cigarette, a beer. Another cigarette, another beer.”
A beckon, a wink towards the mama at the kitchen hatch. Formica and steam. His best smile, the Big Man. Amalgam and macerated peanut.
“Mama Lau, more of your specialities. And more of your delightful smile.”
Minutes of crashing activity. Chipped cups, stained glasses on a wobbly tray, moving in between the tables to Mama Lau’s hips in synchronous roll. Plates unloaded. Pickled vegetables, peanuts, Mantou , stuffed with red bean paste. Doufu , soya cheese. Tsingtao beers, and hongcha , red tea, as bitter as a widow’s tears.
A full beamed glare of false teeth as the mama swept like a tanker around the tables, back toward the kitchen, followed by Yaobang’s admiring gaze.
“Built like a fucking tenement block, eh Boss? Just how I like them.”
“Like them, but never had them.”
“Now, now, Boss. A bit grumpy aren’t we, not enough sleep? Come, eat, Boss. A man needs to eat, especially active comrades like us. You have to keep your energy levels high.”
Tea washing the bitterness away with sweetness, in two gulps, the cup empty. Across its insides, across the Big Man’s tongue, a seeding of shredded leafed Hongcha.
“I mean, shit, you never know what’s around the corner in this job.”
Piao stirring the tea again, three times, and then another for extra luck.
“I want you to go and see the Comrade Chief Officer. Tell him nothing about what we know or what we have seen. Tell him only of what we need now. The computer equipment. The Internet connection. We will operate from my flat.”
“Isn’t that taking a bit of a risk, Boss? Why not a safe house out of the city? These murderers are not shy about blooding a PSB uniform.”
“For now we stay here. A panda is not an unusual sight amongst a group of other pandas, but place it within a herd of buffalo. Then see Chief Warden Mai Lin Hua at ‘Virtue Forest’. Rentang. I want him out early to do some work for us. Mai Lin Hua can fix it. He owes me. He owes me big …”
“ ‘The Wizard’. What’s the bastard in for this time, Boss?”
“Profiteering and selling pornographic images over the Internet. Bring him to my place early tomorrow. He can base himself there.”
“Think he’ll give me some free samples, Boss?”
A look over the chipped crescent moon of the cup enough. The Wizard, not a man, as any Shainghainese mama would say, who would even give you the ‘drippings from his nose’.
“Anyway, what do you want him for, Boss? You know what he’s like. He’ll shit in your back pocket and tell you it’s loose change.”
“He has specialist skills. He can reach places that we cannot. ‘ Cao-mu jie-bing ’, always a good tactic if you get the opportunity.”
“ ‘Turning the dead cat’, and a fucking dangerous one, Boss.”
Silence as the mama cleared plates, replacing the gaps on the table with more food, more drinks. Pickling vinegar, hongcha , the steam from fresh mantou … the combination of sweet smells, earth smells, reminding Piao of funerals. So many funerals. So few baby blessings.
“The roads from the site, the National Stadium, you checked them?”
“Sure, Boss. What else have I got to do with my life? Two routes. One, nothing. Asked in shops, bakeries, offices. No one saw a thing. The second route less high profile. It runs parallel to the A-20 Highway through the Nan Hui District. Past the Sun Qiao Agricultural Zone it runs north to the Huangpu, just past the Yang Pu Bridge. Checked it all the way. Not a garage, house, or shop that I didn’t call in on. Less high profile route, but more twists and turns than a fucking whore’s walk across the city on a Saturday night.”
Opening another Tsingtao on the side of the table.
“Two low-loaders. Everybody on the route saw them, couldn’t miss them. Big bastards. Got caught at every junction, every fucking turn. Ploughed across one garden, the old mama had a right go at them.”
The thirst of a stray
A beckon, a wink towards the mama at the kitchen hatch. Formica and steam. His best smile, the Big Man. Amalgam and macerated peanut.
“Mama Lau, more of your specialities. And more of your delightful smile.”
Minutes of crashing activity. Chipped cups, stained glasses on a wobbly tray, moving in between the tables to Mama Lau’s hips in synchronous roll. Plates unloaded. Pickled vegetables, peanuts, Mantou , stuffed with red bean paste. Doufu , soya cheese. Tsingtao beers, and hongcha , red tea, as bitter as a widow’s tears.
A full beamed glare of false teeth as the mama swept like a tanker around the tables, back toward the kitchen, followed by Yaobang’s admiring gaze.
“Built like a fucking tenement block, eh Boss? Just how I like them.”
“Like them, but never had them.”
“Now, now, Boss. A bit grumpy aren’t we, not enough sleep? Come, eat, Boss. A man needs to eat, especially active comrades like us. You have to keep your energy levels high.”
Tea washing the bitterness away with sweetness, in two gulps, the cup empty. Across its insides, across the Big Man’s tongue, a seeding of shredded leafed Hongcha.
“I mean, shit, you never know what’s around the corner in this job.”
Piao stirring the tea again, three times, and then another for extra luck.
“I want you to go and see the Comrade Chief Officer. Tell him nothing about what we know or what we have seen. Tell him only of what we need now. The computer equipment. The Internet connection. We will operate from my flat.”
“Isn’t that taking a bit of a risk, Boss? Why not a safe house out of the city? These murderers are not shy about blooding a PSB uniform.”
“For now we stay here. A panda is not an unusual sight amongst a group of other pandas, but place it within a herd of buffalo. Then see Chief Warden Mai Lin Hua at ‘Virtue Forest’. Rentang. I want him out early to do some work for us. Mai Lin Hua can fix it. He owes me. He owes me big …”
“ ‘The Wizard’. What’s the bastard in for this time, Boss?”
“Profiteering and selling pornographic images over the Internet. Bring him to my place early tomorrow. He can base himself there.”
“Think he’ll give me some free samples, Boss?”
A look over the chipped crescent moon of the cup enough. The Wizard, not a man, as any Shainghainese mama would say, who would even give you the ‘drippings from his nose’.
“Anyway, what do you want him for, Boss? You know what he’s like. He’ll shit in your back pocket and tell you it’s loose change.”
“He has specialist skills. He can reach places that we cannot. ‘ Cao-mu jie-bing ’, always a good tactic if you get the opportunity.”
“ ‘Turning the dead cat’, and a fucking dangerous one, Boss.”
Silence as the mama cleared plates, replacing the gaps on the table with more food, more drinks. Pickling vinegar, hongcha , the steam from fresh mantou … the combination of sweet smells, earth smells, reminding Piao of funerals. So many funerals. So few baby blessings.
“The roads from the site, the National Stadium, you checked them?”
“Sure, Boss. What else have I got to do with my life? Two routes. One, nothing. Asked in shops, bakeries, offices. No one saw a thing. The second route less high profile. It runs parallel to the A-20 Highway through the Nan Hui District. Past the Sun Qiao Agricultural Zone it runs north to the Huangpu, just past the Yang Pu Bridge. Checked it all the way. Not a garage, house, or shop that I didn’t call in on. Less high profile route, but more twists and turns than a fucking whore’s walk across the city on a Saturday night.”
Opening another Tsingtao on the side of the table.
“Two low-loaders. Everybody on the route saw them, couldn’t miss them. Big bastards. Got caught at every junction, every fucking turn. Ploughed across one garden, the old mama had a right go at them.”
The thirst of a stray
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