CH 11

After finishing his meal, Ting Shuang was about to go to the bathroom when Bai Changyi stood up at the same time.

Ting Shuang said, “Where are you going?”

Bai Changyi said, “The washroom.”

Ting Shuang said, “Oh, I’m going too.”

Bai Changyi nodded and walked towards the washroom.

Ting Shuang followed Bai Changyi and couldn’t help but explain, “I drank a lot of iced tea.” Because I was nervous.

Bai Changyi said, “Mm.”

Ting Shuang added, “I also drank your soup.”

Bai Changyi said, “I know.”

Ting Shuang said, “I also—”

Bai Changyi turned around and said, “What’s your point?”

Ting Shuang said, “… I don’t have one.” He just wanted to hint that the reason why he went to the washroom twice wasn’t because he had kidney problems. Why didn’t Bai Changyi get him?

The men’s washroom had a row of six urinals, and at that point in time, there was only one German man standing in front of the sixth urinal.

Bai Changyi used the second.

Ting Shuang, with the intention of being as far as possible from Bai Changyi, walked towards the fifth urinal. When he was about to reach it, he heard Bai Changyi say, “Why go that far?”

Ting Shuang’s back stiffened, and his feet brought him one big round back to the urinal on Bai Changyi’s left. “No reason.”

An unzipping sound came from Bai Changyi.

Ting Shuang also unzipped his pants, casually turning his head to the right at the same time, showing Bai Changyi the back of his head.

Bai Changyi said, “What are you looking at?”

“Nothing.” As soon as Ting Shuang said that, he saw the… thing… of the German at the far right.

Well, it was the men’s washroom. It wouldn’t have meant anything, but by coincidence the German also noticed Ting Shuang’s gaze. Ting Shuang suddenly felt guilty, and as if he had been caught deliberately peeping at someone, he immediately turned to the left—

And met Bai Changyi’s slightly skeptical gaze.

He felt even more guilty.

Ting Shuang quickly lowered his head.

This time the situation became even worse, because the first thing he saw when he looked down was Bai Changyi’s… that.

How big.

Subconsciously, Ting Shuang swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

Bai Changyi said, “So you were staring at this.”

This?

This what???

Ting Shuang lifted his head and met the gaze of Bai Changyi.

This time there was nothing he could say that would explain the situation.

Ting Shuang was about to try salvaging it, when he heard Bai Changyi ask, “Satisfied?”

Sa… tis… fied…

That was not a question anyone could answer.

Ting Shuang’s face turned red.

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Bai Changyi did not force him to answer, only reciprocated his actions by glancing down at him before walking away to wash his hands.

Soon, Ting Shuang heard a chuckle from Bai Changyi coming from behind him.

Bai Changyi actually laughed at him?

He looked down at his bird. Even if Bai Changyi was that little bit bigger than him, was a laugh really necessary? Was it funny?

Funny, my ass.

For the first time, Ting Shuang felt something called shame. Shame also made him feel indignant, and that anger made him lose his rationality, made him forget his fear of Bai Changyi. He walked to the sink and glanced at Bai Changyi, who was wiping his hands. “Not satisfied.”

Bai Changyi laughed again.

What exactly was so funny?

Ting Shuang deliberately glanced down at Bai Changyi’s lower body and said, “I’m really not satisfied.”

“I see.” Bai Changyi finished wiping his hands and walked outside with a smile.

It was as if Ting Shuang’s jab had hit nothing but air, and he followed Bai Changyi out unhappily.

Back at the table, Bai Changyi called the waiter to foot the bill. When the waiter asked whether they were paying separately or together, Bai Changyi said, “Together.”

Ting Shuang was still upset, so he deliberately said, “Separately.”

The waiter looked helplessly at Bai Changyi, then looked at Ting Shuang.

Ting Shuang insisted, “We’ll pay separately.”

Bai Changyi looked at Ting Shuang and said in Chinese, “What are you making a fuss out of?”

Ting Shuang’s face read “I just want to make a fuss”, while his mouth said “I’m not making a fuss.”

Bai Changyi nodded his head, and as if he was giving in to a mischievous kid, he said to the waiter, “Go with what he wants.”

The waiter put two separate bills in two leather bill presenters, placing one in front of Bai Changyi and the other in front of Ting Shuang.

Ting Shuang opened the bill presenter and glanced at the bill. He wanted to vomit blood. Earlier, when he had ordered the food, he was thinking about ordering as soon as possible, and didn’t pay attention to the price. Looking at the bill now, it was a shock that everything added up to more than 60 euros.

Despite his aching heart, Ting Shuang at that moment thought that nothing was more important than his dignity(?). So he dug out his wallet and put 70 euros, inclusive of tips, into the leather bill presenter.

After paying the money, Ting Shuang felt more sure of himself. He then said to Bai Changyi with confidence, “I’m going home.”

Bai Changyi said, “Mm, I’ll send you.”

Ting Shuang said, “No need.”

Bai Changyi said, “Then how are you going to go back?”

Ting Shuang remembered that his bicycle was still back in campus and said, “I’ll take public transport.”

“The nearest bus stop is two kilometres away,” Bai Changyi said.

Ting Shuang said, “I can walk over there by myself.”

Ting Shuang’s tone was not pleasant. Bai Changyi frowned slightly and said in German, “Ting, I can’t understand the attitude you have now.”

Ting Shuang suddenly came to his senses. Just who was he throwing a tantrum with? The other party was not Liang Zhengxuan, who would let him throw tantrums whenever he wanted. Not to mention, even Liang Zhengxuan often could not bear the tantrums he threw.

He froze for a while, then said to Bai Changyi, “I’m sorry.”

Bai Changyi said, “You have to give me a reason.”

A reason……

He couldn’t possibly say that he was angry because his thing was made fun of, right?

It wasn’t even something worth getting angry over.

In actual fact, Ting Shuang himself was not unaware of the fact that losing his temper was a habit of his. He was fine when it came to normal friends and whatnot, but the closer he felt to someone, the more his inability to control it…

Ting Shuang paused in shock.

He felt close to him?

“I …” Ting Shuang lowered his head, not knowing what reason to give Bai Changyi.

Bai Changyi waited for him very patiently.

Ting Shuang thought for a long time, and simply told the truth. “I don’t know if you’ll accept it if I say it like this, but I just… have a bad temper.

Bai Changyi said, “Bad temper?”

“Mm.”

“There’s no reason for it?”

“Mm, pretty much.”

“It’s not because I said or did anything inappropriate?”

“Not really… It’s just, I usually… the better my relationship is with someone, the worse my temper gets…”

Bai Changyi recalled that time when Frost had insulted him. He had told Frost: When you encounter a problem, you push all responsibility to others?

At that time, Frost had said: I just… thought that you’d take my side, so I complained to you.

After he thought of that, Bai Changyi understood.

Ting Shuang had the habit of being unreasonable and throwing tantrums with the people he was close to. Wasn’t that just acting spoilt?

If a kid wants to act spoilt every so often, what can you do about it?

Just let him act spoilt.

Thus, Bai Changyi nodded and said, “Mm, I understand.”

Ting Shuang said, “Understand what…”

“I understand that you have a bad temper. Get in the car, I’ll send you home.”

“Oh…”

After getting in the car, Bai Changyi reminded Ting Shuang to fasten his seat belt, and asked for his address, then kept driving after that, not actively making conversation.

After a few minutes, Ting Shuang couldn’t help but glance in Bai Changyi’s direction, but he couldn’t make out what Bai Changyi was feeling.

It couldn’t be that he was angry…

“Ahem.” Ting Shuang cleared his throat, and struck up a conversation. “I realised that… your spectacle chain looks pretty nice.”

Bai Changyi said, “Mm.”

Ting Shuang said, “It’s pretty… Um… Cough, sexy.”

Bai Changyi’s lips curved unnoticeably and said, “Mm.”

“Mm…” Ting Shuang was not very successful in striking up a conversation using his spectacle chain, “The beef just now was pretty tasty.”

“Then we’ll go back again next time.”

That should mean he wasn’t angry…

Great…

Ting Shuang was slightly happy. “When’s next time?”

Bai Changyi said, “Look at your timetable.”

Ting Shuang pulled up his timetable using his phone, “On Mondays, I don’t have any more lessons after your class. On Fridays, I don’t have lessons in the afternoon. On Saturdays, I have to work at a coffee shop during the day and will only be free at night. On Sundays I’ll be free the entire day.”

Bai Changyi said, “Mm, I’ve remembered it.”

Mm, I’ve remembered it.

Ting Shuang realised that he quite liked to hear Bai Changyi saying those three words.

When they were about to drive into the street where Ting Shuang lived, Bai Changyi asked, “Can I go in?”

Ting Shuang said, “Huh? Why wouldn’t you be able to go in?”

“If we’re seen by others, you might have to explain the situation to them.”

Ting Shuang understood, “Oh, you’re scared of stirring up trouble on my end. It’s fine, I’ve told you before that I live alone. Only the landlady occasionally comes over to give me cake and whatnot, no one would ask any questions. Germans, they don’t care about your personal life. Even if you were to spend the night at my house, no one would ask about it.”

Bai Changyi chuckled, “You’re thinking pretty far.”

Ting Shuang glanced at Bai Changyi from the side, then turned to stare out the window again. He said rather unnaturally, “… You, uh, you can get off the car with me later and drink a cup of coffee at my house… or something.”

Bai Changyi parked the car and said, “If I go in, will I still be able to leave today?”

Will I still be able to leave.

Ting Shuang said, “That… d-depends on you.”

After saying that, he got out of the car quickly.

A few seconds later, he heard Bai Changyi do the same, and could not help but tilt up the corners of his lips.

“This way.” Ting Shuang opened the door to his courtyard and led Bai Changyi in.

The two had just walked in when they met the landlady, who was going out to walk the dog. The three of them greeted each other, and the landlady said to Ting Shuang, “Ting, Liang is here, but he can’t enter your room. Is he not living here anymore?”

“He’s not living here anymore. I forgot to tell you before.” Ting Shuang was a little embarrassed.

The landlady nodded and led the dog out on a leash.

Ting Shuang explained to Bai Changyi, “… My ex-boyfriend.”

Bai Changyi said, “I figured.”

Ting Shuang said apologetically, “I’m sorry, I’ll have to send him away first.”

“Do you need me to wait in the car?”

“There’s no need… I’ll be as fast as possible.”

When the door opened, Liang Zhengxuan was standing in front of Ting Shuang’s room door, carrying a bag of ingredients in his hand.

Ting Shuang said, “What did you come here for?”

Liang Zhengxuan said, “I wanted to cook a meal for you. I’m worried you’re not eating well alone.”

Ting Shuang said, “I’ve already eaten.”

Liang Zhengxuan glanced at Bai Changyi, “With him?”

Ting Shuang said, “If there’s nothing else, you should go back.”

Liang Zhengxuan said, “Let’s talk.”

Ting Shuang said, “Didn’t we already make it clear last time?”

Liang Zhengxuan said, “I know you’ve met someone new, but we have been together for so many years—”

Ting Shuang said, “Can you stop talking.”

“Sorry.” Bai Changyi made a gesture. “I don’t want to disrupt your conversation. Ting, can I go in to get the tie I previously left here, then wait for you inside?”

Tie?

He was definitely a little irritated just now, but this time Ting Shuang almost couldn’t hold back his laughter. He forced himself to keep his expression under check and opened the door for Bai Changyi.

When walking through the door, Bai Changyi sided up to Ting Shuang, and whispered only two centimetres from his ear, “Don’t make me wait too long.”