In Wen Di’s imagination, the background fitting for genius mathematicians, apart from the blackboard full of formulas and the workbench piled with drafts, was a supercomputer running calculations.
Now, Bian Cheng was wearing a gray suit with a diamond pattern, sitting beside a pot base full of chili oil, with a row of sauces lined up in front of him, his face faintly visible in the steam.
Wen Di stared at the scene before him, always feeling that the two layers were incompatible.1两个图层不兼容 (two layers were incompatible) – This is a figurative way of saying that two things (or situations) don’t match well
Hotpot restaurants are a classic place for gatherings. There was a lot of noise and joy all around, but only their table was eerily quiet. Bian Cheng was focused on eating, while Wen Di looked at the red oil, feeling troubled. After the waiter added some clear soup, Bian Cheng finally noticed the disharmony.
He looked at Wen Di, who specialized in brown sugar glutinous rice cakes and fried dough sticks, and asked: “You don’t eat spicy food?”
Wen Di didn’t know for a moment whether he had vision problems or was just too slow: “Yes ah?”
Bian Cheng put down his chopsticks: “Then this place isn’t a good choice.”
“You’re the birthday star, as long as you like it,” Wen Di said, “How does it taste?”
“It’s average,” Bian Cheng said. “The soup base is too salty, the spices are unbalanced, the lamb isn’t fresh, and the dipping sauce doesn’t match the taste of the meat.”
Wen Di: “…Okay ba, we won’t come here again next time.”2Actually Wen Di didn’t mention we or I, but I don’t know how to translate this without we/I.
Treating someone to a meal that didn’t suit their taste was as awkward as giving the wrong gift.
However, under normal circumstances, at a meal where someone else was paying, one would usually say something nice, find something worth praising, and give a compliment.
In his mind, a deafening alarm bell rang: Something’s off, run.
His intuition was always spot on, especially when it came to bad situations. Unfortunately, one was not sober when the love brain was on top of one’s head. He shook his head and silenced the alarm.
He pushed the gift over, hoping to liven up the atmosphere. “I stumbled upon it online,”—after browsing for two hours—“and thought it was interesting, so I bought it. Happy birthday! Even though it’s a day late.”
Bian Cheng thanked him briefly, opened the packaging, and stared at the cup with an incredulous expression, as if the item before him shouldn’t exist in this world: “Why does it have this phrase on it?”
“Ah?” Wen Di felt he shouldn’t doubt the Professor’s comprehension abilities, but he still pointed at the English text and said, “Aren’t you teaching complex geometry? And this cup is also a geometric shape…”
“Complex geometry studies complex surfaces and complex manifolds. The Möbius strip is a non-directional manifold and belongs to the category of topology,” Bian Cheng put the cup back in the box. “It should say, ‘Good Morning, Topologist.’”
Even though the image and text conflicted, it was still a carefully selected gift. After Bian Cheng corrected it, Wen Di felt a bit embarrassed. “Really…”
“The manufacturer has no basic knowledge,” Bian Cheng said. “These concepts can be easily found with a quick search online.”
Wen Di touched his nose and said, “I wrote it.”
Bian Cheng remained silent for a while before saying, “I see.”
Including the projective space from yesterday, this was the second time Wen Di had failed. He had given a mathematician a cup with a mathematical error, and every time the person saw it in the morning, he would be reminded that Wen Di wasn’t someone who had the habit of looking things up.
Wen Di felt more and more embarrassed.
Most people, when receiving a gift, might not like it, but they’d at least say thank you. He had never seen anyone point out logical errors in a gift. This made him look pretentious and showing off his knowledge.
He paid for the meal, but he didn’t feel full. The birthday star disliked the taste and was upset about the gift.
How did the first date turn out to be so miserable?
Wen Di thought with a brain full of eighty layers of filters and decided to blame the hotpot. The soup base was too salty, the lamb wasn’t fresh, and it ruined the date’s atmosphere. If they changed the environment, maybe the tightness in his chest would ease a bit.
“Professor, are you free after this?” he asked. “How about we watch a movie?”
The date routine was a full package: they had eaten, so they might as well watch a movie. The atmosphere in the cinema should be good, and hopefully, no depressing conversations would come up.
Hopefully ba.
“What should we watch?” Bian Cheng asked.
He agreed just like that? Wen Di’s heart, which was as broken as a ruin, came back to life a little. He checked his phone and noticed there weren’t any good new movies out, but there was a nearby private cinema where they could watch them on demand. If new movies were uninteresting, watching old classics would also be nice and the quality was guaranteed.
He opened the cinema’s recommended films and browsed through them; they had both domestic and international classics. “Professor, do you like mystery films?” he asked. “How about watching ‘Knives Out’?”
“I’ve watched it,” Bian Cheng said.
“Really?” Wen Di perked up, finally finding a common topic. “I like this movie! What do you think of it, Professor?”
“Not good..”
The alarm bells started ringing again, and this time, he couldn’t silence them no matter what. “Why?” Wen Di asked. “It’s pretty exciting, and the plot was tight!”
“The protagonist of a detective film cannot lie. That setup is too convenient and lazy,” Bian Cheng said. “The killer and the process of the crime are completely unoriginal, and the character’s behavior is completely illogical.”
Wen Di suddenly had a sense of déjà vu, a sense of déjà vu of someone slandering something he loved. Why did this conversation seem so familiar? While recalling, he asked, “What didn’t make sense?”
“The detective saw the blood right away and knew the female lead would vomit if she lied, yet he didn’t bother to ask how the blood got there, and let the suspect get away with it by giving an ambiguous answer. If he had investigated thoroughly, considering the contradictions in the blood test report, he could have figured out the truth immediately. Instead, he chose to be mysterious, and the second victim’s death was eighty percent his fault,” Bian Cheng said. “Someone even told him they heard dogs barking at night, which should’ve made him realize that Ransom had returned. Yet it took him so long to solve the case. This movie only lasted two hours entirely because of his stupidity.”
“Do you have to keep picking on small loopholes?” Wen Di felt like his brain was on fire. “If a mystery film didn’t throw in some red herrings, how could it be made? If you want to be so strict, which book doesn’t have loopholes? From the overall point of view, the pacing, acting skills, social metaphors…”
“Exposing human nature and satirizing reality,” Bian Cheng said, “is usually a cover for a lack of reasoning ability”
The chopsticks in Wen Di’s hand creaked: “You’re not satisfied with all good movies, are you?”
“Only those with loopholes in some of the basic logics,” Bian Cheng said. “Like The Wandering Earth.”
“What’s wrong with The Wandering Earth now?!”
“The Earth is not an absolutely rigid body, so The Wandering Earth is impossible to achieve,” Bian Cheng said. “The engine data is also wrong; that amount of power couldn’t possibly move the Earth. They should’ve chosen the Digital Life Plan from the start. I don’t understand what the movie was debating.”
Wen Di almost snapped his chopsticks in half. Is this a human being? He is just a nitpicker! “That’s a necessary sacrifice for grand, romantic storytelling! I bet you can’t even watch Star Trek.”
“Speaking of Star Trek…”
“Alright, alright,” Wen Di raised his hand to cut him off, not wanting to let this nitpicker destroy his love for movies. “Let’s skip mystery and sci-fi then. How about a romance film? Or do you also dislike something like Gone with the Wind?”
“I have no problem with the movie,” Bian Cheng said, “but I have a lot of problems with the original book.”
“What’s wrong with the original novel!?”
“Its historical inaccuracies and biases were too severe,” Bian Cheng said. “In this book, Southern plantations are portrayed as a paradise where slaves could still sing and laugh when they return home after a hard day’s work. The protagonist’s family is depicted as benevolent, while Northern soldiers are not only despicable but also corrupt. Mitchell even wrote the KKK as a charitable organization and equestrian club, completely ignoring its intimidation and violence against African Americans during the Reconstruction era.”
“If we were to investigate the political leanings of classic works, literature would become a barren land!” Wen Di said, “You are a famous writer, but how can you dislike classics so much!”
“If you scrutinize classic works for political bias, literature would become a barren wasteland!” Wen Di said. “You carry the name of a classic,3Bian Cheng (边城. Literally Border Town) is a classic by Shen Congwen, a prominent Chinese author known for his portrayals of rural life and complex, humane characters. And, Border Town is highly regarded in Chinese literature for its exploration of human nature, traditional values, and the simple, poignant life of villagers in a remote part of western Hunan Province. yet why do you have such disdain for classics?”
“There are many writers who can maintain logical consistency, have a strong sense of critical thinking, and still write something original.”
Wen Di stared at him: “For example, which one? Tell me.” Wasn’t this just arguing? Wasn’t it just nitpicking? Who wouldn’t nitpick! With this kind of nitpicking, he didn’t believe that any writer would walk out alive from his hand.
“Robert Forward.”
…Never heard of him.
With no outlet for his frustration, the more Wen Di thought about it, the more stifled he felt. He couldn’t help but glance at the water cup in his hand. No wonder Song Yuchi threw water at him. Which dinner could this person leave dry?4I’m sorry if this sentence a bit confusing, but basically mean everyone who dinner with BC would want to drench him hahahha
He held the glass of water a little further away from himself.
“Have you ever been in a relationship?” Wen Di asked.
“No.”
“I think so,” Wen Di said, “It is harmful to other people’s health.”
As if he could see that he was not happy, Bian Cheng sighed. “You asked me for my opinion on the movie,” he said, his tone full of confusion, “I gave it, and now you’re upset.”
Wen Di looked at him angrily: “I told you I like this movie, can’t you be more gentle with your words?”
“If what you wanted was to find common ground, then you shouldn’t have asked whether I liked it. Just tell me to agree with you.”
Wen Di rubbed his temples: Isn’t this basic social etiquette? Like when relatives bring kids around during New Year’s—even if the kid isn’t cute at all, you still have to say they’re adorable in front of the parents.”
“Why?”
A miracle. Wen Di thought, it’s a miracle this guy managed to live this long.
“Alright ba,” he slowly took a deep breath, “You’re handsome and smart. You must’ve been praised and indulged by everyone since you were a kid, and no matter what you said, people put up with it.”
“You misunderstood,” Bian Cheng said, “They tolerated me, it has nothing to do with those things, it‘s mainly because of my family background.”
Wen Di stared at the chopsticks in his hand. If they were in a Western restaurant, and he had a knife and fork instead, they would’ve already been stabbed into Bian Cheng’s throat.
“Professor,” Wen Di said, “I’m going to ask you for a favor.”
“What?”
Wen Di pushed the lamb slices toward him. “Stop talking.”
“Aren’t we talking about watching a movie?”
“I don’t want to watch it anymore!”
The author has something to say:
Wen Di: First day of not being together, already want to break up.
Extra annoying chapter to wrap up the year (not really).
Happy New Year!
T/N: Title is from Two Gentlemen from Verona, Act 1 Scene 2. The literal translation for the title ‘你的话，能把聋子都治好呢’ would be ‘Your words, can cure the deaf.’
![Sweetness Is Incessantly Late [BL]](https://www.freenovels.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/甜不止迟.jpg "Sweetness Is Incessantly Late [BL]")
