The Cook, the Crook, and the Real Estate Tycoon

by Liu Zhenyun

  Yan was so mad he could cry. “No need to worry? It’ll be too late if he delivers the thing to the wrong place.”

  Obviously he had hired the wrong PI and had only himself to blame.

  Upon hearing that a cook had the drive, but no one could find him, Lin was worried for reasons different from Yan. They agreed to meet at three o’clock at Lao Qi’s Teahouse. Yan got there first to find the place peaceful and quiet and the owner nowhere in sight. Lao Qi had told everyone that he stayed home to read sutras in the day because his evenings were taken up running the teahouse, but his wife said she never saw him reading a sutra. He was always sleeping.

  “Well, you sleep when you’re tired. What’s wrong with that?” Qi argued.

  Lin arrived shortly after Yan and started complaining about how everything was out of control as soon as they sat down in a private room. “But then again it’s not a bad thing that the cook has disappeared.”

  The surprised look on Yan’s face made Lin hasten to add, “At least we know the drive is with him, and not someone else.”

  Yan nodded his agreement.

  “The problem is, we don’t know if the cook has seen what’s on it. Your wife said it’s not password protected. If he hasn’t opened it, all we need to worry about is getting it back, but if he has, then so much more will be at stake.”

  Alerted to something he hadn’t thought of, Yan was petrified, but his dismay quickly turned to fury.

  “I can’t believe she’d do something like this to me.” He pounded on the table. “I could kill her.”

  When he finally calmed down, he said, “A cook probably doesn’t know a thing about a computer drive.”

  “Don’t rely on luck for things like this. We have to be prepared for the worst.”

  Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Yan nodded and said:

  “Since we’re here, why don’t we get Lao Qi over to see if he can help us locate the cook and maybe even tell us when we can get the thing back.”

  “Lao Qi’s tricks work only for people without problems.” Lin shook his head. “He’s useless when you’re in trouble. Just about everybody knows of the drive by now, so there’s no need to drag him into this.”

  “You see things more clearly than I do,” Yan said, obviously impressed.

  “I wish that were true!” Lin sighed. “It’s like closing the gate after the sheep are gone. A clear thinker would have slaughtered the sheep and be gnawing on bones by now. That’s what’s troubling Director Jia.”

  Lin went on to tell Yan that Jia had flown to Europe five days earlier and would be back in five more days. They had to find the cook and retrieve the drive before his return. Yan had been given ten days and would be given an extension of five days. If they could not recover it, they’d perish together when the contents went public; even if that didn’t happen, Jia would decide what to do and Lin could no longer help Yan out. From the look on Yan’s face, Lin knew that Yan thought Jia had gone abroad to avoid possible fallout.

  “Director Jia went abroad to avoid other problems, not this one,” he corrected him.

  Then Lin complained about the useless investigative agency Yan had engaged, in particular the unreliable PI. With someone like him, they’d be better off not finding the drive. They had to get personally involved now that it had reached this point.

  “Are they here?” he asked Yan.

  “They’re here, waiting in my car.”

  Yan placed a call, and a moment later his driver walked in with two men, Ren Baoliang, who had been asked by Brother Cao to look up Liu Yuejin at the site, and Han Shengli, who had been detained by Ren. Liu was nowhere to be found. Once Yan knew that he had the drive, he’d called Ren and told him to find the cook within two days. If he was successful, Yan would give Ren the construction funds; if not, Ren would be fired, since he had hired the cook, and was responsible for the theft. But how was he supposed to find Liu if he didn’t want to be found? He might still be in Beijing, or he could have gone back to Henan or some other place. Ren had no idea where to start.

  When Han came on his own looking for Liu, Ren detained him, but not because he thought Han knew where Liu was. In Ren’s reasoning, the cook and Han were close friends, and that was where the problem lay: Liu had been an upright person before meeting Han, whose negative influence had turned him into a petty thief who stole from the dining hall. Worse yet, he’d now evolved into a thief who had victimized Mr. Yan. So Han should also be held responsible. Ren had forgotten that Liu had not stolen Qu Li’s purse; he’d found it. He believed that all thieves thought alike, so Han ought to be better at guessing what was going through Liu’s mind and figuring out where he might be. In fact, Han was completely in the dark. He hadn’t known about Liu finding the purse until Brother Cao told him only moments before, and it wasn’t until he came to the site that he learned of Liu’s disappearance. In a word, he knew less than Ren. But Ren would not let him off the hook, forcing him to hunker down and think.

  “I know where he’s hiding,” Han finally offered.

  “Where?” Ren was overjoyed. “Show me where I can find him and I’ll give you a thousand yuan.”

  That was unexpected. A thousand yuan wasn’t a lot of money, but something was certainly up. Brother Cao would cancel his debt of sixteen thousand if he found Liu, and now someone else was offering him money to do the same. Prior to this, Han had only managed to get two hundred after coming to see Liu daily for the thirty-four hundred he was owed. Who’d have thought he’d be given money once the cook disappeared? Liu had actually brought him good fortune, a much better deal than stealing. In the meantime, he was aware that the vanished cook was no longer the person he once knew; that one was a shrimp of a man and the new cook was a big fish, all because of the purse he’d found. Han had been in the thievery business for many years; why had he never found a purse like that? The unfairness led to another thought: Now that Liu was a big fish, it would be wrong to give him up too easily. A thousand yuan was not going to do it.

  “I was just talking.” Han pretended to look troubled. “It’s hard to say if we can find him or not.”

  Seeing that Han was obviously not going to take him to find Liu yet, Ren raised the offer to two thousand. He still refused to go, making Ren suspect that Han might not know Liu’s whereabouts and was simply trying to con him. Han got to his feet, but Ren would not let him go, fearing that Han might really have the information. Eventually he decided to call Yan Ge, who then relayed the news to Lin. Lin took it seriously and asked to meet with Han. Yan told his driver to pick them up and bring the pair to Lao Qi’s Teahouse, where they were to wait in the car until summoned by Yan.

  Neither Han nor Ren had ever been to a teahouse before. After ushering them into the private room, Little Bai turned and left, leaving the pair to deal with Yan and Lin alone. Han looked at the men before him, both wearing glasses, but one fat and the other skinny; their attire told him that they were rich and probably powerful. Ren did know one of them, as he pointed at Han and said to the skinny one:

  “Here he is, Mr. Yan. At first he said he knew where Liu was, but then he denied it. I think he could use a good beating to straighten him out.” He continued, “Not long ago, he came to see Liu Yuejin every day. Liu wasn’t a thief until he met this guy.”

  “Who are you talking about?” Han cut in. “I don’t know if Liu Yuejin steals, but I certainly don’t.”

  Ren was getting worked up. “Every man, woman, and child in Henan knows you’re a thief. If you didn’t steal anything, why’d you get such a beating?”

  They were starting to get into it, so Yan stopped Ren. “You can go on back now. We don’t need you here anymore.”

  It was embarrassing to be dismissed like that, after bringing Han over, but he had no choice but to follow Yan’s order. Dragging his feet, unwilling to go quietly, once he was out the door, he turned to say:

  “Mr. Yan, what about the construction funds?”

  “Next week,” Yan said with a frow
n.

  With Ren gone, the fat man told Han to sit beside him.

  “You’re a good friend of Liu Yuejin?” the man asked Han affably.

  This being his first time in a place like this, Han did not know what to do or say, but he could tell that the two men were also looking for Liu. A quick count told him this was group number five, and they were clearly high-class people. The matter was getting more serious by the minute. It seemed that Liu was not just a big fish; he was a shark. Han was frightened by the ever-growing scale of the search and began to backtrack.

  “Ren Baoliang made it all up.” Han decided to play dumb. “I do know Liu Yuejin, but we’re not friends. We’re enemies. He owes me money.”

  “It’s great he’s your enemy.” The fat man laughed. “You always work harder when you’re trying to find an enemy.”

  Han hadn’t expected the fat man to have anticipated his lie and even have a response ready, which told him that he was no match for the fat guy.

  “Liu didn’t tell me where he was going to hide out.”

  Ignoring him, the fat man continued:

  “Go find him and get the purse. I’ll give you twenty thousand if nothing is missing from the purse.”

  Twenty thousand! That was more than he owed Brother Cao. This was the third time someone had offered him money, and that really scared him. He was reluctant, not because he was afraid he might be in big trouble if the matter got even more serious, but because he wasn’t sure he could find Liu. He had a pretty good idea where he might be hiding, but if he wasn’t certain, he’d likely end up paying, even with his life, for something he couldn’t accomplish or for money he shouldn’t have accepted. He was reminded of the theft in Weigong Village that he should not have carried out; he’d learned his lesson well. More importantly, he’d gone looking for Brother Cao, who had helped him out and would erase his debt once Liu was located. In Han’s view, Brother Cao and his people were harder to deal with than the others, and that went beyond money owed. On the other hand, he couldn’t say no to these two men, who could also cause him trouble, so eventually he found a way out.

  “I can help you find him, but based on our code, you have to give me a ten-thousand-yuan deposit.”

  He’d hoped that they’d refuse, worried that Han, someone they’d never met before, would flee with their money. If they refused, he’d be free. To his surprise, the skinny man, Mr. Yan, reached for his satchel and took out a stack of money.

  “I’ll give you another ten when you bring me the purse,” Yan said as he tossed him the money, “plus another ten as a bonus.”

  Han was bowled over. People had been after him for money; that was bad enough. Now people wanted to give him money. Owing money was a real dilemma. So, it seemed, was receiving it.

  28

  Lao Qi

  Han Shengli left after they were finished. When Lao Lin and Yan Ge reached the stairs, Lin said to Yan:

  “You go on ahead. I need to use the toilet.”

  Yan walked down the stairs, while Lin went to the men’s room, where he took out his cell phone and dialed a number.

  “Follow him.”

  It was unclear whether he was talking about Han or Yan. Then he turned to use the toilet; after a feeble attempt at what he came to do, he walked out and ran into Lao Qi, who had just come from home, sleepy eyed, shuffling along with a book in his hand. Lin thought it must be a Buddhist sutra, but it was a thread-bound volume of Dream of the Red Chamber. Lao Qi, a Master Practitioner of Buddhism, should not be reading a book like that, Lin said to himself. But he had no time to deal with that. Reminded of Yan’s suggestion to ask Qi for information on the thief and the USB drive, which Lin had rejected, now that he was alone it wouldn’t hurt to go ahead. He stopped Qi and led him back into the private room, where he told Qi about their search.

  “As the saying goes, everything is nothing and nothingness is everything.” Qi cast him a glance and said, “Why bother to look for it?”

  Everything and nothingness, two words from the Heart Sutra. Lin felt like laughing. A popular saying? Really? But he said with a straight face:

  “I’m not joking, Lao Qi. We have to find it.”

  Qi glanced at him again and said casually, “It’ll be over soon.”

  Knowing that Qi was not serious, Lin nonetheless was relieved to hear that it would be over soon, like a sick man who will go see any doctor. Later, when it was indeed all over, Lin would recall what Qi had said and break out in a cold sweat.

  29

  Liu Yuejin

  Brother Cao’s people caught Liu Yuejin, but not because of Han Shengli.

  Han had never been sure whether he could find Liu, though he did know two places Liu would go if he decided to stay in Beijing. If Liu left the city, then there was no way he could find the man again. After agreeing to search for both Cao and Yan, Han now had two “masters” to serve, and he worried himself sick over which one to deliver Liu to even before he found him. Since he could not get out of the deal with either side, he forced himself to start searching and wait to see what happened; under the assumption that Liu was still in town, he went to check out those two places. He’d decide who to hand him over to later.

  The first place that came to mind was everyone’s first choice—the Manli Hair Salon. Back when he was badgering Liu for the money owed, if he wasn’t at the dining hall, he was sure to be at Manli’s place. Han had always wondered if there was something going on between Liu and Ma, and after some furtive and careful observations, he reached the conclusion that they were not involved. If they had been, he wouldn’t have been going to see her all the time, and Han had had a secret laugh over Liu’s fruitless effort. Which was also why, in Han’s analysis, Liu would not now be hiding there. Too obvious, too close to the work site, and everyone knew he’d been seeing her. Liu couldn’t be that stupid. And, given the lack of a relationship, she wouldn’t let him stay there.

  On the other hand, nothing had been progressing logically, so Han decided to pay her a visit, just to make sure. After leaving Lao Qi’s Teahouse, he got to Manli’s Hair Salon after one subway and three bus rides. It was late in the afternoon, about dinnertime, so the salon was empty except for Yang Yuhuan, who was lying in a chair texting, her chubby legs resting on the barber’s stand. Nothing seemed amiss in the quiet shop. Han got an idea for something else and went into the back room after signaling Yang with his eyes. The ten thousand from Yan had stiffened his back and more; it went smoothly for him. When they were done and she was getting up, he roped his arms around her naked body and asked in a feigned casual air:

  “Has Liu Yuejin been here lately, Yuhuan?”

  He knew that she disliked Liu for hanging around the hair salon and scaring away her clients. She wouldn’t cover for him, he was sure of that. Pushing him off, she got up and started getting dressed.

  “No, I haven’t seen him.”

  “Do you know where he is?”

  “He’s not my boyfriend, why ask me?” She glared at him. “Go to the dining hall.”

  Her retort told him that she knew nothing about what had been happening to Liu. He got dressed, and when he came out into the shop, Manli stepped in with a bag of chicken necks.

  “I wonder where Liu Yuejin is.” Han pretended to look lost. “I found the thief who took his pack.”

  He stole a glance to see if she reacted differently when she heard Liu’s name, but she ignored him and walked to the sink to wash the necks, seemingly unconcerned. That could only mean one thing: Liu was not there. Besides, it was a small place, with two rooms; where would he hide, anyway?

  The other place, known only to Han, was Lao Gao’s noodle shop in Weigong Village. Lao Gao was the man he’d talked into being a guarantor after he was caught stealing by the Uighur gang. The three of them, Han, Gao, and Liu, were all from Luoshui, Henan, and Han knew that Liu and Gao were close, for he’d run into Liu many times at Gao’s diner. It usually took Liu two hours, changing buses five or six times, to get there on
weekends when the traffic was light; on weekdays, the trip would take at least three hours, and sometimes five. Han had seen Liu at Gao’s place even on weekdays, which told him that the two were unusually close. Moreover, they could be smoking side by side without saying a word, and yet Han could tell they knew what the other person was thinking. If Liu was there at night, he’d get up around ten to catch the last bus, and Gao would walk him to the door,

  “Be careful crossing the street.”

  “I won’t be here next week,” Liu might say before striding off.

  If he was there on a busy day, he would toss away his cigarette and help out in the kitchen. Han had thought they got along well because they were both cooks and from the same city. Gao contradicted him by saying that he and Liu had worked for a restaurant back in Luoshui, but had never seen eye to eye. Once, when half a bucket of cooking oil went missing in the kitchen, Gao and Liu suspected each other and had an argument, after which they didn’t speak for two weeks. Later they left for Beijing one after the other and worked at different places; they missed seeing and talking to each other if they stayed away for ten days or a couple of weeks. Now they both laughed whenever the incident at Luoshui came up. Lao Gao’s noodle diner was the only place left for Liu to hide; he might even be cooking noodles for Gao at the moment.

  After leaving the Manli Hair Salon, Han headed straight for Weigong Village. For over a week, he’d dreaded the thought of the area because of his debt to the Xinjiang gang, but now that Cao had taken care of the money, he felt he could come with his head held high. Gao was out buying groceries, Han was told. So he first checked the place out and saw no sign of Liu inside or outside the diner. Gao might have hidden Liu elsewhere, he said to himself. When Gao saw Han, he threw down a bunch of celery and, before Han could ask about Liu, began to rail at him about the Xinjiang gang.

  “Wasn’t that taken care of already?” Han was taken aback.

  “Yours, yes,” Gao glowered at him, “but my troubles are just beginning.”