—listen to heaven and follow fate. Particularly when you're starving." She shrugged. "There's no shame in that, Line, no loss of face, not in Asia."
"How come you know so much about the Struans and Coopers and mistresses and so on?"
"This is a small place and we all love secrets but there are no real secrets in Hong Kong. Insiders—true insiders—know almost everything about the others. As I said, our roots go deep here. And don't forget that the Chens, Yuans and Sungs are Eurasian. As I told you, Eurasians marry Eurasians, so we should know who we're from. We're not desired by British or Chinese as wives or husbands, only as mistresses or lovers." She sipped her wine and he was awed by the delicacy of her movements, her grace. "It's custom for Chinese families to have their genealogy written down in the village book, that's the only legality they have—that gives them continuity, they've never had birth certificates." She smiled up at him. "To go back to your question. Both Ian Dunross and Quillan would welcome your money and your inside track into the U.S. market. And with either one you'd make a profit here—if you were content to be a silent partner."