3
Suffering from both mental and physical trauma, I stayed at home for three consecutive days.
On the fourth night, just after dinner, there was a knock on the door. Looking through the peephole, it was Zheng Kun.
I hurried out to respond, somewhat dumbfounded. "How did you find this place?"
"I haven't seen you for a few days. I was a little worried, so I asked around."
"I have a cold."
"You have to take care of yourself." He smiled faintly, "I'm still waiting for your help."
"Keep your voice down." I looked back into the house worriedly. The TV in the living room was very loud, and my mother hadn't noticed the movement at the door yet.
"I know your family is here. Don't worry, I'm just here to visit. I'll be leaving soon." He emphasized the word "visit" and paused, as if waiting for the implicit meaning to seep into my brain.
I nodded. He laughed and then turned away decisively. Gazing at his back, I couldn't help but ask the question I'd been holding back for days.
"Wait, there's one thing I really don't understand. Why are you so insistent on me making friends with that girl who's watching over the shop? What if I can't do that?"
"Well, I had to tell you sooner or later anyway." He paused, "But it's a long story to explain. Will you invite me in for a seat, or take a walk with me outside?"
Of course I chose outside.
I followed Zheng Kun, walking down the night street. The sky was covered in thick gray clouds, and the moon was invisible. Although the streetlights were still on, my fear remained undimmed, and I cautiously kept a half-meter distance from him.
Compared to Zhang Zhihao, who was prone to physical violence, the gentle Zheng Kun frightened me more. When he spoke to me, I felt like snake scales sliding across my bare skin: wet, cold, and sticky.
I once secretly asked around to find out the identities of the two men. The fat guy, Zhang Zhihao, was a formidable fighter, once defeating three adult thugs fighting for territory. But everyone said he wasn't formidable, just a sidekick. The trouble was Zheng Kun, and Zhang Zhihao was just a sucker fish clinging to a shark.
Zheng Kun was a well-known local thug, cunning and unscrupulous in his pursuit of wealth. Many of his peers had experienced being cornered in alleys and extorted by him. His father, nicknamed "Bie Si," had been arrested and imprisoned five years earlier. His mother soon ran off with another man, leaving him with no one to discipline him. Rumors abounded about his crimes, including claims that he had beaten his school principal with a sack before dropping out, that he had robbed an entire street of shops overnight, and that he had murky connections to the underworld. While each claim lacked concrete evidence, it nonetheless rang plausible.
"Have you heard of the Hong Kong thief king Zhang Ziqiang?" Zheng Kun, who was walking in front, suddenly spoke.
"No." My knowledge of Hong Kong is limited to the faces that are often seen on the screen.
His expression was slightly disappointed. "Don't you watch the news? A while ago, he kidnapped the son of Hong Kong's richest man, Li Ka-shing, and demanded a ransom of 2 billion Hong Kong dollars. In the end, he managed to get over 10 billion and escaped unscathed. 10 billion!"
"But isn't he the 'King of Thieves'?" In my opinion, kidnapping and stealing are two completely different technical approaches.
"Idiot." He chuckled contemptuously. "The title of 'King of Thieves' isn't earned by petty theft. No matter how skilled a thief is, he can only make a hundred bucks a day at best. But for someone like Zhang Ziqiang, every job is a big one. Robberies at airports, armored trucks, kidnapping wealthy families—they all rake in billions. Regardless of whether it's stealing or robbing, the key is how to make a fortune."
I could only listen in silence.
He looked at the streetlights and spoke excitedly, "The reason I set my sights on that video store is because I want to make a big deal."
I gasped, "You want to kidnap that girl?"
He looked at me like I was a fool. "You're so simple-minded... Do you have to copy others just because they make money? This business can be done by stealing. There's no need to resort to kidnapping. Do you know how many years of imprisonment you get for kidnapping?"
After all that talk, it all came down to his old tricks of picking locks and stealing things. I breathed a sigh of relief.
"Okay, I won't keep you in suspense. Did you know that video store has a second-floor attic?"
Anyone who has been there will know it at a glance. There are stairs leading to the second floor, but when you look up, you can only see a closed iron door with a shiny stainless steel lock.
"You probably wouldn't believe it, but what's hidden inside are some valuable items that shouldn't be seen in public. They're all videotapes worth a fortune!"
How much can a videotape be worth? Twenty dollars at most.
Perhaps he saw that I didn't believe him, so he gave me a lewd smile. "The value of a videotape is determined by its content. Remember that Angel Agent tape I asked you to borrow?"
It's hard to forget.
"Honestly, that kind of thing isn't interesting. At most, they only show the top half of their bodies, which is why they dare to sell it openly. Compared to the stuff upstairs, it's not even worth mentioning. That one's made of real guns and ammunition."
I barely understood what he was saying.
"Most people don't know about this. They sell it to regular customers, led by the girl's father. I was selecting videos in the store one time and saw him trading tapes with a regular customer. Do you know how much each one cost? A full hundred dollars. I heard there are hundreds of these tapes stored in the attic. If you do the math, this business is worth tens of thousands of dollars."
Tens of thousands of yuan was an amount of money that a child like me could never imagine. In the 1990s, having a deposit of 10,000 yuan was considered wealthy, and there was even a special term for it called "10,000 yuan household."
"But there's still another obstacle standing in our way." I could hear a sinister lingering tone in his words. "The owner knows the stuff upstairs is valuable, so he installed a stainless steel security door. I can fix the roller shutter outside, but I can't pick the lock on the security door."
I finally understood why he wanted me to get close to Li Zitong, but I was speechless.
"Do me one last favor. Find out about her family's situation and steal the attic key. Then we'll be even. I promise I won't bother you again." His words were polite, yet there was a forced resonance. His voice was like frozen meat left in the refrigerator for a long time, cold and hard.
I specifically chose the morning to go to the video store.
Li Zitong and her mother were both there. Her mother was sorting the videotapes on the shelves in the store. She sat at the counter, a pen in her hand, her homework under her arm. But those were obviously just props; her attention was completely focused on the TV. The screen was full of blood splatter, and it was obvious that it was the type of thing she liked.
Hearing the noise, she turned around and saw that it was me, and her expression froze.
"What are you doing here again?"
"Rent a movie." I pretended to be relaxed.
"Stop pretending, you're not welcome here."
"I'm a guest." I deliberately raised my voice.
Hearing the sound, her mother stopped what she was doing, came out and said "Welcome," and enthusiastically asked what kind of movie she wanted to rent. I replied, "Just watch anything," and glanced at Li Zitong. Her face was frozen like a mask.
Although I claimed to be a customer, my wallet was already empty. In desperation, I pretended to be selecting a movie from the shelf, but I secretly watched the TV screen to pass the time.
The film is incredibly dark and depressing. The protagonist is a cannibalistic demon who's obsessed with developing new recipes using human tissue, like human liver cooked with fava beans and red wine. It almost made me vomit. Why would anyone enjoy watching this kind of film? I don't understand.
But as the story unfolded, I was drawn in. Though cold and brutal, the ogre possessed a graceful demeanor and an exceptional intelligence, possessing a unique aura that separated him from humanity yet transcended it. The police, hoping to leverage his exceptional intelligence to solve another serial murder case, had to release him from prison to serve as a consultant. Imprisoned in a heavily guarded room, the ogre, using only a pen refill, managed to pry free his handcuffs and dispatch two guards. He bit one of the officers' faces, blood splattering from the corners of his mouth, a smile on his face. Even as a large number of police officers rushed to reinforce him, he calmly listened to the aria from the Goldberg Variations emanating from his tape recorder, slowly raising his head, closing his eyes, and smiling, lost in the sacred melody composed by Bach. His face was fixed on God, a boundless glory seemingly surrounding him.
Soon, a large number of police rushed into the secret room. But all they found was a body hanging like a bat. The ogre had vanished as if he had evaporated from the face of the earth...
Just then, the picture disappeared.
I looked away from the TV in a daze, and Li Zitong, holding the remote control, stared at me angrily.
"The movie is over," she said.
Her mother had left at some point. Is it already noon? I've been standing here watching for so long.
"Wait, how did that guy escape?"
"Who cares about you? I'm in charge of this place now. Could you please leave?"
She came out from behind the counter and shoved my arm.
"Please, I really want to know. Can you at least tell me the name of the movie?"
She sighed and reluctantly replied, "The Silence of the Lambs."
I spent the next few days in the video store, but she never showed me the movie again. I imagined many different possible endings, but nothing felt right.
A week passed, and I finally scraped together enough money to rent the videotape. I rushed into the store eagerly. It was noon, and Li Zitong was the only one there. She frowned impatiently when she saw me.
"I'm a customer today." I patted my pockets hurriedly, and the sound of coins clinking was heard.
But when I finally found the copy of "The Silence of the Lambs" on the shelf, I found out that I was fifty cents short when I checked out.
"Strange, there was clearly enough money when I counted it at home..." I turned my pockets inside out, but there was not a single extra coin.
"Keep the videotape first, I'll be back soon." I wanted to go home to find money, but Li Zitong stopped me.
"I give you my all." She relaxed her lips slightly, "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about that."
"What?" I was confused.
"The videotape you borrowed was about a female agent. We don't comment on our customers' preferences, let alone leak them."
I was choked for a moment. It turned out that she still remembered it.
"I really can't figure out why you come here every day. I suddenly realized it last night when I just fell asleep. Really, if you care so much, why don't you come here to borrow..."
I wanted to argue, but I held it in. It was nice to have a reason to come every day, and I really didn't want other students to know that I was renting porn.
"...I'm glad you understand. Please don't tell anyone else in school, Li, Li Zitong."
She twisted her face slightly, her pupils wide open like a frightened cat, and stared into my eyes. "Why do you know my name?"
I was stunned. Could it be that she had never recognized me? That was impossible. Although we had never spoken, we had been in the same classroom for two or three years.
"Ah, you're...yes, no wonder you look familiar." She put her hands on her cheeks, like the figure shouting on the bridge in Munch's painting. "But if we go to the same school, why are you renting videos in this part of the east city? You're halfway across the city from your home, right?"
It can be said that I was forced, but I can't tell the real reason.
"It's the same for you. You opened a store so far away from home."
"It's not my decision where to open a store... Forget it, let's make a deal. If you don't agree, I'll tell your classmates about you borrowing that videotape."
"Why!" I wailed. "Didn't you promise to keep it a secret?"
"That was just a moment ago. Things have changed... Anyway, you are not allowed to tell anyone about your encounter with me here, and I will pay you accordingly - keep your mouth shut."
I thought about it and said, "Okay, but I have one extra condition."
"What?"
"Let me finish watching The Silence of the Lambs. I really want to know how that cannibal escaped the trap. Or you could give me a brief explanation."
Li Zitong stared at my face. Her gaze was so sharp that I almost worried it would pierce my cheek. Finally, she sighed, picked up the videotape she hadn't paid for, and inserted it into the projector. She also slid over to the side of the chair, making room for someone else. I plopped down on it.
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