Chapter 26

Part One: Turbulent Waters of Officialdom. Chapter 26: One hundred and twenty thousand for an emergency

Xu Si's apartment in Jingsheng Garden and her car had both been provided by Xinfeng Group. Her family home was in Shatian, an urban village left over from Haizhou's early urban development. Following the address, Zhang Ke found her home, a small courtyard deep in an alley. The plaster was peeling off the courtyard walls, and the two wooden doors were badly weathered by rain. Zhang Ke peered through the gap between them. The courtyard was tiny and crowded with lush green potted plants. He knocked and saw a middle-aged man walk into the courtyard. Zhang Ke had seen his photograph in the files. He was Xu Si's father, Xu Haishan, a skilled worker at the City Agricultural Machinery Factory. Xu Si's mother came out right behind him. From their expressions, they were clearly frightened by the knock at the door.

"You are...?" Xu Haishan looked puzzled at the sight of a boy in his teens.

"Xu Si asked me to come..." Taking advantage of her father's hesitation, Zhang Ke squeezed through the gap in the doorway. "You haven't told Xu Wei about what happened to Xu Si, have you? Xu Si did some things to pay for Xu Wei's surgery. She feels she's let you down terribly, and she regrets it. She's voluntarily giving the Special Investigation Team an account of what she did. Of course, turning over the money she brought home to the state would help her seek lenient treatment..."

Xu Si's father looked suspicious, but her mother was much less guarded. At Zhang Ke's words, tears and snot began streaming down her face. "Our younger daughter's illness has made our older daughter suffer so much. She's such a good child. She never gave herself a thought. She's only twenty-three. How is she supposed to live the rest of her life? We begged every relative, friend, and neighbor we had, and only managed to scrape together a hundred and fifty thousand. Her father even thought about selling a kidney, but there has to be someone willing to buy it..."

"Oh, I see!" Zhang Ke slapped his forehead. Seeing Xu Si's father watching him warily, he hurried out of the courtyard. With her mother's sobbing in his ears, he walked out to the mouth of the narrow alley. People kept poking their heads out along the alley, then drew back when they saw a teenage boy.

At the mouth of the alley, Zhang Ke called his youngest uncle, Zhang Zhifei. Since he and his father had joined the Special Investigation Team, he had not yet had a chance to see his uncle.

"Uncle, where are you?"

"I'm in the city. Mayor Tang called me over and said he'd treat me to dinner tonight. Ha ha... How could I let Mayor Tang pay?" Zhang Ke could hear how excited his uncle was on the other end. His construction company had yet to expand beyond Dong She County, and now Tang Xueqian was inviting him to dinner. Wasn't that enough to keep him awake for three days? "I just spoke to your dad. He said you were back in Haizhou. What is it? Can't it wait until tonight?"

"I need some money, quite a lot of it. If you're willing, could you bring it to Shatian right now? Don't tell my dad about this."

"What? Ke, are you all right?"

Hearing his uncle's voice shoot up an octave, Zhang Ke laughed. "Don't get so worked up. I haven't been kidnapped. It's to help someone through an emergency. Consider it a loan to me."

"Oh, you little brat, are you trying to scare your uncle to death?" Zhang Zhifei let out a breath on the other end. "How much do you need? I'll bring it right over."

"A hundred and twenty thousand."

"What could possibly need that much money?" Zhang Zhifei sucked in a sharp breath. In 1994, a fresh university graduate joining an ordinary public institution earned only about two hundred yuan a month.

Zhang Ke knew his uncle had been doing well with construction projects in Dongshe over the years, but he would not have much ready cash. However impressive Zhang Ke's performance over the past few days, there was little chance his uncle would hand over a hundred and twenty thousand without knowing why.

"Uncle, I'm in Shatian," Zhang Ke said. "Withdraw the money and come over. I'll explain it to you."

After waiting in Shatian for over half an hour, Zhang Ke finally saw his uncle's Jetta arrive. He opened the door and got in.

"I withdrew the money." Seeing his nephew's calm expression, Zhang Zhifei looked him over carefully and found nothing out of the ordinary. "Unless you have a good explanation, you're not getting it."

That he had gone this far showed how deeply Zhang Ke's performance over the past few days had impressed him. Zhang Ke gave a crooked smile. In no hurry to discuss the money, he asked, "Now that you're an honored guest of Deputy Mayor Tang, what are your plans?"

"What nonsense are you talking?" Zhang Zhifei pulled the car up by the curb. "Get on with your business."

"Tang Xueqian is going to become mayor. Haven't you made any proper plans? Or do you still want to hide away in Dongshe, doing things on a shoestring?"

"Who said Tang Xueqian was going to become mayor?"

"If Zhou Fuming becomes Party secretary, who else would become mayor if not Tang Xueqian?"

"How is that possible? Tang Xueqian ranks second from the bottom on the Municipal Party Committee. There are three other standing committee members between him and Zhou Fuming. It wouldn't be his turn." Zhang Zhifei saw nothing strange about discussing this with his nephew. He was only thinking of refuting him.

"Tang Xueqian nearly went to prison. Ding Xiangshan framing him was one thing, but the Province being taken in by Ding Xiangshan was another factor. With this upheaval in Haizhou's official circles, might the Province want to take the opportunity to make it up to him? Second, who would Zhou Fuming want as his partner? Tang Xueqian suffered, while Zhou Fuming reaped the benefits without lifting a finger. We all know that perfectly well." Zhang Ke counted off the points on his fingers as he analyzed the situation for his uncle. "When you came back to Haizhou with Tang Xueqian and the others last time, didn't Zhou Fuming meet you at the expressway exit? That was him making his position clear."

"Now that you put it that way, it really is possible." Zhang Zhifei nodded. "Your dad ought to move up a step this time too."

"Haven't you seen how hard my dad's been working on the Special Investigation Team? It would be downright unjust if he didn't get promoted. But let's leave him aside for now. Even with a promotion, he'd still be a long way from mayor or Municipal Party Committee secretary."

"Maybe he'll be sent down to serve as a county Party secretary or county head." Zhang Zhifei looked full of anticipation.

"Even if they let you build every building in Dong She County, how much could you pocket?" Zhang Ke looked scornful. "Once you finish a building, you're responsible for its quality every day it remains standing. If you want to pocket more money and put up shoddy buildings, those buildings become bombs with no set timer. One might suddenly go off at the proudest moment of your life..."

"Oh, cut it out. Does your uncle look like someone who'd put up shoddy buildings?"

"Then are you satisfied earning a few hundred thousand a year?" Zhang Ke looked at his uncle, knowing his ambitions should already have grown over the past few days. "There are far more opportunities in the city than in Dong She County. I don't believe for a second that you haven't been making plans of your own. You want to move your company into the city, don't you, but you're afraid it'll look bad if you seem too eager? You're just like my dad. You know perfectly well what you want to do, but you hem and haw and act embarrassed, as if you're afraid other people won't see right through you. If you want to do it, do it. Move the company into the city before Tang Xueqian becomes mayor. That'll look a little better. Business comes down to personal connections. Would Tang Xueqian not understand that? Does he need you to cover it up for him? But Tang Xueqian isn't the same sort of person as Ding Xiangshan. However much he wants to help you, you have to be worth helping. That's why you need to sharpen your tools before doing a good job. How do they put it in Dongshe? Don't take on porcelain repairs without a diamond drill. If you want to keep doing construction in the city, you have to build up your team. Personnel, qualifications, technology, equipment-you can't be missing any of them. Put the money in, and don't be afraid you won't get it back. I really don't think Tang Xueqian would think much of that rural crew of yours from Dongshe..."

Zhang Zhifei's eyes lit up. He had spent the past few days caught up in excitement, with vague ideas in his head that he could not think through clearly. He had never expected a few words from his nephew to open a window for him and make everything suddenly clear. He now had a distinct idea of what to do next. He wished he could get started right away. He really did not want to remain stuck in that little backwater of Dongshe.

"I've always admired your old man, envied his knowledge and ability. Now what I envy most is that he has a son like you." Zhang Zhifei handed Zhang Ke the document envelope on the dashboard. "Here. A hundred and twenty thousand."

"You're not going to ask why?"

"No. I've realized you think things through more clearly than I do. The more I ask, the less capable your uncle looks. If you want to use this money to help someone through an emergency, you must have your reasons."

"Then drive me over. Go in through that alley..." Seeing that his uncle did not look entirely reassured, Zhang Ke opened the envelope and glanced inside, then pointed the way for him to drive. "This money is a loan from you."

"Don't worry about it. Just help your uncle think things through more often when you have time."

Uncle certainly isn't losing out on this, Zhang Ke thought. Now that I'm back in 1994, my foresight really is beyond what others can match. Still, he was deeply touched that his uncle trusted him so much.