"Yeah, sure."
Su Bai turned around with a smile on his face, took the pear from Liu He’s hand and took a bite of it immediately. It was nice, sweet and juicy.
"What are you doing on my bed?" Liu He asked calmly. It sounded like his normal voice; he seemed incapable of being angry at all.
"Just curious. Taking a look, to make sure if you’ve hidden some photos of movie stars down there." Su Bai answered, but he was not taking it seriously; he had seen what he had seen, and what was coming next was merely an excuse.
Liu He looked at Su Bai seriously and then took a bite of the pear.
It was fresh, and he felt satisfied.
Chewing the pear, Liu He leaned over, pointed that paper man under his summer sleeping mat, and smiled:
"You’re not scared by that, are you?"
"Kinda," Su Bai answered. But it was even more scary in the story of Dreadful Radio.
Then Su Bai sat on the edge of Liu He’s bed, "Why do you bring this thing to school?"
"Our family used to run a business of paper men. My grandfather and grandmother did this for a living and so did my mom and dad. They supplied my education with the money they made from such a paper men business, until I got in this college. Therefore I’m not as afraid of paper men as most people are; on the contrary, I think they’re friendly, as if they are my friends. It’s been my hobby to carry it wherever I go…
…However, paper men should not be left about, I have to put it under my mat; otherwise it would be my fault if it scares you all."
Su Bai nodded. "I see."
Then he stood up.
Liu He looked at Su Bai with a faint smile.
"Do you know Chen Chu’s girlfriend?"
Liu He had just swallowed down a bite of pear. He rubbed his lips with the back of his hand and then sat by Chen Chu’s bed.
"Why ask?"
By then, Liu He had actually shown a different temperament— yes, very different; he was no longer the nice guy who had always been afraid of trouble. Instead, he had become a little too… calm, with an overall profoundness.
"Just curious." Su Bai answered.
"No, you’re more than just curious. Su Bai, you know, all the classmates, including Chen Chu and me, can tell that you must have a powerful family behind you, and that’s why you’re always distanced from us. I know you are not looking down upon others; because of your background and level, there is indeed no need to be together with us.
"Besides, we don’t usually hang out. You’re actually a nice guy, I know that. But we are not friends since we are not equal to each other in money and social status. After all, ‘friend’ is written with two money signs[1], right?
"So, I know, you will not care about our personal affairs without a good reason. You’re not that boring or gossipy.
"Just tell me the truth. What on earth have you discovered."
Liu He went on biting the pear. But this time, he was chewing a little harder, thus making a more obvious sound.
"I don’t know anything, but I’ve got a feeling." Su Bai supported his head with one hand and put the other around his waist, as if he had found a perfect posture to talk comfortably.
"Oh? What feeling?"
"What you’re showing to me." Su Bai looked at Liu He’s eyes.
Liu He put away his pear. "I don’t know what you’re talking about. Really, I am so sorry for Chen Chu and his girlfriend. After all, they are my classmates, my schoolmates, and they died in such a terrible way."
Su Bai shook his head, "Paper men- they are beautiful in your eyes, right?"
Liu He had no idea why Su Bai talked about this, but he still nodded.
"They seemed to be amiable."
"So, they are your family?"
"Family? No, that’s too far. But it’s no exaggeration to say that they are my friends. I had grown up with paper men. When my grandparents and parents were building paper men, I would play in the yard. I played with those paper men and they kept me accompanied. Every time when I saw those paper man transported to be burnt, I would be so sad.
"For me, paper men also have blood and flesh and even thoughts. They are no different from human.
"Burn them and let them serve those irrelevant dead people down there, it makes me so sad, even guilty for not protecting my friends."
Hearing this, Su Bai stretched out his tongue and licked his own lips.
"So… since they are your friends… why did you have your friends to kill for you and do those terrible things for you?"
Liu He put the pear onto Chen Chu’s bed, leaned backwards and buried himself in the mosquito net over Chen Chu’s bed. His voice came with a little hollowness.
"You knew."
"Yep." Su Bai nodded, "I used to think of you as a nice guy."
"I am a nice guy. A man cannot be too bad if he can make friends with paper men." Liu He’s voice became more and more empty, as if he was not sitting on Chen Chu’s bed in front of Su Bai, but hiding in a unfathomable darkness.
"And there’s gonna be a ‘but’, right?" Su Bai said.
"But… well, something is beyond a man’s tolerance."
Liu He’s voice finally began to have fluctuations; apparently, something was irritating his nerves.
"Nana, she was my girlfriend! Chen Chu took her from me and then sent me pictures of her blowjob every night! And he showed off that to me in this room! Again and again, again and again! He even sent me videos of them having sex by QQ and WeChat!"
Su Bai took a deep breath. Honestly, he had no idea of all this. For him, dormitory was only a place to have some sleep, and he would not actually get into close relationship with them; so he had never realized that there was such a love triangle in this room.
"So he had to die? In such a way? And so did your ex-girlfriend?" Su Bai asked.
"Ha. Su Bai, are you really gonna judge me?"
Liu He suddenly laughed.
Su Bai immediately became serious, because he had thought of something else: if Liu He was not as dull and benign as he used to think, he might have already noticed some traces he had left in this dormitory!
"My paper man told me that you have a smell of blood on you and even a feeling of resentment around you, which is the sense of dead people. And such a sense will only be let out at the last moment before the person is killed.
"Su Bai, you’re a rich college student, and your major doesn’t require contact with Silent Mentors; even if you touched them, these Silent Mentors, used as models, have been touched by thousands of students, and they have not let out such sense of resentment after all these years.
So, Su Bai, what on earth have you done?"
Liu He sounded a little ironic.
Su Bai didn’t say anything.
Seeing Su Bai fall in silence, Liu He continued.
"This means you have killed, recently and more than once. I’m so curious, Su Bai, why does such a rich playboy like you have to kill so many people so frequently? What’s wrong with you? Besides, it is so obvious that you have killed more than just two people. So you know what I mean, don’t you?
"What made you a qualified judge against me?"
"You are wrong about me, or your paper bro lied to you, or there is a more proper reason for that: you have become a psychopath," Su Bai said. Usually, he could talk freely with those members of the club, but when talking with someone else, he would definitely not admit what he had done, not only because it was not necessary but also because of a instinctive self-protection.
"Paper men will never lie to me. No one’s more faithful than paper men, and no one understands friendship better than paper men." Liu He seemed to have lost interest in indirect talks, so he came to the point, "What do you want from me? Are you gonna turn me in or something?"
"I’m interested in metaphysics," Su Bai answered. "As for turning you in or bringing you to light, honestly, I’m not so interested."
"Well, I see. That’s easy, I can give you what you want. It’s no longer the ancient times when people valued their stuff too much. Some stuff can be shared. Of course, I believe you can afford enough money and other material exchange." Liu He answered straightforwardly.
"Money’s not a problem. Just name your price, as long as you can give me what I want." Su Bai also answered straightforwardly.
However, just at this moment, that paper man who used to hide under the mat slowly got up. Su Bai was sitting on Liu He’s bed; now that paper man was sitting behind him. The paper knife in its hand was shining coldly, and the red color on its cheeks was so heavy that it could make a man feel suffocated.
The paper knife was lifted slowly…
…with an uncanny coldness!
—————————————
FOOTNOTES:
[1] In Chinese, the character for "friend" also means two strings of coins in ancient times, therefore this phrase means that two people with different financial backgrounds or social status can not really become friends.