Nixon's main interest was Governor Sun. It turned out they had met before, and they bantered easily about mutual friends and business acquaintances. But Nixon never let well enough alone.
"Every day I go to my office building I think to myself, no one can believe I have climbed so high. Every day I remember back to the Cultural Revolution and my years on the Red Soil Farm with Liu Hulan. Are you familiar with that place, Governor Sun? It is in your home province of Shanxi, not too far from Taiyuan."
"Attorney Chen, many people remember the Red Soil Farm. It was a model in our province and a place where I took many visitors."
Nixon snorted. "We never saw you, right, Hulan?"
"And I don't recall meeting you either, Attorney Chen," Sun said.
"How could you?" Nixon queried. "You were one and we were one thousand. Besides, we were too busy working in the fields under that sun of yours."
"That sun, as you call it, belongs to all of us," Sun responded smoothly. "And, as much as I like Beijing, I find the heat as harsh here as in the countryside. Only here you see no blue sky, only haze, coal dust, and Mongolian dust." Sun turned his attention to Hulan. "Now I understand who you are, Miss Liu, or should I say Inspector Liu?" Sun addressed the table. "Did you know that our beautiful companion tonight is the daughter of a very famous man in China and Miss Liu herself is a notable person in her own right?"
Doug asked the question that some of the Americans were wondering about. "What are you, then? A policewoman?"
Nixon Chen laughed. "Policewoman? Ha! She is with the Ministry of Public Security. Do you know what that is?" When Doug didn't answer, Nixon elaborated in his oddly colloquial English. "You don't want to know! It's like the FBI or KGB. Liu Hulan is one of our best investigators. Little fish, big fish, they are the same to her. She reels them in, slits them open, and sets them on the steamer. With Liu Hulan you are cooked!"
As Nixon spoke, David casually observed the others' reactions. Sun seemed indifferent, as did Randall Craig. Henry stared at his son, while Doug tried to look everywhere but at his father. In fact, it seemed to David that Doug had tried to catch someone's eye at the next table, but David couldn't see whose. Miles's fair complexion looked sunburned, but his expression was the same one he presented in the courtroom-coolly unconcerned. And Hulan, well, she looked amused.
"I'll tell you where she learned that," Nixon continued as a second course of sauteed squid arrived. "On the Red Soil Farm. There was no forgiveness there."
"Those were dark days for all of us," Sun said.
Hulan, who'd read Sun's dangan, knew that this wasn't the case. "But you were only a visitor to the Red Soil Farm, while we-and others like us-had to live and work there or at places like that," she said.
"Or places that were worse, like hard labor camps," Sun said knowingly.
"Anyone who reads a newspaper or watches television knows that my father spent time at the Pitao Reform Camp in Sichuan Province," Hulan said. "For some people, like my father and myself, personal stories of misdeeds and good works, of sacrifice and punishment, are very public. For others…" She let her voice drift off, hoping that Sun would accept the challenge.
But Sun was a politician. In his career, success was tied to the ability to deflect difficult questions. "The media is a game we must play, Inspector. I think many of your problems have stemmed from your inexperience. You let them say what they want about you. You never fight back. You do not wear a smile on your face. You don't work behind the scenes to build friendships. And so you react when you should be ruling what is said."
"That's a Western view," Hulan observed. "I think you've seen too many western movies!"
"You're absolutely right," Sun agreed cheerfully. "You want to know when I saw those movies? It was at the end of the war with Japan. They had them for the American soldiers who came to help us. Remember that, Henry?"
Henry barely nodded.
Sun continued. "Later I saw other western movies, and I'll always remember them for the way that people stood strong for what they believed in. Such an American trait, don't you think? To be unafraid to speak your mind, to believe in the human right to grow and change and be free?"
"It is words like that that make you very popular in China," Nixon said.
"It is words like that that we all want to follow," Sun clarified.
"This is why you are at the center of power," Nixon went on.
Sun tipped his head, modestly accepting the compliment. "But this isn't America. I can say many things today and tomorrow who knows?"
"Maybe tomorrow will bring even greater freedom. You can't turn back the clock," Nixon said.
"I just want my province to prosper and improve the quality of life for my people."
It was pure political talk, and Randall Craig, like many of the others at the table, was caught up in the sentiment. "It is people like you who will make China great in the next century."
"But, Mr. Craig, it is people like you who will make that possible. When you bring money to people, it changes their lives."
Hulan glanced at David. Was this the first parry in a new relationship that would be based on illegal money changing hands? David in turn shot a look across the table to Miles, but the senior partner was smiling and acting every inch the part of the great facilitator. Then David's eyes drifted over to Henry. This man, usually so light-hearted, had grown increasingly dispirited through dinner.
19
MORE DISHES WERE BROUGHT OUT: STEAMED CARP, STIR-fried egg with sea cucumber, shredded ox stomach stew, Beijing duck, bird's nest soup, and finally rice. Then more tea, more toasts with the mao tai, and a few sweet dumplings for dessert. Sun, as the highest-ranking official, signaled the end of the evening by pushing his chair back from the table exactly at eight. The other Chinese in the room immediately stood. Everyone quickly moved back to the sitting room.
During dinner a rectangular table had been set up in the middle of the room with two chairs on each side. At each seat ceremonial pens made from colorful cloisonne waited to be used. A red banner strung between two poles read KNIGHT BECOMES TARTAN. A photographer was on hand to record not only the signing of the agreement, but also take other posed shots of the people from the Chinese ministries and bureaus before the official signing.
Finally the time came for the four principals to take their seats. Miles and Randall sat on one side of the table, Henry and Doug on the other. David and Miss Quo, who would take notes, took seats just behind Miles and Randall. Governor Sun and Amy Gao sat behind Henry and Doug. The others clustered around while the photographer continued to shoot film.