20

The train was quite empty, with only a handful of people in the entire carriage. So I didn't take the seat my ticket indicated, but chose a window seat so I could look out.

The train was passing through a tunnel, and the reflection of the lights inside the carriage allowed me to see my face reflected in the glass. My expression was gloomy.

If that photo was truly given to me by Zheng Kun, then his intentions are not difficult to grasp. As a suspect in the murder, he wants to catch the real killer as quickly as possible, more than anyone else. After reading about Li Xueqiang's death in the newspaper, he likely shared my suspicions, speculating that Li Zitong was the likely culprit.

To clear himself of suspicion, he inquired and found Li Zitong's whereabouts. He was in Shengang City, a small town about 400 kilometers from Chengguan City. But he couldn't call the police directly, as he'd likely be the first one to be detained. So he passed the information to me and asked me to handle it for him.

But of course I didn't want to call the police, or rather, I didn't want to report it directly. Before that, I wanted to talk to her face to face, and if she really did it, I wanted to persuade her to turn herself in.

Having made up my mind, I decided to act immediately. Now everyone, including the police, was looking for her. Any hesitation might have meant someone else got there first. Early Saturday morning, I went to the train station to buy a ticket. I used the pay phone at the station to call home, telling my mother I was out with some classmates and wouldn't be home late that evening. I hung up before she could reply.

Surely such a clumsy lie would be exposed as soon as my father got home? But now was the time to make a desperate move. I did everything with a surge of passion, and only calmed down once I got in the car did I realize the more practical question: was Li Zitong really willing to see me, willing to patiently listen to my advice?

I had no confidence at all. We hadn't seen each other in ages, and there was a chance she wouldn't even give me a chance to talk. Our relationship had plummeted because of that "latex incident" in junior high, and now we were just acquaintances. If only I hadn't pushed her into keeping her promise to "date" back then.

During the last week of summer vacation after my second year of junior high, filming for "The Last Man on Earth" was finally wrapping up. According to the original plot, the young man bid farewell to basketball and embarked on a new journey, ending with his distant figure disappearing over the horizon. However, Li Zitong refused to call a halt. After reshooting several shots, she was still not satisfied and even demanded to re-do the entire ending.

"Why?" I wailed, already tortured beyond measure.

"It was my fault for not thinking things through. After actually filming the finished film, I realized that this ending wasn't what I had imagined, and it lacked a certain lingering quality. How about a more positive change, and have the boy actually meet other survivors. Well, preferably girls of the same age."

Well, it turns out that she is not ignorant of the tricks that make teen films popular.

But this change brought a very practical problem—adding more actors. No matter how I filmed it, I couldn't play two roles in one shot. Li Zitong asked if I could find a female friend to help, but of course I didn't know anyone like that.

"Why don't you just act it yourself?" I suggested as a matter of course.

"Then who will take care of the filming?"

"Just get a tripod, focus in advance, and set up a time-lapse. If you need to switch shots, take multiple takes."

But she refused to agree, saying that she was not photogenic and did not want to appear on camera. In desperation, I tried to seek help from Gao Yang, and to my surprise, he readily agreed.

The final scene ended with Gao Yang and I, wearing a wig and a short skirt (the wig was made from scraps of hair found at the barbershop, the skirt provided by Li Zitong), meeting on a deserted bridge. Bathed in the afterglow of the setting sun, we tentatively shortened the distance between us, finally meeting at the apex of the stone bridge's curve and embracing.

This ending felt awkward, and I was physically nauseous when I was embracing Gao Yang and being forced to deliver those heartfelt lines. But Li Zitong was delighted, saying the scene was exactly as she'd imagined it. Furthermore, due to the lighting and distance, the faces weren't clearly visible in the shot, so there were no gender mismatches. It was simply perfect. So, I'm fine with that; as long as the director is happy, that's all that matters.

As for Gao Yang, he didn't even have time to offer any suggestions. He was squatting by the bridge, grimacing as he pulled his wig off strand by strand. It was too much glue and it looked painful.

Li Zitong was happily fiddling with the video recorder, presumably very satisfied with his first film. I took the opportunity to lean over and ask, "Is this finally finished?"

She nodded. "Thank you for your help."

"You're welcome. Speaking of which, you promised me that after the shoot, that..."

She was stunned for a second or two, then her face flushed, "You still remember."

Of course, otherwise what motivation would support me to continue shooting until now?

"You said last time that we were friends, right?" she said seriously. "I'm very grateful for your help on the film, and I value our friendship. I hope you won't make jokes about this kind of thing."

I felt a surge of shame. But then I realized something was amiss. Wasn't she the one who had coaxed me into helping her in exchange for a "date"? She was so smooth-talking when she needed help, but then she took the moral high ground, ripping up all the temporary agreements and going back on her word, just like the German Empire during World War II. Thinking of this, I couldn't help but feel angry.

"If we're friends, it's normal to go to the movies together, right?" I fought back angrily, blurting out words that I would normally be too shy to say, and even I was surprised.

"Hmm..." She was stunned.

Ever since she'd helped me escape Zheng Kun's clutches, I'd been oppressed and exploited for years. This was the first time I'd fought back and reclaimed lost ground so completely. In my elation, I added weight to the scales. "Did you forget? I nearly drowned that last time we were filming that ball chase scene in the lake."

"Well, um..." She made a thin, throaty sound like a cat having its neck kneaded, lowering her head and replied, "If it's just to watch a movie..."

"Can we go back now?" Gao Yang, who had finally cleaned up his hair and restored his neat flat head, came over. We were all surprised and looked away, each looking in a different direction.

I coughed and said, "That's true. Let's go back first."

Gao Yang looked at us suspiciously, "What were you whispering about just now? Secret topics?"

"No! Nothing!" Li Zitong and I answered in unison.

On our way home, it was after work, and the bus was packed. The driver kept shouting, "Go inside, there are seats!" But of course, this was a lie. The bus got even more crowded, and the three of us got separated and pushed in different directions.

After three stops, I finally found a gap and squeezed in next to Li Zitong, agreeing on a time and place to watch a movie. She didn't answer, but nodded her chin three times. I guess she agreed, right?

The following week was a mixture of excitement and bewilderment. Although I'd set a "date," I had no idea what to do or how to proceed. For another thing, I couldn't even decide which movie to see. There were six movies showing in the city. Excluding those promoting traffic safety and fire drills, only one of the remaining four sounded like something Li Zitong would enjoy. It was a Hong Kong film, and I heard it had a turbulent and unconventional plot, but it also had a lot of gory and gruesome scenes that wouldn't be suitable for a date. There was also a romantic film, but it focused on military life, targeting an older audience, so it didn't seem suitable either. I really didn't know what to choose.

Should I arrive early and buy popcorn? Should we all go home afterward? There were no definitive answers to these questions. Back then, the internet was still a distant memory, and the reference books in the bookstore didn't even offer dating tips. I had to turn to my peers for help. Luckily, a close friend had experience. He was an athlete, with pecs as thick as city walls. Tall enough for a slam dunk, he was the envy of all the boys in the class. Even more outrageous, in just two years of junior high, he'd already had three secret relationships and was currently dating the class beauty next door. None of the teachers seemed to like him, after all, he always managed to significantly lower the class average.

I gritted my teeth and asked him for help, but he laughed so hard that he fell backwards. His condescending attitude was really annoying. Fortunately, after he finished laughing, he still gave me some advice on my confusion.

I followed his instructions and made all the necessary preparations, bought movie tickets, and waited for the weekend. Unexpectedly, during the break on Friday, my friend came up to me and said he had something good for me.

"I got it with great difficulty. One for you and one for me. It's a 'latex product'." He secretly put a hard object into the palm of my hand.

I opened my hand and saw a thin, red, square plastic wrapper the size of a postage stamp, with jagged, easy-to-tear notches on either side. I held it between my fingers, turning it over and over. "What's this for?"

"Idiot, put it away!" He used his strong body to block the view of other directions in the classroom, leaned over and explained a few words in my ear "this and that", which made me tremble with fear.

"I have no use for this thing!" I widened my eyes.

"Shh! Keep your voice down."

The bell rang, and he moved towards the back row of seats while whispering, "Don't thank me, just keep it yourself!"

According to the weather forecast, the tropical depression has weakened to a low pressure system and is about to enter North China. The weather on Sunday may become extremely unstable. However, when I woke up this morning and eagerly opened the curtains, the sky over the small town was a cloudless blue.

I chose the Workers' Cultural Palace as my venue, the city's best-equipped cinema with the heaviest crowds. Near the entrance stood a number of vendors: sunflower seeds, ice cream from wooden boxes wrapped in quilts, and popcorn from a "cannon" hand-cranked popcorn machine. I bought two yuan worth of popcorn, which the vendor rolled out of old cardboard into a funnel shape and poured into the canister.

The Cultural Palace's screening room is split into two floors, sharing a single projection screen. I followed my friend's advice and bought a ticket for the second floor, saying it would be less crowded and less disruptive. As soon as I entered the hall, I saw Li Zitong peek out from the second floor and wave at me.

I walked up the stairs.

"You're here so early..." The words got stuck in his throat.

"Any questions?"

"No."

I was shocked by your outfit - but I dare not say that.

I had always remembered Li Zitong as someone whose everyday attire was quite simple, rarely even wearing skirts. But here she was, in a white lace dress, paired with bow-shaped open-toed sandals and a wide-brimmed white sunhat. She looked like a celebrity on a beach vacation. Passersby glanced at her with strange eyes.

She lowered the brim of her hat slightly. "Isn't it a little strange to wear this?"

"No," I shook my head repeatedly, "Let's go in first!"

The so-called good environment in the screening room is only relative to other cinemas in the city. Smoking is strictly prohibited here, and there are no men smoking or drinking Maihua beer, and no women chatting over a few cents worth of sunflower seeds. The restroom isn't stinking, and the floor isn't covered in feces and urine. It's as clean as a fast food restaurant restroom. But the seats are still made of reversible wooden boards, which are hard to sit on, and there's a loud "bang" when you stand up.

She took off her hat and put it on her left hand. I put the popcorn between the two seats and handed her an iced Coke.

"No, I won't drink water or eat anything during the movie."

"Huh? But you always eat non-stop in the store."

"There's no pause button here, and I don't want to miss the action just because I'm in the bathroom." Her eyes widened. "Besides, I'm not eating non-stop."

Could it be that she always unconsciously ate the snacks I brought her while watching a movie? That couldn't be possible.

I put the popcorn to my right, and the armrest between us was suddenly free. I suddenly realized something I'd never considered before: why do two adjacent seats in a movie theater share a single armrest, and why is it so narrow? It makes no sense. If I were to go to the movies alone, wouldn't I clash with my neighbor over "armrest territory"?

While I was daydreaming, the movie had already begun. Starring a renowned male martial arts star, the film boasted grand scenes and a gripping plot. It was a stark departure from the small-scale productions Li Zitong and I had created. But whether driven by the director's interest or market demand, there were occasional blood-splattering scenes, so dramatic that I marveled, "How could such a film even be released publicly?"

There were gasps and exclamations from the audience, and a young woman in the front row was so frightened that she turned her back, not daring to look. I looked at Li Zitong anxiously, but she was watching intently, her pupils reflecting a fluorescent light, not even blinking.

Choosing this film was indeed the right choice. If I had chosen that romance, she'd probably be complaining profusely by now. I was also completely absorbed in the film's plot. The tension on screen gradually intensified. To escape pursuit, the male protagonist leaped from the 21st-floor window, rapidly sliding down the glass curtain wall of the building...

I couldn't help but hold the armrest tightly. Suddenly, I felt a warmth between my fingers. Li Zitong's right hand also rested on the armrest and hooked my index finger.

Startled, I turned to look, only to see her still gazing intently at the screen, her expression unchanged from before. Perhaps it was an unintentional coincidence. To avoid embarrassment, I dared not move a finger, not even an arm.

But she never realized it. As the story approached its climax, the overlapping area of ​​her fingers grew larger and larger. As for how I knew the climax was approaching, of course, it was the changing rhythm of the background music. Ever since I realized this, I've lost all interest in the show. Only blocks of color shimmered on the screen, and time seemed to stretch on endlessly. The Earth had fallen into a long period of dormancy after the Cretaceous volcanic eruptions.

Suddenly, light descended upon the world. The lights came on, and the audience around them stood up and left.

"It's over," Li Zitong's eyes sparkled, but he didn't stand up immediately. "It was a really good movie."

"Ah, indeed, it's pretty good." I answered casually, secretly withdrawing my fingers little by little. The lights in the theater were already fully on, and a man and a woman who wanted to use the aisle were staring at us and whispering.

She still didn't realize what was happening, and kept on talking. "But don't you think the ending was a bit hasty? The woman in the wedding dress didn't appear again after the third act."

"The supporting role's role doesn't matter..."

"What? Were you really watching the movie carefully? That person is obviously an important character in the plot..." Li Zitong got angry and clenched her fingers. Suddenly she realized what she was holding. She looked down and her face instantly turned red, almost bleeding.

We left the theater in silence, without a single word. My mind was restless, and I felt a strange sensation. It was like looking through a telescope on a mountaintop. Scenes that shouldn't be vivid were right before my eyes, details crystal clear.

"Where are we going?" she suddenly asked.

Only then did I realize I had already walked past the bus stop on my way back. I hesitantly replied, "It's a nice day... do you want to go shopping?"

She murmured, "Hmm." We continued walking aimlessly. The streets before us seemed a little unfamiliar, but my heart was pounding.

"What are you doing?" someone suddenly asked. I turned around and saw it was my homeroom teacher. Next to her stood a young man, holding the same kind of popcorn popcorn I was holding.

I was so scared that I forgot to breathe and my mind went blank. I could only tell him the truth about the movie.

The head teacher asked Li Zitong about his identity again, and Li Zitong told the truth.

"Oh, you're from the school next door." The gloom on her face grew even darker. "Are we really just ordinary friends?"

I nodded repeatedly, "Just friends."

The head teacher spread out his hands and said, "Take out your movie tickets and let me see them."

I reached into my trouser pocket, luckily the clipped ticket stub was still there, and quickly pulled it out. In my panic, I moved a little too much, and the pocket flipped inside out, and a square of plastic packaging fell to the ground with a "clatter".

I had forgotten this thing in my pocket. My heart nearly jumped out of my throat, and I quickly leaned over to pick it up. But it was too late; the other three had already seen it.

I wanted to explain something, but my mouth felt like it was filled with flour and I couldn't speak.

I later learned that our homeroom teacher had just gone to the movies with her boyfriend that day. She had intended to turn a blind eye to our situation, but then she accidentally discovered the "latex products." The situation became serious, and my parents were immediately called in.

As for the origin and purpose of the "latex product," I couldn't bear to expose my friend's identity, so I just said I found it and put it in my pocket for fun. The school, of course, rejected this story, but I insisted on it, and without any evidence, they were helpless. Li Zitong's questioning didn't yield any results, so they ultimately gave him a verbal warning and left it at that.

This incident was a huge blow to me. After the public disciplinary action, I was constantly pointed at at school. My mother still scolds and haunts me, and my friends tease me about it. But what bothered me most was Li Zitong's thoughts. Even if she didn't know what the "latex product" was at first, she would surely understand after multiple interrogations. She would probably think I had it on me with premeditation.

I wanted to explain the whole thing to her, but it was extremely difficult. After the incident, we were both listed as key targets for supervision by the school and parents, and it was difficult to meet privately.

I finally found my chance and pretended to be a customer, then walked into the Hongfan music store. But Li Zitong looked away the moment she saw me. The friendship we had worked so hard to establish was shattered so easily.