After eating and sending his sister back to school, Xu Yiyang easily found the location of the old Education Bureau of Yingzhou based on his memory.
In September 1999 in his previous life, Xu Yiyang left home to go to university. Since then, he has basically only come back twice a year.
I started working immediately after graduating from college and came back twice a year.
Therefore, he actually didn’t know much about Yingzhou after 1999.
In my impression, every time I come back after leaving home, I feel that Yingzhou has changed a lot. It has become bigger, more prosperous, and more foreign-style.
As folk singer Zhao Lei sang in his song: "My hometown is getting younger and younger, just like a tacky piece of clothing."
However, every time Xu Yiyang came back, before he had time to get familiar with it, he would carry his luggage and leave again.
Just like this, year after year, twenty years have passed, and he understands his hometown less and less.
However, Yingzhou before September 1999 has always been imprinted in his mind and he cannot get rid of it.
Because only the current Yingzhou is the Yingzhou he is familiar with and the Yingzhou he has lived in for eighteen years.
This old, small city carried his childhood, childhood and adolescence.
Therefore, he is almost no stranger to the current Yingzhou.
On the contrary, I feel more cordial.
When Xu Yiyang arrived at the door of the Education Bureau, it was 1:50 pm, and Secretary Hu was already waiting for him at the door.
As soon as he saw Xu Yiyang, Secretary Hu said: "Xiao Xu, Director Cai and the foreign guests are here and waiting for you."
Xu Yiyang nodded and hurriedly followed him inside.
After entering the gate, I passed by the government affairs disclosure column and took a casual look. I found that the one at the top was Director Cai whom I met today.
Director Cai's full name is Cai Zhongyun, and he is the head of the Yingzhou Education Bureau.
Arriving at the Education Bureau's conference room, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas and Director Cai were already sitting down, along with several officials from the Education Bureau.
The two reporters who were at the Yellow River in the morning also rushed over, and this time they brought with them a photographer and a videographer.
Because of the language barrier, the atmosphere was somewhat awkward. It wasn't until Xu Yiyang came in that everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Thomas Lauter waved to him very excitedly and said with a smile: "Xu, you are finally here!"
Xu Yiyang smiled and said, "I'm sorry I'm late."
"No, no!" Thomas Lauter waved his hand and said with a smile, "It's just that we came a little early."
Director Cai also breathed a sigh of relief and said to Xu Yiyang: "Xiao Xu, if you don't come, our communication will not be carried out at all..."
Xu Yiyang nodded, smiled, and said, "Hello, Director Cai."
Afterwards, he accompanied Thomas and his wife and sat opposite Director Cai and other leaders.
As soon as he sat down, Thomas Lauter went straight to the point and said to Xu Yiyang: "Xu, please tell Director Cai that I came to Yingzhou this time to help my grandpa donate 200,000 German marks to Yingzhou specifically for education. cause."
Xu Yiyang translated on the spot and added considerately: "Director Cai, 200,000 German marks is almost 1 million yuan."
"one million?!"
Director Cai was stunned!
A single donation of one million yuan is definitely a record-breaking single donation in the field of education in Yingzhou!
The purchasing power of one million yuan in 1999 was still very high.
If housing prices are used as a reference scale, they will be at least 20 to 30 times higher than in 2020!
So Director Cai quickly stood up, shook hands with Thomas Lauter, and said gratefully: "Oh, Mr. Lauter, thank you so much! Thank you also to your grandpa for still thinking about Yingzhou after so many years!"
Thomas Lauter smiled slightly and said seriously: "Actually, our whole family is very grateful to Yingzhou. If it hadn't been for the people of Yingzhou who took in and raised my grandfather, it is likely that he would have died in a shipwreck with his parents when he was an infant. , naturally there will be no descendants like us."
After speaking, Thomas Lauter said piously: "Director Cai, I have a small request."
Director Cai said: "Please tell me!"
Thomas Lauter said: "I hope you can help me find the village where my grandfather lived when he was a child. My grandfather told me that the place was called Wangjiadu."
Thomas Lauter used the standard Yingzhou pronunciation for the word Wangjiadu.
According to him, his grandfather grew up in a farmhouse in Yingzhou, but because of the difficult conditions at that time, he did not go to school.
Until he was taken back to Germany at the age of twelve, although he spoke a standard Yingzhou dialect, he could hardly write a word.
Therefore, the place name of Wangjiadu was also told to Thomas Lauter in Yingzhou dialect by the old man.
Everyone also understood that these three words he said were Wangjiadu.
But the problem is that there seems to be no place called Wangjiadu in Yingzhou.
Director Cai thought for a moment and said to Xu Yiyang: "Xiao Xu, ask Mr. Lauter if he remembered the place name wrongly?"
Xu Yiyang thought for a while and said, "Director Cai, he speaks the word Wangjiadu very smoothly, so he shouldn't remember it wrong."
As he spoke, he whispered: "Director Cai, his grandfather lived in Yingzhou from 1914 to 1926. Wangjiadu was probably the name at that time. After so many years, has it been renamed? Already?"
Director Cai nodded slightly and said in agreement: "Your analysis makes sense. It's probably that the name has been changed."
After finishing speaking, he ordered Secretary Hu next to him: "Xiao Hu, please call our retired cadre and ask if we had a place called Wangjiadu in the past."
"Okay Director Cai!" Secretary Hu quickly stood up and left the conference room.
After a few minutes, he ran back with excitement and said: "Director Cai, our retired Section Chief Zhao said that there used to be a village called Wangjiadu, just on the edge of the Yellow River. It was a ferry crossing the Yellow River. In the 1900s, Wangjiadu Village merged with several neighboring small villages to form the Xingfu Commune. Later, when the People's Commune was disbanded, it was directly called Xingfu Village. Xingfu Village is located in Xiaguan Town on the outskirts of our city."
After listening to Xu Yiyang's translation, Thomas Lauter said excitedly: "It's really great. Before I came here, I was always worried that I wouldn't be able to find this place!"
At this time, Director Cai slapped his thigh excitedly: "Oh, what a coincidence. The teaching building of the primary school in Xiaguan Town has been in disrepair. I wanted to renovate and rebuild it, but was unable to implement it due to lack of funds. How about using this donation? Allocate part of it to renovate the teaching building and name it after the old man!"
One million may not seem like much, but after all, it has strong purchasing power, and it is completely enough to renovate a small teaching building.
Thomas Lauter was very excited when he heard about it and blurted out: "It would be great if it could be named after my grandfather!"
As a result, both parties hit it off and everyone was happy.
Thomas Lauter was also relieved.
After talking about the business, Thomas Lauter said to Xu Yiyang: "Xu, we have to trouble you to accompany us to visit Yingzhou tomorrow. We also want to go to Wangjiadu to visit."
Xu Yiyang agreed immediately, and Thomas gave him almost three thousand yuan. It was enough to serve him for one more day.
But he didn't expect that Thomas would take out 600 German marks on the spot, saying it would be the translation fee for tomorrow.
Xu Yiyang didn't dare to accept it this time, and he was too embarrassed to accept it.
I had already collected 600 German marks before, and Director Cai and the others were watching.
If I continue to charge so much money from others, I am afraid that others will think that I am too greedy.
Therefore, Xu Yiyang declined on the spot and persisted for a long time with righteous words before Thomas gave up the idea of giving money.
Director Cai heard that Thomas Lauter wanted to visit Yingzhou and wanted to visit Wangjiadu again, so he smiled and said: "Xiao Xu, tell Mr. Lauter that I will arrange for Santana from the Education Bureau to travel on your behalf tomorrow. , Xiaguan Town is still a bit far away from the city, and the transportation is not that convenient.”
Xu Yiyang nodded and translated Director Cai's words to Thomas Lauter.
After listening to Xu Yiyang's translation, the latter immediately thanked Director Cai.
Director Cai also enthusiastically invited Thomas and his wife to have dinner together, but Thomas Lauter declined, saying that he wanted to walk around Yingzhou with his wife.
As his translator, Xu Yiyang wanted to accompany him out of professionalism. Thomas declined him politely and said with a smile: "Xu, you have worked very hard today. Go back and have a good rest. Let's see you tomorrow morning!"
Seeing this, Xu Yiyang did not insist anymore, but made an appointment with him to meet at the guest house at eight o'clock tomorrow morning, and then rode to No. 3 Middle School to prepare to take Xu Yishan home.
(End of chapter)