The Mao Case

but that might be just as well. Fei wouldn’t have talked as freely had he known Chen was
     a chief inspector. Unlike in the
shikumen
houses in the old quarters, people in the new apartment complexes here did not really know each other.
    Instead of just asking for the book in question, Chen decided to browse around a little first, as he usually did. There was
     no point rousing any unnecessary speculation.
    To his surprise, he came upon several books on modern revolutionary Beijing operas — the only operas available during the Cultural
     Revolution.
    “Why the sudden interest in them?” he asked Fei. “Well, those who enjoyed them then are middle-aged now. They are nostalgic
     for the past — for their idealistic youth. Whatever the reality was, they don’t want to write off their own youthful years.
     So these ‘red antique books’ sell quite well. Can you guess which the most popular one is?” Fei paused for a dramatic effect.
     “
Little Red Book of Mao.
”
    “What?” Chen exclaimed. “Billions of copies were printed back then. How can it be a rare or antique book?”
    “Do you still have one at home?”
    “Oh no.”
    “So you see. People got rid of them soon after the Cultural Revolution, but now they are coming back with a vengeance.”
    “Why?”
    “Well, for those left out of the materialistic reforms, Mao is becoming a mythic figure again. The past is now seen as a sort
     of golden Mao period where there was no gap between the rich and poor, no
rampant Party corruption, no organized crime and prostitution, but instead there were free medical insurance, stable pensions,
     and state-controlled housing.”
    “That’s true. Housing prices have rocketed. But there are also so many new buildings in Shanghai now.”
    “Can you afford them?” Fei said with a sardonic smile. “Perhaps you can, but I can’t. ‘While wine and meat go bad untouched
     in the red-painted mansion, / people die from cold and starvation in the street.’ Haven’t you heard the latest popular saying — ‘You’ve
     worked hard for socialism and communism for decades, but overnight, it’s back to capitalism’?”
    “That’s a witty one.” Chen then asked casually, “By the way, do you have a book called
Cloud and Rain in Shanghai
? It’s a book about those years under Mao, I think.”
    Fei eyed him up and down. “That’s not the kind of book you usually choose, sir.”
    “I’m on vacation this week. Someone recommended it to me.”
    “It sold out a while ago, but I have one copy I kept for myself. For an old customer like you, you may have it.”
    “Thank you so much, Mr. Fei. Was it such a bestseller?”
    “You’ve never heard of it?”
    “No,” Chen said. The minister had asked the same question. “Isn’t it about the tragic fate of a young girl?”
    “It is. But there’s something else about the book. You have to read between the lines.”
    “Something else?” he said, offering a cigarette to Fei. “You must have heard of Shang.”
    “The movie star?”
    “Yes. She was the mother of Qian, the nominal heroine of the book. There’s a famous maxim in
Taodejin
: ‘In misfortune comes the fortune, and in fortune comes the misfortune.’ It’s so dialectical.” Fei took a deliberate puff
     at the cigarette. “By the early fifties, Shang’s career had started going downhill, but then it took off again. Why? Because
     she danced with Chairman Mao, whispering in his ears and
leaning against his broad shoulder … God alone knows how many times Mao came to Shanghai just for that, later into the night,
     and then into the morning. Dancing, her body surging softly against his, like cloud, like rain —”
    “Does the book mention all that?”
    “No, or it wouldn’t have been published. The author wrote it very carefully. Still, her life story in itself was more than
     suggestive. Mao could have picked any dancing partner, anytime, anywhere. What imperial favor! Everyone envied her. Eventually,
     she paid the price when, at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution, a special team came from Beijing, interrogating her
     in isolation, which then led to her suicide.”
    “Why — I mean, why the isolation interrogation?”
    “According to the book, the special team was trying to coerce her into confessing to ‘plotting against and slandering our
     great leader Mao.’ However, there was nothing out of line mentioned in the book except that after her first dance with Mao,
     she told a