Dong Qiangqiang searched on the map and found that the second house was very close to the private student dormitory. It was on the other side of the river. He could get there just by crossing the bridge and it wouldn't take long.
As he was crossing the bridge, a large group of people gathered on the lawn under the bridge attracted his attention. He guessed it might be a flea market. He has always been fond of visiting the market, not just to pick up the missing items, but mainly to see the fun and excitement. Previously, the market and the agricultural products market in Hannover were held together, and the fireworks were particularly strong. Whenever he is stressed, Dong Qiangqiang likes to visit these two places to relieve his stress. These beautiful memories prompted him to move forward in three steps and two steps at a time.
As the saying goes: When comparing goods, you have to throw them away. A more popular saying is: No comparison, no harm.
Before he had even finished shopping, Dong Qiangqiang discovered that the market in Trier was not only larger in scale than the one in Hannover, but also had a far greater variety of second-hand goods than in Hannover, with a dazzling array of new gadgets that he had never seen before.
He was moved by many gaudy, useless but fun things, such as British ceramics from the 1950s that were not as beautiful as Chinese blue and white porcelain, old stained glassware from Venice, German books between World War I and World War II, and books from the 1970s to 1990s. Lego toys from the 1970s, and there were even individual stalls selling ivory miniature sculptures.
Of course, what excites him most in the market is the German banknotes, coins and stamps issued in different periods. In addition to various banknotes and coins (mainly silver coins and nickel coins) during and after World War II, the seller even has a German mark with a face value of 100,000 issued before World War II. It is a pity that he does not have the legendary 100 trillion mark banknotes issued by Germany in 1924.
The stall owner is a balding old man with a beard and wrinkles that suggest he must be in his seventies. Different from other aloof sellers in the market, when he saw that Dong Qiangqiang was interested in his things, he praised his treasures vigorously. When he got excited, he stood up and took out more inventory from the bottom of the box. But because of his extremely thick accent and the physical sound insulation effect of his big beard, Dong Qiangqiang didn't understand what he was talking about. He could only listen to the general outline, and finally simply quoted the price directly.
After some haggling, Dong Qiangqiang finally spent 240 euros to wrap up all the banknotes, coins and stamps owned by the stall owner. The stall owner was beaming with joy. When the seller at the stall next to him saw that Dong Qiangqiang was a big customer, he came to join in the fun. After a lot of lobbying, Dong Qiangqiang spent another 60 euros to buy a 90% new variable-speed mountain bike.
I haven’t rented the house yet, so I’ll spend a few hundred dollars first. Although he had been persuading himself not to spend impulsively, he still couldn't hold it back after all. But the self-blame was soon replaced by the joy of consumption. With ten minutes left before three o'clock, Dong Qiangqiang collected the loot, whistled, and headed for the target at lightning speed.
The scenery along the way was picturesque, and Dong Qiangqiang couldn't help but think to himself: If this house had a window facing the river or terraced fields, how pleasant it would be to study and live every day!
The bicycle parked in front of a traditional German gable-shaped sloping roof building. Before contacting the other party, he first observed the surrounding environment.
Dong Qiangqiang, who has lived in a private house for more than a year, has deep feelings about living in a private house. Excluding the rent factor, he will first observe the living environment near the residence, such as the level of safety near the residence. Germany does not have rich areas like the United States, and the public security is not as chaotic as the United States and France. But even in a city, there is a big difference in public security between places with a large number of Germans and places with a small number of people. If the car is often marked or the glass is smashed, Then he wouldn't be able to bear it. Secondly, look at some invisible factors, such as the distance of trash cans on the street. If the trash can is too close to the house, it will be noisy by the garbage truck every day. It will be very annoying if I recite or write something at home. Again, check whether the transportation is convenient, whether there are enough and close supermarkets, the commuting distance to school, etc.
Of course, he also knows very well that there is no such thing as a perfect house. The rent of a house that is good in every aspect will basically be very "driver-y", so as long as the house is about the same, he can accept it, and he can also accept some minor details. It was bearable. For example, the last landlord asked him to clean the public bathroom every week and he readily complied.
He has unknowingly become accustomed to accepting what cannot be changed and changing what cannot be accepted.
The small building is located at the foot of the mountain, which is about 100 meters above sea level. The Trier University of Applied Sciences is halfway up the mountain. Although it is still on vacation, there are many vehicles going up and down the mountain.
The building has three floors.
A large piece of the dark purple wall has fallen off but has not been repaired, and is mottled. Someone has also spray-painted indecent patterns on the corners. Perhaps because of the chemical reagents, most of the ivy next to the graffiti has died, and the vegetation is so sparse that it makes people feel desolate. The tiles on the sloping roof come in three colors, and obvious signs of repairs can be seen. One glance shows that the master was very careless when repairing the work, and the work was neither beautiful nor classy.
Looking at the small building next to it, the sloping roof is covered with solar glass panels. The bright yellow wall and the ivy branches and leaves complement each other and are pleasing to the eye. The windows on the second floor were open, and there were several flower pots placed under the window frames. There were flowers of different colors, including yellow, red, purple and pink, swaying lightly in the breeze.
Dong Qiangqiang couldn't help but sigh: There is no harm without comparison*2.
There is a locked utility room protruding from the building. There are brown, black and green trash cans outside the utility room. There are white squares painted on the ground next to the trash can, and an old classic car is parked in the square. Dong Qiangqiang took a closer look and found that the maintenance of the classic car was still in place. Germany's regulations for old cars are that as long as the car can pass the annual inspection, it is allowed to be on the road. The maintenance fee for this kind of classic car is much more expensive than the maintenance of modern cars. It seems that the car owner should be a wealthy person. He couldn't help but feel confused. Regardless of whether the car owner was a tenant or a landlord, he felt that it didn't fit in with the building.
He thought there was only one entrance to the whole building, but after searching for a long time, he couldn't find the name of the person who was talking to him on the phone. After another half circle, he found that there was another entrance on the other side of the small building. This time he found the name of the person.
The windows on the first, second and third floors facing the mountain are all hung with aluminum rolling shutters that can completely block the entire window. This is a German anti-theft device. Unlike China, there are very few domestic cage-type anti-theft windows in Germany (and there are no enclosed balconies either).
Dong Qiangqiang is a little worried. If the room rented by the landlord faces the mountain, it means that when you open the window, you can only see the mountain instead of the river, and the view will be greatly compromised.
After hesitating for a few seconds, Dong Qiangqiang pressed the doorbell.
The landlord came out quickly. He was a thin and shriveled old German man. His back was straight and a bunch of keys hung around his waist. He made a clanking sound when he walked. He looked like a charterer with his accessories.
The old man looked Dong Qiangqiang up and down for more than a minute, but he didn't rush to let him in to see the room. Instead, he started questioning him like a prisoner.
"Are you Japanese or Korean?" The old man spoke with a strong voice, and his accent was not as strong as the old man selling banknotes. It's just that Germans generally use the honorific "you" when addressing strangers. Even elders and juniors will do the same if they are strangers to each other. But the old man said "you" when he spoke, which seemed very rude. Dong Qiangqiang looked at his age and didn't bother to argue with him.
"Chinese."
The old man stared at Dong Qiangqiang's face suspiciously, then looked at his bicycle: "Then what are you doing in Germany?"
"be in college."
"What professional?"
"National Economics."
"Show me your student ID card." The old man put his hand in front of Dong Qiangqiang arrogantly.
Dong Qiangqiang patiently handed over his student ID card. The old man studied the photo on the student ID card for a long time. While handing the student ID card back to him, he continued to ask: "The cold rent is 300 euros per month. How long do you plan to rent? "
Dong Qiangqiang felt dumbfounded: He didn't even look at the house, but the other party asked him how long he could rent it for. It seemed that the other party was an old fool.
"I need to see the room first." Dong Qiangqiang actually didn't want to go in, but Zheng Chunhua gave him the information and he came too. It really didn't make sense to leave without looking, so he could only answer bravely, “Then you can decide whether to rent or not.”
He actually hoped that the old man in front of him would continue to ask him more questions, so that he would have the courage to walk away directly.
To his surprise, the old man smacked his lips a few times, turned around and entered the building without saying anything.
Dong Qiangqiang sighed and could only follow.
As soon as he entered the building, Dong Qiangqiang stood still.
Although it was daytime, the light in the corridor was extremely dark. The entrance originally faced the mountain, and most of the natural light was blocked by the mountain. There were no windows or lights in the corridor. What surprised Dong Qiangqiang was that the stairs and walls were all a dark color. When he walked in suddenly, he thought he had entered the cellar.
When there was no movement from behind, the old man walking in front urged without looking back: "Your room is on the third floor."
Dong Qiangqiang's eyes gradually adapted to the light in the building. As he climbed up, he asked, "Why don't you turn on the light?"
"Why do you need to turn on the lights during the day?" The other party answered confidently, loudly, sonorously, and righteously. "Turn on the lights during the day is not environmentally friendly and wastes electricity." The old man lectured, "Don't you people there pay attention to environmental protection? ?”
"Of course we will pay attention to saving electricity," Dong Qiangqiang raised his head and said, "But it's too dark here, I can't see the stairs clearly."
"Just get used to it." The old man's footsteps stopped on the third floor. "The main reason is that no one on the first and second floors has come back now. When they come back, the lights in the house will illuminate the corridor when they open the door."
Dong Qiangqiang was dumbfounded when he heard this. What kind of fallacy is this?
He suddenly had a strong curiosity and wanted to see what kind of "fine decoration" the old man wanted to rent out.
The steepness of the stairs is not inferior to the steep slopes on both sides of the Moselle River. Dong Qiangqiang would hit his head if he stood completely upright on the stairs. The stair space is narrow and cramped, and he will be able to turn around at the corner of the stair. He wondered how his large suitcases would get upstairs if he did move in. At the same time, the wooden stairs creaked under his feet and felt very unstable. He was worried that he would suddenly fall from the middle of the stairs.
When he finally stood in front of the door, he found that the old man was already standing in the room.
The door frame was very low, and Dong Qiangqiang had to bend down to enter the house.
As soon as he entered the house, a musty smell hit his face, and Dong Qiangqiang quickly covered his mouth and nose.
The old man seemed quite dissatisfied with Dong Qiangqiang's behavior. He frowned and explained: "The room to be rented is this apartment with an inside and an outside. The outside is large and the inside is small. The total area is 18 square meters. As long as he lives in and insists on it every day Open the window and you’ll get used to it in a few days.”
Dong Qiangqiang knew this very well: the windows in the two houses had not been opened for ventilation for a long time, and the moldy smell had long penetrated into the walls. Opening the windows could not solve the problem at all.
He held his nose and walked briefly around the two rooms. Since the ceiling height of the two rooms was less than 2.3 meters and some places had sloping roofs, Dong Qiangqiang had kowtowed three or four times in less than three minutes.
This place is too depressing and oppressive, not a place for people to live. If you hadn't seen it with your own eyes, you would never have imagined that this was Germany in the 21st century, or Marx's hometown. It was not as spacious as the place where he lived in China. At least he wouldn't knock his head when he stood up straight in China.
Seeing Dong Qiangqiang's lawsuit-looking face, the old man didn't realize his dissatisfaction and confusion at all. Instead, he started to help Dong Qiangqiang calculate the other parts of the monthly rent: "If you plan to move in, in addition to the rent, I will also pay you every month. You need to collect 100 euros in advance for your water and electricity bill at the beginning of the month, but the advance payment is not the money you actually spent. At the end of each quarter, you will calculate how much you actually spent, and then refund the excess 300 euros and make up for it. In addition, the monthly payment The TV fee and garbage disposal fee total 40 euros. There is no Internet here, and we cannot accept the installation of the Internet at the tenant's own expense, because there will be radiation. There is a parking space downstairs that is private to me, and you can't use it. Of course, you can't put it there either. The car parked on the side of the road because there was no parking space painted on the side of the road..."
When Dong Qiangqiang noticed a puddle of shit-yellow stains on the front center of the mattress in the back room, he couldn't hold on any longer and turned around to leave.
The old man misunderstood his actions and hurriedly chased him out of the back room. He took out his keys and said, "When you go out, turn right and there is the bathroom."
Is the bathroom always locked? Dong Qiangqiang waved his hands in confusion: "No need to open it, I won't go."
"If you think the space (inside) is small, you can take a look at the attic. The attic is currently vacant. If you rent it together, I can give you a substantial discount." The old man said very generously.
"Okay. Let's take a look." Dong Qiangqiang agreed.
The old man pointed to the stairs going up next to the bathroom, and changed the key: "Go this way."
As soon as Dong Qiangqiang put his head into the patio at the entrance of the attic, he smelled a musty smell that was stronger and more pungent than downstairs. He couldn't open his eyes at all. Before he could complain, he heard a sound of wind rushing towards him from the darkness. He had no time to distinguish, and hurriedly lowered his head, just in time to meet the old man's expectant face.
The old man seemed to have anticipated his actions, and comforted him nonchalantly: "It's okay, there are just a few bats. They will leave as soon as you live in them."
Dong Qiangqiang was amazed and eye-opening. He didn't expect that house viewing could be so exciting. Society is indeed the best teacher.
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