Pow!

watery sounds emerge from the bathroom. She kicks the door open, and steam billows out accompanied by the sounds of splashing water and feminine giggles. As the steam dissipates, an enormous whirlpool tub comes into view, water gurgling from its sides like a wellspring. Four virginal-looking girls surround Lan Laoda in water covered by flower petals. The star takes a black bottle from her purse and tosses it into the tub. ‘Sulphuric acid,’ she says softly. Then she turns and walks out. The girls shriek and clamber out of the tub, their fair bodies suddenly turned black—but only their bodies; their faces are still white. Lan Laoda, on the other hand, stretches out in the tub, shuts his eyes and says: ‘Dinner tonight, third floor, Huaiyang Chun.’ As she walks out of the bedroom she says: ‘You should invite classier girls.’ ‘They're all younger than you,’ he replies from the bath. We see the star retrace her steps through the living room, spitting on the flowers beneath her feet. The young man who'd opened the door can only stand still and stare. The doorbell rings in loud bursts and then a two-man security detail enters. ‘What's going on here?’ they demand. The star picks up a bunch of black flowers and smacks one of them across the face. He backs away, clutching his cheek. Bells ring out in the corridor.

    One night, soon after the United Meatpacking Plant began operations, Father, Mother, Lao Lan, Jiaojiao and I were sitting round our table, steaming platters of meat glowing beneath the electric lights. There was a bottle and several glasses filled with wine as red as fresh cow's blood. The adults were drinking more than they were eating, unlike my sister and me. Truth be known, the two of us had a respectable capacity for liquor but Mother wouldn't let us drink. At some point, Jiaojiao began to snore; I was quite sleepy myself, which was usual after a big, meaty meal. After putting Jiaojiao to bed, Mother said: ‘You get some sleep too, Xiaotong.’

    ‘No. I want to talk to you about school.’

    ‘Boss Lan,’ Mother said, ‘the boy doesn't want to go to school. He wants to work at the plant.’

    ‘Is that so?’ His eyes narrowed into a smile. ‘Why?’

    Snapping awake, I began to explain: ‘Because the things they teach in school are useless and because I have feelings for meat. I can hear it talk.’

    Surprised at my unexpected response, Lao Lan burst out laughing. ‘You're a true wonder. I'd better not offend you because, who knows, you might really have extraordinary powers. But you still need schooling.’

    ‘I'm not going,’ I said. ‘Forcing me to attend school is a waste of my life. I sneak into the plant through the sewer ditch every day, and I've discovered lots of problems. If you let me work there, I can help you solve them for you.’

    ‘Enough of this nonsense,’ Father said, impatiently. ‘Go to bed. We have things to discuss.’

    I could have carried on, but the look on Father's face stopped me. ‘Xiaotong!’ he roared.

    So I went into the bedroom, grumbling to myself, and sat in a mahogany chair we'd just bought, intent on watching and listening to the adults in the other room.

    Lao Lan swirled the wine in his tall-stemmed glass. ‘Lao Luo, Yuzhen,’ he said unemotionally, ‘what's your view? Will we make or lose money?’

    ‘If the price of meat doesn't rise, then we're bound to lose,’ Mother said, clearly worried. ‘They won't give us a higher price just because we don't inject water into our meat.’

    ‘That's why I want to talk to you,’ Lao Lan said as he sipped his wine. ‘Over the past few days, Huang Biao and I have visited meatpacking plants in several nearby counties, pretending to be meat-sellers. We discovered that they all inject their meat products with water.’

    ‘But we broadcast our assurance in front of those dignitaries,’ Father said softly. ‘That was only a few days ago. Our words are probably still ringing in their ears.’

    ‘My friend, our hands are tied. The way things are these days, even though we're unwilling to inject our meat with water, others aren't. So soon we'll not only lose money but also be out of business.’

    ‘Can't we think of something?’ Father asked.

    ‘Like what? What are our options? There's nothing I want more than to do business the way it ought to be done. If you can figure out a way of staying in business without injecting water, I'm all for it.’

    ‘We can report them to