It seemed the rest of his life could easily pass this way.
One day at four in the morning he was awoken by his cellphone ringing. The movie he’d been watching was finished, and the screen was a pure blue. It was an unfamiliar number, and a woman’s voice on the other end told him that Qibao had been caught. He asked who was calling. She wouldn’t say, only adding that a dozen girls had been caught together. Dunhuang’s first reaction was to ask, “How much will it cost?”
“Five thousand, more or less,” she replied.
Things had finally blown up. After he hung up the phone Dunhuang realized the voice had been Bony Beauty. He should have known long ago they were in the same line of work — she must have dodged the sweep. Five thousand. An astronomical sum. Dunhuang called Bao Ding but his phone was off, so he got in a taxi and went looking for him. Bao Ding had been sleeping; as soon as he heard Dunhuang needed money he understood, “Qibao?” Dunhuang nodded. Bao Ding told him to go back and keep trying to think of solutions, he would talk to a couple of friends and see how much he could borrow. The longer they delayed the harder it would be. Dunhuang could think of nothing else but to visit Xiaorong and Kuang Shan in Furongli, they were his only friends. Xiaorong asked what had happened. Dunhuang wouldn’t tell her, he only said he was in urgent need of a loan. Kuang Shan wanted to press the question but Dunhuang shot him an evil look, and he shut up.
“We’ve got that seventeen hundred,” said Xiaorong. “You could take that for now.”
“We were going to use that money to restock tomorrow,” said Kuang Shan.
“It won’t kill us to restock a few days later,” she replied.
Dunhuang stared at Kuang Shan and pictured slapping him across the face. Kuang Shan reluctantly drew the money from a drawer. Dunhuang ignored him, and thanked Xiaorong.
By seven the next morning they’d collected six thousand three hundred kuai. They took a cab to the police station and were directed to the waiting area, where they sat until everyone’s statements had been taken down. Bao Ding said to the police officer, “Girls from the countryside have it hard in jail, I hope to get her out as soon as possible.”
The officer said, “None of us want to drag this crap out longer than necessary.” They made their decision quickly, and there was no negotiating the price — five thousand. It was routine stuff, everyone knew that once the fine was paid the suspect would be released. It was a tedious process, that was all. Bao Ding helped Dunhuang though the formalities, but just before Qibao was released he said he had something to do, and left.
Dunhuang stood in the doorway, and watched Qibao, her hair in disarray, follow a policeman out. She kept her head down, and didn’t raise it even when she was standing in front of him. Dunhuang tucked the hair hanging over her face behind one ear, then put an arm around her shoulder and said, “Let’s go.”
They were silent on the way back. When they arrived at Huayuancun, Bony Beauty opened the door. She said nothing when she saw them, and retreated to her own room. Qibao lay on the bed and lit a Zhongnanhai. Dunhuang snatched it from between her lips and hurled it out the window.
“Money, money. . What the hell do you need so much money for?” Dunhuang couldn’t stand it anymore. “Are you going to take it to your grave?”
“How can I make it without money?”
“Get out if you can’t make it! Who says you’ve got to stick around here?”
Then the two of them fell silent. Strange noises emitted from Bony Beauty’s room; this time it was the guy.
“That’s it,” said Dunhuang. “We’re moving out of here.”
The next day they moved to Mudanyuan, near north Taipingzhuang. It was a single-bedroom apartment, the rent was fair. Qibao gave up her place in Huanyuancun, and Dunhuang moved out of the room in Weixiuyuan. Qibao had just enough savings to pay back what Dunhuang had borrowed. Once they’d fixed the new place up they invited Bao Ding over for dinner. He looked the apartment over from top to bottom, then said, “Good; this is good. You’ll make it bit by bit. A life of luxury is tough in this damned city, but you’re not likely to starve, either.” Then he said, “Hurry up and have a son. You’ll have to do it sooner or later, so it might as well be sooner.”
That was late June. Then it was July and August, the city’s hottest months, and after that it began to cool. Both Dunhuang and Qibao had birthdays in August — Dunhuang was twenty-six, Qibao twenty-four. They picked a day halfway between their birthdays, bought a cake, and each ate half. Qibao made some dinner, they drank a few bottles of beer, and that was it for the celebration.
“If you add our ages together,” said Dunhuang, “we’re about halfway to dead.”
“You can hardly handle a full round in bed anymore,” teased Qibao. “Looks like you’re more than halfway there.”
“Doesn’t matter, as long as we’re happy,” he said. “One day at a time.”
August was a good month for them. Business was booming for both pirated DVDs and fake IDs. Dunhuang noticed that porn was selling particularly well, and he wondered to Qibao if the weather was turning all the boys and girls bad. They were in bed, and Qibao rolled over on top of him and said, “Maybe you should ask yourself that question.”
Dunhuang said, “God, it’s a veritable flood.” Qibao’s river was overflowing.
* * *
As he was selling DVDs one afternoon, Dunhuang heard someone calling his name. It was Kuang Shan, he had Xiaorong’s DVD bag in his left hand, and his own case in his right. Xiaorong followed behind him, her belly enormous. They greeted each other, and Kuang Shan put Xiaorong’s bag down a couple meters away, saying they’d set up shop next door.
“How’s Qibao been?” asked Xiaorong.
“Same as always,” answered Dunhuang. “Still doing IDs. How about you guys?”
“We got registered a few days ago. He got an old friend to help us do it.”
“You’re married? Congratulations! Why didn’t you say something earlier?”
“We’ve been together for ages,” said Kuang Shan, rubbing Xiaorong’s belly. “We’re too old to make a big fuss about it. Ha, I’m going to be a dad.”
Xiaorong slapped his hand away and rubbed her own belly in satisfaction, her dimples showing tenderly. Kuang Xia wasn’t even born yet, but Xiaorong already looked like a mother.
Dunhuang began going through his DVDs, and heard Kuang Shan say into his phone, “Yeah, I just got here… Okay. Okay.” Five minutes later, two kids with dyed red hair and saggy pants approached, and one of them snapped his fingers at Kuang Shan. Kuang Shan grinned at Dunhuang and said he’d be right back, he had a deal to do. He led the red-haired kids a dozen meters off, beneath a cedar tree. To one side was a subway stop construction site, all steel plates and disorderly heaps of sand, and a little passageway leading to the next street over. Dunhuang knew Kuang Shan had a big deal on his hands and didn’t want to reveal his envy. As he was turning away, he saw Kuang Shan squat down and open his case, the kids drawing close around him. They looked through the contents, then closed the case and began speaking in low voices. The three huddled like that for a while. Xiaorong was anxious, and said to Dunhuang, “What’s taking them so long? Can you go take a look for me?”
“Don’t worry,” said Dunhuang, “they’re just haggling.”
Before he’d finished speaking, two police officers appeared from the construction site’s passageway. Dunhuang swiftly closed his bag, then ran over and helped Xiaorong gather her things. “We’ve got to go now,” he said to her. Xiaorong, flustered, was still looking left and right.
The police had already reached Kuang Shan. “What’s going on here!” they shouted. The red-haired kids leaped up and ran — the police caught only Kuang Shan and his case. Xiaorong panicked, one hand on her belly and the other trembling as she pointed at Kuang Shan. Her voice changed, “Kuang Shan! Dunhuang, quick, Kuang Shan!” He’d never seen a look like that on her face before. “Dunhuang, quickly! I’m begging you!”