Your Distance

5- 596 Meters

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.