Lei Mi - Profiler

She had been dancing for a while, and now her face was red from the heat and she kept fanning her neck with her collar. "What are you thinking about?" she asked.

"Oh, nothing really."

"Why aren't you over there having fun?"

He laughed. "I can't dance. You should go enjoy yourself; don't worry about me."

She covered his hand with her own. "Then I won't go either," she said softly. "I'll stay here with you."

At that moment, the student who was emceeing the party called loudly, "Next we're going to exchange presents. Time to show your S.O. how deep your love goes!"

Taking her hand away, Deng Linyue rifled excitedly through her bag. In the blink of an eye, she was holding a small gold-colored metal box.

She presented it to Fang Mu. "This is for you! Merry Christmas!"

"Oh, thank you." Taking the beautifully-made box from her, Fang Mu saw that the word "Zippo" was written on the side. He understood: It was a lighter.

"Open it up and took a look." Deng Linyue's chin was resting on her palms, her elbows on the table, an expectant look in her eyes.

He opened the box. Inside was a limited-edition Eternal Star Zippo. He knew its market price had to be over 1,200 renminbi. Lifting the cover, he flicked the flint wheel, and a flame whooshed out of the top of the lighter.

"Like it?" she asked, winking at him. "But I still don't want you to smoke too many cigarettes. Now, how about mine?"

Fang Mu hesitated for a moment, then handed her the wrapped box.

Beaming, Deng Linyue undid the wrapping paper. As she took out the box, a boy at the next table noticed it and snorted derisively. Looking over, Fang Mu saw that the boy was just placing a ring on his girlfriend's finger.

"Wow, how beautiful," Deng Linyue said, ignoring the boy. She smiled and held the music box to her heart. "Where's the on switch? Oh, don't tell me; I want to find it." Reaching under the box, she flipped it on and the music began to play.

The streetlight glowed. The snowflakes whirled.

She set the globe on the table and resting her chin on her crossed arms, watching the two sweethearts press together at the center of the snow globe. She watched all the way though, until the song ended.

"I love it," she said, carefully placing the music box in her bag. She looked up at Fang Mu and smiled sweetly. "Thank you."

At the next table, the girl was complaining that the ring was too small. Sweating, the boy there finally managed to squeeze it onto her pinky.

Seeing this, Fang Mu and Deng Linyue couldn't help but look at each other and laugh.

Du Yu and Zhang Yao walked over, arm in arm. She had given him a pair of Nike basketball shoes and he already had them on.

"What do you think? They're Scottie Pippen Nike Air Throwbacks. Slick, huh?" Du Yu smiled with pleasure.

"Enough," said Zhang Yao with a smile. "Look how pleased you are with yourself." She nudged his head playfully, and then turned to Deng Linyue. "Linyue, we're going to go do karaoke soon. You guys should come!"

Deng Linyue looked at Fang Mu, as if waiting for his approval.

Du Yu pulled Fang Mu over to him and said, "You don't need to ask — he's coming for sure!"

Three cabs pulled up out front of the Night Flyer karaoke club and let out more than a dozen young people. Before Fang Mu had even gotten out, he saw Du Yu emerge from the cab ahead of him talking on his cell phone. A few seconds later, however, whoever he was speaking to must have hung up, leaving Du Yu staring at the screen with a baffled look on his face. When Zhang Yao walked over to find out what was going on, the phone suddenly rang again. Although Du Yu picked it up and said "Hello" a few times, it seemed as if the person on the other end wasn't saying a word, so he hung it up and shrugged at Zhang Yao. She just stood there, a suspicious look on her face.

Everyone else then filed into the club, leaving only Fang Mu, Deng Linyue, Du Yu, and Zhang Yao outside. Gesturing wildly, Du Yu was trying to explain something to Zhang Yao, but she just smiled coldly, as if she didn't believe anything he was saying.

Deng Linyue walked over and said something to Zhang Yao, and then clasped Fang Mu's arm and led him into the club.

"What happened?" he asked her.

"I don't know; probably some kind of misunderstanding. We should just go inside and let them be for now," she told him. "Zhang Yao said that she'd come in soon."

After renting two private rooms and ordering beer and snacks, everyone began belting out the karaoke tunes. Unable to withstand the peer pressure, Fang Mu joined in and sang I Haven't Loved You Enough with Deng Linyue.

Du Yu and Zhang Yao never came back inside.

Eventually, Fang Mu called Du Yu, but he didn't pick up. Deng Linyue then called Zhang Yao, but she didn't answer either. Beginning to worry, Fang Mu grabbed his coat and said he was going to look for them. When some of the other boys heard this, however, they all sat him back down on the couch, laughing.

"Come on," one said. "Those two have been together for a long time. It's Christmas Eve; why do you want to disturb them tonight?"

Thinking it over, Fang Mu had to agree. If the two of them had gone to a hotel together, then he would clearly just be spoiling the fun.

By 3 a.m., everyone was exhausted. Unable to hold out any longer, several people had already fallen asleep on the couch, slumped at odd angles. Those who still hadn't had enough were singing tiredly or sitting around the table, drinking beer and chatting.

When someone suggested they tell scary stories, the others immediately agreed.

So people began regaling each other with tales of mountain village zombies and haunted offices. A few of the more cowardly girls hid behind their boyfriends' backs, revealing only their eyes as they listened in abject terror.

"Aw, that's all a bunch of bull," said one of the boys. "If you want to hear something scary, you'd better listen to him." He clapped Fang Mu on the shoulder, who had fallen asleep. "And everything he says will be true."

At once everyone perked up.

"That's right. Didn't you help the police investigate a bunch of cases, Fang Mu? Let's hear some stories."

"I heard you helped them solve those murders that the law school student committed. You have to tell us what happened."

"Yeah, I heard the murderer almost killed you, too. You've gotta tell us the story."

As Fang Mu looked around at all the curious faces, he suddenly remembered the scene before him when the provost had called him up onstage during the assembly.

They didn't care at all about the pain of the victims, or about the fate of Meng Fanzhe. To them, other people's deaths were nothing more than an exciting topic of conversation.

"There's nothing interesting to tell," he said pointedly.

Having been all set to hear some behind-the-scenes stories, the listeners groaned with disappointment. Unwilling to give up, several of the girls who had been hiding behind their boyfriends tried to provoke him, saying, "Don't be so selfish, tell us something." One of them even grabbed Fang Mu's arm and, ignoring her glaring boyfriend, swung it back and forth. "Come on, handsome," she said. "Let us hear one. Crime stories are my favorite; they're so exciting."

Fang Mu stared right into her eyes until she sensed his mood. Feeling a little frightened, she let go of his arm.

"Exciting?" He laughed, and the corners of his mouth curled into a faint smile. "If someone peeled off all your skin and then sewed it into clothing for a mannequin to wear, would you think that was exciting?"

The girl covered her mouth, her face paling at the description. "What's your problem?" her boyfriend yelled angrily. "You don't want to talk about it, fine, but what? Are you trying to threaten her?"