"What are you doing?" said Fang Mu sharply, but when he looked up he saw Deng Linyue's outstretched hand hanging in the air over the table. The look on her face was extremely awkward.
Fang Mu hurriedly reached out and shook her hand, forgetting that he was still holding his spoon. In the process he smeared her whole hand with soup.
"Sorry," he said, obviously flustered. He dug through all his pockets, searching wildly for a pack of tissues, but by the time he finally found some, Deng Linyue had already wiped her hand clean with a pack from her bag.
Now it was Fang Mu's turn to feel awkward. After sitting stiffly for several seconds, he decided that he might as well not say anything else, so he grabbed his tray and began eating as fast as he could.
For the rest of lunch, Du Yu and Zhang Yao tried to enliven the atmosphere by keeping up a constant, cheerful chatter, while the two individuals whom the lunch was actually about remained silent, focused on their food.
Fang Mu was first to finish. Although he wanted to get out of there immediately, he now realized this wouldn't be particularly polite, so he took out a cigarette and began to slowly puff away. As soon as the smoke drifted across the table, Deng Linyue, who up until then had been eating and drinking with gentle refinement, frowned slightly and batted it away.
Rather than put out his cigarette, Fang Mu used this opportunity to check her out while she was looking down to avoid the smoke.
She was about 5'5", her long hair tied in a loose bun, and several dyed-blonde strands hung across her oval-shaped face. Her skin was quite fair, her eyebrows painstakingly plucked, and the mascara and lipstick she wore were obviously not cheap. In her ears she wore diamond studs that matched her necklace perfectly, and she had on a light yellow spaghetti-strap top that revealed a swimsuit tan on her shoulders. However, her skin looked soft and smooth, not like that of someone who lived by the ocean; she had probably just vacationed there over summer break. Her legs were long and slender and she was wearing a short, white skirt and colorful sandals. Lavender polish glistened on her toenails.
This petite young woman was clearly quite well-off, and from her bearing it was clear that if her parents weren't high-ranking intellectuals, then they had to be government officials.
Seeming to realize that Fang Mu was observing her, Deng Linyue blushed slightly. When she finished eating, she lightly dabbed the corners of her mouth with a tissue, stood up, and bid a polite goodbye.
"I've got some things to take care of," she said. "See you guys soon." Then she nodded at everyone, picked up her tray, and walked gracefully away.
Once she was gone, Zhang Yao muttered in disappointment, "What the heck were you doing, Fang Mu?"
Cigarette hanging from his mouth, Fang Mu stared at the ceiling and ignored her.
"You colossal fool!" said Du Yu once they were back in the dorm. He was still upset over what had happened at lunch.
"She's beautiful, from a good family, and her dad is the director of the local Bureau of Industry and Commerce. You know how many guys are after her? It took a whole lot of work on Zhang Yao's part before she'd even agree to chat with you."
"Why don't you go for her if you like her so much?" said Fang Mu. He was shirtless and wearing only a pair of shorts, and he climbed into bed and pulled the top sheet over him. "Tell Zhang Yao that while I'm very grateful, she shouldn't waste so much energy on me in the future."
"Jeez, let no good deed go unpunished," said Du Yu, also getting ready for an afternoon nap. After undressing, he stared off into space for a moment. Then he smiled.
"She really does have some long legs, though." He laughed and smacked his lips in delight.
"Manwhore!" yelled Fang Mu, although he couldn't help but smile.
While the sound of Du Yu's snoring soon filled the room, Fang Mu tossed and turned, but couldn't get to sleep.
A girlfriend?Do I really need a girlfriend?
Even though Fang Mu had long remained aloof on campus, rarely socializing with anyone else, he had noticed at various points that a few girls seemed to regard him with interest. But because he was so accustomed to avoiding other people, those girls had gradually shifted their attentions to more open, enthusiastic boys.
Chen Xi.
The name alone caused Fang Mu's spirits to plummet. Rolling over, he buried his face in the cool side of the bed.
Never mind a kiss, never mind the feel of her hand in his, Fang Mu had never even spoken those three simple words to Chen Xi before it was too late. With some things, make one mistake and you can never take it back. With some people, make one and they never come back.
In the movie A Chinese Odyssey II, when a sword was held to Glorious Bao's throat, he spoke a heartfelt lie: "If God were to give me another chance, I would tell her I love her. And if He said that one day our love must end, I would wish for ten thousand years."
If God gave me another chance, I would wish that none of this ever happened, that I had never even met Chen Xi.
Don't think about it anymore, he told himself, blinking his already moist eyes. Since he was choosing to say goodbye to the past, that meant choosing to forget every part of it.
Half asleep, Fang Mu was surprised to find himself thinking about Deng Linyue. Although that afternoon he had scrutinized her from head to toe, he now couldn't remember what she looked like at all.
All he remembered was that she used Soulmate brand tissues, the pack printed with drawings from the Jimmy Liao graphic novel Turn Left, Turn Right.
CHAPTER 13
Before getting off work, Tai Wei ran into Zhao Yonggui, deputy chief of the State Enterprise and Nonprofit Institution Investigative Division. Old Zhao was leaning against the hallway window, smoking sullenly. A number of butts already littered the floor around his feet. When Tai Wei walked over and said hello, Old Zhao glanced up at him with cavernous, bloodshot eyes.
"How's your case going?" asked Tai Wei, offering him a cigarette.
Old Zhao tossed the spent cigarette in his hand to the ground and accepted the one from Tai Wei. He lit it and took a deep drag.
"No progress whatsoever," he said, digging his fingers into his temples. "We've interviewed nearly six hundred people and still haven't learned a thing. How about yours?"
"The same," said Tai Wei, his voice sounding a little disheartened.
The two men smiled bitterly at each other, and then smoked together in silence.
At some point it began to rain, blurring the view from the window. As Tai Wei watched the drops run endlessly down the glass, he suddenly remembered how he and Fang Mu had searched through a storm for Tong Hui. Unable to help himself, he smiled.
That pale, quiet, somewhat nervous kid had actually seemed a lot better the last time they'd met. His complexion had improved, and there was a more youthful look in his eyes.
It was true; making a kid his age confront blood-drenched murder scenes day after day was a little cruel. He should get to be like his fellow students, happy and carefree, idling his time away. And then later: graduating, getting a job, marrying, having children-enjoying the common pleasures of an ordinary life.
Ding Shucheng had said Fang Mu had a gift for understanding crime. But as Tai Wei saw it, this gift didn't seem to give him any pleasure at all. When Tai Wei tried to ask him why he was so interested in this stuff, he had said he didn't know. But that was obviously not the truth. Instead, it seemed to Tai Wei that the kid was constantly struggling with some memory he was powerless to shake. What terrifying experience was haunting him from the past?