Chapter 6

Chapter 6: The evidence against Tang Xueqian

Zhang Ke walked to the window. A young man stood below the apartment building, looking up. With the reflection on the glass, Zhang Ke believed the man could not see him. He looked familiar, but Zhang Ke scratched his head and could not remember who he was. A while later, Xu Si appeared downstairs. The man went up to her, but she stepped back, keeping her distance. Zhang Ke suddenly remembered who he was. He was Ye Xinming, Tang Xueqian's secretary-the man who had told Dad that Tang Xueqian wanted him to leave Haizhou for a while.

Zhang Ke could understand why Ye Xinming had come to see Xu Si at this point.

After Tang Xueqian went to prison, Ye Xinming had not been implicated at all. He had even transferred to the municipal Party committee office to become Ding Xiangshan's secretary. Until Ding Xiangshan went to prison, his official career had flourished, and he had married Xu Si a year before Ding Xiangshan's case came to light. Clearly, Ye Xinming had known all along that Xu Si was Ding Xiangshan's mistress. He had married her to help Ding Xiangshan conceal that relationship, which could not be made public.

To serve as a pawn to that extent made him quite a remarkable pawn.

Hidden behind the windowpane, Zhang Ke gave a cold smile. He fetched the envelope from the corner cabinet behind the door and tipped out the photographs inside. They were all casual pictures of Xu Si. In them, she was captivating, her exquisite beauty enough to turn anyone's head. Zhang Ke marveled inwardly: To think there could be such a perfect woman in this world! The thought that she might be struggling desperately under Ding Xiangshan's oppressive power, and that in a few years she would end her young life in prison, sent a faint stab of pain through his heart. It enraged him even more than recalling the setbacks of his own life after sixteen.

Had that ** God sent me inexplicably back to 1994 for some unspeakable purpose? With resentment weighing on his heart and no way to vent it, Zhang Ke flipped rapidly through the photographs. Since that ** God has inexplicably sent me back to this time and place, I absolutely cannot watch things unfold according to certain people's wishes.

He just did not know how deeply Xu Si was involved at this point. After Ding Xiangshan's case came to light in 1999, Ding Xiangshan had received a suspended death sentence and Xu Si twenty years in prison, while Ye Xinming, Jiang Mingcheng, and the others had received only ten to fifteen years.

Zhang Ke did not know what changes would take place over the following five years, but Xu Si still looked so innocent now. And she had killed herself in prison the year after she was incarcerated. That alone was unbearably tragic.

Zhang Ke watched Xu Si and Ye Xinming downstairs. They spoke for a while before Ye Xinming left. When he reached the last few photographs, he found they were pictures of Xu Si with Tang Xueqian. Tang Xueqian wore a pale blue-green jacket, his chin slightly lowered. No matter how their relative positions changed from picture to picture, his gaze always rested on Xu Si. These few photographs alone could hardly prove that such a relationship existed between them, but there was no denying that Tang Xueqian coveted her. Dad must have been well aware of that, too. No wonder his expression had grown uncertain when Mom mentioned Xu Si.

Although it was difficult to find conclusive evidence that Tang Xueqian and Xu Si were lovers, Xu Si's testimony was crucial. Together with the other evidence, it formed a complete chain sufficient to send Tang Xueqian to prison.

But there was one thing Zhang Ke could not understand: why had Ding Xiangshan set Tang Xueqian up?

Of course Zhang Ke did not believe rumors about them fighting over a woman. Xu Si was clearly a pawn Ding Xiangshan had used to frame Tang Xueqian. Even if Tang Xueqian's desire for Xu Si displeased Ding Xiangshan, there was no need to resort to such extreme measures.

There had to be another reason.

Zhang Ke selected one photograph, folded it in half, and slipped it into his back trouser pocket. Turning to look, he could see no sign of it. He put the other photographs back into the envelope and returned it to the corner cabinet, thinking that even if Xu Si noticed one was missing, she probably would not read too much into it.

Xu Si pushed the door open and came in carrying a document envelope, presumably given to her by Ye Xinming. Zhang Ke asked, "Was that your boyfriend just now?"

"No." Xu Si smiled. "Otherwise, why wouldn't I invite him up?"

Xu Si placed the document envelope on the corner cabinet behind the door, on top of the other envelope, then went back into the bathroom to continue washing the clothes, leaving the door open. Zhang Ke wanted to open the document envelope but had no opportunity. He stood there peeking at Xu Si as she washed clothes at the sink. He could see only half her body. Her hair was loosely pinned up with a purple clip, falling across her face and leaving only her rounded chin exposed. She leaned forward slightly, her full breasts pressing against the front of her clothes and tracing alluring curves.

"What are you peeking at, little boy..." Xu Si turned and saw Zhang Ke staring fixedly at her breasts. Her pretty face flushed as she chided him. Although she was standing sideways, she instinctively tugged her neckline up, only accentuating the perfect shape of her ample breasts.

Zhang Ke shifted his gaze to her face, faintly shy and feigning anger. He wanted to say something, but swallowed dryly and said nothing. He returned to the living room sofa and switched on the television. A news report was being replayed about municipal Party secretary Ding Xiangshan visiting typhoon-stricken towns and villages to offer his condolences. Listening to the sounds of washing from the bathroom, Zhang Ke remarked, "Xu Si, you're so beautiful that even Haizhou's municipal Party secretary wouldn't be able to control himself if he saw you..."

The sounds from the bathroom abruptly stopped. A long while passed before Xu Si spoke from inside. "What nonsense are you talking, little boy..." Then there was silence again.

After waiting a while without hearing any movement, Zhang Ke found it strange and went to the bathroom doorway. He saw Xu Si leaning against the sink, sobbing silently. Crystal tears clung to her flawless, exquisitely beautiful cheeks, a heartbreaking sight.

Seeing Zhang Ke in the doorway, Xu Si hastily raised her hands to wipe her eyes, rubbing the soapy water on them into her eyes and crying out in pain.

"Xu Si, tilt your head down a little. Just rinse your eyes with water." Zhang Ke hurried over and turned on the tap. Supporting her cheek with one hand, he scooped up clean water with the other and poured it over her eyes. "Just open your eyes for a moment..."

He watched the long lashes extending from Xu Si's eyelids tremble faintly, as though boundless terror lay hidden in her heart. Zhang Ke gently gathered her full, mature body into his arms. He felt her body stiffen, but she did not struggle. He sighed softly and said in a low voice, "Xu Si, I won't let anyone hurt you..." Her body suddenly softened in his arms, then began to tremble slightly. Tears kept seeping from her tightly closed eyes, slipping down cheeks as white as fresh snow and falling onto the sink.

The sound of each falling tear was like an exquisite scene in his memories.

Only after a long time did Xu Si stop crying. She straightened and lowered her head to tidy the stray hair at her temples, too embarrassed to look up at Zhang Ke. "Go sit outside for a while," she said quietly. "Let me finish washing the clothes first."

Zhang Ke stood there a little longer. Seeing that Xu Si never turned to look at him, he thought, She must have reached the limits of what she could bear to pour out her anguish to a boy she doesn't know.

Returning to the living room, he switched off the noisy television and sat on the cool bamboo floor, gazing thoughtfully at the blue sky outside the window. He heard Xu Si finish washing the clothes in the bathroom, then use the hair dryer for a long time before she finally emerged with his T-shirt.

Her face was so red it looked as though it might bleed. Xu Si bit her lip, her evasive eyes shimmering so brightly they could almost melt a person's heart. She held the T-shirt out to Zhang Ke. "It's dry. Put it on..."

The fresh scent of laundry powder lingered on the T-shirt. Zhang Ke brought it to his nose and took a deep sniff. "It smells like you, Xu Si..."

"You little rascal..." Seeing Zhang Ke, with his delicate, boyish face, talk like an expert flirt, Xu Si almost laughed aloud. Then she remembered how she had just cried in his bare arms, and inexplicable shyness rose in her again.

Zhang Ke pulled on the T-shirt and patted his chest. "This is free for you to lean on next time, too."

"Who wants that!" Seeing him continue his nonsense, Xu Si rolled her eyes at him. But he looked so lecherously pleased that she shot him an annoyed glare. Yet a strange feeling for this boy began to stir in her heart. If he were a few years older, perhaps he could comfort me?

Zhang Ke went downstairs and stood below the apartment building, looking up toward Xu Si's room. Although he could not see whether she was watching, he waved in that direction anyway. A little later, Xu Si opened the window, leaned out, and waved goodbye.