Don’t Cry, Tai Lake

their leave of Xiong, Yu and Peiqin then approached some of the other neighbors. They didn’t learn much, and some of the neighbors were suspicious of them and refused to answer their questions. Yu and Peiqin managed to get into the stunted two-story building and up to the room Mrs. Liu kept there. The door was locked, of course, but from the outside it looked no different from her neighbors’.
    Mrs. Liu appeared to be a success story, all the more so when compared to her neighbors, Yu thought. He went fishing for a cigarette in his pocket, but he decided not to take one out around Peiqin. Why Mrs. Liu kept coming back to the impoverished old neighborhood remained a mystery. Her family hadn’t been that well off, though in the context of the neighborhood, they might have done okay. The only possible explanation Yu could think of was that she wanted to show off, but what would be the point of showing off repeatedly, continuously, for years?
    “If she was happily married,” Peiqin said, as if reading his mind, “why would she come back so often?”
    “I don’t know,” Yu said, shaking his head. He had no idea what Chen wanted him to find out. But then Chen himself might not have a clear idea.
    It was then that his cell phone rang. It was Chen again.
    “I have to ask you another favor, Yu.”
    “Go ahead, Chief,” he said, then added, “I’m in Mrs. Liu’s old neighborhood right now.”
    “Thanks, Yu. The Wuxi Number One Chemical Company here is about to go public. The head of the company, Liu, was the one who was murdered. I have only a little information about its IPO plan. It could help if I knew more about how such a plan works. Now, as I recall, Peiqin said that her restaurant belongs to Plum Blossom Pavilion Group, which is also going public soon. I’m wondering whether Peiqin could, as an accountant, find out something about the IPO for the Wuxi company. Perhaps she knows a thing or two about it.”
    “I’ll tell her. In fact, she’s right beside me. Do you want to talk to her?”
    “No, that’s about all I could tell her. Please let her know that I appreciate her help. I owe you both.”
    Chen said his good-bye, and Yu returned the phone to his pocket. He looked over at Peiqin.
    “Something for me to do again?” Peiqin inquired with a smile.
    Yu explained Chen’s request.
    “Ours is just one of the numerous small restaurants owned by the Group,” Peiqin said, shaking her head. “These things are determined by the bosses of the Group and have nothing to do with me.”
    “But do you know something about the way an IPO works?” He knew she had been dabbling a little in the stock market.
    “Different companies have different ways. It’s something new and unprecedented in China, at least since 1949,” she said. “I’ve heard a little about the so-called large noncirculating shares and the small noncirculating shares. The bosses who initiate an IPO each get a number of shares, an amount in accordance with his position, at a symbolic price which is practically for free. Once a state-run company goes public, the Party member CEO can become a millionaire or even a billionaire. No one can tell the difference between socialism and capitalism anymore.”
    “That’s totally against the Party tradition. Cadres are supposed to serve people wholeheartedly, selflessly.”
    “That’s why people want to be Party cadres nowadays,” she said with an ironic smile. “But as for an IPO, that’s about all I know. How could I know anything about a company that’s far away in Wuxi? Your boss must be desperate. As the proverb says, When one’s seriously sick, he will go to any doctor.”
    “You mean you think that Chen’s in trouble?”
    “He’s desperate for something. Perhaps it’s because of the affair with the young woman. Anyway, the stock market is closed on Saturday, so it would be useless for us to go there. Besides, I don’t know anyone who works there.”
    “And I can’t approach anyone there. Chen made a point of saying he didn’t want me investigating officially. Even if I did try to ask a few questions, they wouldn’t have to cooperate with me. I have no authority whatsoever in these matters.”
    “No, it would be of no use,” Peiqin said. “Unless we could find someone who has inside connection and information.”
    “So, what are we going to do now?”
    “Let’s go to visit the other one’s neighborhood. Fu’s.”
    That area happened to be Peiqin’s childhood