The King of Shanghai

by Ian Hamilton

  “He looks anxious,” Ava said as the car pulled away.

  “Yes, anxious to take a run at Li and his men. He cannot understand why I am going to this meeting. Whatever my reasons, I think he and Lop both secretly hope that things fall apart, so they can work out some of their anger.”

  Happy Valley was on Hong Kong Island, directly south of the Cross-Harbour Tunnel exit from Tsim Sha Tsui. Sonny drove through the tunnel and started along Canal Road. Ava checked her watch and saw that they had plenty of time to spare. Just as that thought registered, her regular phone rang. She answered without thinking

  “It’s Amanda.”

  “Hey. I’m in a car heading to a meeting and I shouldn’t be on the phone.”

  “Just wanted you to know that Gillian called me ten minutes ago. They’ve accepted our offer sheet as written.”

  “How was her manner?”

  “She was gracious, and then Clark came on the line and was as well. They both said they were looking forward to working closely with us.”

  “Congratulations.”

  “Ava —” Amanda began, only to be interrupted by the sound of the disposable phone ringing.

  “I have to go. I’ll call you when I can,” Ava said quickly, and then picked up the other phone. “Ava Lee.”

  “This is Lam.”

  “Where are you?”

  “Happy Valley.”

  “We are too, maybe ten minutes from the Montrose.”

  “There’s been a change in plan.”

  “I’m listening,” she said. She heard background noise and guessed she was on speaker phone.

  “Instead of the Montrose, Li would like to meet at the Lucky Man mah-jong parlour on Wong Nai Chung Road. It’s just south of the racetrack, about five minutes from the hotel.”

  “We’ll tell our men.”

  “No, Ava, no men. The boss is afraid that ten or twenty Triads will attract unnecessary attention from the cops. He thinks that, after the events in Wanchai, we’d be better off keeping a low profile.”

  “So what are we talking about?”

  “Me and him, you and Xu.”

  “I’m not sure we’d be willing to put ourselves at risk like that.”

  “We’ll be next door to Wanchai, and that’s your turf now. We’re the ones who should be nervous.”

  “Still, I need to clear it with Xu.”

  “I’m waiting.”

  She covered the microphone. “It’s Lam. They want to change the meeting place to another spot in Happy Valley, and they want only you and me there with just him and Li.”

  “That is fine,” he said, his face impassive.

  “Are you certain?” she said, looking closely at him.

  “I trust Lam. But ask him if this means Li is serious about making a deal.”

  Ava hesitated and then said to Lam, “Xu wants to know if Li has made up his mind now. I mean completely.”

  “Yeah. That’s why the change in meeting place.”

  “Lam says yes,” she whispered to Xu.

  Xu nodded. “Good.”

  “So we’ll see you there?” Lam asked.

  Xu sat back in his seat. He appeared relaxed but she could see that his attention was focused on her and the phone conversation. “Yes, we’ll see you there,” she said.

  “What is the excuse they used to change the meeting place?” Xu asked after she ended the call.

  “Li thinks too many Triads in a place as public as the hotel will attract the wrong kind of attention. He wants a more private setting.”

  “He is not wrong.”

  “No gang members included, inside or outside. Just the four of us.”

  “Let us hope that this works out better than the last time we scheduled a meeting for four people,” Xu said.

  “We’re on home territory, with a small army close by. We’ll let everyone know where we are. We can put Suen and Sonny on standby.”

  “Yes, we need to do that.”

  Ava saw Sonny’s shoulders tense and knew he was feeling uneasy. “Sonny, do you know the Lucky Man mah-jong parlour on Wong Nai Chung Road?” she asked.

  “Not the place, but I know the street.”

  “I want you to drive us there and stay in the area, then phone Suen and tell him we’ve changed the meeting venue. He and Lop and some men should be close at hand.”

  “Yes, boss.”

  Ava turned to Xu. “Are you really okay with this?”

  “I am. I trust Lam. As long as he is there, I have no worries.”

  ( 42 )

  Wong Nai Chung Road was just south of the Happy Valley racetrack, which was as much a fixture in Hong Kong as Victoria Peak or the harbour. Sonny drove along Ventris Road, the track dominating the skyline on their right. When he reached Wong Nai Chung, he turned right and then drove slowly, searching for the mah-jong parlour. He spotted it halfway along on the other side of the road.

  “We’ll get out and walk,” Ava said.

  Sonny didn’t stop. He drove farther, turned left, and headed down an alleyway behind the building. Ava knew he was checking for a back entrance, but there was none. He turned left at the end of the alley and then left again onto Wong Nai Chung. He did a U-turn and stopped in front of Lucky Man, a storefront with a single wooden door. The windows on either side were cloaked by black curtains, and a long hand-painted sign extended over the windows and door.

  “Are you sure this is the place?” Sonny asked.

  “This is it,” Ava said. “Stay close and keep your phone on. If you see anyone other than Li or Lam go through that front door, you call Suen and then me, and you do whatever you have to to get inside.”

  She saw Xu and Sonny exchange glances, but before either of them could speak she slid out of the Mercedes and walked directly up to the Lucky Man entrance. She tugged at the door handle, expecting resistance. To her surprise, the door swung open.

  “We are a little early,” Xu said from behind her.

  “We might as well go in.”

  They walked into a dimly lit room that was about twenty metres square. Rows of folded chairs were stacked against a wall and a few mah-jong tables were set up on the floor. The air was thick with dust; Ava guessed it was a while since mah-jong had been played there. There was a closed door at the far end, a ray of light leaking through the crack at the side.

  Ava walked to the door and knocked. “This is Ava Lee,” she said.

  “Come in,” an unfamiliar voice boomed.

  “Li,” Xu whispered.

  The room was as large as the one that fronted the street, and as badly lit. A small square table was set up in a corner, with four metal chairs. A tall, thin man sat by himself, his back against the wall, smoke from a cigarette curling around his head. “Right on time,” he said.

  Ava looked around the room, searching for another exit, but there wasn’t one. No back-door or side-door surprises this time, she thought as she and Xu approached the man.

  Li’s features were indistinct in the dimness and smoke until they got up close. He looked to be in his seventies, his grey hair combed straight back, exposing a receding hairline. His face was drawn and deeply lined, as if someone had taken a knife and cut crevices into his cheeks and along his forehead. He stared at Xu and then at Ava with pale, watery brown eyes. She had trouble reconciling the man in front of her with the man who’d tried to have her killed — twice.

  “You are by yourself,” Xu said.

  “Lam is outside, making sure you came alone. He’ll be along in a minute,” Li said. “Both of you should sit.”

  Ava was surprised by his abrupt tone, which bordered on rudeness. Xu didn’t seem bothered and took the chair directly across from Li. Ava took the seat to Xu’s left, so she could have a better view of the door.

  Li focused on Ava. His eyes moved from her
chest to her face and back again. She felt as if she were being evaluated for sale or rent.

  “I met you at Uncle’s funeral,” he said.

  “Like many other people, it seems, none of whom I remember.”

  “He was a great man in his time. But his time had passed, as it does for all of us — at least, for those of us who allow time to dictate our lives.”

  “And you obviously don’t,” Ava said.

  “I’m young in heart, young in mind, and some days still young enough to please a woman.” Li smiled, baring yellowed, stained teeth. “How are you feeling?” he asked Xu.

  “Well enough.”

  “It was stupid of Wing to try what he did. If he had discussed it with me, I would have told him he was digging his own grave. But he and I don’t talk much anymore.”

  “I heard you were best friends. How unfortunate that relationship did not last,” Xu said.

  Li shrugged, butted his cigarette in an ashtray, pulled a pack from his shirt pocket, and lit a fresh stick with a gold lighter. He inhaled deeply, raised his head, and blew smoke high into the air. “So many rumours about Sammy and me, most of which he started. I told him more than once, ‘Don’t mess with Xu. Those Shanghai boys are tough.’ He didn’t listen.”

  “And so here we are.”

  The door opened and light flooded the room. Lam walked in, closing the door behind him.

  “My man is here,” Li said.

  The three of them watched him approach. Lam looked relaxed and confident, just as he had when Ava met him in Huangpu.

  Xu stood and held out his hand. Lam took it and then turned to Ava, who was struggling to her feet. “I’m glad you were able accept the change in meeting place. This is much more private.”

  She shook his hand. “No one likes prying eyes.”

  As the three of them settled into their chairs, Li coughed, hacked, and then spat on the floor. “The dust in here is going to kill me. Can we get down to business before it does?”

  Lam looked at Ava and she turned towards Xu.

  “Between our two organizations there has been a lot of — I do not know quite how to describe it,” Xu said.

  “Unpleasantness?” Lam said.

  “That will do, thanks,” Xu said. “I am not sure how it started, but I know that it culminated when someone tried to kill me in Shenzhen.”

  “Sammy Wing,” Li said. “I told you that had nothing to do with us.”

  “Sure, it was Sammy Wing, but whether he did it alone or with help, the point is that the time has come for calmer heads to prevail. We cannot keep going at each other like this. It is not healthy for business.”

  “You’re always full of talk about business,” Li said.

  “What else matters to the people who depend on us?”

  “Your father didn’t always talk like that.”

  “Times have changed.”

  “Not always for the better. I was saying to Lam and some of my other men that all these new ways of making money you’ve come up with make me nervous. The old ways may not be perfect, but despite all the headaches that come with them, they are dependable. What are you selling that will last hundreds of years?”

  “We have to adapt. As long as we are prepared to keep changing, there will always be business.”

  Li took a long drag of his cigarette. Ava noticed that the skin around his fingertips was dark brown. He coughed again, water leaking from the corners of his eyes.

  “The boss is right,” Lam said. “We can’t just throw out the old businesses. We need a balance.”

  “I am not telling anyone how to run their organization,” Xu said. “I have products to sell. If you want them, you can buy them.”

  “Yeah, but I’m sure Ava has explained our dilemma to you. We’re uncomfortable about building a market for your products when we have no control over the supply side,” Lam said.

  “I cannot guarantee unlimited supply,” Xu said quickly. “You understand that I have to deal with powers in and around Shanghai that I do not control?”

  “I know that.”

  “That aside, what I am prepared to do is make sure that everyone gets their fair share, no matter how small or large the number is. If we reach an agreement on the other things we need to talk about, then I will tell my people to open the production books and sit down with your people to work out a formula.”

  “I’m satisfied with that,” Lam said, turning towards Li.

  “Good. That is one piece of business concluded,” Xu said. “Is there anything else we must resolve between Shanghai and Guangzhou before we move on to the chairmanship?”

  “What are you going to do with Sammy?” Li asked.

  “Nothing. He is still in charge of Wanchai. We had a falling-out and now we have put that behind us.”

  “I can’t reach him or Jimmy Tan.”

  “I believe Jimmy has decided to retire and emigrate to Vancouver to live with his daughter. Is that right, Ava?”

  “It is.”

  “And I do not know why you cannot reach Sammy. Maybe he does not want to talk to you. Ask him yourself — he will be at the meeting tomorrow.”

  “Will he be wearing a leash?”

  “You seem very concerned about a guy who you told me earlier was a pain in the ass.”

  “He’s a neighbour.”

  “As the world shrinks, are not we all?”

  “Fuck. Do you always go on like this?”

  “No. I am just waiting for an answer to the question I asked you. What other issues must we resolve before we talk about the chairmanship and then make some kind of peace?”

  “None.”

  Ava saw Lam shifting in his chair, but it wasn’t their place to speak. The two of them had laid the groundwork as best they could. Now it was between Xu and Li.

  “I want to be chairman,” Li said.

  “We both do,” Xu said.

  “I’ve often been approached over the years to take the post and I’ve always declined. Not because there were better men. It’s just that the timing was never right.”

  “What makes it so right now?”

  “The job needs an elder statesman.”

  “Or a younger man with a vision for the future.”

  “You’re not going to back down, are you.”

  “No.”

  “Neither am I.”

  “Well, that leaves us with a vote tomorrow that could go either way. Or we agree on the compromise that Lam and Ava worked out — a compromise I thought you had already agreed to.”

  Li smiled. “You can’t blame an old man for trying to improve his position.”

  “Are you prepared to share the chairmanship?” Xu said.

  “Maybe.”

  “That is not the answer I was expecting.”

  “It’s the one you’re getting.”

  “You have different terms than those I was told?”

  “What were you told?”

  “We would each be chairman for a year, with you serving first.”

  “That’s right.” Li smiled again. The man seemed to be enjoying himself.

  Ava shot a glance at Lam. He was staring at his boss, his face devoid of any expression.

  “What else do you want?” Xu said.

  Li put out his cigarette, took the gold lighter from his pocket, reached for the package, and then put both on the table. “When Lam explained what you had in mind, he said he thought you wanted us to consult with each other, no matter who was chairman.”

  “That was the general idea.”

  “I don’t like it.”

  “Why not?” Xu said calmly.

  “I like things to be clear-cut — if I’m chairman, I’m chairman. And I can tell you, the other leaders would agree with me on that point if we asked them. No one wants conf
usion, muddy waters. The chairman has to have the authority to make decisions as he sees fit, not run around taking a vote every time someone wants to shit.”

  Xu shrugged. “Given the quality of consultation that might take place, I think you may have a point.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “I can agree to it as long as the others go along also.”

  “What’s it got to do with them? This is me and you reaching a deal.”

  “They still need to understand how it will work.”

  “That’s another thing. I don’t want to tell them upfront about the deal.”

  A heavy silence descended on the room. Ava wasn’t sure how long it lasted, but if it was a minute it felt like ten. She wasn’t going to break it, and from the look of resignation on Lam’s face he wasn’t going to either. Her attention flitted between Xu and Li. Xu’s lips were tightly drawn and his eyes were slightly hooded. He looked like a man ready to erupt, except that he didn’t. He stared at Li, who still had that slight smile on his lips but whose eyes couldn’t maintain contact with Xu’s.

  “Is this the old man trying to improve his position again?” Xu finally said.

  “No, it’s the man who’s been running Guangzhou for more than twenty years being practical,” Li snapped. “I don’t want a shadow hanging over me. I need my chairmanship to be as free of outside influence as yours would be.”

  “Then let me have the first year and you have the second. I can live with you looking over my shoulder.”

  “No. The deal I outlined is the only one I want. Lam and the girl can be witnesses to it. I’ll put it on paper if that will make you happy.”

  “I would have to withdraw my candidacy to allow that to happen.”

  “Yeah, you would.”

  “I told you earlier that I will not.”

  “You don’t trust me?”

  “That is a stupid question, especially coming from you,” Xu said. “But I am curious. Did you actually believe I would go along with this?”

  “I thought it was worth a try. You’re the one who’s always talking about building bridges and co-operation. Truth is, you’re as selfish and greedy as the rest of us.”

  “Fuck off,” Xu said softly. He turned to Ava. “Call Sonny. We need to leave.”