The Interior (Red Princess 2)

“Excuse me,” David interrupted. “Please speak in English.”

But no one translated the last exchange for him.

“I need to get into that factory,” Hulan repeated, switching back to English for David’s benefit.

“And what of the baby, Hulan?” Zai asked. “If you can’t be concerned for yourself, shouldn’t you be concerned for its safety?”

With these words the past few weeks rippled through Hulan’s mind—the boring cases, the light workload, the protectiveness of Investigator Lo. Zai must have known about the pregnancy all along.

Hulan tried a different tack. “A minute ago you were chiding me for being old-fashioned. Now you’re telling me I can’t do something because I’m pregnant.”

“These are two different things,” he said. “Am I not right, David?”

As an American, David was having trouble with this conversation. It was too personal to be having with his girlfriend’s boss. Besides, what Zai said went to deep questions about the roles of men and women, of fathers and mothers, to which David wasn’t sure he knew the answers. But David was a lawyer and knew how to move a conversation in another direction if he had to.

“If you’re so worried about corruption,” David said to Hulan, “you don’t need to go out to the countryside to find it. In a few days here in Beijing I’ve seen several instances of corruption involving foreigners: those office buildings, the fees for hooking up phones, what you told me about the salaries for translators—”

“Everything you’ve seen is perfectly legal,” Hulan interrupted impatiently. “Foreigners have more money than the Chinese people. They should pay more.”

“A hundred grand for a secretary?”

“Could your secretary in Los Angeles set you up with n

ew clients? Could she introduce you to the most important people in the city? How do you think you got your new legal matters so quickly?”

Again Zai attempted to act as peacemaker. “What David says is true. You don’t need to go to the countryside to find corruption. You can find it right here in Beijing.”

“I don’t like to hear you say those words,” she said.

“And I don’t like the idea of you, my true heart daughter, going into that place.”

“Uncle, you trained me. You taught me how to look. There is something going on in that factory. I feel it.”

“If there is, then leave it to the local police,” Zai said.

“And what if they’re involved?”

When Zai jutted his chin, dismissing the accusation, Hulan felt David’s hand cover hers.

“I don’t like it,” David said to Zai. “You don’t like it. But can we stop her? Let her come down with me. She might not even be able to get into the factory. Then this whole thing will be over.”

“And if I don’t agree?” Zai asked.

“She’ll probably do it anyway.” David turned to Hulan. “I’m telling you, nothing’s going on at Knight. I’ve seen the records. But if you want to spend a day in the factory, if that will put your mind at ease, then fine. Do it. But then let’s not hear about it ever again.”

“One day in the factory. No more,” Zai conceded. “And I have one other condition. Investigator Lo accompanies you to the countryside. He can act as David’s driver if you choose, but I want someone nearby who can look out for you if things go bad.”

“They won’t,” David said. “She’ll be perfectly safe, because the factory is perfectly safe. At the end of the day she’ll come out of there tired, and that will be the end of it.”

“She needs to be back in the office on Monday,” Zai insisted, continuing the negotiation. “No more days off until the baby comes.”

“Agreed,” David said.

The men, having reached an understanding, looked at Hulan for her approval. But in listening to them debate what she could and could not do, Hulan had the strangest sensation of her life options drifting out of her control. She weighed what David had said. She trusted his judgment, but what if he was wrong and something criminal was going on at Knight? What if he was reading this with the same eyes that told him that his own reputation had brought in his first round of clients and not Miss Quo’s connections?

There were deeper issues too. She didn’t like to show her emotions either in public or private. Yet when David said he’d come here for work and not for her, she’d immediately revealed her hurt. When David made the comment about corruption in Beijing, she’d reacted by criticizing the U.S. Two hours ago she’d seen happiness before her; now she felt trapped. But had these feelings come from the realities of the conversation, from her own fluctuating hormones, or from a deeper belief that she didn’t deserve happiness?

Finally, if something illegal was going on at Knight and it was somehow connected to Miaoshan’s suicide, then going into the factory could put her and her child in danger. Why hadn’t she thought of that? Why hadn’t she thought of that all the way down the line—when she’d gone out on those easy cases in Beijing, when she’d hopped the train to go out to Da Shui, when she’d traipsed through the fields to see Tsai Bing, when she’d entered that strange café, when she’d visited the local police, or when she’d questioned Sandy Newheart and Aaron Rodgers?