Your Distance

Reporting and filing of the case ended quickly. Ting Shuang had already written a statement, and the relevant documents had all been prepared. They were in the document file that he had turned in together with the evidence. As for the legal follow-up procedures, they would be handed over to lawyers.

When Ting Shuang exited the Public Security Bureau, the gray sky had cracked open, sunlight shining through the crack and onto his shoulder.

“Ah, it’s clearing up.” He stretched, and from his pocket, fetched the cigarette that he had just asked a policeman for.

When he’d asked, the policeman had laughed and said that only those being arrested would ask for a cigarette when they couldn’t withstand the pressure. He was the one who reported the case, so why would he ask for a cigarette?

Putting people in prison was also quite stressful. After saying that, he sniffed the cigarette and continued giving his testimony. Until the end, he didn’t light the cigarette.

Now, he stood at the door of the Public Security Bureau, asked a passerby to borrow a lighter, then lit the cigarette. He slowly finished smoking it, then sent a message to Zhu Wenjia: I didn’t do what I promised you, hire a good lawyer for your mum.

When the message was sent, he turned off his phone, stubbed out the cigarette, hailed a car, made a trip to the jewelry store first, then went to the hospital to visit his dad.

He thought that he would be the only one visiting that afternoon, but unexpectedly, Zhu Wenjia had arrived just a few minutes before three.

The two of them stayed ten steps away from each other, not speaking. Occasionally, a doctor or nurse would pass by, and they’d disappear from each other’s sight, then reappear abruptly.

Ting Shuang was first to turn away his gaze, looking to the side.

Zhu Wenjia stood where he was for a few seconds before walking over, “I called and asked my mother about what happened.”

Ting Shuang said, “Mm.”

Zhu Wenjia paused, “She might be sentenced.”

Ting Shuang said, “I know.”

“You knew?” Zhu Wenjia’s punch landed on Ting Shuang’s face.

You fucking knew, yet you still reported the crime?

The next second, Ting Shuang returned a punch to Zhu Wenjia’s face, “Don’t you know?”

Don’t you fucking know that it’s something she should be sentenced for?

“What are you doing? This is the hospital.” The nurse walked over quickly. “Are you here to visit or fight?”

“He deserves a beating.” Ting Shuang said.

“You’re the one who fucking deserves a beating.” Zhu Wenjia said, covering his face.

“Fight outside,” The nurse said.

“It’s fine, we’re done fighting.” Ting Shuang looked at Zhu Wenjia with a cold expression, “Right?”

Zhu Wenjia reluctantly said, “… Mm.”

After each getting punched once, it seemed like for both of them, a bit of weight had been lifted from their souls.

The nurse checked the time and said, “You can go in for visitation now.”

Ting Shuang and Zhu Wenjia did not move.

“About what happened the past two days, let’s discuss whether or not to talk about it, and how much we should say before going in.” Ting Shuang was afraid that overly specific details would aggravate Zhu Ao.

Zhu Wenjia adopted a mocking tone, “You’re afraid that I’ll go in and tell the old man everything? Anyway, he only has you in his eyes.”

“So you threw his will and my credentials into the shredder?” Ting Shuang’s voice didn’t shake at all.

“If there was even one thing about me in that safe, then I’ll let you throw it away too.” Zhu Wenjia remembered how the safe had Ting Shuang’s birthday as its password. There were photos of Ting Shuang when he was a child, and he had also written down all the properties under his name that would be inherited by Ting Shuang in the will. In addition to that was a certificate Ting Shuang had won by getting second place in a football match in high school.

It seemed as if his father only had one son, Ting Shuang.

In truth, he knew that there was no benefit to throwing the will into the paper shredder. It was just one copy of many. The law firm and the safe in the bank also contained backup copies. Besides, his father was awake now and didn’t need the will at all. He also knew that there was no reason to throw Ting Shuang’s high school certificate into the shredder, but he just couldn’t help it.

“I’m not going in anymore.” Zhu Wenjia said, “You can go in by yourself.”

Ting Shuang remained silent for a moment, “Then what are you doing here?”

“I don’t know.” Zhu Wenjia thought for a while, “If not here, I don’t know where else to go.”

He really had nowhere to go. After spending a few years abroad, he didn’t have a single genuine friend in China. As for his mother’s side, everyone was so busy that no one could meet him.

Ting Shuang accompanied Zhu Ao in the ward for nearly an hour. Zhu Wenjia was still standing in the corridor when he exited.

“How is he?” Zhu Wenjia asked.

“He?” Ting Shuang said, “Who are you talking about?”

“You know who I’m talking about.” Zhu Wenjia lowered his voice, “Dad.”

“He can remain awake for longer periods of time now. He didn’t fall asleep the entire time I was inside.” Ting Shuang started walking out, “A transfer to the general ward should be possible in two days. I haven’t told him about the past two days. I told him nothing happened, so he can rest assured.”

Zhu Wenjia followed behind Ting Shuang without a word.

The two of them walked for a while, before ending up at the two trees on the opposite sides of the street, just like the previous time. Ting Shuang said, “In the ward just now, I asked Dad why there weren’t any of your things in the safe.”

Zhu Wenjia continued on for more than ten meters in silence before sneering, “Well, that’s because you are fucking amazing. You’re like him. I’m not like him. I’m just a piece of trash that only knows how to be a disappointment to the family.”

Like Zhu Wenjia had done just now, Ting Shuang also continued on for more than ten meters in silence. Then he said, “If I told you that there’s another cabinet under the other side of the desk, and that there’s also an identical safe in that cabinet, except that the password is your birthday… Would you regret it?”

Zhu Wenjia froze in place.

Plonk.

""

After the rain, water had gathered on the leaves, and a large drop of water suddenly fell and hit his face. The sound it made was almost as loud as a slap to his face.

“Even your mother doesn’t know the passwords to these two safes.” In his peripheral vision, Ting Shuang sensed that Zhu Wenjia wasn’t moving anymore, but he did not stop to wait.

If you had known that there was another safe that belonged to you, would your choice have been different?

Ting Shuang wanted to ask that, but he didn’t. His back to Zhu Wenjia, he just said, “Go open it.”

Zhu Wenjia didn’t know how he got home.

He rushed into the study, located the other cabinet with a safe, opened it, and turned the dial of the safe with regards to his birthday just like Ting Shuang had taught him last time.

The handle turned, the code was correct, and the safe opened.

Just like Ting Shuang’s safe, there were some documents and envelopes in it. Zhu Wenjia opened a thick envelope and found that it was full of his photos, and probably because he had taken more photos since he was a child, there were a lot more photos in his envelope than Ting Shuang’s.

He looked through the documents again and realised that most of them were assets that his dad had bought in his name, as if his dad knew that he was useless and would starve to death without anyone to take care of him. He would drive the business to the ground if the company was left for him to manage, so he might as well give him the money to spend.

A violent wave of regret surfaced.

He thought back to yesterday, after hanging up on Ting Shuang’s video call. When he saw the things in that safe, he was shocked and believed that the person in the family who would wholeheartedly care for him was Weng Yunyi, and that the only one who would treat him well unconditionally was Weng Yunyi. He had called her, “Mum, my bro wants me to bring him a box in my dad’s safe. I think it’s my dad’s personal seal inside it. Next to the box is my dad’s will, and the only inheritor on it is my bro.”

If he had known that reality was not at all like what he’d thought…

Could everything be redone?

After thinking about everything, he immediately took out his cell phone and called Ting Shuang.

Ting Shuang’s phone wasn’t turned on.

At the moment, he was looking at his face, which he had taken a punch in, in front of a mirror at the beauty section of a shopping mall. With such a big bruise, how could he meet anyone? Wouldn’t the old man at home feel so much heartache if he saw it?

“Excuse me, do you have something that can conceal stuff here?” He pointed to his face as he asked a salesperson.

The salesperson helped him put on the makeup, and it had a pretty good effect. He said, “I’ll get this.”

“Do you need anything else?” The salesperson asked.

Ting Shuang thought for a while, “Are there any anti-aging products? Ones that beautiful men in their thirties use.”

The salesperson asked for specific details of the ‘beautiful man’, and then recommended several products.

Ting Shuang then swiped his card, picked up the things, and returned to the hotel.

“I’m back.” He shouted into the room as if he had just returned from work, “Guess what I bought for you?”

Bai Changyi, who was working at his desk, glanced at his phone. On the screen were two messages he had received that afternoon. The first had informed him of the usage of his card at a certain jewelry store, and the second had informed him that the same card had been used at a certain brand’s counter at a certain department store.

“Cough, I don’t know.” Bai Changyi felt like laughing.

“I’ll show you in a while.” Ting Shuang ran over and straddled Bai Changyi’s thigh, kissing him. He didn’t mention anything that happened today with Bai Changyi, and it seemed like when he sat on Bai Changyi’s thigh and kissed him, he experienced firsthand where the sensuality that  made Bai Changyi feel so amazing and sexy came from.

“Mm… I bought a pair of rings…” After the kiss, Ting Shuang took out a velvet box from his pocket, “The simplest kind of design.”

Bai Changyi had thought about this possibility when he received the message regarding the use of his card from the jewelry store, but he didn’t expect Ting Shuang to say it so suddenly. He thought Ting Shuang would say it while they had dinner on the top floor.

“I didn’t mean that… Um, that kind of thing can’t be done so sloppily, right…” Ting Shuang reorganised his thoughts and language, “Just, look, we’ll have to do long distance for a while, and if you don’t wear a ring on your hand, I’ll keep worrying about others coming on to you.”