Xu Zechen: Running Through Beijing

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!”

By the time his bag hit the ground, he’d already reached the police. He shouted “Hands off my DVDs!” at the top of his lungs, ripped the case out of the hands of one of the officers, and took off through the passageway, heading north. As he ran, he continued shouting, “My DVDs!” The police hadn’t expected anything like that, they abandoned Kuang Shan and took off after Dunhuang. He sprinted, case in hand, while the police shouted at him to stop. He wasn’t about to stop, though — he dodged around any corner he saw, and soon found that he’d made a full circle back to where they’d started. Xiaorong sat on the ground, a pool of red spreading between her legs, a few concerned bystanders gathered around and trying to help her up. Kuang Shan was nowhere in sight. He had meant to run past Xiaorong, but Dunhuang changed course suddenly, and the metal case banged against one knee, sending him sprawling — the case smashed to the ground and burst open, scattering garish DVDs everywhere. One of the bystanders shouted in surprise. Nearly every DVD cover featured a pair of smooth white legs, a pair of smooth white breasts.