Your Distance

When Ting Shuang woke up, Zhu Wenjia was waiting for his coffee to be prepared next to the coffee machine.

Ting Shuang said, “Up so early? That’s rare.”

Zhu Wenjia said, “I’ll sleep after drinking some coffee.”

“You gamed all night?” Ting Shuang walked over and took away Zhu Wenjia’s coffee. “Don’t drink anymore, hurry and go to sleep.”

Zhu Wenjia took another cup and said, “You’re going to class again?”

Ting Shuang said, “What does ‘going to class again’ mean? I have class every day.”

Zhu Wenjia was not interested in his lessons, and started frowning after drinking two sips of coffee, “How’s Mr. C?”

Ting Shuang said, “What do you mean by how’s Mr. C?”

Zhu Wenjia said, “Hey, you’re playing dumb with me again. How have your chats been going? Have you sent each other photos? Or videos? Is he handsome?”

Ting Shuang said, “Not so soon. I feel like he’s not someone who’d rush into things.”

Zhu Wenjia said, “At that old age, can he afford to not rush? You don’t need someone who won’t rush into things, you’re looking for a man, not a father. What does he do?(1)“

Ting Shuang said, “I didn’t ask. I don’t want to inquire about his private matters. That’s enough talking, I’ll go check my email. You should go to bed.”

He refreshed his email ten times, but there was still no reply. Ting Shuang had to pack up to ride his bicycle to school, intending to plead to the professor face to face, like what he told Cycle yesterday.

Perhaps it was because of how Cycle had worn a western-style suit in his profile picture, but on the way to school, Ting Shuang would slow down for a second look whenever he saw a man wearing a suit. They lived only 4.8 kilometres apart, so it was quite possible for them to encounter each other on the way to work and school. After looking at a few people, he remembered that the picture was taken in a car so Cycle likely drove to work. Thus, he stopped watching the people on the road, in exchange for the more important task of getting to the classroom early to wait for the professor.

Robotik starts at 8:15, in classroom S17.

Ting Shuang reached S17 at 7:45, and there was no one in the classroom. At 8:02, Song Xin arrived, sat next to him and asked, “Did the professor get back to you?”

Ting Shuang shook his head.

In his heart, Song Xin shed a sympathetic tear for Ting Shuang: This buddy here’s most likely going to die.

At 8:10, the classroom was almost full, and the professor had not arrived yet. Ting Shuang was unbearably nervous, reckoning that he had no chance of talking to the professor before class started. So he turned to Song Xin, who was beside him. “Let me through, I’m going out for a smoke.”

Song Xin glanced at the clock on the wall in the classroom and said, “Hurry up.”

Ting Shuang ran to the entrance of the classroom block, stood next to the trash can, lit a cigarette, and stared at the time displayed on his phone screen while smoking. When the time on the screen showed 8:14, he extinguished the unfinished cigarette on gravel and hurried back to the classroom.

The classroom door was closed.

Ting Shuang grasped the doorknob, pushed the door inward, and met a block of resistance—

Not good!

He’d hit someone.

Ting Shuang quickly pulled the door back a little and uttered an apology in German.

The two seconds that elapsed after hitting that person felt like forever. Ting Shuang first saw the back of the person he had hit. From bottom-up: the back of his leather shoes, straight trousers, a suit jacket that was just slightly narrower at the waist and gave off a comfortable feel, and broad shoulders. The collar of a light blue shirt peeked out from the lapel of the gray suit, and the hair extending from the upper part of his neck to the back of his head was trimmed neatly, its edges tidy.

Ting Shuang also noticed a metallic chain at the back of his neck. From the back, he thought it was a necklace, but when the man turned around, he realised it was a spectacle chain hanging from its frame.

The man wore a pair of rimless glasses, its lenses shielding his slanted eyes. Above the glasses, his straight eyebrows stretched towards his temples. There was no stray hair, and his eyebrows looked as clean and tidy as his hair. Below the spectacle frame was a high-bridged nose, under which were a pair of lightly coloured lips. No beard. The outline of his chin gave off a gentle vibe.

An asian-looking face.

Mature. Someone who didn’t look at others with lustful eyes. Attractive.

Ting Shuang stared at him, stunned, before subconsciously saying in Chinese, “I’m sorry.”

The classroom was filled with good natured laughter.

The person that was knocked into looked downwards at Ting Shuang, smiled, and humorously quipped in German: “I thought I would always be the last person to step into the classroom.”

Laughter rang out again.

Ting Shuang quickly lowered his head and ran towards his seat under everyone’s gaze. When he sat down, he realised that his hands were sweaty.

Song Xin whispered to him, “You did realise that he was the professor, right?”

“How could I not? That’d be too dumb.” Ting Shuang casually took out his pen and spun it twice, thinking, shit, he was actually so dumb that he didn’t realise that was the professor!

Ting Shuang took two deep breaths to calm himself down, then looked towards the podium.

After welcoming the ladies and gentlemen to class, the professor began to write on the blackboard while giving his lecture.

Before actually seeing the professor conduct lessons in class, Ting Shuang imagined that it would be extremely boring, with an unhumourous and stoic professor and zero interaction with students. The professor would uneventfully conduct a lecture for ninety minutes, and all the students in the classroom would have only come to class for credits.

But unexpectedly, his classes were very interesting.

Firstly, he spoke perfect German at a suitable speed, and emphasised all the key points; secondly, he was the kind of professor who would write and talk at the same time. The key points could be basically be found on the blackboard, and his drawing skills were good; finally, he paid attention to the students’ reactions and discussed societal situations with them, making jokes whenever appropriate.

The more time Ting Shuang spent listening to the lesson, the more he felt as if the professor wasn’t as perverted as he thought he was… Who knows, maybe when he went to talk to the professor after class, everything would turn out all right…

“I feel like this course isn’t as dreadful as the legends made it out to be. I can understand more than half of it, so I should be able to pass after reviewing my notes after class.” Ting Shuang said in a low voice to Song Xin.

Song Xin said, “Do you think he’d teach you one plus one equals two, and then test you on what’s two plus two?”

Ting Shuang said, “So he tests what’s four plus four?”

Song Xin said, “Hehe, he teaches you one plus one equals two, and then tests you on what’s fifty eight thousand four hundred and sixty-seven multiplied by six hundred and sixty nine thousand three hundred and twenty-four.”

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Ting Shuang: ?

Song Xin said, “When I said that I didn’t manage to take down everything last lesson, did you think that I couldn’t even finish copying what’s on the blackboard? In this course, what’s on the blackboard is just a skeleton. You’d have to fully understand the skeleton in order to move on to learning about the flesh and skin, and here’s the thing, but the professor never directly tests the skeleton.”

Ting Shuang said, “… Then go understand the flesh and skin.”

Song Xin said, “He also doesn’t test the flesh and skin. He tests hair, nails, and everything you didn’t do a review on.”

Bai Changyi glanced towards them, and Song Xin immediately shut up, immersing himself in taking notes.

Ting Shuang started becoming nervous again.

At 9:40, five minutes before class ended, Bai Changyi washed his hands, took out the nominal roll, and started taking attendance.

Most of the students in the classroom were German students, but there are also many international students from other countries. Bai Changyi was not like the other professors that could not pronounce the names of the international students. He would pronounce those names according to the foreign students ’native language, and if it was not correct, he would ask the student to teach him how to read it again.

Ting Shuang waited for a long time before the professor finished taking attendance and announced the end of class. The professor did not call out his name.

Everyone started packing up, and slowly left the classroom one after another. Bai Changyi also answered the queries of two students, and began organising his lecture script at the desk.

Song Xin said, “What’s your plan?”

Ting Shuang looked at the person on the podium and said, “You go on first.”

Song Xin could sympathize with him, “Viel Glück.①”

Ting Shuang distractedly “mm”ed.

Song Xin also left.

There was only the Bai Changyi, who was getting ready to leave, and Ting Shuang, who felt like he was about to get executed, left in the classroom. Seeing that Bai Chang was almost out of the classroom, Ting Shuang swung his bagpack onto his bag, strode up and shouted, “Professor.”

Bai Changyi stopped and waited for Ting Shuang at the entrance.

Ting Shuang hurried over and said in unsteady German: “Professor… when you took attendance just now, you didn’t seem to call me… I didn’t hear my name.”

Bai Changyi said, “What’s your name?”

Ting Shuang said, “Ting Shuang. Ting is my surname.”

Bai Changyi said, “OK. Ting(2), you did not attend the first class on Monday morning.”

Ting Shuang said, “Yes, I had fallen sick. I sent you an email.”

Bai Changyi looked down at Ting Shuang through his glasses and said, “And I believe you would’ve received my response.”

In an instant, Ting Shuang felt a tremendous amount of pressure.

The professor didn’t give him time to plead.

But if he really had to wait until next year to retake the course, his graduation would need to be pushed back. Part of the money Ting Shuang had for studying abroad was saved when he was an undergraduate, and part of it was from his part-time job in Germany. As a student visa holder, he could only work legally for up to 20 hours a week. The money he earned could not cover all his expenses. The biggest problem with postponing graduation was that when his visa needed to be extended, his bank account would likely not have enough to act as his proof of funding for the entirety of his stay, and he would not be able to extend his visa.

In just a few seconds, Ting Shuang had already derived a killer equation–

Retaking the course = Repatriation

No matter what, he could not retake the course.

Ting Shuang swallowed a mouthful of saliva, slightly tilted his head up to look at Bai Changyi, and not-very-fluently said, “The reason you asked me to retake the course was that… I would not be able to understand the following lessons if I missed the first one. But I don’t think… I lack the ability to understand today’s lesson. “

Bai Changyi continued looking down at Ting Shuang, patiently listening until he finished speaking, and then said, “Well then, please explain what you’ve understood of the course.” Then, he gave him a gesture that said “start”.

“Today… this course…” Ting Shuang’s mind suddenly went blank.

He thought pleading meant just pleading, but he didn’t expect that after pleading with the professor for so long, he’d get tested on the content of the examination that was happening at the end of the week one week in advance. Now he did not even have time to revise.

Bai Changyi waited for a minute before saying “Ting?”

“I …” Ting Shuang stuttered out a few occupational phrases, but no matter what he couldn’t think of a correct understanding of the course. Plus, he was so anxious that he couldn’t even remember the key points of today’s class. In his brain swirled relevant concepts in Chinese, English, and German. After struggling for a long time, he still couldn’t come up with a proper answer.

“I’m sorry…” Ting Shuang lowered his head, and did not dare to meet Bai Changyi’s eyes again.

Bai Changyi’s voice came from above: “I think we have gotten the reply to your second email.”

Footsteps sounded.

Then faded with distance.

Only Ting Shuang was left standing alone at his original position.

This time, he could not blame it on the professor being perverted. It was him who was incompetent.

He stood still for a long time before walking slowly to the cafe. He hadn’t had breakfast yet. At the cafe, looking at the red and white meat sausages, pork chops, turkey steaks, and bread… he realized that he had no appetite, so he bought just a cup of coffee, sat on the grass outside and basked in the sun.

Breaking up with Liang Zhengxuan did not feel as bad as this.

Accepting your own incompetence is probably the hardest. It would feel worse than breaking up with your lover, being put down by others, and lacking support.

The sun became hotter and hotter, making him feel faint. But even then, Ting Shuang was still  uncontrollably thinking about the answer to the professor’s question. This was the human brain. Though the time he had to submit his answer had already passed, his brain was still unwilling to give up answering questions even though there was no need for that anymore.

Suddenly, there was a vibration from his pants pocket, and Ting Shuang’s train of thought was interrupted. He fished out his cell phone to find a notification of a message on it.

【Distance】7 people have just ‘like’d you. Come and see who they are!

Ting Shuang didn’t want to know who the seven people were. But… he suddenly thought of Cycle. When he was schooling, did Cycle experience this kind of thing? Or was he the only piece of trash?

He opened Distance and sent a voice message to Cycle: “Are you at work? If you don’t have time, you don’t have to reply to me… Today I… Sigh, why am I so useless? I couldn’t even get a few sentences out of my mouth… The professor gave me a chance… “

After sending that message, Ting Shuang stared at Cycle’s profile picture for a while, before suddenly noticing the distance between the two of them.

506 metres.

506…

Metres!

The distance between him and Cycle was no longer displayed using kilometres.

Ting Shuang suddenly felt a thrill. He immediately stood up, scanning the surrounding classroom blocks, laboratories, library, canteen, parade square and field… Cycle was near.

He was within the school compounds.