This cannot comfort the former neighbours of craftsman Wang， nor himself and LuLu. He claims again that he could have prevented the suicide， and he and LuLu as well had once started business from the ground， working 24 hours a day until they no longer could， and then they established their own business. “I’ve made him an offer he refused. Why did he want to go there， just because there’s more money？ Because he could earn more with overtime？ Money isn’t everything！”
Craftsman Wang is desperate.
On the ensuing drive to the football pitch more thoughts are passing through my head， something that I overheard a few days ago， it matches somewhat LuLu’s theory on suicide and the male-female search-and-find trouble that seems to be so common. At a dinner with Chinese colleagues during which we also talked about the suicides I was told what was an absurd story from my point of view：
China’s TV is running a show where men and women may find each other. 24 young women are standing behind a podium whose front-side is lighted. A young man enters (by elevator， “floating down from the heights”) who is looking for a girlfriend or wife.
Now after the first impression – the guy is questioned a little by the moderator： Where is he coming from， where does he live， why his hair is cut so strangely， the candidate has to give some witty answers – the girls shall decide whether or not they are further interested. Those who are no longer interested switch off the lights at their podium.
Then the man is first asked about his profession， his income and his financial status (one or more apartments？). After this part， if necessary， some further candidates switch off their lights. My football friends told me that someone who apparently truthfully said that he was a baker glared at once into 24 switched-off lights - he was in the truest sense out of the game， Darkness had seized him.
After this part， biography and personal interests are being asked for. The ladies can ask questions now， interrupt， argue， the show is anything but austere， the audience is amused， laughing about all sorts of pokes and puns. The moderator is witty， aggressive， but also well informed， trained in psychology， not at all superficial. An “observer” is his sidekick who interferes without previous notice， paying a remonstrance to either the moderator or the candidate or one of the girls (ladies)， exposing someone to ridicule or making a substantial comment.
In the end， maybe three lights are on， now the candidate may choose， asking the girls this and that， and selecting.
In this phase， my colleagues tell me， one young woman had eliminated from the game because on the candidate’s question： “Who wants to bike through the city with me， talking and viewing everything？” she replied： “I’d rather sit in a BMW and talk to a man about love while crying.”
Now， the next candidate in the case I was told of said to the same woman (who was again with two others on the shortlist) that she might cry with him in the BMW， he was a millionaire (even as a millionaire， or perhaps because of that， he had relationship troubles？) and he could offer her several BMWs to choose from.
She decided (probably for other reasons) against him and in a later round took another BMW driver.
Relentlessly I commented that that was “sick”， IMHO， and the Chinese in the round nodded approvingly. China has thus on the whole developed well， one might say (sarcastically) that while in Germany we have been offered for a long time already all sorts of embarrassing shows on all channels， here now stations just feature “High Earner Wants a Wife” (actually the title is a word of wisdom in an old Chinese stylistic tradition – “four-letter words”： “Fei Cheng Wu Rao” 非诚勿扰 – a crude translation might be： “Be serious， don’t be annoying” or， closer to the point： “If you aren’t serious about it， don’t annoy me.”) One of the group said in such programmes people were stripped bare and it was hard to bear looking at how cheap they do private things in public.
At once someone else contributed another “sick” story from current society gossip： a wedding is ready， the future husband has rented eight Audis to drive the family to the restaurant where hundreds of guests are waiting.
The bride leaves the house， perceives the eight Audis and asks her fiancé why he had ordered Audis and not BMWs. He takes refuge in the white lie that only Audis were available， but the bride does not concede. At least for herself a BMW has to be rented， verily it ought to be a 745， and on the spot. Even the brother cannot persuade his sister to move away from her position.
Then says the fiancée that he had now got to know her a little better， and that he will return all eight Audis without ordering a BMW， as this was no longer necessary. And the guests should now begin to eat， but he would not be there. That’s pretty weird， but – according to the Chinese who told me – after all， not yet the rule， however， it also reflects a “sick trend.”
But as long as the suicide rate in Germany is higher than that of China， and China’s more than that of Foxconn， one could rest assured， here and there. Craftsman Wang and his wife， however， especially his former neighbours， don’t look at statistics.
I ride on to the football pitch， lost in thought， arrive just before kickoff. The pitches are partially flooded， it had indeed rained a lot the day before (remember the game was cancelled) and so until late night. Only half of the pitches are being played on， of our team only eight players have appeared， the others apparently were afraid of getting wet. I will not play yet， not wanting to take a risk that the wound should burst which is still fixed by a plaster， and I have no goalie equipment taken along， no gloves， shin guards， elbow pads， no shoes， just open sandals without socks， shorts – I was only prepared for bicycle riding and watching！ They harass me， I give in. On our side， the referee will play as well while whistling the same time. Someone from the opposing team lets me gloves. Now we are ten players.