Chapter 2

On Monday at 9:45 a.m., Bob White flew to Leipzig for an academic conference after finishing his first robotics class.

After dining with his fellow academics, he waited for Malvis Ryder in the hotel.

"Hey." Malvis approached from behind him. She sat across from him. "It's been a while."

Bob signaled to the waiter, ordering two glasses of Cuba Libres. Malvis interrupted him and asked the waiter to replace one of the drinks with tea. He also decided not to have the Cuba Libre and opted for decaf coffee.

Once the waiter left, Bob said, "Your taste has changed."

Malvis replied, "Pregnant women shouldn't drink."

Bob peered at Malvis's high heels through his rimless glasses and said nothing.

Malvis said, "Bob, your taste has changed too."

Bob said, "I've never liked alcohol or sugary drinks."

Malvis was momentarily stunned but quickly smiled in realization. "You're peculiar. You can endure things you don't like for a lifetime."

Bob said, "What I like isn't that important."

"I know. All that's important is responsibility. You're still so stubborn." Malvis subconsciously touched the wedding ring on her finger.

There used to be a different ring there. If she had not found Bob's secret stash of adult magazines featuring men, he might still have been her perfect husband.

"Do you have a boyfriend now?" Malvis asked.

Bob frowned. He seemed uncomfortable to divulge. Only after the waiter brought the coffee and tea and he took a sip of the coffee did he say, "No."

"You know." Malvis picked up the milk jug from the tray and swirled the milk into the tea. "He isn't as handsome, clever, considerate, or the family man as you are. But with him, everything feels right. It's strange. Everything about you was perfect, but I always felt something was missing."

Bob smiled and said, "If you're happy, that's enough."

Malvis asked, "And you?"

Bob said, "What about me?"

Malvis asked, "What are your plans for the future?"

Bob said, "I'm not in a hurry."

Malvis asked, "If you had found out before marriage that you preferred men, would you still have married me?"

Bob did not answer. It was a polite silence. Malvis did not speak further, only sipping her tea. The foam of the milk stained her lips, but she was unaware. Bob took a handkerchief from his jacket pocket and handed it to her.

Malvis took the handkerchief and saw his name embroidered on the dark blue fabric. Tears streamed down her face as she thought about the man he was. Bob was the kind of person who would arrive early, carry a handkerchief, and be quiet, but you knew he was paying attention to you even in his silence.

"I—" Malvis choked up, unable to continue. She could only rub her eyes red with the handkerchief.

Bob lowered his gaze, not looking at her slightly distressed face, and said, "The pregnancy hormones are affecting your emotions. I understand."

"No." Malvis shook her head, her voice low. Even if no other Americans were around, she instinctively did not want anyone to hear because there was no nice way of putting it. "He cheated. After I got pregnant, he cheated."

Bob remained silent, leaning forward slightly so she could speak quietly. Malvis quietly recounted the events through her sniffles and tears.

A breeze blew through the hotel garden, and Malvis sneezed. Bob took off his suit jacket and draped it over her shoulders.

Malvis could not help but grasp the hand that had draped the jacket on her, turned to look into Bob's eyes, and said, "He's perfect. But why can't he be like you? Even if you discovered you liked men, you wouldn't cheat. Why would he?"

Bob was silent for a moment and then said, "Everyone is different. Other than being loyal, I have no other advantages."

"No, you're good. Really. I…" Malvis managed to dry her tears. "I have to go. If I stay any longer, I'm afraid I'll say something I shouldn't. Then I'd really be a terrible person."

Bob understood what she meant. She was afraid she might accidentally say she wanted to be with him again.

Malvis stood up, holding onto the armrests of the rattan chair. Bob helped her, ensuring she would not trip on her high heels before letting go.

"I'll give you a ride," Bob said.

Malvis, with red eyes, smiled faintly and handed the car keys to Bob. "You're still so considerate."

Bob said, "It's the least I can do."

In the car, Malvis said, "Find a boyfriend."

Perhaps because it was the second time she had mentioned it that day, Bob no longer seemed uncomfortable. He said, "If I find someone suitable."

Malvis said, "Find someone soon. Don't give me any chances."

Bob drove, seemingly lost in thought. When the car stopped at a red light, he said, "Okay."

Malvis turned to look out the window, silently shedding tears.

"Bob, do people regret their choices in the end?"

Bob said, "Probably."

He did not think that way, but he could only say that to Malvis.

Malvis asked, "Have you ever regretted anything?"

Bob paused before he said, "Hmm, I regret buying that adult magazine the other day. The men in it weren't even that good-looking."

Malvis laughed through her tears. She knew Bob was trying to cheer her up.

"Find a boyfriend soon." She touched the wedding ring on her finger again. "There are a lot of apps now; it's easy."

"I know it's easy." Another red light appeared. Bob felt the air was a bit stuffy and loosened his tie.

Malvis picked up Bob's phone and took a photo of him. She was surprised that Bob still had not changed his lock screen password.

Bob did not notice what Malvis was doing with his phone. He focused on driving her home and then called a taxi to arrange a ride back to his hotel.

When he returned to the hotel, it was pretty late. He took a shower, changed into a bathrobe, put on his glasses, and began dealing with unread emails. Emails from the school, journal submissions, academic support organizations, student emails...

How could students even have grammatical errors in their sick leave emails?

Bob opened an attachment that contained a scanned copy of a sick leave note and glanced at it. The student had a cold—the most common reason for a sick leave. He looked again at the student's name. It was from Timothy, the only American student absent that morning.

Having been a student, Bob knew all the tricks students liked to play. He replied with a polite email, stating that students who missed the first class would have difficulty understanding subsequent classes and thus should retake the course next April. He ended with best wishes for a speedy recovery.

After he finished the emails, his hair was still damp. Bob planned to dry his hair and go to bed.

Just then, his phone suddenly vibrated with a notification.

[Distance: Nine people have just swiped on you. Come check out who they are!]

Bob frowned slightly, tapped on the message, and the screen switched to the Distance app interface.

When did that app get downloaded? Bob checked the app purchase record and saw it was installed that day. He spent two minutes exploring the app and discovered it was a dating app for gay men.

He went to the personal profile page, which was already registered. The profile picture was likely the photo Malvis had just taken in the car. His name was Cycle—why?

He remembered Malvis had a pet name for him that sounded close to Cycle. She once showed him her phone and coquettishly said, "Bob, look, I keep typing your pet name on my phone—it's really close to the word Cycle, so the phone auto-suggests to me this word."

Bob tried typing his pet name on the phone, and true enough, the word Cycle appeared.

Bob found it a bit amusing.

He recalled that he had promised Malvis to be more social, so he casually browsed the app and came across the matching interface.

Looking through the photos, he found many people dressed in strange or unusual outfits.

Just as he was about to exit the app, he saw a normal photo. The person in the photo was not clearly visible, only wearing a simple white T-shirt and jeans, but his posture looked somewhat attractive. There was just enough ankle peeking out from his jeans.

Bob looked at that person's information.

Name: F****

Personal Attributes: 0.5

Age: 24

Height: 182 cm

Weight: 70 kg

Relationship Status: Single

Current Distance: 287 km

At 24 years old, there was too much of an age gap.

Bob did not plan to respond; he intended to exit the app and dry his hair before bed.

Unexpectedly, just as he was about to exit, a drop of water from his wet hair landed precisely on the Super Swipe button.

Before Bob could change anything, the app's interface changed. Two large pink words and countless hearts popped up. It showed they were a Perfect Match.

Then, another line appeared on the screen.

[Distance: Cycle, congratulations, you and Frost are a Perfect Match!]