Netherworld Investigator

The next day, I was up by 6 o’clock in the morning. Dali was still hungover and our other roommates were still sleeping. I tried to be as quiet as possible so as not to wake them up. I wouldn’t know what to tell them if they asked me where I was going.

I stood in front of my closet for a long time and finally decided on a sweater that I thought would make me look cool, then put on my jeans and sneakers and styled up my hair with some gel I found. I then caught myself in the mirror and thought I looked even nerdier than usual, so I washed my hair and re-styled it again. It took me a long time until I was satisfied, and when I stepped out of the room, it was already seven o’clock.

I took a cab to the Golden Dragon Mall and arrived there at about half past seven. I waited until I saw Xiaotao rushing there with hurried steps at eight o’clock sharp—she was punctual to the second!

I almost didn't recognize her at first sight. Xiaotao wore a white long-sleeved shirt today, pairing it with a red cropped jacket, and a pair of white tight-fitting jeans which outlined her slender legs very well. She also wore a pair of lensless glasses and carried a small handbag on her shoulder. She looked so young and casual that no one would’ve guessed she was actually a police officer.

“How long have you been here?” she asked.

“I just arrived,” I lied. “Why are you wearing glasses if you’re not near-sighted?”

She took off the glasses and answered, “I wore this when I was undercover once. I just felt like wearing them again today. I thought it might make me look younger. Don’t I look like a college student?”

“Not at all.” I shook my head.

“Why not?”

“It’s the way you carry yourself,” I explained. “No matter how you look at it, you just don’t look like a college student.”

“Well, that’s too bad! I guess I’m just too cool and I can’t hide it!”

“By the way, do you live around here?” I asked.

Xiaotao was surprised. “How did you know?”

“First of all, I noticed that you didn’t drive,” I analyzed. “Secondly, your shoes are very clean. And finally, your hair is still wet, so I guessed that you must’ve just walked here from your house.”

Xiaotao smiled and said, “Nothing escapes your notice, Detective Holmes! Yeah, my house is around here. I live alone.”

“You bought a house here?” 

“Uh-huh,” nodded Xiaotao.

I was mildly surprised by the revelation. The area around the Golden Dragon Mall was considered to be an affluent region of Nanjiang City where only the upper crust of society could afford to live.

“Have you had breakfast?” she asked.

“No.”

“Me neither. Let’s grab something simple to eat at the nearby McDonald’s.”

“Sure!”

We then had a simple breakfast together and Xiaotao paid the bill. She then smiled naughtily and asked, “What’s next on the agenda, Great Detective Song?”

Well, I did a little homework last night and used Baidu Maps to look around the area. The choices of activities were limited to the usual suspects: watching movies, shopping, or a walk in the park.

“Should we watch a movie?” I suggested. “It will be almost noon when the movie’s over so we can get lunch at the food street nearby. I’ll pay this time, of course.”

“Watch a movie?” Xiaotao laughed. “That’s what people do when they go on a date, though! What kind of a relationship do you think we’re in?”

I groaned. “What would you rather do, then?”

“Well, watching a movie isn’t a bad idea actually,” she replied. “There’s a movie that came out recently that I’m interested in, but I just never got the time to see it.”

So she agrees with my plan, then? I grumbled. It’s just impossible to understand a woman’s heart.

We then walked languidly to a nearby cinema. When we arrived, the movie Xiaotao wanted to watch had already started for five minutes. I bought the tickets anyway and we entered the dark movie hall. The pitch-black environment in the cinema excited me a little—I was reminded of the stories I’d heard about what lovers liked to do in a dark room like this where nobody could see them.

I led the way in front and held up my phone with the flashlight feature turned on so Xiaotao could see. But the room was completely dark and the brightness of the screen was too stark and blinding, so the flashlight didn’t help much at all.

“Hey, just hold my hand and lead me to our seats,” Xiaotao whispered. She then offered me her tiny hand. I took it. This would be the second time we held hands, yet my heart still couldn’t keep still.

With my Cave Vision, I found our seats very easily. When Xiaotao let go of my hand as we sat down, I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed. I wished I could hold on to it for just a little longer.

As we were watching the movie, there was a couple making out in the row in front of us. They were very much into it. At times we couldn’t even hear the movie due to their loud moans and slurping noise. Because the seat numbers were fixed, we had no choice but to remain in our seats. 

“Did you know, Song Yang?” said Xiaotao in a deliberately loud voice. “The security cameras in the cinema are equipped with night vision so no matter what you do inside here, everything’s recorded clearly.”

The couple looked over their shoulders at us and didn’t even dare to touch each other again after that. Xiaotao leaned back and snorted with satisfaction.

“How did you know about that?” I whispered.

“Did you forget that I’m a police officer? Now be quiet, I’m watching the movie.”

“Okay.” I nodded.

We were watching was a crime thriller. Xiaotao was giving me commentaries based on her professional experience throughout the movie, so my watching experience was peppered with remarks like “That’s just not realistic at all!” and “The scriptwriters are a bunch of idiots!” and “How can anyone escape from the prison so easily? This is just stupid!” and “There’s no way anyone could dodge that many bullets without a scratch!”

What was the story about, you ask? Well, I wouldn’t know. All that time my concentration was not on the screen at all. I kept stealing glances at Xiaotao with the corner of my eye. What was of particular interest to me was her hand resting on the armrest between us. I tried to reach out and hold it, but after several unsuccessful tries due to my cowardice, I gave up. I felt like the most useless piece of trash in the world.

“Was the movie good?” I asked when we came out of the cinema.

“Why are you asking me? Didn’t you watch it too?”

“Of course I did! But… I don’t usually watch this type of movie…” I stammered.

She turned to me and smiled slyly. “You didn’t spend the whole time staring at me, did you?”

“No! Absolutely not!” I denied.

Xiaotao smiled knowingly, then looked at her watch. “It’s eleven o’clock now. Let’s find a place to eat!”

I suggested we go to the nearby food street and find a restaurant there. I asked her if she preferred barbecue or pizza. She shook her head and replied, “I’m not really that hungry. Let’s just find a simple restaurant and have a light lunch.”

“That’s out of the question,” I insisted. “I promised you I’d treat you to a nice meal!”

Xiaotao smiled.

“But a nice meal doesn’t have to be expensive,” she said. “Frankly, I’ve been to many of these restaurants so many times before that they bore me now. Besides, you just spent two hundred yuan for the movie tickets. There’s no need to waste more money on food.”

“But you’ve been paying for our meals all the time! Why shouldn’t I pay for you this time?”

“How is that even comparable?” she countered. “You haven’t even graduated yet! It’s not like you get a salary every month! Anyway, can you cook? Maybe you can buy some ingredients and go back to my house and cook for me there.”

“But I don’t even know how to boil water.”

Xiaotao sighed.

Looking back, I wish I could go back in time and kick myself. I should’ve noticed that Xiaotao was trying to invite me to her house, yet I rejected her like an idiot and missed the opportunity.

“Fine. Let’s go shopping then! We can just find a place to eat when we get hungry. There’s no reason to take it all so seriously since we’ve known each other for quite a while now.”

“Okay.”

We then strolled around the mall, not speaking a word to each other.

“Have you been on a date before?” asked Xiaotao suddenly.

“No. Have you?”

“Me neither.”

Last night, I imagined how my relationship with Xiaotao would bloom today. But the way things went now had me deflated. We didn’t know what to chat about with each other as we strolled. The only things I knew had to do with corpses and autopsies, and those weren’t known to create a romantic atmosphere. It made me realize how boring I was.

After having explored the mall, we decided to go outside and take a stroll in the park. The trees there were densely packed together and the surrounding area was nice and quiet. Xiaotao told me she was tired of walking and would like to take a break there. 

I saw a beverage stall nearby and asked her, “Are you thirsty? Let me buy you a drink.”

Xiaotao smiled and said, “How thoughtful of you! That’s a rare sight! Um, I think I’d like some blueberry juice.”

“Okay,” I nodded. “Wait for me here, okay? Don’t go anywhere!”

I rushed to the stall and bought two bottles of juice, only to return to find that Xiaotao was gone. Her small handbag was lying on the floor…