Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Pulling Wang Bin somewhere secluded, Guo Zhen whipped out a slip of paper with a rustle. It read, "I hereby borrow fifteen thousand yuan from the West Temple Yang Brothers, with interest of three thousand yuan per month, to be repaid in full between June 1, 1994, and December 1. As verbal promises constitute no proof, this document shall serve as evidence."

Below were Wang Bin's signature and thumbprint. The flamboyant signature was an exact match. Wang Bin was dumbfounded when he saw it. With a frame-up like this, he could protest his innocence until he died and never clear his name.

It was simple. I took the three hundred-plus love letters Zhang Xiaotong had received, worked out the characteristics of his handwriting, and imitated it easily. Zhang Xiaotong used fingerprint-lifting film to get Wang Bin's fingerprint, and Guo Zhen found some old seal carver near his home to knock something together out of rubber... and there was our IOU. Never mind Guo Zhen himself-the older people around him had all made their way through extortion and blackmail. They did this for a living. Forging a little something was child's play, wasn't it?

I had thoroughly investigated Wang Bin's family background. Not one of his relatives, close or distant, could stand up to us. Otherwise, I wouldn't have dared mess with him like this.

Guo Zhen did look rather frightening with a cigarette dangling from his lips and his eyes glaring. Young as he was, with a pack of vicious thugs backing him, he already looked every inch a gang boss. "Don't fucking think you can deny it. Let me tell you, you kill someone, you pay with your life; you owe money, you pay it back. That's the rule wherever you go. I want an answer today. Are you paying or not?"

Seeing more and more people surrounding him, Wang Bin grew frightened. "I-I never borrowed any money..."

"You didn't? Then did some fucking dog run off with my money?" Guo Zhen spat his cigarette butt onto Wang Bin. "Fine, don't pay. We'll come to school looking for you every day. Call the cops if you're so fucking tough. Let's see whether you land in the hospital before I land in jail."

Hiding behind the crowd, I felt unnerved as I listened. Wasn't Guo Zhen just a born thug? He hadn't used a single line I'd scripted...

After that scare from Guo Zhen, Wang Bin actually recovered his wits a little. "B-brother, where are you from? I-I'm good friends with Brother Leng over on the east side. I-I've even treated him to dinner..."

"Don't give me that fucking crap." Guo Zhen glared, playing the villain to the hilt. "Open your fucking eyes and look. Brother Leng? Leng Xiao'er, right? Go ask him-which of the guys here wouldn't he have to bow down to?"

Wang Bin looked around at the people surrounding him and knew Guo Zhen wasn't lying. Several of them were people whose slightest word could shake No. 1 High School, and everyone knew them. Guo Zhen stood among them with a vicious expression, both hands tucked into his army coat pockets, watching him coldly. "Well? What's it going to be? Don't say we never gave you a way out. Your money or your safety. Choose."

Wang Bin was no honest fool. His eyes shifted, and he tried to shout, but before the first syllable came out, someone seized his throat. Two guys who looked well over six foot three each reached out a hand, while the others, casually or otherwise, revealed what they carried inside their coats-long bundles wrapped in white cloth, with short wooden handles sticking out. Even an idiot could tell they were machetes.

The instant they grabbed his throat, Wang Bin behaved himself. That was the difference in strength, and those were the rules. The weak feared the tough, the tough feared the ruthless, the ruthless feared the reckless, and the reckless feared those who didn't care if they lived. Since they dared come carrying knives, they wouldn't mind hacking you up here and scattering afterward. Nobody who got into No. 1 High School was stupid. Wang Bin began to give in.

Seeing the pleading look in Wang Bin's eyes, Guo Zhen told the men holding his throat to let go. "Still fucking trying something? I'll hack you into a cripple! Talk. Give us guys a way to make a living. You can't just run off with our money."

There was no use in Wang Bin being angry. Knowing this was no time to argue reason, he said meekly, "I-I really don't have any money right now... Could you give me a few more days?"

"A few more days?" Guo Zhen looked back at everyone, and they all laughed. "Give you time to pack up and run? I won't bother charging compound interest. We'll stick to eighteen thousand plus fifteen thousand, then round it down for you. Thirty thousand even. Don't fucking think you're leaving without paying."

Wang Bin dropped to his knees with a thud and wailed without tears. "Big Brother, I was wrong... I don't know what I did to offend you, but you're a generous man. Please overlook my mistakes and let me off... I'll do anything you want. Please..."

Wang Bin was quite shrewd. Realizing he had offended someone without knowing it, he immediately bowed his head and apologized.

Unfortunately, he had run into Guo Zhen. Guo Zhen didn't like money, girls, smoking, or drinking. His only hobby was playing psychological games with people... Thinking about it, wasn't he just fucking made for torturing confessions out of people?

In the December cold, Wang Bin was pinned to the ground and slapped twice. Guo Zhen didn't lift a hand. "Still trying that? What? Getting on your knees saves you thirty thousand? Fuck, how about I kneel to you a dozen times?"

Wang Bin must have been seething inside, but none of it showed on his face. "Big Brother, Big Brother, I was wrong... You were right to hit me. I deserved it..." It looked as though he was just waiting for Guo Zhen to tell him what to do.

Guo Zhen sneered. "You really are a fucking doormat. Then I'll spell it out. Within three days, get the hell out of No. 1 High School. Our boss wants the girl you're after too. Stop sticking to her like a fucking fly. Figure it out yourself, or I'll have the boys finish you off today."

That line was brilliantly designed. Inventing a nonexistent boss kept suspicion away from Zhang Xiaotong. Besides, she always spoke so gently to everyone that even if someone said she was the mastermind, probably nobody would believe it.

Hearing Guo Zhen say that, Wang Bin cried for real this time. I could tell he genuinely liked Zhang Xiaotong, but there was nothing to be done about feelings. Forcing things brought no happiness. Zhang Xiaotong had no affection for him at all, and her dislike slipped unconsciously into her words. How could I let someone like that stay around her for long?

That was what they called competition. It had never been fair, and it never would be.

I couldn't watch anymore. With a sigh, I turned and walked some distance away, then called Zhang Xiaotong.

"Xiaotong, where are you?"

"At home watching TV," Zhang Xiaotong said. "My parents went out again. Want to come over?"

"No," I said. "Got plans for Christmas?"

"No, I'm saving it for you." Zhang Xiaotong chuckled over the phone, and her laughter made me feel good all over. "Have you got plans? With the little beauty in your class?"

"I'm saving it for you too," I blurted out.

Zhang Xiaotong sounded a little excited. "Really?"

"Really." I glanced up at Guo Zhen and the others in the distance, already wrapping things up and leaving. "Xiaotong, it's really cold tonight. I'm almost tempted to come over."

"Then come. I miss you," Zhang Xiaotong said on the other end. "It's pretty boring being alone at night."

"One day apart feels like, what was it again?" I teased, feeling a little warmth inside. "I just checked my watch. We've been apart less than an hour, haven't we? Three years divided by twenty-four is still over forty-five days. But I really can't today. I have to treat Guo Zhen and the others to dinner. Another day."

"Okay," Zhang Xiaotong answered softly. "Don't drink if you can help it, and get back early."

"It's fine. My family's even more relaxed about me now than yours is about you."

After hanging up, I went back to find Guo Zhen and the others. Guo Zhen was chatting with the old gatekeeper. Seeing me return, he smiled at me. "Wasn't handled very neatly. A bit embarrassing."

I patted his shoulder. "Enough. You have to leave people some room. Giving them a way out is necessary. Let's drop it. Everyone here gets a share today. We're going out for seafood, my treat!"

Everyone cheered their agreement.

Guo Zhen's intimidation worked pretty well. From then on, Wang Bin never dared harass Zhang Xiaotong again. Within a week, he arranged a transfer to No. 2 High School. In private, I told Zhang Xiaotong, "There's nothing wrong with liking someone, so we can't go too far." Zhang Xiaotong wholeheartedly agreed.

Before I knew it, Christmas was almost here. More and more street vendors were selling greeting cards, and the release of "WithYou" was drawing closer. In Japan, SCE spared no expense on promotion, while Liu Mingyao began organizing all sorts of events in China to support the publicity campaign. Quite a few of my classmates even bought the portable version of "WithYou" and brought it to school to play in secret. A Japanese animation company also sent people to discuss an animated adaptation with us.

Thanks to the price cut, tea beverage sales reached another new high. Yu Chunrong was busy every day setting up distribution outlets and improving the sales network. Computer sales climbed another level as computers became more widespread in businesses, and people had begun moving into Sun Homeland too.

Things really were looking rosy all across the motherland... It looked as though I could at least have a comfortable New Year.

Christmas Eve in 1994 fell on a Saturday. A day in advance, I arranged with my parents to spend the night at Zhang Xiaotong's place. As usual, her parents had to stay in Russia before the New Year. That evening, I went to the high school gates to wait for her to get out.

Countless parents stood outside the school gates that night, waiting for their children. Standing among them, I looked up at the sky. It was still the same starry sky, and already eight years had passed in the blink of an eye. It had been eight years since I loaded my save. Sometimes, before falling asleep, my thoughts wandered, wondering whether all of this was a dream, whether it was all just my own imagination.

Time passed too quickly. More than eight years had gone by in the blink of an eye, and everything was changing.

When I saw Zhang Xiaotong's light-footed figure emerge from the school gates, I knew it was all still real. At the very least, Zhang Xiaotong was real.

"Why are you waiting here?" Zhang Xiaotong cried in concern as soon as she saw me. "It's so cold. You could've waited at home."

I smiled, remembering how adorable she had looked waiting for me outside Electronics City, her little face flushed red from the cold. "Didn't you wait for me too? Once each. Now we're even."

"Smooth talker." Zhang Xiaotong pinched me, took my hand, and started walking. "It's Christmas Eve. How are we spending it?"

"At home."

"At home?"

"Yeah," I said. "Home. Everywhere will be crowded tonight. Home is the only place that won't be."

"Okay. Whatever you say."

After we got out of the taxi, before entering the stairwell, I said to Zhang Xiaotong, "Come here. I have something to tell you."

Zhang Xiaotong bent slightly and lowered her head toward me. "Go on. So mysterious."

With lightning speed that left no time to cover your ears while stealing a bell-oh, I meant lightning speed that left no time to cover your ears-I swiftly kissed Zhang Xiaotong's earlobe.

"My dear Xiaotong, merry Christmas."

Zhang Xiaotong froze for a moment, completely unaware that I had already dashed upstairs. She stood downstairs in a daze for quite a while.

I sat in the living room waiting for ages before the blushing girl finally came dawdling in.