A Loyal Character Dancer

time doing my job alone.”
     
    “Things are falling apart! The beast of corruption is moving in all over the country. Good people lack conviction. To accomplish anything in today’s society, they have to go about in two ways—the black way and the white way. I used to patrol the markets, but now it’s the black way—those gangsters—in control. Remember Jiao, the dumpling vendor who carried a miniature kitchen on her shoulders?”
     
    “Yes, the woman selling dumplings close to the Qinghe Lane. She helped us. What happened to her?”
     
    “That’s a good location for business. Some people wanted to drive her away from that corner. Her kitchen was smashed one night. The neighborhood police could do nothing. There’s no clue as to who did it, they told me. In some new businesses, the gangsters are even bolder. For instance, those karaoke girls and private rooms. A really lucrative business. Five hundred Yuan for one hour in the late evening, the golden time period. Not to mention the tip and extra money. The club owners maintain a good relationship with us because we can make things difficult for them, but they have better relationships with the gangs because they can make things impossible. The girls may be stabbed, the rooms may be damaged, and the owners may be kidnapped—”
     
    Old Hunter’s lecture was interrupted as the waitress came back into the room bearing a lacquer tray with an exquisite white china teapot and a single cup. The bubble tea came in a long paper cup with an extra thick straw sticking out of a plastic lid.
     
    The Mountain Mist tea looked good. Chen could tell by the green tea color in the white cup. He took a sip of the bubble tea through his straw. A tiny sticky ball rolled on his tongue. The size of a small marble, but with the rich taste of milk, soft, slippery, almost sensual. But was this really tea?
     
    Perhaps he, too, was antiquated, like Old Hunter, who spit a tiny tea leaf into the cup before continuing. “How can things get into such a mess? Pure and simple. Some of our high-ranking cadres are black-hearted. They take money from the gangsters, and cover up for them in return. Have you heard a story about Party Secretary Li’s brother-in-law?”
     
    “No, I haven’t.”
     
    “Well, that brother-in-law had a bar on Henshan Road. The diamond area of the city. A swell business. How he got the license and lease, people never knew or asked. One day, someone got drunk, smashed a table, and slapped him. The next day, the drunkard came back, knelt on the floor, and slapped his own face hundreds of times. Why? The Blue is behind it. That triad has more power in this city than the government. If the drunkard had not done that, his whole family would have been killed. After this, no one has dared to make any trouble in the bar.”
     
    “It could be a gesture to Li,” Chen said reluctantly, as he was aware of Old Hunter’s grudge against Li. The two had joined the force at about the same time. One did nothing but police work, and the other did nothing but politics. After thirty years, the gap between the two had grown huge. “Yet Li himself might have nothing to do with it.”
     
    “Possibly,” Old Hunter said, “but you never know. Things are really out of control.” The old man continued in indignation, chewing at a tea leaf with his tea-stained teeth, “Now about the dead body in Bund Park. It’s unusual. If it happened in those coastal areas close to Hong Kong, or in Yunnan Province where the drug traffic moves across the borders, I would not be so surprised. Since President Jiang was formerly the Mayor of Shanghai, the gangsters keep a low profile here. They do not want to twist the tiger’s whiskers. Before this, I cannot remember having heard of any blatant triad killing in Shanghai.”
     
    “It may have been the work of organizations from outside Shanghai.” Chen nodded, taking another long sip of his tea. “Perhaps to send a message to people here.”
     
    “So I suggest you have another story placed in the newspaper. Give vivid details concerning the ax wounds to the body. See if a snake will crawl out of the cave.”
     
    “That’s a good idea.”
     
    “If you’re going to deal with those gangsters, Chief Inspector Chen, you cannot do it in your white way only. You have to be very flexible. It is necessary for you to get whatever help you can. Say, from someone familiar with both the black and white ways, and with street connections,