Although he slept half-way through the night, he knew in his heart: the old landlady was the only one in the villa, and she could only be the one knocking on the door.
He glanced at his watch and saw that it was almost ten o'clock in the evening. Didn't old people go to bed early and get up early? Are old Germans not bound by this law of nature? But what else can happen so late? Since I didn’t cook anything, it’s definitely not the problem with the fumes. Could it be that the floor was not cleaned after taking a shower? But I've obviously checked it, so it shouldn't be unclean.
He sat up from the bed in a hurry, stood up in a daze, straightened the clothes that were wrinkled by sleeping, and asked directly while opening the door: "Is there anything else at this late hour? Ms. Yulia."
The person standing outside the door was indeed the landlord. Although it was night, the old lady's hair was still neatly tied up and she had gold-rimmed glasses on her nose. She didn't look like she was going to rest soon.
He wanted to let the other party come in and sit down and talk, but the other party looked at the unopened suitcase in the room and stood outside the door, with no intention of entering the room to talk.
"Did you fall asleep just now?" The old lady said with a pleasant look on her face.
When she spoke, her dog "Radar" squatted not far behind her, staring intently at Dong Qiangqiang's every move.
Dong Qiangqiang wanted to deny it outright, but after seeing the old lady's kind eyes, he somehow remembered the old lady's ease when she agreed to rent the house that night. He immediately felt ashamed of lying to the old lady, and at that moment he honestly admitted: "Washing I was very sleepy after taking a shower and fell asleep without realizing it, but I did clean the bathroom. If it wasn’t cleaned, then I…”
"I knocked for almost five minutes and you didn't say anything, so I know you must have fallen asleep." The old lady paused, changed the subject, pointed her index finger at the ceiling above his head and said seriously, "If you encounter this kind of situation again, If this is the case, you should turn off the lights before sleeping. Sleeping with the lights on consumes a lot of electricity, makes it difficult to fall asleep, and affects the quality of your sleep."
Although she was criticizing Dong Qiangqiang, the old lady's voice was soft and gentle, and she did not scream loudly as Dong Qiangqiang imagined.
Dong Qiangqiang never expected that he would be caught in the act on the first night he moved in. He was very careful and cautious, and the other party was justified. He couldn't find any excuse, so he had to bow his head and admit his mistake: "I'm sorry. Ms. Yulia. I will pay attention to saving electricity in the future and never make this mistake again."
The old lady nodded, stopped worrying about this problem, and said, "There is another question."
"You tell me." Dong Qiangqiang agreed while secretly complaining. He had made so many mistakes on the first night he just moved in. It seems that although this place is cheap, he will not live long. I am afraid that he will have to put it on the agenda to find a new home. It will be difficult to find such low rent again in the future.
"It's almost 22 o'clock now, and you haven't finished reading or talking today." The old lady reminded.
"You mean now?" Dong Qiangqiang asked in surprise, "But I just... moved in today."
"According to what we agreed before, you should start studying when you move in." The old man emphasized unhurriedly, "Since you agree, you should abide by it, every day, without exception."
Seeing that the other party was arguing hard, Dong Qiangqiang was no longer sleepy at all: "Okay, but what should I read? Is newspapers okay? Or reading?"
"One day out of seven days a week I will specify what you read, and the other six days you can choose what you like. But I am not interested in politics or celebrity gossip. History, biographies, German, French and English are all fine. It’s no problem either.”
As soon as the other party gave him the direction, Dong Qiangqiang breathed a sigh of relief, and the proposition composition became much simpler.
"Is it okay to read content related to China?"
"Of course, I like China very much. Although I have never been there, I think I will definitely go there in the future. I want to try BJ roast duck." The old lady's eyes lit up as she spoke.
Dong Qiangqiang remembered that there were many articles introducing China on his computer. They were all materials he collected when he was in preparatory school to introduce the domestic situation to his classmates. He did not expect that it would be useful again today.
Correct
"If I can, I will read whatever you have now. I still need to sort out my own information."
"Magazines and newspapers are in the living room on the first floor. You can choose your own." After the old lady said that, she strode down the stairs. "Radar" followed her and followed her downstairs.
There are many types of magazines and newspapers ordered by the old lady. In addition to the ones just mentioned, there are also a bunch of magazines and newspapers on food, knitting, gardening, health, pets, travel, horse riding, religion, farm management, etc. You can see the old lady’s passion. The amount of reading is amazing.
Dong Qiangqiang had neither knowledge nor interest in anything other than finance, so he directly picked out the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, which he had read every day and was the most familiar.
His idea was that by reading the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, he could not only complete the tasks set by the old lady, but also learn about the international financial situation, so as not to ignore the major financial events happening in the world because of his studies.
He used to read and listen to himself every morning, but now he has to read to Germans, who are his own landlords, which is a bit awkward, for fear that they will laugh at the Chinese for their poor German.
Unfortunately, Murphy's Law comes into play again. In the newspaper articles selected by Dong Qiangqiang, in addition to the sudden appearance of many obscure words, there are also many clauses with particularly long attributive phrases. Because of his nervousness, he frequently mispronounced the words.
He secretly glanced at the old lady, who was listening quietly and attentively. She neither corrected his pronunciation nor pointed out his mispronunciation, as if she didn't understand it at all.
Dong Qiangqiang has always been a bold person, and he became confident when he saw that the old man did not correct him. In fact, people are like this. The more confident you are, the more you will feel, and the smoother your reading will be. After reading, you will not make any mistakes again.
Under the warm orange light, an old man and a young man just listened and read, silently and moving.
By the time he finished reading the front page in one breath, half an hour had passed.
"Ms. Yulia, I've finished reading today. It's half past ten now. Do you want to chat or rest?" Dong Qiangqiang, who put down the newspaper, noticed that the old man was still staring at him intently, and his all-seeing eyes changed under the lamp. It must be particularly shiny, and there is a faint reflection in the corners of the eyes.
Dong Qiangqiang was surprised: How could he still cry after hearing the news? Did I make too many mistakes in pronunciation or the pronunciation was too ugly?
The old man suddenly came back to his senses, turned his face to the window without the curtains, looked at the dark forest and said, "Tell me more about your situation."
Dong Qiangqiang has many stories, and any one of them can last more than 30 minutes. But everything has its origin, and I will start from the moment I landed in Germany: from how I applied for APS to how I entered Hannover Preparatory School, from studying to working, and then how I became a tour guide by mistake, and how I failed to apply after graduation. When I went to a German university, I was stuck at the last minute to apply for the university's winter semester application deadline, but one after another I got the admission notice from the University of Trier.
Because it was all personal experience, he spoke vividly throughout the whole process, but he also paid attention to it and did not mention his wild boar hunting or investment. After all, both of these things are related to money. He did not reveal his wealth when he went out. There still has to be a door to the mouth, and since people's hearts are separated from each other, it's best to be careful in everything, so as not to cause unnecessary complications.
The old lady listened with great interest, just like when he read the newspaper, without a single interruption. By the time he finished talking about the important milestones in his life after coming to Germany, the old-fashioned wall clock struck eleven.
The old lady expressed neither interest nor distaste for Dong Qiangqiang's story. She just told him seriously: "It's better to be early tomorrow. In addition, if you need any more furniture, let me know at any time. There are still a lot of spare ones in the basement." , but don’t take it yourself.”
Dong Qiangqiang quickly expressed his thanks, said good night again, and returned to his room.
He lay down again because the sleepiest moment had been passed by reading the newspaper, so he couldn't fall asleep.
He simply got up and packed his luggage, and he did so until four o'clock the next morning when he felt sleepy again, climbed into bed and fell asleep.
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