After everything was ready, on the morning of January 25, 2009, the Chinese New Year's Eve, Lu Wenbin drove his Mercedes-Benz S600 with the trunk and back seat filled with gifts, and headed east under Kate's command.
In the car, Kate revealed that her home was in a town in Neumarkt County, Upper Palatinate Administrative Region, Bavaria, east of Sinsheim. The name of the town was Dietfurt, about 260 kilometers away from Rhine-Neckar County.
Kate's full name is Kate Biddle, and Biddle is her family's surname.
Her father, Armand Biddle, is the mayor of Dietfurt, her mother, Marie Biddle, is the owner and chief designer of a mid-range architectural design company in Munich, the capital of Bavaria, and her younger brother, Milo Biddle, is studying at a high school in Munich.
So, Kate's family is considered a wealthy family, but not super-rich. At least Lu Wenbin, who is now a big star, earns as much money every year as Kate's mother Mary.
If Lu Wenbin can really lead Hoffenheim to win the Bundesliga championship, the increase in salary and the influx of commercial endorsements will make his income surpass Kate's family.
This made Lu Wenbin feel relieved.
However, Lu Wenbin had never heard of the place called Dietfurt and had no impression of it.
Kate didn't give him any further introduction, but just told Lu Wenbin that he would be surprised when he arrived in Dietfurt.
There is no speed limit on German highways. In less than two hours, the two passed Nuremberg, turned south, and got off the highway at an exit near Dietfurt.
After exiting the highway, Kate asked Lu Wenbin to park on the side of the road, switch seats, and let her drive.
Because she was afraid that Lu Wenbin would be distracted after entering Dietfurt and would not be able to concentrate on driving.
Confused, Lu Wenbin gave the driving seat to Kate, not understanding what in Dietford could distract him.
Is Dietfurt a very beautiful tourist town with beautiful scenery
Kate did not answer Lu Wenbin and continued to remain mysterious.
After driving on the Neumarkt County Road for more than ten minutes, when the car was about to enter the town of Dietford where Kate's home was located, Lu Wenbin was startled by a stone tablet at the entrance of the town.
At the entrance of the town, there is a stone tablet several meters high, on which the longitude and latitude of Dietfurt and Beijing are clearly marked in both Chinese and German, and "Detfurt is 7698 km away from Tiananmen Square, Beijing" is engraved in large fonts.
Lu Wenbin pointed at the stone tablet in surprise and asked Kate, "What's going on?"
Kate laughed and said, "It means exactly what it says. This place is 7698km away from Tiananmen Square in Beijing!"
Lu Wenbin shook his head repeatedly and said, "No, no, I'm asking why you erected such a stone tablet and marked the distance in both Chinese and German. Is there any special meaning?"
Kate smiled and said, "The meaning is to tell the town and everyone who comes to Dietfurt that it is 7,698 kilometers away from our capital!"
Lu Wenbin was stunned and asked blankly: "Your capital?"
Kate nodded and said, "Yes, we are Chinese in Bavaria! Therefore, Beijing is our capital!"
Lu Wenbin looked at the stone tablet, then looked at Kate with a smile on her face, and couldn't tell whether what Kate said was true or false.
But the sudden appearance of such a stone tablet on German soil made Lu Wenbin feel really incredible.
Next, Kate drove slowly into the town, and Lu Wenbin was so shocked that he was speechless.
The roofs of houses along the roadside are hung with Chinese-style lanterns and colorful flags with Chinese dragons painted on them, or simply the five-star red flag.
The restaurant sign is in Chinese, not German, and customers eat with chopsticks, not knives and forks.
There are also many people pasting the word "Fu" and Spring Festival couplets on the doors and windows. Children wearing Chinese-style jackets are running around on both sides of the streets, and adults are also wearing various festive Fu gowns, cheongsams, etc.
Many colorful flags and banners on the streets read in Chinese: "Hi, Chinese!", "Hello, Chinese!", "Happy New Year!", etc.
A joyful scene of a small Chinese town welcoming New Year's Eve and the Spring Festival.
However, Lu Wenbin clearly saw that all the people in the town were Germans, and there was almost no Chinese.
Kate opened the car window and greeted pedestrians on the road in Chinese instead of German.
Some people saw Lu Wenbin in the passenger seat and greeted him in fluent or broken Chinese: "Hi, Chinese, hello!"
Lu Wenbin replied stupidly: "Hello, hello!"
Kate told Lu Wenbin that the official language of this town is Chinese. Although some people do not speak standard Chinese or even cannot speak it at all, they are proud to speak Chinese fluently.
When passing by a place that looked like a government office building, there was a statue of a Qing Dynasty official with a mustache standing in front of the door, watching the pedestrians coming and going.
Lu Wenbin also saw two Chinese cultural museums and a Chinese school, all with slogans written in Chinese.
After the huge shock, what Lu Wenbin felt was a strong sense of intimacy.
Although if you look closely, many things here have changed and are certainly not as authentic as those in a real Chinese town.
But in Europe and Germany, Lu Wenbin felt extremely excited to see such a small town full of strong Chinese style and to celebrate the Spring Festival in such a small town.
After Kate parked her car in front of a villa not far from the town government office building, a couple and a boy about 16 years old in the villa heard the sound of a car and walked out of the villa.
After Lu Wenbin got out of the passenger seat, the boy's eyes lit up and he rushed towards Lu Wenbin, shouting in broken Chinese as he ran: "Wow, Lu, brother-in-law, my idol!"
Then, he ran closer and leaped over Lu Wenbin.
Lu Wenbin hugged him and said with a smile: “Hello, you must be Milo?”
Milo nodded vigorously and said, "Welcome to my house for the New Year, Lu! You are such a great football player. I used to be a Bayern fan, but now I am a Hoffenheim fan and your fan. Many of my classmates have changed camps with me and support Hoffenheim!"
Lu Wenbin put Milo down and said with a smile: "Thank you!"
At this time, Kate got out of the driver's seat, pulled Lu Wenbin and said, "Let's go, I'll introduce my parents to you!"
Lu Wenbin followed Kate to the door of the villa, and Milo followed behind.
Walking up to Armand and Mary, who were smiling at each other at the door of the villa, Kate introduced both parties. Lu Wenbin greeted them, and Armand and Mary also welcomed Lu Wenbin in fluent Chinese.
Afterwards, Armand and Mary invited Lu Wenbin into the house, but Lu Wenbin said there were many gifts in the car.
Then, Lu Wenbin, Kate and Milo returned to the car and took out bags of gifts.
Although Armand and Mary said polite words, their faces were full of smiles, and they seemed to be very satisfied with Lu Wenbin, their daughter's boyfriend.
(Dietford is not a fabrication. If you don’t believe it, you can check it on Baidu.)