Chapter 30

Part One: Turbulent Waters of Officialdom. Chapter 30: A gentleman loves money, but takes it the right way

Zhang Ke saw his mother hesitate too. It was hardly surprising. His father's salary might not rise much after becoming Municipal Government Secretary-General, but his expenses would grow considerably. They had never neglected the customary gifts owed to anyone before, so why wouldn't they take the chance to recoup some of them?

Seeing his younger brother's wife hesitate, Zhang Zhiwei hurriedly said, "Zhifei said the West City Hotel was good, and I think so too." Without waiting for Liang Gezhen to respond, he turned and left. "I'll go book twenty tables first. If you think of anyone else to invite, give Zhifei a call."

"Why did your uncle just leave like that?"

Seeing his mother's helpless expression, Zhang Ke smiled. "Holding a banquet at the West City Hotel would be too conspicuous. Dad cares so much about saving face. He's bound to worry that people will say he's already trying to rake in money when he's only just become secretary-general. And wouldn't it be even worse if Uncle Tang took it the wrong way? Tang Jing got into First Municipal High School, and they haven't held a banquet yet, have they?"

"That's true..."

"I can give you an idea, but you can't be so strict with me from now on."

"You little rascal, how dare you bargain with your mother?" Liang Gezhen reached out and caught Zhang Ke by the ear. "Whatever scheme you've got, out with it."

It was true that Tang Xueqian neither took bribes nor embezzled, but that did not mean he refused gifts. Otherwise, how could he cover his everyday expenses? To put it plainly, Gu Jianping was also fretting over holding a banquet just then. With his and Tang Jing's first day of school approaching, there would be no good pretext left if they put it off any longer. But Tang Xueqian had been promoted to mayor less than half a month earlier, and she too feared that throwing a lavish banquet would have a bad impact.

As Zhang Ke thought this over, he could not help smiling smugly.

"What are you grinning about? If you've got an idea, spit it out!" Liang Gezhen tightened her grip a little and tugged his ear upward.

"Ah! That hurts, that hurts!" Zhang Ke cried out. "Just one condition: no more pulling my ears."

"Still making conditions? Keep that up and I'll make you take a taxi home every day!" Liang Gezhen threatened, but she lowered her hand.

"Honestly, I've never seen such an unreasonable mother," Zhang Ke sighed, having failed to secure a single benefit for himself. "Call Uncle Zhifei and tell him to book just one table at the West City Hotel. Then call Dad and Auntie Gu. Say it's a chance for our two families to get together and celebrate both kids getting into Haizhou No. 1 Middle School while we're at it. Auntie Gu isn't as good at keeping things to herself as you are. She might spread the word first. Our family hosts, their family lets the news out. If other people want to come, you can hardly ask the owner of the West City Hotel to shut the doors, can you? Once the banquet's been held and the gifts collected, who can Uncle Tang and Dad blame? Embezzling and taking bribes are out of the question, but the law doesn't forbid exchanging gifts and favors. Why would anyone criticize them? Invite people to a banquet, and they'll think you're warm and approachable, that you mingle with the masses. It'll make them look great. Uncle Tang and Dad just can't bring themselves to do it for fear of losing face. You and Auntie Gu need to give them a way out."

Liang Gezhen's eyes narrowed with delight. Seeing Zhang Ke's uncle disappear around the corner, she turned and pulled Zhang Ke upstairs. First she called his uncle Zhang Zhifei, saying they would not invite the relatives for now today. They planned to book one table at the West City Hotel and invite Mayor Tang's family for a get-together, which would also celebrate Zhang Ke and Tang Jing getting into Haizhou No. 1 Middle School. Mayor Tang's family had not held a celebration yet, and she asked him to help make the preparations first. Next she called her husband, Zhang Zhixing, told him about renting the apartment, then brought up dinner. How could Zhang Zhixing have known that his wife and son were setting a trap for him? He thought it was a good idea. This incident had brought him and Tang Xueqian closer, and their families ought to spend more time together too.

Liang Gezhen then called Gu Jianping. After some everyday chitchat, she brought up dinner, stressing that it was to celebrate both families' children getting into Haizhou No. 1 Middle School. She also asked Gu Jianping to bring her daughter over early so they could chat. Gu Jianping readily agreed over the phone. The more she looked at the boy from Zhang Zhixing's family now, the more she liked him. He might well amount to something great. But the two children were still young, and she did not dare let them get too close, lest they do something that caught the adults off guard.

After enduring the wait at home until four, Zhang Ke went downstairs with his mother. In the residential compound, they ran into the wife of Ding Aimin from the General Affairs Division, who asked, "Sister Liang, are you celebrating Zhang Ke getting into First Municipal High School today? Once you're in First Municipal High School, you're in a cradle for university students. Zhang Ke is sure to get into Tsinghua or Peking University someday..."

Seeing his mother tempted to reveal the truth, Zhang Ke stepped in front of her. "Nothing of the sort. Mom and I are going grocery shopping." He led his mother outside, then hailed a taxi as soon as they left the compound and got in.

Liang Gezhen asked, "What if she really thinks we're going grocery shopping?"

"Would you take a taxi to buy groceries?" Zhang Ke smiled, then lowered his voice. "A gentleman loves money, but takes it the right way. Even when you take people's money, you can't let them look down on you. That's the art of being an official."

"Where did you get all these unsavory ideas?" Liang Gezhen asked in bewilderment. "You're better suited to being an official than your dad."

Zhang Ke patted his head. "All the bitter lessons from Dad's ten years in officialdom are in here. Of course I'm sharper than he is."

"Oh, stop it. What bitter lessons?" Liang Gezhen chuckled, refusing to let her son spout nonsense. How could she have imagined that Zhang Ke was perfectly serious?

When their taxi reached the West City Hotel, which was very close to First Municipal High School, Liang Gezhen pointed to her watch. "That only took twenty minutes. Why did you make up that nonsense about a round trip taking an hour and a half?"

She had not noticed when they took the bus that morning, but now she was checking the time. Spotting his uncle Zhang Zhifei looking around outside the hotel entrance, Zhang Ke ignored his mother's questioning and hurried out of the taxi toward him. "Why didn't Zhang Mei come?"

"Your family is treating Tang Xueqian's family to dinner. How could Mei come along?"

Zhang Ke smiled faintly without letting his uncle in on the truth, then followed him into the lobby. Seeing his uncle Zhang Zhiwei inside, he asked, "Uncle, what are you doing here?"

Liang Gezhen hurried up from behind. She was counting on Zhang Ke's uncle Zhang Zhiwei to pay for the banquet, so she coughed to stop Zhang Ke from talking out of turn.

Since he had managed to come, he would not be driven away easily.

Zhang Ke said bluntly, "Uncle Zhifei is close to Uncle Tang. Even if he weren't here, we'd have invited him. But you don't know Uncle Tang, Uncle. Won't he find it a little awkward?"

Zhang Zhifei could not get a word in from the side either. He no longer thought of Zhang Ke as a sixteen-year-old child. The boy had been capable of overturning his eldest uncle's table in front of everyone; the cold shoulder he was giving him now was mild by comparison.

Zhang Zhiwei had never expected a half-grown child to put him in such a difficult position. His face full of embarrassment, he forced a smile. "I only came to see whether I could help. I've got something else to attend to by dinnertime."

Only now did Liang Gezhen see how formidable her son could be. She almost felt sorry for his uncle, but remembering what had happened when they returned to their hometown for the funeral in July put her at ease. She called over his uncle Zhifei to ask how the preparations were going.

The anger from the humiliation at the funeral should have faded long ago. But for Zhang Ke, what was hard to dispel was the resentment accumulated over more than a decade before his life had reloaded.