A Loyal Character Dancer

laid across the minuscule front yard as a walkway. The manager hemmed and hawed, showing no eagerness for their company, and finally admitted, shamefacedly, that the hotel was not meant for foreigners.
     
    “Why?” Catherine asked.
     
    “In accordance with the city tourism regulations, only hotels with three stars can accommodate foreigners.”
     
    “Don’t worry.” Chen produced his I.D. “It’s a special situation.”
     
    Still, there was only one “high-class room” available, which was assigned to Catherine. Chen had to stay in an ordinary room.
     
    The manager kept apologizing as he led them upstairs to Chen’s room first. It had space only for a single hard-board bed. There was nothing else in it. Outside, along the corridor, the manager showed them a couple of public bathrooms: one for men, one for women. Chen would have to make his phone calls from the front desk in the lobby downstairs. Catherine’s room was equipped with air-conditioning, telephone, and an adjoining bathroom. There was also a desk with a chair, but both were so small that they looked like they had come from an elementary school. The room was carpeted though.
     
    After the manager excused himself amid profuse apologies, they seated themselves, Chen on the only chair, and Catherine on the bed.
     
    “Sorry about my choice, Chief Inspector Chen,” she said, “but you can use this phone.”
     
    Chen dialed Liu’s home.
     
    A woman answered the phone, speaking with a distinct Shanghai accent. “Liu’s still in Beijing. He will be back tomorrow. The airplane arrives at eight thirty in the morning. Would you like to leave a message?”
     
    “I’ll call back tomorrow.”
     
    Catherine had unpacked. “So what are we going to do?”
     
    “As that Chinese proverb says, we will enjoy ourselves in this earthly paradise. There are many gardens here. Suzhou is known for its garden architecture—pavilions, ponds, grottoes, bridges, all laid out to create a leisurely and comfortable ambiance, which reflected the taste of the scholarly and official class during the Qing and Ming dynasties.” Chen produced a Suzhou map. “The gardens are very poetic, with meandering bridges, moss-covered trails, gurgling brooks, fantastic-shaped rocks, ancient messages hanging from the eaves of the vermilion pavilions, all contributing to an organic whole.”
     
    “I can no longer wait, Chief Inspector Chen. Choose a destination for me. You’re the designated guide.”
     
    “We’ll visit the gardens, but can you first give your humble guide half a day’s leave?”
     
    “Of course. Why?”
     
    “My father’s grave is in Gaofeng County. It’s not far away, about one hour by bus. I have not visited it for the last few years. So I would like to go there this morning. It’s just after the Qingming festival.”
     
    “Qingming festival?”
     
    “The Qingming festival comes on April fifth, a day traditionally reserved for worshipping at ancestral graves,” he explained. “There are a couple of gardens near here. The well-known Yi Garden is within walking distance. You could visit it this morning. I’ll return before noon. Then we can have a Suzhou-style lunch at the Xuanmiao Temple Bazaar. I’ll be at your service for the whole afternoon.”
     
    “You should go there. Don’t worry about me.” She then added, “Why is your father’s grave in Suzhou—I’m just curious.”
     
    “Shanghai’s overcrowded. So cemeteries were developed in Suzhou. Some old people believe in Feng Shui—they want a gravesite with a view of mountains and rivers. My father chose the site himself. Then we moved his casket here. I’ve visited it only two or three times.”
     
    “We’ll go to the temple in the afternoon, but I don’t want to walk by myself in the morning. Such a beautiful city,” she said with an impish glint in her blue eyes. “To whom shall I speak / of this ever enchanting landscape?”
     
    “Oh, you still remember Liu Yong’s lines!” Chen refrained from explaining that the Song dynasty poet had composed those lines to his lover.
     
    “So, can I go with you?”
     
    “You mean to the cemetery?”
     
    “Yes.”
     
    “No, I cannot ask you to do that. It is too much of a favor to ask of you.”
     
    “Is it against the Chinese custom for me to go there?”
     
    “No, not necessarily,” Chen said, deciding not to tell her that one took only his wife or fiancée to a parent’s grave.
     
    “Then let’s go