"Sorry I'm late," he said when he reached her.
"You're not," she said. "I just got here early. I was worried you wouldn't come."
He just smiled in reply.
"I also realized I don't know what you like to eat. Where should we go?"
"Wherever. I like everything." He pointed at the line of small restaurants outside the school gate. "Why don't we grab something at one of these places. We don't need to do anything too expensive."
"No way, not after you saved my life." She smiled and tilted her head. "Let's go downtown and find something a little nicer."
After they hailed a cab, Deng Linyue told him she was taking him to the restaurant at the Shangri-La. Fang Mu nearly jumped out of his seat in surprise — that was a five-star hotel. At a place like that, dinner for two would cost at least a thousand renminbi, so he firmly declined.
Deng Linyue didn't argue. Laughing, she said, "Then we won't go. I once ate a meal there that cost over 3,000 renminbi and not one dish was any good."
In the end, the two of them decided on a Korean restaurant called Papa's.
The restaurant was mostly filled with young couples. The warm tones, dim lighting, and sultry-voiced singer expressing her emotions onstage all gave the place an air of romance.
The waiter enthusiastically recommended the "Sweetheart Meal" to Fang Mu and Deng Linyue, but Fang Mu immediately declined and ordered the barbecue meal instead.
Du Yu was continually mentioning this place to Fang Mu, but until then Fang Mu had never been. First of all, he had no girlfriend, so for him to go and spend that kind of money seemed a little stupid. And second of all, he had always thought that Korean food was only good for cold noodles and kimchi and not much else. When the waiter brought the food over, however, Fang Mu discovered that not only was it beautifully prepared, it smelled unexpectedly delicious as well.
He was not a talkative person, so he just buried his face in his food and ate. Deng Linyue didn't seem to care and stayed silent as well.
Eventually Fang Mu began to feel that just eating in silence as they were was a little awkward, as well as impolite, so for the first time he looked up at Deng Linyue. Just then she was spooning soup into her mouth. Her arm movements still looked a little stiff.
"Your injury…" he said, "how is it?"
She did not immediately answer him. After putting down her spoon, she laughed brightly and said, "I thought you were planning on ignoring me the whole meal."
He was a little embarrassed. "Of course not. It's just that I'm not much of a talker."
She laughed again. "Oh, I figured that out a long time ago." Realizing that she was talking about that time in the dining hall, he was even more embarrassed.
Seeing his discomfort, Deng Linyue quickly changed topics. "My injury is essentially fine," she said, rotating her arm slightly. "It just hurts a little sometimes. But I don't think it's a big deal."
"Why didn't you go back home to get better? I'm sure it's a lot nicer there. Safer, too."
"My family was saying the same thing, but I didn't want to go. Oh, that's right." She leaned forward slightly. "Last time that policeman said that the killer might try to attack me again. Is that true?"
After thinking about this for a moment, he decided not to tell her the real situation to avoid scaring her unnecessarily. "The guy's just a lunatic. And he's not necessarily going to come after you again. You don't need to worry."
"Gosh, I don't know what's been going on with our school this year; so much bad stuff has happened." She sucked on her straw. Suddenly, her expression grew mysterious. "So, master sleuth, are you helping the police investigate the case?"
Fang Mu was taken aback. "Not at all. I hardly have that kind of talent."
"Humph, you don't have to hide the truth from me. At the last assembly I heard the provost commend you." A girlish pout came to her lips. "Besides, if you're not helping the police solve the case, how come you were with a policeman the night you saved me?"
"I already told you, it was just a coincidence."
"Liar. I've heard what the kids at the law school say. Out of everyone in the criminology department, your grades are the best. Oh, I get it." Her eyes went wide and her voice dropped to a whisper. "Do you need to keep it a secret? I also heard from some classmates that you're an undercover agent sent by the PSB to infiltrate our school. Is that true? Like Stephen Chow in Fight Back to School?"
Fang Mu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. It was hard enough for the average guy to deal with an immature girl like this, let alone someone like him, who had barely any experience with the female sex.
"I'm not some undercover agent. I'm an average student. I just happen to be…quite interested in a few aspects of criminology."
"Oh, in that case you admit that you've helped the police solve cases?" Her tone grew excited. "Can you tell me about it? I've loved reading detective novels since I was little."
He felt a little uncomfortable. He didn't really want to discuss this stuff with her.
"Forget it; it's all really scary. It's not appropriate for a girl to hear."
"Don't patronize me. I've got strong nerves," she told him with a steady look.
He had no other choice. "Fine."
Over the next hour, Fang Mu told her about Ma Kai, the "vampire case." At first he deliberately underplayed his role in the investigation, but as he watched Deng Linyue rest her chin on her palms and stare fixedly at him, every now and then exclaiming "Oh no!" or "My God!" He felt an unexpected faint sense of pride and a desire to show off. By the end, especially when he was describing his one-on-one conversation with Ma Kai, during which he had nearly been killed, Deng Linyue had her hand over her mouth in concern for him. Her brows were knit over her worried expression, and he couldn't help but feel a little conceited.
When the story was over, she placed a hand over her heart and stared at him with disbelief. "You're so brave. My God, I never would have thought I'd have a friend like this."
He just laughed. Turning his head, he caught a glimpse of his self-satisfied face in the window beside him, which immediately embarrassed him.
What am I doing?
To hide his discomfort, Fang Mu called for the check. It was obvious that Deng Linyue was reluctant to leave, but she didn't argue.
As they left the warm and cozy restaurant, the air outside felt especially cold. He was about to hail a cab when she stopped him. "Will you take a walk with me? I'm a little full after that meal."
After thinking about it, he agreed.
Side by side, the two of them strolled slowly down the sidewalk. Feeling a little ashamed of his arrogant behavior at the restaurant, the normally laconic Fang Mu was even quieter than usual. Deng Linyue also seemed to be thinking about something and didn't say a word either. The silence continued for a while, both of them quiet, just walking along.
The streetlights lengthened and shortened their shadows, and now and then they would blend together, as if they were embracing.
As local Bus 25 rumbled past, Fang Mu turned and watched it until it disappeared around the corner.
After they had walked for some time, Deng Linyue suddenly asked, "How is Liu Jianjun?"
"I went to see him a few days ago. The situation's not that good; some of the damage is going to be permanent." He turned to looked at her. "You…why didn't…?" As he was still considering the best way to put it, Deng Linyue had already grasped what he was going to say.
"I know that all of you probably think I'm heartless," she said slowly. "Honestly, I've really wanted to go see him, but my mom won't let me. She feels that if he hadn't asked me to wait for him in the gymnasium, I never would have gotten hurt. The one time I did sneak over there, his parents were both very cold, as if they thought I was the reason this happened to him. I didn't think this was fair at all, but I didn't get angry at them. After all, they've suffered enough already."