“Very good.”
“Then I filled my mouth up and went to the bathroom and spat it into the toilet. She was talking to my father, so nobody saw.”
“Ah! Very clever, young lady. Instead of resisting and giving in to anger, you used your intelligence. By focusing on your breathing, you gained access to a non-violent solution.”
Sun Yi, hands on her hips, shook her head, standing a few feet behind Lu Lei, smirking involuntarily.
“Come, come, Master. Please sit.”
Sun Yi was eager to talk to him about the missing student. She had dreamt that he had been burned by a fire-breathing dragon, which Sun Yi assumed symbolized the government. She’d learned to recall her dreams and had found them to be increasingly revealing about the past, the present and occasionally even about the future.
She had tried to teach Wu Feng how to remember his dreams, but he never could. His talent lay in reading people. His sensitivity gave him insight about what people were feeling, even if they were saying the opposite. It was what made him such a good teacher and such a formidable opponent.
The Master’s hands now cradled a white porcelain cup of green tea. He settled into an ornate wooden armchair that one of Wu Feng’s past guests had made recently in payment for accommodation in their guest room. Buddhist monks often came to stay and invariably had no money to spare; only wisdom to share and often some handiwork. The last monk had spent the early hours of each day for two weeks working on the intricacies of the armchair, even using a scalpel to do the tiny details. Sun Yi thought about that monk’s persistence every time she saw the scalpel which he’d left in the drawer. She didn’t have time for that kind of obsessiveness. It was hard enough keeping Lu Lei busy.
She brought a stool over and joined the Master in conversation.
“Sun Yi, tell me of your dreams.”
“The dream was in two parts. First, a red dragon breathed fire on the student and burned his flesh. The second part of the dream seemed unrelated: two large white storks flew over the city, landed on a roof, and made a nest. Then I woke up.”
“A pair of storks. Very interesting. Was there anything else? Feelings, perhaps?”
“The feeling about the dragon was helplessness.” Sun Yi replied thoughtfully. “The storks had a good feeling about them. I’ve read that storks are about family, more particularly, children. No, I’m not pregnant.”
The Master smiled, stroking his beard. “When the Police Chief arrives, bring him to me. Maybe he will offer some information, willingly or in error.”
Sun Yi nodded, Wu Feng appearing behind her, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
“Happy birthday, Master,” Wu Feng said, bowing to his mentor.
“Ah, Wu Feng, today I am celebrating my friends, not my time on earth. You, for instance, I celebrate you because when I show you one corner of a subject, you discover the other three. You cultivate virtue and you guide others. And you, Sun Yi, you never struggle with anyone or anything. You always find the natural course and, like a palm tree in the wind, you bend. This is the non-resistance that I wish to instill in all of those in our lineage.”
“She is more like an iron post when it comes to Lu Lei eating her vegetables.”
“Lu Lei may come to appreciate spinach later in life,” said the Master, suppressing a smile, one eyebrow higher.
Sun Yi turned her head and looked up at Wu Feng, wanting to tell him about Lu Lei’s new trick. “Maybe I’ll bend Lu Lei over my knee like a palm tree if I catch her using her little cheeks to transport my cooking to the toilet,” she said, shaking her head.
Lu Lei yelled from the front door, “Mama, there’s a man here.”
The Master stood up as he watched Lu Lei lug the latest arrival over from the front door, regaling him with her news that she was about to start school and that she had a new friend whose father was the Police Chief.
“Li! Thank you for coming. I see you’ve met Lu Lei. What a hostess you will make, young lady,” said the Master. “Please allow me to introduce my good friend, Li.”
“Sun Yi and Wu Feng, you already know by reputation the great Li Hongzhi who is, of course, the spiritual leader of the Falun Gong. He is now China’s leading proponent of our organization’s ideas.”
Wu Feng was struck by Li’s calm presence. He wore modest clothes and could have passed for a factory worker had it not been for a certain radiance emanating from him. Lu Lei remained at Li’s side, looking up at him, waiting for him to speak, while Sun Yi went to the kitchen to pour green tea.
“Wu Feng, thank you for inviting me. I have been hearing much about you and Sun Yi from your Master.”
“It is an honor for us to have you here. We have incorporated your teachings into our system and it is being passed from our students to their students across Beijing. The community is becoming quite sizable here.”
“This is wonderful, Wu Feng. It is happening in several of China’s major cities. Of course we must gain acceptance and recognition from the government, which is the other reason that I am here in Beijing this week. I have meetings planned with officials in which I hope to pull them toward a softer, less fearful stance.”
The Master nodded. “We wish you luck. With such an abundant population, it is of great importance to teach and enrich them, but if the government’s will is impure, and unopposed, the country shall be ruined.”
Sun Yi returned with a cup of green tea, passing it with two hands to Li. Wu Feng rapidly crossed the space to the front door, seeing that a group of students had arrived and were filing in with the boxes of cold bottles of beer. Wu Feng pointed them toward the kitchen, not noticing that a couple of westerners had appeared behind him.
“Hi, I’m Matt Nelson, and this is my wife Casey.”
“Ah! Welcome to our home. I am Wu Feng. Please come in,” he said, switching to English.
The American woman — pretty, in her mid-thirties, a natural blonde — stepped forward and took Wu Feng’s arm in a familiar way, as he led them both toward the Master. She said, sticking to Mandarin, “Your English is wonderful, Wu Feng. Matt’s Mandarin is better than mine, but we are both quite ashamed of our accents.”
Wu Feng immediately liked them. They had a warmth and friendliness, which in China only came after months, or even years of knowing someone.
Matt seemed to be admiring the old factory and the remnants of the large iron brackets on the walls that at one time had anchored heavy machinery. The Master watched the arrival of Matt and Casey and was excited to introduce them.
Sun Yi rushed over to greet Casey first, shaking her hand, then Matt’s. The Master stood up and placed a hand on each of their shoulders, beaming. “Thank you for coming. Matt and Casey Nelson, I am thrilled to see you. It has been too long.”
Lu Lei wandered outside to be a part of the steady arrival of the Master’s collection of interesting friends. She hoped that the Police Chief’s son would arrive soon. She had become bored with the din the adults were making in her home. She had stayed by her parent’s side for a while, listening to them speak English to the white couple. They had given her a present, a skinny doll with blond hair, light skin, blue eyes and very long legs. Lu Lei had gone straight to her room and put it safely on her pillow to play with later.
Wu Feng and Sun Yi handed glasses of beer to the couple.
“Thank you for bringing a gift for Lu Lei. She seems very interested in you. She will want to touch your blonde hair, Casey,” Sun Yi said, laughing. “You’re both good with children. You have some experience in this area?”
Matt's face twitched, “We tried for a few years, but it was not to be.”
The awkward silence lasted a few seconds, broken by Lu Lei calling from the front door, “The Police are here.”
Lu Lei yanked on her father’s hand, pulling him toward the new guests at the font door. He saw that the Chief was dressed in uniform, standing in the doorway with his son Wei Bao, who was scowling, but holding the pant leg of his father.
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br /> “Welcome to our house. The Master is already here. We have beer and food, or tea if you prefer.”
The Chief didn’t smile. “Thank you, Wu Feng. I hope that nobody minds that I brought my son. I thought that our children could spend time together and make friends before school begins. Wei Bao is still fearful around strangers. He needs to be… socialized.”
“Yes, of course. Lu Lei, please take Wei Bao and show him around the house. Ask if he is hungry. The dumplings are probably ready.”
They watched Wei Bao follow Lu Lei into the house, disappearing into her room.
Wu Feng watched two of his students bring plates of dumplings from the kitchen. The Master introduced the Chief to Li. Wu Feng regarded the Chief carefully. He seemed to know Li, or perhaps he just knew about him. The Americans shook hands with the Chief, whose smile was toothy but insincere. Sun Yi looked slightly on edge as she handed him a glass of beer.
The Chief relaxed, now with a drink in hand. “Thank you, Sun Yi. I like what you have done with the building.” Eyes darting around the large space, he took a large gulp of beer, swallowing so he could continue, “A factory. Very interesting.”
The Master replied, “Matt and Casey Nelson have a factory of their own. They are in the barbecue manufacturing business.” The Master smiled genuinely at the Chief and continued, “Wu Feng and Sun Yi are manufacturing peace and harmony, and you yourself are manufacturing even-handed justice. Am I correct?”
“Indeed. And Li?” the Police Chief turned to Li. “In what business are you?”
“I am a teacher, but I would also venture to say that I am a historian, sometimes a politician, but most often I am a student.”
Wu Feng watched the Chief gulp the rest of his beer down. The tension broke when the Chief’s boy, Wei Bao, walked hurriedly across the room, glancing behind him, holding in the air Lu Lei’s new doll, upside down, by the head. Lu Lei came after him, determined. Wei Bao made for the front door, running now. The adults had stopped their conversation as Wu Feng started over toward the two children, who had stopped in the doorway where Wei Bao had turned to confront the smaller Lu Lei. Wu Feng was only halfway across the floor when Lu Lei took a wide stance and shot the heel of her right hand into the boy’s solar plexus, bringing him to the ground, buckled over. Just as Wu Feng reached them, Lu Lei bent down and triumphantly plucked the doll out of the boy’s hand and held it to her chest protectively. Wei Bao was curled up on the doormat, struggling to inhale. Wu Feng lifted the boy to a sitting position.
“Just breathe. You are winded. You are going to be fine. Open up your lungs.”
The boy began breathing again. Sun Yi and the Chief appeared behind Wu Feng, looking concerned.
The Master turned to the American couple, who were both open-mouthed. Matt looked at Casey, “I guess she likes the Barbie Doll.”
Casey was trying to stifle a smile, “That was a nice move. What is she, like six years old?”
The Master looked less amused. “Yes, she is about to turn six. She is, of course, just at the beginning of her journey. She will learn to control her power eventually, we hope. For now, though, we should be more concerned about the events that this little incident may set in motion.”
Matt cocked his head to the side, “Yeah, but did you see that kid hit the ground like a sack of potatoes?”
They were all laughing quietly now, looking away from the inevitably awkward situation that was about to pervade the scene at the door.
The blood drained from Wu Feng’s face. He crouched in front of the blinking Wei Bao, who was clutching his chest with both hands, huffing and puffing exaggeratedly. Sun Yi squatted in front of Lu Lei, and talked quietly to her, holding her hand. The Police Chief’s face was a picture of disapproval. He remained standing. He watched his son go through the typical emotions of a victim. Wei Bao’s face showed shock and embarrassment, but Wu Feng also saw a hint of pleasure from the sudden attention he was receiving.
Wu Feng reassured him, “You’re fine. These things happen sometimes.” He was looking into the boy’s eyes, pressing the pressure points on the palms of his hands that affected the lungs. “Do you feel better now? Would you like something to eat? Some sticky rice perhaps?”
The boy nodded and looked up at his father towering above them. The Chief turned and walked over to the kitchen, toward a tray with bottles of beer on it. The boy’s gaze followed his father to the kitchen. Wu Feng pointed and said simply, “Go.”
Wei Bao ran to the kitchen and took his place at his father’s side, hanging his head.
Sun Yi looked about, satisfied that all the guests had arrived. Gifts, wrapped with red paper and gold ribbons, were given to the Master, who tried to refuse them in vain. One student served the longevity noodles, which was the birthday tradition. Sun Yi explained to Matt and Casey not to bite the noodles, because a broken noodle was considered bad luck or an omen of a shortened life. “We Chinese are a superstitious people, and the longevity noodle is one superstition that we have taken very seriously since the Tang Dynasty. We prefer a long life to a short one.”
“You are not alone!” Matt replied, laughing.
The conversation turned to the subject of the Police Department and the government, and Sun Yi told Casey about the disappearance of the student.
Casey leaned in and spoke quietly into Sun Yi’s ear, “We have someone in the police department who is friendly. I can get a message to him that we need information about your missing student. He might know something.”
Sun Yi looked curiously at the pretty American, whose expression showed genuine concern. “Please don’t go to any trouble.”
“I will be seeing him, anyway. It’s not a problem at all.”
Sun Yi thought it strange that an American woman had anything to do with the police, and even more odd that she was offering up the information.
The Police Chief made his apologies and made an awkward exit soon after the incident with the children. Wu Feng and Matt walked into the kitchen with their empty beer glasses. “Wu Feng, is it normal that the Chief left so early?”
Wu Feng looked back at Matt, concerned. “Not normal, no, but it was to be expected. We hoped that the Master would be able to talk to him alone, but the children’s quarrel embarrassed the Chief. We have a long history.”
Sitting on a stool at the kitchen island, Matt rested his chin between his thumb and forefinger. “The cop didn’t seem to like Li much. I would hazard a guess that he knew exactly who Li was and didn’t need an introduction. Would I be right in assuming that the Chief has some kind of beef with his group, and perhaps with your people, as well?”
“There is indeed a mounting tension between us,” said Wu Feng, impressed that Matt knew so much already. “Did you notice anything else?”
Matt continued, “He’s holding something back. You could see it in the way the eyes shifted, and where he held his gaze. One more thing. That guy over by the wall is a journalist. I’ve seen him before at official functions.”
Wu Feng turned slightly to look. “Ah, yes, he writes for the newspaper.” Wu Feng emphasized the word, “newspaper,” indicating that the journalist wrote for the government newspaper that put out propaganda according the latest policies. “He is somewhat of a friend of the Master. His daughter was in his class for several years, but he does not let his friendship alter the course of his journalism. He cannot.”
Casey came across the kitchen to chat, “I hope you’re not drinking too much, Matt. You said you’d drive tonight.”
“Ah yep, I’m good to go, honey. Did you check on Barbie? Any head injuries?”
“The Barbie Doll came through unscathed, though perhaps a little traumatized. Lu Lei was upset, though. She thought she had a new friend until–”
“Until she put him in his place with one hand.” Matt looked to Wu Feng to share his laughter. More relaxed now that the Chief was gone, Wu Feng laughed a little, looking at his feet, his face reddening. Sun Yi and the Master had agreed, after the
altercation, that the girl needed to start her formal training immediately, and Wu Feng was happy about this. Relieved.
The Master and Li remained anchored in the same spot for the entire party, now in the company of Lu Lei, who was interrogating Li.
“What’s your favorite color, Mister Hongzhi?”
“I like two colors: yellow and red.”
“I like pink and also purple, but yellow is okay.”
“Where is your new doll?”
“I had to put her to bed because she was sad.”
The Master squatted down to her eye level. “Lu Lei, I think you are ready to begin your training. When your parents ride in to teach each evening, they will take you to the junior class. It is on the way. The other students are older than you, but they will look after you like a younger sister. Does this sound good to you, little one?”
“Yes, Master. Are you the teacher?”
“Often I am, Lu Lei. You shall see.”
Li nodded at the Master, who was satisfied that this moment had arrived. It was apparent that she had a great deal of power within her, but had a long road ahead of her, learning to harness her impetuousness and her spikes in mood. The Master thought that it was best to start her on the journey while her mind was most malleable.
“I’m going to tell Barbie.”
They all watched Lu Lei skip to her room to share the good news with her doll.
Sun Yi, carrying two glasses of beer, wandered over to the Master while Li was occupied with a student.
“Do you you think you can break her for me?” she asked the Master, passing him a glass.
“Sun Yi, I have a feeling that she may be unbreakable.” His eyes twinkled again, and he held his glass out to clink Sun Yi’s.
3
School Begins
Lu Lei woke up thrilled about the idea of her first day at school. Entering the kitchen, she noticed that her parents were frowning at the newspaper on the breakfast table. She sat and ate her noodles, and listened in to see if the problems would affect her.
Surviving Spies (Irving Waters, Spy Fiction Series) Page 2