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“I’irl”
She looked at hi of his words For a single instant he saw a shadow of vulnerability, then she rearranged her features into a reassuring smile He’d come to think of that look as her survival mask
“I’lad you’re here,” she said “That et to your office Miss Quo will be worrying about you by now And of course I need to clean up, then get to the MPS” A trace of uncertainty crept back into her voice, and she averted her eyes again “There will be things I need to do…”
“Is there any way I can help?”
Her deterain, and he could see just how hard she was trying “We could have dinner together I’d like that” Then she held out her bloodstained hands for him to see “I really need a shower” With that she walked past him and into the next courtyard
They hadthe one thing that was on both of their o was the sahter would have been
IT WAS STILL ONLY NINE IN THE MORNING WHEN HULAN LEFT HER roo to pay a quick visit to her mother and her mother’s nurse Hulan’s mother had been confined to a wheelchair since the Cultural Revolution Her mind was “delicate,” which meant that her rare moments of lucidity were often swaestures, or acknowledg, Hulan’s mother stared into the distance, and the visit was short
Hulan then left the coator Lo, her longti day for both of them—and he quickly drove her to the Ministry of Public Security co An Boulevard As soon as Hulan reached her office, a tea girl brought in a thermos and a porcelain cup, then quietly left the roo, and Hulan would need to write a full report, but before she started that she needed to finish up with her infor notations for the prosecutor It was a si, a teller, had used his bank’s official chop to move funds from several private accounts into one held by the All-Patriotic Society Hulan had five other files with similar stories that had come across her desk in the lastwas that he illing to trade what he knew so that he ht not be sent to labor camp
Unfortunately, stealing funds was not the only problem that Hulan had been able to link to the All-Patriotic Society During the last few e by workers who suddenly disapproved of the merchandise they produced in factories in the countryside and in Special Economic Zones Equipment had been destroyed and defective parts inserted into products There’d even been a couple of explosions in factories that overnment took the position that the All-Patriotic Society was an extreed in “doly Naturally, international huroups took a very dim view of China’s zero-tolerance policy
Having spent reed, but she hated the All-Patriotic Society She hated the way they preyed on the powerless, the old, and the poor She hated the way people gave their money to Xiao Da She knew from personal experience that fanaticism could be harht let religious cults gain power over the weak; China wouldn’t She told herself what others in the ministry told her: every time a file crossed her desk or shethe stability of the governned her They kept her focused
She knew that David didn’t understand her obsession, but there was a lot she didn’t understand about him anymore either When he was at the US Attorney’s Office, he had labored to right terrible wrongs He had followed a strict code of ethics and had a great belief in public service He carried those ideals with him into private practice, where he’d had twenty oron his rave social or political issues After David and Hulan reconnected, his law fir He was now a one- practice His days were busy and his clients paid hireat intellectual stretch for hier world Frohtforward businesshis mind ord puzzles and questions of culture It was as if David aiting for sos were between therateful he didn’t question her too much about hers
When the tea girl returned after just a few minutes, Hulan looked up “Yes?”
“Vice Minister Zai would like to see you, Inspector”
Hulan closed the folder and left the roo down the hall and up the stairs, she felt confident that she could answer any questions heWhen she stepped into the anterooently on the office door, and opened it for Hulan
“Good , Vice Minister,” Hulan said as she entered