A Loyal Character Dancer

a fight for us, Chief!” Yu said.
     
    “You deserve it, Yu.”
     
    “Congratulations!” Catherine grasped Peiqin’s hand, “It’s great news, but why was there a fight?”
     
    “There are more than seventy people on the waiting list but how many apartments did the bureau get this time, Chief Inspector Chen?”
     
    “Four.”
     
    “ ‘The watery rice porridge is not enough for all the waiting monks.’ The housing committee has to have many meetings before reaching a decision. Chen is a leading member of the committee.”
     
    “You are exaggerating again, Peiqin. Your husband was at the top of the list.” Chen produced a small envelope. “I did only one thing. When the meeting was over, I took the apartment key. It’s officially yours. You may move in as early as next month.”
     
    “Thank you so much, Chief Inspector Chen,” Peiqin grasped the envelope with both hands. “That’s the most important thing, the key. ‘There are so many dreams in a long night.’”
     
    “I know that Chinese proverb,” Catherine said.
     
    “So cheers.” Chen raised his cup.
     
    “Cheers.” Catherine leaned over to whisper in his ear, yet loudly enough for others to hear, “Now I see why you like your bureau position so much.”
     
    “Now that you’ve mentioned it, I think I need to return to the bureau.”
     
    Catherine said, “And I need to go to the hotel to pack.”
     
    * * * *
     
    Twenty minutes later, Old Hunter burst into Yu’s room as Peiqin was clearing the dishes.
     
    “Was Chief Inspector Chen here?”
     
    “Yes, he and his American partner were both here,” Yu said. “They have just left.”
     
    “Where did they go?”
     
    “They went their separate ways, I think. She went back to the hotel, and he, to the bureau.”
     
    “Give him a call,” Old Hunter said, still slightly out of breath. “To make sure of it.”
     
    Yu did. Chen was not at in the bureau, however. Nor at the hotel. Yu finally got hold of him on his cell phone.
     
    “I’m on the road. Give my regards to Old Hunter.” Chen added, “It may be difficult for you to reach me tonight. I’ll call you.”
     
    “What’s up, Father?” Yu said, putting down the phone.
     
    Peiqin came back with a bowl of dumplings.
     
    “Thank Heaven and Earth. At least he’s not at the hotel,” Old Hunter said, taking the bowl. “Your boss has an old head on his young shoulders.”
     
    “What do you mean, Father?” Peiqin added a pinch of black pepper to the old man’s soup.
     
    “Yu is Chief Inspector Chen’s man. People all know that, both in and out of the bureau. So they chose to tell me a thing or two.”
     
    “What did they say?” Yu asked.
     
    “Some guys are white-eyed chickens, with the tiniest black guts, only good for back-pecking. Now they are catching the wind and shadow between Chief Inspector Chen and the American woman. Internal Security may have been sent into the hotel.”
     
    “Those good-for-nothing bastards.”
     
    “Don’t worry too much. Chief Inspector Chen is a cautious man,” Peiqin said quietly, wiping her hands on the apron. “That’s why he wanted to bring her to our place, rather than to his.”
     
    “He asked me when you would come back, Father,” Yu said.
     
    “I had a talk with him this morning. About Gu Haiguang.”
     
    “Who is Gu Haiguang?”
     
    “The owner of the Dynasty Karaoke Club. A Mr. Big Bucks connected to those gangsters. Hasn’t your boss spoken to you about him?”
     
    “No. We didn’t talk on our flight.”
     
    “He said that he would call me about meeting Gu later tonight. I tried to reach him at the bureau, but he was not there.” Old Hunter said between bites, “I don’t know what Gu’s involved in. The case of the victim in the park or that of the woman on the run. But what I gave your boss should be enough to lock Gu up for a couple of years.”
     
    “So where is he going now?” Yu said. “That’s strange. Wen’s case is concluded. I don’t know what else he is up to.”
     
    “He cannot be too careful,” Old Hunter repeated.
     
    “Have some more dumplings, Father,” Peiqin said, coming back with another steaming bowl. “He’ll call.”
     
    * * * *
     
    Several hours later, Chief Inspector Chen had still not been heard from.
     
    With Qinqin asleep on the convertible sofa, and Old Hunter in his own room, Yu and Peiqin lay quietly on their bed, waiting. There was nothing else Yu could do. Holding her hand, he