Your Distance

At two o’clock on Sunday afternoon, Bai Changyi still had not returned, and there were no new messages.

Ting Shuang opened the chat he shared with Bai Changyi. The conversation had ended more than three hours ago.

[10:19] Ting Shuang: Dear, have you met Yan Liqian?

[10:22] Bai Changyi: I talked with Mr. Yan about ballet for fifteen minutes.

[10:22] Ting Shuang:?

[12:22] Ting Shuang: He actually asked? Did you expose anything?

[10:23] Bai Changyi: No.

[10:23] Ting Shuang: You’ve read Dumas’s original works?

[10:23] Bai Changyi: No, I spent a long time making up things about ballet skills.

[10:23] Ting Shuang: The mouth of a professor.

[10:23] Ting Shuang: Oh yes, is Weng Yunyi here?

[10:23] Bai Changyi: No.

[10:23] Bai Changyi: Also, I’ve never met the person next to Mr. Yan.

[10:23] Bai Changyi: Let’s not talk about it for now.

[10:23]Ting Shuang: [OK]

[10:40] Bai Changyi: People from HAAS have arrived. They probably came directly from the airport.

[10:40] Ting Shuang: What did HAAS come to talk about?

[10:58] Bai Changyi: For the time being, I don’t know.

[10:58] Bai Changyi: I am signing a non-disclosure agreement.

[10:58] Ting Shuang: Non-disclosure agreement? What are you talking about that requires you to sign a confidentiality agreement?

The chat ended here.

Ting Shuang organised his thoughts. The night before, Yan Liqian had told Bai Changyi that the relevant personnel from HAAS in Germany would arrive in China on Sunday morning. RoboRun, HAAS and LRM have always stayed on friendly cooperative terms, so he hoped Bai Changyi could join the meeting on Sunday.

The statement didn’t seem to contain any falsehoods.

Indeed, at the Robot Industry Exhibition in Hannover, the three of them were joint exhibitors, and had continued to cooperate on projects over the past two years. If there were representatives from HAAS coming to China, and Bai Changyi also happened to be in China, then it would be natural for the three parties to have brunch together.

What was abnormal was that the European side of business was not under Yan Liqian’s control at all.

RoboRun had a department specifically responsible for the European side of business, but Bai Changyi said that he had never met the person beside Yan Liqian before, so it was very likely that the person Yan Liqian had brought was not one of the company’s employees who had always been in charge of the European side of business.

So what exactly did Yan Liqian want to talk about with the people from HAAS…

Ting Shuang glanced at the time on the phone. 14:10. It was time to go to the hospital.

When he arrived at the hospital, there were still twenty minutes before visiting hours started, and Weng Yunyi and Zhu Wenjia were both there.

Of the three people, only a maximum of two could enter.

If it were in the past, Ting Shuang would be embarrassed to fight for it, and would let Weng Yunyi and Zhu Wenjia in, but now—

“Zhu Wenjia, before I left yesterday, dad said he still had something to tell the two of us brothers. Let’s go in together later?” Ting Shuang hooked an arm around Zhu Wenjia’s shoulder, pulling him aside.

“Ting Shuang.” Weng Yunyi said, “Since your father woke up, I haven’t seen him.”

“Auntie.” Ting Shuang smiled, “Haven’t you seen enough of him before he woke up? During that time, you were the only one who could see him, and no one else could even if they wanted to.”

“Ge—” Zhu Wenjia yelled, telling Ting Shuang not to let loose on Weng Yunyi, “Mom, Ge, how about you two go in, I can just stay outside.”

It was inconvenient for Ting Shuang to ask Zhu Ao things in front of Weng Yunyi, and Weng Yunyi had things she was hiding in her heart, and was also unwilling to enter the ICU with Ting Shuang.

At three o’clock, the two of them were still in a stalemate, and the nurse was watching them from the sidelines, unable to do anything.

As the scene unfolded, it only became more and more ridiculous. Ting Shuang watched as the visitation time went by, second by second, minute by minute. Both him and Weng Yunyi stayed outside the ICU, refusing to give in, so no one could enter.

“Auntie, there’s no point in doing this.” Ting Shuang said, “If this happens every afternoon, then no one would be able to visit my dad. Or should we compromise a little and go in together?”

Weng Yunyi looked a little unsure, and hesitated for a while before agreeing.

She had to go in. Without seeing Zhu Ao’s current condition, she wouldn’t be able to make the next decision.

Ting Shuang had already met Zhu Ao yesterday, so he didn’t think anything was hard to accept when he entered this time round. He sat in front of Zhu Ao’s bed, “Dad, Auntie is here too.”

Zhu Ao saw Weng Yunyi and said a few unclear words.

Half-dead.

Weng Yunyi didn’t immediately approach him. She lowered her head to look at her nails, hiding her eyes under thick eyelashes coated by cosmetics.

She was much younger than Zhu Ao, and had maintained herself well over the years. As soon as she came in, Zhu Ao seemed even older.

“Auntie, what do you think?” Ting Shuang said, “If you have something to say, please say it quickly. My dad will get sleepy in a while.”

Zhu Ao stared at Ting Shuang, without much intensity behind it.

Ting Shuang gave up the chair for Weng Yunyi to sit on, and stood against the wall in the corner of the room, such that the entire room entered his field of vision.

Red-eyed, Weng Yunyi calmly made some unimportant remarks, and also carefully and thoughtfully helped Zhu Ao wipe off the saliva at the corner of his mouth.

She had made her decision.

She could spend twenty minutes wiping off Zhu Ao’s saliva like today, but she would never spend a lifetime doing so.

She loved the founder of Roborun very much. If Zhu Ao was living healthily, then she would have been happy to hold Zhu Ao’s arm at the company’s annual meeting and be his loving wife. If Zhu Ao died, then she’d also be happy to be his grieving widow, and take over his unfinished business. But this was not the case now. The last thing she wanted to do was babysit him.

Besides, there was Lil’ Jia. Lil’ Jia was too innocent, so she had to plan for him. Every time she thought of her son, her weak and slender body would be filled with strength. Like how women became strong when they became mothers.

“Auntie, are you done?” Ting Shuang said, “If you’re done, it’s my turn.”

Weng Yunyi stood up, but didn’t look like she was going to leave.

“I have some things I want to tell my dad in private.” Ting Shuang sat on the bed and smiled back at Weng Yunyi, “A talk between men.”

Weng Yunyi didn’t move, only wiped the corner of her eyes, “I want to see more of your dad. It’s okay, you can talk, I won’t bother you.”

You won’t bother us? Inwardly, Ting Shuang rolled his eyes and thought, you are the most bothersome one here.

“Dad, when was your first time?” Ting Shuang acted like a hooligan, “Was it thrilling? Is there a big difference between doing it with a woman and doing it with a man?”