Chapter 13

Chapter 14

As I remembered it, Guo Zhen and I first met at the trendy home electronics counter in a department store. We both sighed at a 16:9 television. I sighed because I couldn't afford it but wanted a 16:9 set; Guo Zhen sighed because that Sony-branded 16:9 television wasn't a Sony product at all-it had been assembled with a domestically made picture tube. The second time we met, in an arcade, we were the only people there playing strategy games. It wasn't until much later that I learned Guo Zhen had once been something of a gang member. Compared with him, I really was just a little brat.

I'd originally planned to find a chance to get to know Guo Zhen a little later. Since I happened to be in Ximiaokou today, I'd decided to wander around. I hadn't expected to run into him before I'd even managed to shake off these two girls. Going by our ages, Guo Zhen was three years older than me, so he should have been in middle school now.

I felt my wallet. If he wanted money, I'd give it to him. My responsibility right now was to protect the two girls.

I turned around, and sure enough, Guo Zhen was smiling at me. I knew that sort of "friendly" smile was no good. A martial arts instructor had once been beaten into the hospital because of that "friendly" smile, and so-called experts from other cities who came to Beiguan City to issue challenges had been sent home on stretchers by it, thoroughly disgruntled. I didn't dare take Guo Zhen lightly. After all, we weren't friends yet.

I copied his smile perfectly and held out my hand. "Zhou Xingwen. And you are...?"

Guo Zhen took my hand. "Guo Zhen. I hang around this area."

We both secretly put a little force into our grips. Guo Zhen hadn't expected someone who looked so young to have such a strong grip, and surprise spread across his face.

Little did he know that, to deal with situations like this, I'd done just about everything short of going to a fitness center for high-intensity training.

"Pretty strong," Guo Zhen said, withdrawing his hand. "Want to play a couple of games of pool?"

"Sure." I didn't mind either way. I turned to the two girls. "Want to come along?"

Zhang Xin said nothing. Xu Jiajia said, "Of course. I never knew you could play pool."

I ignored him and followed Guo Zhen into an alley. In 1992, pool was all the rage. Young people took pride in knowing how to play, and some even set up pool tables right on the street. From 1991 to 1992, the number of pool halls in Beiguan City rose exponentially. By 1995, the market had reached saturation and begun to decline. After that, bowling took over.

Guo Zhen took me to a large building that appeared to house several businesses: a pool hall in front, a video screening room in the middle, and probably an arcade in back. Electronic gambling wasn't very developed in 1992, and few people dared invest in it, but I was certain there would be video poker and mahjong machines here.

We walked up to a pool table. Marble tables were still rare, and I was a little surprised that Ximiaokou had such a nice place. Guo Zhen said something to a man playing by himself, who began gathering and racking the balls. Guo Zhen took me over to the cues and told me to pick whichever one I liked.

I first had Xu Jiajia and Zhang Xin sit down to one side, then picked a cue at random, applied some talcum powder, and gestured toward Guo Zhen. "You first or me?"

Guo Zhen made a polite gesture of deference too. "You go first. You're the guest."

"Snooker?"

"Snooker."

"How many frames?"

"Best of three."

I dispensed with further courtesies and reached forward to break.

My current height wasn't very suitable for playing pool. My body would probably be in ideal shape for it at around fourteen. Right now, I needed all sorts of aids, such as bringing over a stool and kneeling on it to adjust my height. Playing was quite a hassle, but even so, I cleared the first frame in a single break, alternating red, color, red, color.

By my fourth ball, people were already gathering around, pointing and talking. When I sank the final black, some reckless soul shouted his approval, and everyone in the pool hall began applauding. Very few people could clear a table in one break these days. To most of them, this probably counted as professional-level play.

Seated amid the applause, I said to Guo Zhen, "You break for the second frame."

Guo Zhen shrugged indifferently and went over with his cue.

I sat down beside the two girls. Xu Jiajia was astonished by my performance. "You're that good?"

"I'm average. I've played a few times."

"Oh, please. What a phony..." Xu Jiajia curled her lip. "The people I see playing on TV aren't even as good as you."

"I played better than usual," I explained with a thoroughly lousy excuse. "He's really good too."

The second frame opened brilliantly. Guo Zhen potted more than half the colored balls, but he miscalculated the cue ball's path as it spun back and still gave me an opening.

I won the second frame easily, and that settled the match.

Guo Zhen accepted his defeat. I knew his character well: whenever someone had a strength, he would humbly learn from them. That was also why he kept getting better. I told him, "I still have to take my classmates home this evening. Let's play another day."

Guo Zhen nodded. "Sure. You're really good."

I said, "Pool is for fun. There's no point fighting over it. You should compete over other things. Relax when you play, and naturally you'll play well."

He nodded thoughtfully. I said nothing more and left the pool hall with Xu Jiajia and Zhang Xin.

"Do you still want to go shopping?" I asked Xu Jiajia.

"No. Take us home."

"All right."

I took a taxi to drop the two girls off at home, then asked the driver to turn around and head to Zhang Xiaotong's place.

Zhang Xiaotong was still reading at home. I felt that my influence had made her increasingly fond of books. I glanced at the title. It seemed to be D. H. Lawrence's Sons and Lovers. Of course, Lawrence had first become popular in China because of fine material like Lady Chatterley's Lover. Although it contained plenty of inspirational content, that certainly wasn't what everyone remembered.

"Reading dirty novels at home in broad daylight?" I took a carton of drink from the refrigerator and sprawled on the sofa. "Why don't you go out for a walk?"

Zhang Xiaotong slipped in her bookmark and put the book down. "Wasn't I waiting for you? Why are you so late getting back from school?"

With a mouthful of drink, I said indistinctly, "I played a couple of games of pool with someone today. Oh, what day is it?"

"Saturday."

"Let's go over to Sanhao tomorrow," I said. "We need to get things moving at Liu Mingyao's place."

"All right. I'll call your family again, then." The moment Zhang Xiaotong heard there was something else to do, she perked up. "What do you want for dinner? I'll make it for you."

I struck an exaggerated pose straight out of a comic. "Huh? You can cook? What can you make?"

Zhang Xiaotong beamed. "I just learned today. Stir-fried instant noodles!"

At the mention of instant noodles, I nearly smashed through the window to escape. "Have mercy, big sister... Can you make something else?"

"How about fried eggs?"

"That's not bad." I lowered my head in thought. It really did seem like ages since I'd last had fried eggs. "I'll help. I can make a few things too."

After some fuss, we finally got the eggs fried. I'd looked through a few cookbooks in my spare time over the past few days, and what I made was at least edible. By now, Zhang Xiaotong wasn't surprised to see me deftly handling the spatula and ladle as I worked on the eggs. "Can you do everything except give birth?"

I scratched my head. "If cloning technology works out, maybe I'll even be able to do that..."

Zhang Xiaotong couldn't stop praising my fried eggs. Of course, I thought. I've cooked for myself for seven years, after all. With a palate as picky as mine, wouldn't poor cooking just be self-abuse? In the past, I'd only cooked for my girlfriend, and very few people had eaten my cooking. Now, watching Zhang Xiaotong eat with a delighted smile was satisfying too. Making other people happy really did bring a greater sense of accomplishment.

After dinner, I asked Zhang Xiaotong, "What do you want to do today?"

While washing the dishes, Zhang Xiaotong said, "Why don't we just leave tonight and spend the night in Shenyang?"

"Huh... A boy and a girl alone in a hotel?"

Zhang Xiaotong blushed. "It's not as if we haven't stayed together before. What are you afraid of?"

I thought about it and agreed. "All right. I think the last train tonight is at eight thirty. Shouldn't we get going now?"

Zhang Xiaotong picked up her handbag and left with me. We boarded the last train and arrived in Shenyang after several hours of jolting travel. Along the way, we barely exchanged a word. Two children as young as us would easily attract attention if we talked too much, so we each leafed through a book brought from home. I was reading Ray Huang's 1587, A Year of No Significance, while Zhang Xiaotong was reading the Tang dynasty volume of a categorized collection of classical Chinese literature.

"The spring river's tide rose level with the sea; over the sea, the bright moon rose with the tide. Shimmering, it followed the waves for countless miles; where on the spring river was there no moonlight..." After getting off the train, I quietly hummed Zhang Ruoxu's A Moonlit Night on the Spring River, making Zhang Xiaotong's eyes light up.

I winked at her. We hailed a taxi and picked a three-star hotel to stay in. I'd originally intended to stay at the Traders Hotel, but then remembered it wasn't completed until 1996. Construction hadn't even started yet...

Zhang Xiaotong behaved herself this time. She only held me as she slept, without even taking off her outer clothes. Lying in her arms, I was filled with reflections. It seemed the little girl really was slowly growing into a young woman, becoming increasingly aware of modesty.

That was good too. Her life shouldn't have been mine to control in the first place.

After getting ready the next morning, we headed straight for Sanhao Street. Liu Mingyao seemed quite diligent: Sun Electronics was already open early. We pushed through the door and found him and several shop assistants attending to customers.

Zhang Xiaotong said to Liu Mingyao, "Don't mind us. Take care of the customers first."

Liu Mingyao nodded and continued bargaining with the group. Seeing Zhang Xiaotong greet him, they could never have imagined that this pretty, quiet young girl was Sun Electronics' real owner, and they continued negotiating with him.

One of them said, "Mr. Liu, we're buying quite a lot. We'd still like you to lower the price a little."

Liu Mingyao thought for a moment. "How about this? I can take another five hundred off the AST machines, but I really can't do anything on the IBM ones..."

After hearing that, they thought for a long time before finally stamping a foot. "Teacher Wan sent us here, so we'll trust you. We'll go with your price."

More than happy to oblige, Liu Mingyao quickly wrote out the paperwork. "Ten percent down today. Come pick them up tomorrow evening and pay the balance in full."

The man who had bargained with Liu Mingyao nodded and tucked away the receipt. The group left without looking back.

Zhang Xiaotong asked Liu Mingyao with a smile, "What was that? A big deal?"

Liu Mingyao nodded. "They want a hundred AST machines and fifty IBM machines. We don't have enough money or stock on hand. I was just about to call you."

"How much are we short?" Zhang Xiaotong asked.

Liu Mingyao answered without thinking. "The shop has about two million in working capital. We need another one and a half million."

Zhang Xiaotong looked at me, and I nodded. She told Liu Mingyao, "All right, I have the money. How has business been lately?"

"Pretty good," Liu Mingyao said, claiming credit for himself. "Teacher Wan often sends business my way, and more people from nearby have been coming in to have computers assembled."

"How are the talks about brand dealerships coming along?"

"Fairly smoothly. We're just short of money," Liu Mingyao said. "Once we finish all the work on hand this month, we should have about enough."

"Which brand?"

"AST. IBM still won't agree. They think we can't afford it."

"Then go with AST. Sign a two-year contract. Keep talking to the other brands and try to get an HP dealership too."

"All right. Is there anything else to do?"

"Nothing else. Try to get all this finished before the end of the year," Zhang Xiaotong said. "Don't rush ahead. The electronics industry hasn't reached its busiest period yet. If you're willing, you can stay here and watch this street grow from nothing."

Liu Mingyao nodded. "I admire you more and more. You're good at both writing and business. I'd like to see how far you can go too."

Zhang Xiaotong smiled sweetly. "I won't disappoint you."

Liu Mingyao was genuinely convinced. Zhang Xiaotong handled things so briskly and efficiently that even many boys felt inferior. Little did he know that all this was the result of my gradual, subtle influence.

After a busy day of dealing with assorted matters and making several final decisions, Zhang Xiaotong and I took the five-thirty afternoon train out of Shenyang.

On the train, I told Zhang Xiaotong, "You need to sign the dealership contracts yourself. Make sure you bring most of the funds under your own control before the end of the year. Liu Mingyao isn't necessarily trustworthy."

"I know." Zhang Xiaotong had now become as crafty as I was. "Just now, I said I'd make up the shortfall for him, but I actually took back all the company's money. From now on, any spending has to go through me."

"That's pretty much what I meant," I said. "Let's get through this year. As long as we get through this year safely, things will be easier afterward. I can come to Shenyang and take charge."

Zhang Xiaotong wasn't surprised to hear me say that. "Are you really going to drop out?"

"Not drop out. Take a leave of absence," I said. "Just for a year. After that, I can take the high school entrance exam directly, and we can go to the same school."

Hearing that, Zhang Xiaotong stopped worrying and broke into a smile. I watched her smiling face, working out my plans for after October.