The Nine Fold Heaven. Mingmei Yip

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      7

      River Cruise

      The next morning, I was jolted when I read Rainbow Chang’s Leisure News gossip column:

      Has the Heavenly Songbird Alighted?

      Yesterday, one of my Pink Skeleton girls reported back to me some exciting news!

      At the American Consul General’s garden reception, a young Chinese singer surprised the partygoers with her beautiful voice. My source said that this singer looked a lot like our beloved, but disappeared, Heavenly Songbird Camilla. But how could it be her?

      If Camilla, the ultimate cunning skeleton woman, flew away from Shanghai, why would she come back?

      Curious, isn’t it, that she disappeared right after her patron Master Lung’s Flying Dragons shoot some still-unidentified victims? Can this be the strategy of mantian guohai, “crossing the sea to fool heaven”? Did her departure for places unknown have something to do with the shoot-out that left many of Shanghai’s eminent gangsters in pools of their own blood?

      Police speculate that Lung’s safe was opened and some valuables taken. If the police are right, then who took Lung’s valuables? Can it be that someone is now living in newfound luxury somewhere? If yes, then why would this person return to the scene of the crime?

      One of my sources says that the singer Jasmine Chen looks very much like Camilla, but another says her hair is too straight and her chin too pointed. We’d all know if the photo of Jasmine Chen taken by my Pink Skeleton girl had not been confiscated by the consulate’s guard.

      But I have my sources, so more to follow. . . .

      Rainbow Chang

      This was most alarming. Why would Rainbow Chang send her girls to spy at the ambassador’s party in the first place? Did she get wind of my return? If so, from whom?

      There were no answers for now, so I went on to read the other newspapers. I felt relieved that besides Rainbow’s column, there was no mention of me in the other papers. But, of course, that didn’t mean I could let my guard down. Rainbow was on to me, even if she didn’t quite come out and say it. No secret was safe from her and her girls—they’d even infiltrated the American Consul’s garden party!

      But then my attention was caught by a small headline in the Shen News:

      Gangster to Be Executed

      Hong Bin, a gangster and spy, will be publicly executed outside Shanghai—a mile from the Xu Jiahui Station—this Sunday at noon. After a thorough investigation by the police and a trial, the gangster confessed that he has been spying and gathering information for the Communist party.

      I suddenly realized this execution must be the same one brought up by one of Miller’s guests at the garden party. I wondered who this Hong Bin was and what gang he belonged to. There were so many gangsters and spies in Shanghai, including me!

      Faced with death, a gangster would likely make a deal to betray his own gang and take refuge with another one. But relationships in Shanghai’s underworld were even more complicated than the fate-determining, crisscrossing lines of our palms. So I wondered what was happening between this Hong Bin and his gang that his boss didn’t just spread some bribes around to set him free.

      I decided to go see the execution. I was curious to know who this ill-fated man was and I hoped that, like me so far, he would somehow escape the hopeless situation.

      But in the meantime a more pleasant event awaited me. After the garden party, Emily told me that her boss would like me to join him for a day on his yacht down the Huangpu River. As I set out for the harbor, the day was pleasant with clouds crossing in the afternoon sky like fishes swimming leisurely in a gigantic tank.

      I arrived at the pier right on time, punctuality being one of my “virtues” as a spy. Edward was already waiting, leaning on a piling on the dock. He waved as he saw me approach, planted a kiss on my cheek, and took my hand. Then he led me to his yacht nestled at the dock among several others floating on the sparkling turquoise river.

      “Welcome aboard!” He enthused, looking very charming in whites—shirt, shorts, shoes.

      He took my arm and helped me on board. Two Chinese in crisp white uniforms stood on either side as we stepped onto the deck, undulating slightly in the gentle swell. After introducing me to the two sailors, he gave me a tour. I didn’t have much experience of boats, but this one seemed to be a cozy little paradise with almost everything. There were deck chairs near the bow and a comfortable cockpit aft with cushions along the benches. Down below was a cozy salon with a small but well-equipped galley including a bar. A door led to a curtained bedroom with a broad bunk. Though I liked his boat and was sure it had cost a lot, it did not seem so impressive compared to the rich men’s mansions I had visited.

      But I said excitedly, “Oh, heaven! It’s so beautiful. I’ve never been in a sea palace like this!”

      Edward gave me an appreciative once-over, his eyes lingering on my breasts and slim waist conspicuous under my simple, crocheted top and blue slacks. Then he took my hand and led me back onto the deck. We leaned on the railing, silently inhaling the fresh air while appreciating our expansive view of the river with its scattered junks, boats, and ships weaving back and forth in front of the city’s skyline.

      “Jasmine, I’m glad you like it. I use this for both business and pleasure. People feel more relaxed out on the water and thus speak their minds more freely. Sometimes I also come here by myself to think or meditate on the flowing river.”

      “How interesting,” I said, calmed by the rhythmically undulating waves, “I also used to come here to sing to the rising sun and its reflection on the water.”

      “Did you?” he cast me a curious look, “When? You mean you could just leave the orphanage and come here?”

      Damn. I’d forgotten Confucius’s famous precept, “A refined person is careful in speech.”

      Fortunately, I had to learn early in life to make up answers quickly.

      “Of course not, they’d never let me do that when I was in the orphanage. It was after I left.”

      The crew already cast us off from the dock and we were now under way, the engine throbbing quietly, making it easy to change the subject.

      “So today there’ll be only the two of us?”

      “Just us, and, of course, my captain and his mate. I like to steer the boat myself, but this way I can enjoy your company.”

      “It’s fine with me, Edward.” I smiled mysteriously. “No one from the orphanage is going to see me here with you.”

      “Jasmine, СКАЧАТЬ