Your Distance

After leaving the hospital, Ting Shuang took a car to the city center square by himself to bask in the sun for a while, trying to get rid of the sadness he had brought out of the ward. Then he brought hot coffee back to the hotel to comfort Bai Changyi, who had been working all day.

“Babe.” Ting Shuang went over to kiss Bai Changyi and eagerly massaged the source of free labour’s shoulders. “How’s it progressing? Did it make you think of the time when you used to apply for research funding?”

“It’s not the same.” Bai Changyi opened up a document, “I didn’t have anyone to supervise me in the past, so my efficiency was not as high as it is now.”

“You’re finished? Which world did such a gem like you come from?” Ting Shuang exclaimed, “But why is it written in English?”

After asking him, he immediately understood. When it came to professional work, Bai Changyi usually wrote things like his teaching materials, published papers, and project plans in English and German. If he had to change and write in Chinese now, his speed would definitely be slower. It might not even be as accurate as his English.

Ting Shuang quickly flipped through the pages and browsed through the general content, “How about I translate it? You go take a rest.”

“You aren’t a professional translator.” Bai Changyi said, “RoboRun has a professional translator, so just give them the English version. LRM always communicates with them directly in English.”

“Mm.” Ting Shuang made a sound in response, and sat down on Bai Changyi’s lap, holding the laptop as he continued reading the document.

“How is your dad?” Bai Changyi asked.

The whole time after returning home, Ting Shuang had not brought up Zhu Ao.

“… Not so good.” Ting Shuang said, “He did wake up, but it is unlikely that he’ll recover fully. I tried to convince him today that he would be able to make a full recovery, but actually the doctor said that he might have to be wheelchair-bound for a long time afterwards. Even after recovering, walking would still be harder than it was before, and he may have to use crutches.”

After saying all that, Ting Shuang put down the computer, turned around, and wrapped his legs around Bai Changyi’s waist, “Ten days left, then you’ll return to Germany. Mm… So we…”

“What do you plan to do?” Bai Changyi asked.

“I think… We may need to go long-distance for a while.” Ting Shuang said.

“Okay, got it.” Bai Changyi said.

Ting Shuang kissed Bai Changyi, “You don’t have any problems with that?”

“No.” Bai Changyi kissed back, “I don’t believe you do either.”

After they ended the kiss, they continued working separately.

Bai Changyi still had to deal with matters in the LRM, and Ting Shuang had to sort out his speculations about RoboRun‘s situation and brainstorm solutions to deal with it.

“Compared to ‘hominology’, I suddenly feel like robotics isn’t difficult at all(1).” A few hours into drawing and writing, Ting Shuang suddenly complained, “Humans are too damn complicated.”

Bai Changyi walked over to see that Ting Shuang actually drew a mindmap of people with intertwined interests. The central figure was Zhu Ao, and the people surrounding him all had their respective interests indicated beside them, along with the means they could possibly use to achieve them.

“Aunt Wang still refuses to see me or tell me anything useful.” Ting Shuang pointed to ‘Secretary Wang Aiqing’ on the mindmap. “Logically, this shouldn’t be the case. She watched me grow up, and has always liked me. When I was a child, she even participated in my parents’ meeting on behalf of my dad. She should be on my dad’s side. If she was the kind of person who can be bought over easily during a critical situation, my dad would not let her stay by his side for so many years… I also tried to contact several other old employees who knew me, and they weren’t very clear about the situation. I don’t know if they really don’t know or if they are conspiring to hide it from someone… Damn, I really can’t figure it out. My head hurts.”

It was already dark. Bai Changyi glanced at his watch to see that it was eight o’clock, “Go downstairs to grab a bite first, and think about it afterwards. Put on thicker clothes.”

“Mm.” Ting Shuang casually grabbed a coat, tied the sleeves around his neck, put on his sneakers, and followed Bai Changyi downstairs, “Let’s find a place to eat wontons.”

The two of them took a taxi to Ting Shuang’s middle school.

There was a wonton shop in front of the school. He wasn’t sure how long it had been operating.

“You’re here today?” The store owner greeted Ting Shuang familiarly, “You’ll be in your third year of high school when school starts, right?”

“Mm, I’ll be a third year once school reopens.” Ting Shuang responded with a smile, “I brought my uncle along for some wontons.”

After ordering the wontons, Ting Shuang sat down in a seat in the corner, and talked to Bai Changyi in a low voice, “After I graduated from high school, I came back to eat wontons every summer vacation. The boss always asks me that. This is already the sixth year. I really can’t be bothered to correct him anymore.”

Bai Changyi said, “My nephew looks very young.”

Ting Shuang laughed, “My Uncle Bai isn’t that old either.”

Two large bowls of wontons arrived. The soup was spicy, and when you picked up a wonton with chopsticks, soup dripped from the wonton skin. Biting down, the wontons were chewy and the meat fillings were delicate and delicious. Taking a sip of the soup after, it was perfect.

“I’ve been coming here to eat this ever since I was a child. After so many years, the taste still hasn’t changed.” Ting Shuang ate another wonton. “So I think, it’s just that the boss’s life hasn’t changed, so year after year, to him, each summer vacation is the same as the one before I entered my third year of high school. It isn’t bad.”

Halfway through the wontons, Bai Changyi’s phone rang.

He glanced at it and showed the phone’s screen to Ting Shuang.

On the screen display, the sender of the message was Yan Liqian. He asked if it was convenient for Bai Changyi to answer a call.

“Yan Liqian is contacting you? It’s probably because he’s been thinking about the new project you brought after your previous meeting.” Ting Shuang continued holding up the wonton with his chopsticks as he thought about it, “Tell him that you’re watching a ballet in the theater and can’t answer the phone for two hours. Ask him to message you.”

“Ballet?” Bai Changyi glanced around the wonton shop they were in, “You sure know how to make things up.”

“I didn’t make it up. I saw a poster in the city center this afternoon. There is indeed a ballet in the Grand Theater tonight, ‘La Traviata’.” Ting Shuang put the wonton into his mouth, “Don’t worry, it won’t hurt your reputation of the great Professor Bai.”

After Bai Changyi replied, a message from Yan Liqian quickly came, asking if Bai Changyi would be free tomorrow to have brunch together.

“Sunday is tomorrow, brunch… That’s so sudden…” Ting Shuang pondered, “How about this, tell him that you haven’t been in China for a long time, so you had plans to visit the nearby attractions over the next few days. You want to wait until next week before you start talking about work, so if he’s not in a hurry, you can have dinner together next Wednesday. You’ll treat him.”

Bai Changyi said, “He might prefer to meet with me before Monday.”

“Yes,” Ting Shuang said, “Let’s see how he responds.”