Your Distance

Leaning on his cane, Zhu Ao walked to the fence step by step, and saw the pot of cacti. He didn’t know who it belonged to, “I didn’t think others came up here too.”

Ting Shuang said, “That’s my cactus.”

Truthfully, when he was here alone, the roof felt like it was his.

As with the wind blowing across the roof, as well as the scenery.

“Everyone in the R&D department likes you very much.” Zhu Ao said, “The most important department in RoboRun is the R&D department.”

Ting Shuang understood what Zhu Ao meant by that, but no longer wished for that, “It is very important, so I suggest that you reward the important people of the R&D department with a girlfriend or boyfriend, as a bonus at the end of the year.”

From that irrelevant answer, Zhu Ao understood Ting Shuang’s refusal.

“You didn’t think like that before.” Zhu Ao recalled that no matter how badly they had fought at home before, Ting Shuang’s intention to return and take over the company had never wavered. “At least until May of this year, you didn’t think so.”

Ting Shuang looked at the setting sun, not speaking.

Zhu Ao was silent for a while, “When I stood here for the first time 16 years ago, this building was still under construction, and there was sand and cement everywhere on the ground. Roborun had only bought one of these floors.”

Ting Shuang suddenly said something that sounded completely irrelevant, “The LRM building was destroyed in World War II, and later rebuilt in 1946.”

Zhu Ao glanced at Ting Shuang and continued, “At the time, I stood here worrying about whether I could pay the employees’ salaries the next month. I thought about… Just what the company was.”

Ting Shuang continued talking to himself, “Six months ago, I stood on the roof of that building for the first time, thinking, just what was university?”

Zhu Ao didn’t continue talking.

Ting Shuang also stopped.

After standing for so long, Zhu Ao switched his crutches to the other arm. Ting Shuang wanted to help him, but was rejected.

“I, Zhu Ao, have disgraced many people throughout my life.” He looked down at the crutches in his arms, “Your mother, your aunt, your brother, and you.”

Ting Shuang did not respond to that.

Zhu Ao looked at the red sun as half of it sank under the horizon, and squinted his eyes, “But all I need to do is think about how many families RoboRun has supported during their hardest times, and how many families have been supported by companies that produce goods with RoboRun’s equipment, and my regrets would disappear. Do you understand? It has changed countless lives, it has saved countless lives.” He turned his head to look at Ting Shuang, who was standing beside him, “You also have this opportunity, and maybe you can do even more than I have.”

Ting Shuang felt Zhu Ao’s gaze on him, but did not turn his head.

“My professor.” He reverted back to the way he called Bai Changyi back in the past, naturally saying it with respect, as well as a deeper hidden adoration. “My professor also said that a genius’s little idea would change everyone’s destiny. He said that universities are places that pioneer mankind.”

Zhu Ao thought that Ting Shuang would agree with Bai Changyi, but Ting Shuang went on to say, “But I don’t think so. It’s not university that pioneers mankind, it’s him who does. Dad, the company doesn’t want to save or support anyone, it’s you who wants to do so. Dad, do you understand? I love him, but I won’t always stand on the roof of the LRM building for him. I’d just go up there often, to enjoy the breeze with him.”

The sun was sinking down lower and lower, the sky getting darker and darker.

The light reflected on Zhu Ao’s face also dimmed little by little.

“Then,” Ting Shuang thought for a moment, “When I have a building of my own, I’ll also invite you and him, Dad, up to the roof for a look.”

Zhu Ao’s lips were pressed together tightly into a line.

Ting Shuang waited for a while, before exhaling a white cloud of breath, “It’s getting dark, let’s go home.”

Zhu Ao continued standing there, not moving, “You go first.”

Ting Shuang hesitated for a moment, then turned and walked towards the exit. As he did so, he caught a glimpse of Zhu Ao’s trembling hand that was holding his crutches. His momentum brought him forward a few more steps, before he stopped and turned back around.

Zhu Ao was still standing in the same position, as if he had already been standing like that for many years.

“What, aren’t you leaving?” Zhu Ao asked Ting Shuang.

“I forgot to take the cactus,” Ting Shuang picked up the pot of cactus and turned to leave. He looked back as he left the roof, and the last bit of the sun sank below the horizon.

On a morning three days later, Bai Changyi went to work. In winter, the night lasted very long in Germany. He drove in the dark, heavy snow falling on the other side of the car window. He was caught in a jam, and the recordings Ting Shuang had sent of him singing and playing the guitar were playing in the car.

When he reached the LRM building, the first ray of sunlight had just appeared. With that ray of light, he spotted a pot of cactus on the fence of the roof that was covered with a thick layer of snow.

He thought back to when Ting Shuang had once stood on the roof and suggested, “When you are not on the roof, put this potted cactus on the ground. If you’re free to come up, put it on the platform near the fence. So when I pass by the LRM department and look up to see this potted cactus, I’ll know to go up for a tryst with you, how about it?”

Bai Changyi shook off the snow on his shoulders and his shoes before walking into the LRM building. Just like it was a normal summer afternoon, he made two cups of coffee and brought them up to the roof.