Your Distance

31 - Consensus

“Pfft—” Ting Shuang spit out a mouthful of beer and almost choked to death, “Cough, cough…”

Bai Changyi habitually picked up the napkin and was about to help Ting Shuang clean up, but after picking it up, he only cleaned his hand.

After all, Ting Shuang’s father was sitting across them.

Bai Laoban had lived for thirty-six years, but he hadn’t encountered such a difficult problem: his boyfriend’s father wanted to be his brother.

“Sorry, sorry…” Ting Shuang took a napkin and cleaned up the area he had gotten wet. “Dad… don’t make it difficult for my professor… He’s lived in Germany for so many years, and isn’t used to referring to others by ‘brother’… See, if you do that, then I’d have to call him uncle… My professor is so young…”

Ting Shuang always prepared two kinds of faces.

When it was just him and Bai Changyi: Old professor. Old hooligan. Old beast.

In front of others: My professor is so young.

Zhu Ao listened, but didn’t mind it, waving his hand, “I’ve been disrespectful…”

Bai Changyi picked up his wine glass, took a sip, and said, “We’ve seen the booth in the morning, and all was well. In the afternoon, you can take a walk around Herrenhäuser Gärten. It’s a Baroque-styled garden built in the 17th century.”

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Everyone respectfully asked about the history of the construction of the Great Garden of Hanover, quickly leaving the topic of Brother Bai and Brother Zhu behind.

Ting Shuang wanted to laugh, but held it back. He called the waiter over and spoke in a low voice, please give the gentleman beside him a glass of sparkling water.

With the family reunion earlier, he had been too nervous to notice that Bai Changyi had also ordered the same beer as everyone else.

After ordering, he realised that the act of ordering a single glass of water for Bai Changyi was too intimate. Fortunately, the German translator hired by RoboRun for the exhibition would only arrive tomorrow. No one at the table understood German. They all spoke English, so no one knew what he just said. He asked the waiter to wait for a while, then asked the others if they wanted something else to drink. After asking, he helped everyone order, before feeling more relaxed.

He went around, considerately ordering for everyone, but solely forgot to order another drink for himself.

Ting Shuang was used to drinking coffee after eating.

When the waiter was about to leave, Bai Changyi helped Ting Shuang order a cup of white coffee in a low voice.

That sentence had two meanings.

“Please give my friend a cup of white coffee.”

Or, “Please give my boyfriend a cup of white coffee.”

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In German, ‘male friend’ and ‘boyfriend’ had the same word, so no one knew which one Bai Changyi meant.

When Bai Changyi spoke, his face was expressionless.

After hearing that, the waiter glanced at Ting Shuang to confirm the subject.

Ting Shuang’s face flushed red when he heard it, and picked up his wine glass, downing the beer to hide it.

Old hooligans, once again saying such coquettish things with a straight face.