by Ian Hamilton
“Mr. Liu is in the conference room,” the woman said, motioning to a closed door to their left. “I’ll let him know you are here.” Uncle watched her knock on the door, wait for a few seconds, and then poke her head inside.
“You can go in,” she said when she reappeared.
The first person Uncle saw when they entered was Liu Leji. He walked towards them, a broad smile splitting his face and both hands reaching out. “My dear Uncle, how wonderful to see you,” he said.
Uncle held out his hands for Liu to grasp and felt a surge of emotion. As the two men paused with their fingers intertwined, Uncle saw that they had captured the attention of everyone else in the room. Five people were sitting around a rectangular table with chairs for eight. Two were women and three men, but only one looked old enough to be Leji’s uncle. “It looks like we’re interrupting a meeting,” Uncle said, noticing the notepads and a whiteboard filled with numbers.
“You are, but that doesn’t matter,” Leji said. He turned towards the older man, who sat at the end of the table. “This is Chow Tung. This is Uncle.”
Liu Huning stared at Uncle and, even from the far end of the room, Uncle could feel his intensity. “I need to speak to this man alone. We can continue our business later,” Huning said to the man nearest him.
“Yes, sir,” the man said as he stood up. The others at the table followed his example and they left the room.
“Captain Lin, you can leave as well,” Huning said.
“Yes, sir,” Lin said. “I’ll wait outside in case I’m needed.”
“Come closer,” Huning said to Uncle.
Uncle rolled his chair towards Huning, who was rising to his feet. He was tall, close to six feet, Uncle guessed, but stood so erect that he gave the impression of being taller. He was completely bald and, combined with a face that was long and narrow, it made him look gaunt. He wore an olive-green polyester Zhongshan suit — a “Mao suit,” as it was more commonly known, even though it had been introduced by and named after Mao’s rival, Sun Yat-sen — with its distinctive tunic jacket’s buttoned-up collar and four pockets.
Huning left the table to meet Uncle halfway. He held out his hand and the two men shook. The older man’s handshake was firm, and it seemed to Uncle to be full of purpose and determination.
“We’re so glad to see you. How is your health?” Huning said. “We understand that your jailers were most unkind.”
“I’ll mend,” said Uncle.
Huning nodded and pursed his lips as if weighing what Uncle had said. Then he turned abruptly and sat down on a chair facing Uncle, the men’s knees almost touching. “Come and sit with us, Leji.”
“My aunt and my wife send you their very warmest wishes,” Leji said as he joined them.
“His aunt — my wife — is quite taken with you,” Huning said, not unkindly. “She likes serious men.”
“They’ve both been worried about you,” Leji said. “I spoke to them fifteen minutes ago to let them know you’ve been released. They were both relieved.”
“Have you spoken to anyone else? Lin told me that my friend Fong has been anxious.”
“I spoke to Fong as well. He wanted to rush directly here, but I told him not to do anything until we’d talked,” Leji said, then looked at this watch. “It’s very late, and I think it’s probably best if you stay here tonight. We’ve booked a room in this hotel for you. We can call Fong from there and make whatever arrangements are necessary to get you back to Hong Kong tomorrow. We won’t feel completely comfortable until you’re across the border, and I feel an obligation to get you there. Fong can meet you on the other side, if that’s okay with you.”
“That sounds just fine.”
“Leji told me Fong said your men were prepared to storm the building where they were holding you,” Huning said. “It would have been a stupid thing to do, but it speaks well for their loyalty.”
“I’m sure your nephew has told you that I’m a member of the Heaven and Earth Society,” said Uncle.
“He has.”
“Loyalty to our brethren and their families is something we prize above all else,” Uncle said, pleased that Huning knew he was a triad and seemed to accept it.
“We aren’t your brethren, but you showed tremendous loyalty to us as well, or at least to our partnership,” Leji said.
Uncle glanced at Huning and tried to gauge whether he was uncomfortable with that frank admission of their relationship. The older man was instead focused on Uncle, and seemed interested in his reply. “We made a deal. I gave you my word and you gave me yours. You’ve never gone back on your word and I had no intention of going back on mine. Everything we’ve done has been based on trust, and I never want you to regret placing it in me and my organization.”
“Captain Lin said they did their best to break you,” Huning said.
“I don’t think there’s any reason to go into the details,” said Uncle.
“He said that in addition to the beatings, they put a gun to your head and pulled the trigger six times, with the promise that one of those bullets would find you.”
“I didn’t believe the gun was loaded, and if I was wrong, it would have been rather late for me to correct that error in judgement. So, either way, my fate was determined.”
“They did that to me too, you know,” Huning said, his hand resting lightly on Uncle’s knee. “During the early days of the Cultural Revolution, the Red Guard used intimidation as a prelude to re-education. Many people were beaten, and some killed.”
“Like Premier Deng’s son?”
“Yes. He was thrown out a fourth-floor window. They probably wished it was Xiaoping himself, but men like us still had enough friends and allies that we were protected from the very worst of the abuses. They thought keeping us out of sight for three or four years in a factory or labour camp would eliminate the threat we represented, especially given how old we were when we were allowed to return to Beijing. We were both in our sixties.”
“But weren’t you then purged again?”
Huning smiled. “You know something of our personal histories.”
“I wanted to understand what Premier Deng is trying to do in Shenzhen and in the other special economic zones, so I did some reading.”
“Xiaoping has been trying for years to introduce a system that marries the very best of communism with individual self-interest. In economic terms, he believes in practising socialism at the macro level and capitalism at the micro, though of course we never use the word capitalism. I’ve been at his side, through good and bad, for fifty years. We were removed from office three times, the first time peacefully, then rather more forcibly during the Cultural Revolution and later, when the Gang of Four tried to grab power after Mao’s death,” Huning said. He tapped Uncle on the knee. “So when you were talking earlier about trust and loyalty, I’ve learned it first-hand, working with the man who is now our premier. I know how to recognize it and to value it. What I’d like to do with you is find a way to reward it. Is there anything I can do for you?”
“Make sure I get back to Hong Kong,” Uncle said.
“That’s assured. There must be something else I can do.”
Uncle paused. What could someone in Huning’s position deliver? “There is one thing, but it may be a great deal to ask,” Uncle said finally.
“What is it? If I can’t do it, I’ll tell you.”
“Well, I have a very good friend and colleague named Xu,” Uncle said slowly. “He is part of my organization in Fanling, but for the past few years he’s been working with factories in Xiamen, to their benefit and ours. But his heart is in Shanghai. That’s his ancestral home, and he still has a house there in the French Concession. He would like to return. Can you make that possible?”
“He is triad?”
“Of course. But, as you must know — otherwise, I assume you wouldn’t be
permitting your wife and son to do business with us — we avoid practices that are exploitive or call negative attention to ourselves.”
“So you’re telling me that you want your man Xu to conduct business in Shanghai?”
“We are businesspeople.”
“Regardless of your business, that might be difficult to arrange.”
“I thought that might be the case.”
Huning held up an index finger. “I said it would be difficult but I didn’t say it was impossible. I need to make a phone call, which I’ll do from my bedroom. The two of you stay here until I come back.”
“Your uncle is an impressive man,” Uncle said after Huning left the room.
“He’s a survivor.”
“How old is he?”
“He’s eighty-two, a few years older than Premier Deng.”
“He seems to be in excellent health, but how much longer does he expect to keep working?”
“He doesn’t think of it as work. It’s service to China, and as long as Deng Xiaoping is premier, I can’t see my uncle leaving his side. They finally have the power they’ve sought for decades to implement the programs this country needs, to advance into the next century and to restore our proper place in the world as a major power — if not the major power,” Leji said. “Interestingly, the past few days have affirmed and strengthened their position, and we may have helped that happen.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Ye Desheng, General Ye’s father, was loosely linked to the Gang of Four and is an advocate of Maoist egalitarianism. He is opposed to Deng Xiaoping’s reforms, but not openly. My uncle thinks he’s been hoping the reforms fail, but as the years have passed, their success has become more and more obvious. Our guess is that Ye decided he couldn’t wait any longer. He saw this as an opportunity to test his strength within the Politburo Committee by attacking us through his son.”
“Us?”
“Me, you, my aunt, and my wife. They wouldn’t dare mention my uncle, but everyone understood the implications if the rest of us were brought down,” Leji said. “So, if they had broken you and you had implicated us, my uncle would have been the next target, and after him, who knows? It might even have been Deng Xiaoping.”
“What made Ye back down?”
“Political reality. He quickly learned that Premier Deng stands squarely behind my uncle, and that none of the other Committee members want to risk offending the Premier,” Leji said. “Then there’s the small matter of their having nothing they could use against my family, because you wouldn’t give it to them.”
“What will happen to Ye Desheng?”
“Nothing. He claims he had no idea what his son was doing.”
“And the general?”
“General Ye could not be more apologetic. But then, it was made clear that if he wasn’t, he’d be commanding troops in Mongolia,” Leji said.
“So they’ll stay in the positions they have?”
“There’s nothing to be gained by humiliating them, except creating lifelong enemies.”
Uncle smiled. “That isn’t much different from the way we deal with potential enemies.”
The door opened and Liu Huning stood in the entrance. “Leji, push Uncle’s wheelchair, will you. We’re going down the hall to pay a visit.”
“Sure,” Leji said without hesitation.
“Where are we going?” Uncle asked.
“I don’t know,” Leji said as he took the chair’s handles.
Liu Huning was already in the hallway by the time they reached the suite’s exit door. Leji sped up to catch him.
Watching Huning from the rear, Uncle would never have guessed his age. He took long, limber steps and swung his arms energetically. The soldiers lining the corridor snapped to attention as he passed, and two officers saluted him. Huning walked past the elevator. He seemed to be headed to the other end of the hallway, where a group of ten or more soldiers had congregated.
“He’s expecting us,” Uncle heard Huning say as he drew near.
Uncle watched an officer — a colonel, he thought — knock on the door and then slowly turn the handle. Huning stepped inside and then turned to wait for Uncle and Leji.
“He doesn’t have a lot of time, but if your favour is to be granted, he’s the man who can do it. So whatever he asks you, answer quickly and answer truthfully,” Huning said as Uncle and Leji reached him.
They entered a suite that was identical in every way to the one they had just left, except that the living area was occupied.
“Xiaoping, this is the man I told you about,” Huning said.
He sat in an upholstered chair, his head resting against the back and his feet dangling above the carpet. He wore a navy-blue Zhongshan suit buttoned to the neck. His face was wreathed in smoke; he held a cigarette between two fingers and the ashtray to his right was filled with butts. As Uncle drew closer he recognized the distinctive haircut, with the sides shaved halfway up his head, the hairline that had receded to the middle of his scalp, and the tuft of hair — still black — that looked like a bird’s plume.
“My friend Huning tells me that you are originally from Wuhan,” Deng Xiaoping said.
Uncle lowered his head, not sure what else he should be doing to show respect. “I’m from a village near Wuhan. My family had a farm there.”
“But you left?”
“We lost the farm during the Great Leap Forward, and then, one by one, my family members died. There was nothing left for me.”
“That was a difficult time for so many of our people. One reason I’ve kept coming back is that I never want to see it repeated.”
“No, sir,” Uncle said.
“And now you’ve come back as well,” Deng said. “Huning tells me you have invested very heavily in Shenzhen.”
“And I’ve encouraged friends to do the same in the other special economic zones.”
“Why?”
“Whether I like it or not, Hong Kong and the People’s Republic are going to be reunited. As a businessman I can choose to resist it, ignore it, or adapt to it. After reading about what you’re trying to do here, I decided to adapt. I decided to commit and I persuaded my friends to do the same.”
“But Huning tells me you now want to spread your efforts outside of the zones.”
“My best friend — a man who means as much to me as it appears Liu Huning means to you — was driven out of Shanghai twenty years ago. He has a house there, and he’s never sold it because he’s always dreamed of returning to it. When Liu Huning offered to grant me a favour, it was the first thing that came to mind.”
“What is your friend’s name?”
“Xu Bo. His family lives in Fanling, in the New Territories, but he’s been spending much of the past few years in Xiamen. Like me, he believes in the future of the special economic zones, and I can tell you honestly that he has already contributed to that city’s economic well-being.”
Deng stubbed out his cigarette and immediately lit another. Uncle noticed that his fingers were heavily stained yellow, with shades of black. “Why did he leave Shanghai?” Deng asked.
“He is triad, as am I.”
“From what Liu Huning has told me, though, you are a businessman first.”
Uncle drew a deep breath. “First and foremost I am always a member of the Heaven and Earth Society. But I have chosen to conduct myself and to devote my organization to doing business in a way that is honest, legal, and sustainable. I guarantee that Xu would operate in a similar manner in Shanghai.”
Deng looked at Huning. “What do you think? Is this a Pandora’s box?”
“No, I don’t think so. This is a man requesting a favour for a friend. That’s how I see it, nothing more than that.”
Deng stared at Uncle. Uncle looked back into his eyes without blinking.
“You
have done us a service here in Shenzhen — in fact, several services,” Deng said. “Have your friend contact a man named Tsai Lian in about a week. Tsai is deputy party secretary in Shanghai, and he’s also the nephew of a close friend of Huning and me. If your friend’s house is still standing, Tsai will do what he can to help him recover it. Beyond that, what Tsai and Xu decide to do is their business.”
“I can’t thank you enough for this,” Uncle said, his voice catching as emotions he hadn’t anticipated flooded through him.
Deng nodded and then turned to a man who had been standing off to one side with a notebook in his hand. “Did you get the details?”
“I did, sir.”
“Call Tsai tonight.”
“Yes, sir.”
Deng turned back to Uncle. “We’re finished here. Good luck to you,” he said.
( 35 )
Liu Leji pushed Uncle from the suite. They hadn’t gone ten metres before Uncle blurted, “I wasn’t expecting that.”
“Which part, meeting Premier Deng or the fact he was so accommodating about Xu?”
“All of it.”
“I wasn’t expecting any of it either, though I have to say, from my family’s point of view, any favour granted was warranted.”
“Do you think he can actually make it happen for Xu?”
“There isn’t much that man can’t make happen,” Liu said as he rolled the wheelchair towards the elevators. “You have a suite several floors below. We’ve been told that physically you shouldn’t try to do too much on your own, so we’ve arranged for one of the nurses from the hospital to tend to you.”
“I appreciate that.”
“There’s beer and water in the room and the nurse will order any food you wish.”
“And there will be a phone, like you said? I’m quite anxious to speak to Fong and some of my other men. There was an issue pending when I was arrested at the border that has been weighing on me.”