Red Mandarin Dress

themselves. Not all the residents were interested in anything more than the monetary compensation due them.
    Then Jia rose, moving up to the front to make his closing statement.
    As he took the stand, he let his glance sweep across the courtroom before acknowledging Chen in the back. Jia nodded almost imperceptibly, taking a drink from a plastic water bottle. He appeared to be full of confidence and conviction, his face taking on a strange transparency, as if another self were breaking out for the occasion.
    But it could be a trick of the morning light streaming through the stained-glass windows, Chen thought.
    “From my learned colleague’s speech, the result of the trial seems to be already predictable,” Jia started. “Peng will be punished for his business mismanagement, and the residents in the West-Nine-Block will receive compensation for their relocation. So I am visualizing the newspaper headlines, ‘The City Government Upholds Justice for the People.’ Or, ‘Number One Shanghai Big Buck Peng Punished.’ So that’s the end of it. Some will be satisfied with the compensation due them, some will move into the new apartment complex, some will talk about the downfall of the upstart, and some will be pleased to hear the last of the case.
    “Still, such a ‘satisfactory’ outcome of the trial may leave a lot of things unexplained.
    “How could Peng, a dumpling peddler along Chapu Road five or six years ago, have turned into Number One Shanghai Big Buck? He’s no magician, with no golden touch, but as we know, he has his connections. How could Peng have secured the land for the housing development project when there were several more qualified developers bidding for it? He has only his elementary school education, but as we know, he has his connections. How could Peng, having obtained the state approval for ‘housing improvement,’ have denied the original residents the right to move back? That was black and white in his business proposal, but as we know, he has his connections. How could Peng have secured government authorization to force out the residents ‘by whatever means necessary’? In spite of residential relocation being new to the city, people understood ‘whatever means necessary,’ but as we know, he has his connections.
    “And what connections?
    “Perhaps I don’t even have to elaborate on these here. Whatever I may say, some people will declare they are irrelevant.
    “After all, anything can be explained and justified. Someone, who happens to be sitting in the courtroom, has told me that this is an age of perspectives. Things depend on the perspective, but he forgot to add that whoever is in power gains control of the perspective.”
    It was an unmistakable reference to him, Chen knew. He rubbed his temple again.
    “Now, my learned colleague has made one specific point,” Jia went on. “Historical circumstances. It is not a term invented by him. We have read and heard about it, especially with regard to the Cultural Revolution, haven’t we?”
    “Shall we stop him?” Yu whispered to Chen. “Where is his speech leading?”
    “No, I don’t think he will go too far. Let’s wait just a little longer.”
    The trial was an unprecedented one in that a Chinese attorney was emerging triumphant, single-handedly against all the Party officials standing behind Peng. Jia deserved his moment, which might be the last cold comfort to his battered ego. Besides, Chen didn’t want the trial to be affected by the red mandarin dress case. They were two separate cases, unrelated.
    “We aren’t here, of course, to talk about all the social and political issues involved,” Jia continued. “But what about the people who have suffered loss, irrecoverable losses, in the case? Zhang Pei’s parents, for instance, who died because of the horrible conditions after being driven out of their home. Or Lang Tianping, for another, who became paralyzed after being savagely beaten in the ‘demolishing campaign’ by the relocation company. Or Li Guoqing, whose girlfriend left him when he was detained for his skirmish with those Triad thugs hired by Peng.
    “So do you think that singling out Peng for his mismanaged business operation brings justice?”
    The question disturbed Chen. Where was Jia going with all this? It could be a show Jia was putting on. Anticorruption was a popular stance in the nineties. His speech would surely win him another round of applause. But would that be so important to