It is true that the sculpture of the warrior soul by Ernst-Ballach, located in front of Nicholas Cathedral and the church in the city center, has stood for a hundred years after wind and rain; The story of a century-old oak tree in the suburbs is still budding and continuing; Kiel Bay, with its blue waters, is still quietly waiting for the annual sailing week, when the world sailing enthusiast Yunkiel breaks the waves; Kiel naval base has inherited the German naval dream. Saxony-class and Brandenburg-class armored ships are quietly anchored. Kiel, an important seaport city along the Baltic Sea at the starting point of Kaiser Wilhelm Canal, the capital of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, has never lacked romance and psychology. Wang Haidi seems that it is still not Plato’s utopia or Moore’s utopia.
In 1994, the aftermath of Germany’s economic crisis in 173 is about to dissipate, and the haze has gradually moved away from the unification of the German people’s empire, breaking the shackles of Germany’s economic development. This young country is full of vigor and vitality, but its rulers and people still lack experience in governing the country.
The closed and conservative rural areas have been broken, and many old-fashioned people are famous. While jumping around and cursing all new things, the nobles carefully began to invest in factories and enterprises. The factory with dark chimneys was built, and the ancient city walls were pushed to the clear water, the sand and the white Rhine gradually became dirty, and the city expanded several times like a monster that swallowed everything; Farmers were deprived of their land and driven to cities full of opportunities and disasters, and the exhaustion of oppression by new businessmen led to a 19-year strike in Ruhr and Silesia.
In the southeast corner of Kiel city, large tracts of wooden shacks and uniform mortar bungalows are piled up in disorder. Smoke wafts from the industrial area, and smoke can’t be dispersed all day long. Industrial and domestic sewage roads flow freely. Hunger and warmth are struggling for the poor to drag their tired bodies around, and the consequences brought about by excessive expansion of the city are revealed. This is a secret scar behind Kiel. There are violence, hunger, waiting and fleeing in confusion.
After the rain, the slum is far from being as graceful as people think. It is full of desperate gray tones. Heidi Selim lives in that dilapidated cabin. The moth-eaten wooden board and the old waterproof skin can’t stop the infiltration of stagnant water, accompanied by penetrating raindrops and marginal darkness, humidity and decay.
The sound of matches scratching and clapping sounded alternately. Blunt instigated the newly cultivated cigarette addiction to be put out by Anne instantly. A small piece of old newspaper and inferior tobacco leaves were suddenly scattered all over the floor. Anne, the little daughter of Wang Haidi’s neighbor, Shrek, grinned at him. If you dare to pick it up, I will fight with you desperately.
"Don’t let people pretend to be deep and play melancholy?" Although I miss the smell of cigarettes, Wang Haidi dare not test little Annie’s bottom line, so she has to take back the matchbox and carefully play with the painting tools that he regards as treasures.
Heidi Selim, a porter who just came back from the dock near dinner, stole a little leisure wooden shack while boiling water, and set up a drawing board. In the dim light outside, Haidi sat on a small bench, holding a sketching pen with a leftover pen and cocked her head to try to smooth out the waste paper and copy his impression of the world. Fifteen-year-old Anne was crouching over Haidi, bared her teeth and forced her to draw a chrysanthemum grass.
Sketch, fine brushwork, shadow shading When I was in college, I chased my little girlfriend and studied hard to practice my art skills. Anne also kept yelling at Wang Haidi’s ear to see the chrysanthemum grass, but Wang Haidi was somewhat absent-minded and distracted. A colorful and attractive KFC roast chicken printed paper. Wang Haidi remembered that he had not eaten seriously for a long time.
"Is this the chrysanthemum grass you gave me?" Annie’s pout can almost hang a soy sauce bottle. Wang Haidi is holding her hand like a stomach stand. It’s so embarrassing that someone has diverted Annie’s attention.
"There’s a letter for you from Mr. Heidi Selim." A motorized bicycle crossed the street and stopped in front of a wooden hut. The muddy path was covered in dark green. The postman took out a courier from his bag and carefully compared the house number. He shouted to Wang Haidi.
"my mail?" Wang Haidi put away her brush and was surprised. Except for Catherine, who was madly in love, Wang Haidi couldn’t think of anyone who would send a letter to him. He lived in Kiel and never lived in Kiel.
"If you are Mr. Heidi Selim," the postman said with a good-natured smile on his foot.
Wang Haidi tightened her legs and managed to fit her shoes. She limped past and took the letter from the postman.
It was a beautifully packaged letter. The white snow letter was sealed with the portrait of Humboldt brothers. Haidi guessed the source of the letter vaguely. She was afraid of being covered with lead marks and dirt. Her old clothes were wiped and wiped until the thick calluses on her fingertips were clearly visible. Heidi reached out and took the light letter.
"Congratulations, Mr. Selim-Heidi can be admitted to Berlin University. You can be regarded as a breath earned by Kiel people." The postman, who has always respected German knowledge, patted Heidi’s powerful arm with a heartfelt smile.
"Is it the University of Berlin?" Little Anne stared at her eyes and covered her mouth with surprise. "It’s Berlin University!"
The University of Berlin, formerly known as Friedrich-Wilhelm University in Berlin, is located in the center of Berlin. The former King Henrich’s Palace is the oldest university in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in 19 years by Humboldt, the most famous educator in German history. It is the starting point of the rise of Germany’s higher education. German universities practice elite education. After graduation, most of them can become government officials or employees of large enterprises. Wang Haidi can get one out of ten thousand, which means that he can escape from the desperate area of Kiel slum. In view of this, it is strange that the enthusiastic postman will applaud him.
The wealth of the second generation can’t compare with the wealth of the second generation. They can always pass the college entrance examination. With tragic psychology and foresight, Hathaway urged Wang Haidi to look at Tim Kroeger’s middle school classmates with cynicism and apply for the most cowardly traveler in the history of Berlin University. Wang Haidi finally made a great achievement that barely deserved to be a traveler.
Wang Haidi’s agitation didn’t last long. When I thought of Hathaway’s serious illness, debt and ruthlessness, Uncle Schneider’s good mood was swept away in an instant.
The postman has gone far by bike, and it seems that there is still a little admiration and praise in the wet air. Wang Haidi, who often moves heavy objects, pressed the envelope and tore it open with a complicated and tangled smile.
The letter with the principal’s personal seal and excellent quality floated out. It was neither long nor as colorful as the admission notice of Nanjing University of Science and Technology in later generations. Just like the rigorous scholarship of German universities, the letter mentioned Wang Haidi’s admission major, school date and matters needing attention, but it was such a few hundred words that Wang Haidi was overwhelmed with mixed feelings.
Wang Haidi looked at the notice and hesitated at the portrait of the Humboldt brothers in the envelope. "Is it Berlin or Kiel?"
Annie made a sudden snatch and took the letter from Wang Haidi. Although she didn’t know much, she was still curious. It seemed that she was more excited than Wang Haidi to toss and turn the thin letter paper.
"This still have to consider? Berlin, of course! "
[Notes]
The economic crisis in 1173 lasted the longest and hit hardest in the 19th century. The impact of the economic crisis lasted from 173 to the end of 19th century.
The first chapter of the first twenty years is Berlin or Kiel (3)
In the dark wooden shack, the small coal stove was on fire, and the boiling water kettle was boiling, and the hot steam was constantly rushing to squeeze the lid of the kettle. Anne was still cheering, but Haidi made a sudden snatch to take back the letter, stuffed it back into her pocket and plunged into the darkness.
A little spark flashed through the darkness with a pungent smell of white phosphorus. Haidi pulled up the kerosene lamp lampshade and lit the wick. At the moment, the dark room began to have a little light.
"There’s no lamp oil again." Looking at the kerosene left in the kerosene lamp, Wang Haidi couldn’t help but take out a few five-finned nickels in her pocket and fiddle with them to thank the dead and wounded. The 19-year strike made the empire compromise with the workers and set up a relatively perfect public welfare body, so that Wang Haidi could receive a poor bailout.
Wang Haidi, who has an accounting qualification certificate, has broken her fingers and calculated patiently. Even primary school students are disdainful of doing arithmetic so that hard life can continue.
"Looks like another expensive expense …"
"Heidi, aren’t you going to learn?" Deep in the wooden shack came the sound of old age and weakness, followed by the creaking of the bed board under pressure
It was Heidi Selim’s seriously ill mother, Hathaway, and Haidi hurried over with a kerosene lamp.
Hathaway, I have graduated from high school.
As the lights approached, Hathaway’s scrawny figure gradually emerged. In less than three months, Hathaway’s disease deteriorated sharply, and she was in the late stage of cancer. Because it was difficult to supplement nutrition, her whole body was sunken, and even the skeleton threads on her chest were clearly visible. Her hair had fallen off, leaving a bare skull and bleak lights. Hathaway was like a skeleton from hell.
Hathaway was already in the middle stage of cancer when Wang Haidi first crossed over. She hid her illness from her family, took good care of the hero and saved her head from serious injury. Wang Haidi left all the best and expensive drugs to Heidi until she never got up again. Hathaway had already lost her mind and most of the time was a little delirious, but even so, because a mother and her son could love her, she still wanted Heidi to learn.
Wang Haidi crossed over and occupied Heidi Selim for no reason. She enjoyed Hathaway and Fresi’s love without any impurities. Since she can’t go back, Wang Haidi also regards Hathaway and Fresi as her own relatives and is determined to honor them and do her duty for Heidi Selim.
"Oh, is it time for dinner?" Hathaway lisped and asked, "Is it time to eat?"
Wang Haidi nodded and dragged the small dining table covered with rags, and put the cup with brown sugar and a piece of dry brown bread together. Hathaway didn’t have the strength to eat alone. Wang Haidi picked up the old Hathaway, picked up the piece of hard brown bread, broke it into small pieces and fed it to her bit by bit with brown sugar water.
"Heidi, why don’t you eat?" Hathaway saw that her son had never touched the dishes, knives and forks, and she wondered
"I’ve eaten." After a while, the little piece of black bread disappeared from Wang Haidi’s fingertips. Wang Haidi hid in the shadow of lights and rubbed his hungry stomach. "I recently helped Mr. Shrek take care of his fruit stand, and the reward was two meals a day."