Xu Zechen - Running Through Beijing

“Hello, do you have a friend who wants a bike too?”

“They all drive sedans,” said Dunhuang. “My bike’s been stolen!”

“You mean, you’d like to buy another?”

“Fuck you, my bike’s gone!”

“Call the police, then — what am I going to do about it?”

“Only you knew that bike!”

“Fuck you, shit for brains! If I only dealt in bikes I knew, I’d be out on the street!”

“So how was my bike stolen?”

“Ask the thief! Ask your lock!”The suit was getting mad, too. “You think they come with a lifetime guarantee, you asshole?”

Dunhuang said nothing. He’d forgotten to get a good lock for his Giant. He assumed the bike would be with him during the day, and locked up in his courtyard at night, so he hadn’t bothered yet.

“Who told you to pinch your pennies?” said the suit. “Never mind a thief, even a child could break off one of those wheel-locks. Serves you right! I have no sympathy at all! How about I get you another bike? How’s fifty percent off?”

“Fuck you!” said Dunhuang, and hung up the phone, heartbroken. The more he thought the madder he got, until he decided to hell with bicycles, people got around fine before bicycles were invented. I’ll run — let’s see them steal my legs.

The next time, he really did run to Zhichunli. He discovered it wasn’t actually much slower than the bike. He passed the south gate of Peking University, turned right at Pacific Computer City, crossed Zhongguancun Street and then the Zhongguancun Bridge, carried straight on past the north Fourth Ring Road, turned right onto Science Academy South, and went straight into Zhichunli. As he ran, his spirits rose — he ran right through three red lights, caused two cars to screech to a halt, and was stared at by many. It was rare to see a madman sprinting through bustling Zhongguancun. Once at Zhichunli, Dunhuang slowed his breath before pressing the doorbell. He passed Kill Bill and Banlieue 13 between the bars of the safety door.

The girl was wearing a skirt, and a flame-red shawl. “Thanks,” she said. “Have you got that bicycle one you mentioned last time?”

“ The Bicycle Thief ?”

She glanced down for a moment, then said, “That’s the one. The Bicycle Thief .”

“I’ve got no bicycle thief, I’m only the bicycle-thieved.”

“Is that good, too?”

“I’m joking. I was talking about myself. I’ve got the movie at home, I’ll bring it next time.”

“Your bike was stolen?”

“Yeah, outside your building, when I was here a couple days ago.”

“The Giant?”

“The Giant mountain bike.”

“How much was it? I’ll reimburse you for it.”

“Eighty.”

“Eighty? A Giant?” The girl finally really laughed, then picked up her wallet from a nearby table and pulled out five hundreds to give to him. “Liar! Giants aren’t that cheap. Whatever it really costs, I’m only giving you this, if it’s not enough that’s your problem.”

Dunhuang waved her off. “It really was eighty. Secondhand. Take your money back, it wasn’t you who stole it.”

The girl stuck her hand out through the door and flapped the cash. “You lost it because of me, of course I should pay. Take it.”

“It’s not your fault,” Dunhuang said. “I’m going, I’ll bring you that movie next time.” He went downstairs with the girl calling after him.

From then on, as long as the delivery was within three kilometers, Dunhuang did it running. When he was still in school he was a good long-distance runner. He hadn’t done it for years and was a little unused to it at first, but soon the feeling came back to him, and he got pleasure from the exercise. The next time he delivered DVDs to the girl, adding The Bicycle Thief into the bargain, he ran there again. She still wanted to give him money, or a new Giant if he wouldn’t take the money. Dunhuang said, “Absolutely not, I’m loving running, don’t burst my bubble. If I don’t exercise these 70 kilos will turn to flab.”

The girl’s eyes grew wide, and she said, “Whoa, you ran here?”

“Yeah. If the lights are green I can run nonstop.”

“Look at you bragging!” She looked better laughing than stone-faced, her teeth like jade. “If this movie’s no good you’re going to hear about it from me!”

On the way back from Zhichunli, as he was passing the gate of the Foreign Languages Institute, Dunhuang got an unfamiliar phone call. A man said in a low voice, “I saw your advertisement, are you selling DVDs? I want something hard.”

Dunhuang hesitated before saying, “I’ve got that, how many do you want?”

“The more the better. The north gate of the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, I’m wearing a gray jacket and a red tie.”

Dunhuang took the bus there. He saw the gray jacket sitting on the curb across from the university, his red tie was very flashy. Dunhuang approached with his bag on his back. “Want a movie?” The jacket nodded.

“Let’s find someplace quiet to talk.” They turned into an empty street and stopped. Dunhuang pulled three porn DVDs out of the side pocket of his bag.

“Got any more?”

Dunhuang put the bag down at his feet and pulled out another ten. “That’s all.”

The jacket looked into the open bag. “You’ve got softcore too?”

Dunhuang pulled five DVDs from the pile, his hand unerring. He didn’t have many, softcore didn’t sell well. As the jacket flipped through the packages one of his legs shook continuously. Once he’d looked through them all closely, he suddenly yelled, “I’m a police officer!” Dunhuang blinked, then laughed. “Come on, brother, don’t scare me, I have a weak bladder.”

“Don’t believe me?” The guy stuck his right hand into his pocket and pulled out his ID, flipping it open. He really was police. At the same time, his other hand was already closing on one of the straps of the bag. “I’m confiscating your DVDs!”

Dunhuang pointed at the ground and said, “Is that your money?”When the jacket looked down Dunhuang yanked the bag out of his hand and took off. The jacket tried to grab the bag with his other hand, but it was too late. The strap he was holding tore off, and he let go. He shouted, “Stop!” Dunhuang ran for all he was worth, the bag over one shoulder, DVDs flying from its open mouth. Luckily, he was a fast runner — the jacket gave up after fifty meters. Dunhuang didn’t stop until he’d reached the gate of the Science Academy, hastily zipping up the bag as he ran. He checked that the jacket was nowhere in sight before flopping down on the side of the street. His calves were trembling, cramped from fright. He was remembering Haidian Bridge.

But this time he’d gotten away.

It took him the rest of the day to get back to normal — what a fucking awful start to the morning. His heart wasn’t in selling DVDs; he was constantly looking around, afraid the police would leap out. He’d lost fewer than 30 DVDs while running, but it was still enough to hurt. In the aftermath, he was not only hyper-vigilant about the police, he also jumped out of his skin every time the phone rang — first was Kuang Shan, using someone else’s phone. He was calling just to say that the Korean movie he’d wanted, The Isle , had arrived and he could come and pick it up. Dunhuang had already worked himself into a state over whether to pick up the unfamiliar number. The second call was also an unknown number. Dunhuang gritted his teeth and picked up.

The caller said, with no preamble, “Is that you, Crow? You been hiding in Li Xiaohong’s underpants again? I haven’t seen you for six months!”