underfoot as he admired the countryside of Trier on a cold winter morning.

Soft tones of earth, stones and plants, with a variety of vegetation jutting out from hideaways, make jogging as fun as it is romantic.

The short Christmas break provided a gentle pause in his busy schoolwork, like a dying battery being put back into the charging case.

When he ran along the path to the high point of the hillside, he saw tall windmills standing on the endless fields, and the giant windmill blades were spinning hypnotically.

He looked far into the distance again, and could vaguely see a gauze-like white mist covering the urban area, and clusters of halos wandered in the white mist, as if they would pierce the cage at any time.

When he was looking intently, he suddenly felt a slight chill on his face and neck.He couldn't help stretching out his hand, and was pleasantly surprised to see that the tiny snowflakes fell into his palm in a flash.

It seems that the weather forecast is accurate, he thought while running along the winding path towards home.

The path is not steep and rugged, and the vegetation beside the path generously showed him otherworldly vitality, providing postcard-like scenery one after another. Except for occasional cattle and sheep grazing quietly on the hillside in the distance, he also Notice the wave after wave of wildflowers of every color along the road.

They flutter in the wind, or lie dying in the grass.He stopped and looked around. As far as he could see, he didn't find a sign saying "no picking flowers", nor did he see half a figure, let alone a house, and he thought they were all wild.

Reminiscent of the Christmas wreath that the landlord had made early in the morning, he couldn’t help but bend down and pick up a few good-looking flowers in the grass. He only recognized hyacinths and cornflowers, and some that he couldn’t name but looked like roses. The pink flowers of Yingyingyanyan are really lively.He didn't know much about flowers and plants, but he couldn't bear to read gardening magazines to the landlord, so he got to know some of them.He picked some more, and in a short time he had a lot in his hands. He made up his mind that if the landlord asked, he would insist that they were all picked in the field, even if the landlord was serious, he could justify himself.

When he came home again, the landlord had finished setting up the kitchen deftly and was finishing the Christmas decorations in the living room.

He gave the flower to the other party and explained that he picked it up while running outside the woods, so it should not belong to the owner.The landlord was very happy. Seeing that the appearance of some flowers was really unsatisfactory, he believed his words and said with a smile that he had not received any flowers for more than 20 years.

Dong Qiangqiang thought that he was going to read something related to Christmas today, but the landlord waved his hand and said that today is Christmas Eve, and Dong Qiangqiang can take a day off. She came to introduce some Christmas customs to Dong Qiangqiang, which can be regarded as letting foreign young people like Dong Qiangqiang understand Take a look at German Christmas traditions.

The landlord first hung a Christmas grass ring made of green branches such as holly, ivy and mistletoe to the ceiling beams, put a few pink apples on the stone platform above the fireplace, and put a few long candles, Then carefully feed the wooden sticks that Dong Qiangqiang had split into the fireplace: "For a long time, fire has always played an important role in German Christmas, especially in Rhineland-Palatinate, where Trier is located. The ancient Romans believed that Candles or fireplaces should be kept burning all night on Christmas Eve, otherwise the next year will not go well.Some southern German states also burn rowan branches at Christmas to eliminate jealousy or mistrust among family members, friends or neighbors .When the clock strikes midnight, people will sing and dance around the garlands to welcome the God of Light."

The golden-brown flame in the fireplace was not burning hot, and the whole living room didn't seem to get any warmer.Dong Qiangqiang looked at the slender fire and couldn't help being puzzled: Since it was burning, why didn't it burn more?Besides, don't Germans pay attention to environmental protection?Is it environmentally friendly to cut down trees for firewood?German trees grow so slowly, and there are very few poplars that grow fast. Most of the trees I have seen are dwarf trees.

He originally wanted to take the opportunity to ask the landlord about his knowledge, but then he thought: If it's a big holiday, don't be a nuisance to the other party, just leave as soon as possible after listening to this paragraph.

Unexpectedly, the old lady changed the subject and took the initiative to explain: "Every cold winter night when I was a child, the whole family liked to sit around the campfire, or talk, or read books by themselves. The temperature of the fire is very comfortable. But time has changed, Currently only about 10% of German households continue to use open fireplaces or wood-burning stoves in winter.”

The age of the landlord is estimated to be between 60 and 70 years old. Dong Qiangqiang estimated that if she was not in World War II when she was a child, it would be just after World War II. But no matter which time period it is, it is reasonable. All resources in Germany at that time should have been used for war. , There is no surplus material for civilian use at all, maybe the people standing in front of me are descendants of the Nazis.However, the old lady rarely talked about politics, at least Dong Qiangqiang had never heard any alarmist remarks from her.

"Is it because these 10% families are richer?" Dong Qiangqiang asked deliberately.

"Of course not." The old lady shook her head.

"Is that because of the popularity of heating?"

"It's because people's awareness of environmental protection has increased." The old lady corrected, "Burning wood will release harmful particles, which will not only pollute the air and the natural environment, but also because wood needs to be planted as fuel so that wood competes with other land needs, such as Food production. At the same time, tree vegetation can ensure the reproduction of wild animals, strengthen nature's ability to resist pests, and protect humans from storms, floods, droughts and diseases due to climate change, so there is not enough land in Germany for all households Wood fuel is provided. While many rooms in this house have fireplaces, I’m only burning nostalgia for a few days over Christmas, and I have emergency equipment in case the heating fails.”

Although the old lady spoke very sincerely, Dong Qiangqiang still wanted to laugh: No matter how little the fever was, it was still a fever, and I didn't blame her, so could she stand on the moral high ground and teach herself a lesson?Although he thought so in his heart, he didn't show anything on his face, and he was still listening humbly.

The old lady saw that he half-understood, so she continued to talk: from the ventilation of the fireplace to the means of preventing carbon dioxide poisoning, from the size of the fireplace to the skills of choosing firewood, the talk is endless.

It was so easy for the landlord to finish speaking, Dong Qiangqiang said "goodbye" and was about to leave, the old lady took him to the kitchen again, pointed to the two empty compartments in the refrigerator that Dong Qiangqiang could use, and reminded him that he should put these few Prepare daily food and daily necessities in advance, because the supermarket will not be open for two days, and New Year’s Day will be immediately after the Christmas holiday. After the supermarket is sold out, the replenishment will not be particularly fast, so you must have a sense of stockpiling.

Dong Qiangqiang thanked the old lady and made a list of the things he wanted to buy.Looking at the long shopping list, he somehow remembered that when he was a child, he would follow his parents to the nearby vegetable store every winter to buy Chinese cabbage for winter storage. He would buy several hundred catties. The tricycle moved slowly, sideways, and he would sympathetically help his father push the cart. The father and son sometimes had to go back and forth several times before they could pull hundreds of catties of Chinese cabbage home.In addition to grabbing Chinese cabbage, the family will also buy dozens of catties of tomatoes to make tomato sauce, as well as enough meat stuffing and casings to make homemade sausages.Although there has never been a fireplace in the house, the busy scene of the family sitting together laughing and laughing has not been blurred by the passage of time.More than ten years have passed, and the pictures in his memory are playing frame by frame in his mind like a slide show.

(End of this chapter)