by Zhou Daxin
Before she could finish, the phone hung up. She called again, but no one picked up. She knew that the phone calls would do her no more good, so she decided that she would go herself to report to the Chief. Kuang Kaitian, someone from above will teach you a lesson!
Chapter 51
Nuannuan rode her bicycle to town the next morning after breakfast. On her arrival at the town office, Nuannuan could not help remembering how she went here to stop the Chief in order to save Kaitian from his custody. Who’d have known? It only took a few years, and everything had changed. Who’d have known that I would be here again, to report Kaitian’s fraud?
Here Nuannuan was well-known due to the success of her tourism business. Therefore, with several acquaintances in the town office, she did not need to go through all the difficulties she experienced last time to see the Chief. She stood in front of the town office for a short while. Before the guard noticed her, someone from inside called out to her: “Hey! Isn’t that Manager Chu from South Water Landscape? Come in! Come on in.”
Nuannuan walked inside and explained her intention was to see the Chief. She was immediately led to the Chief’s office.
The position had been replaced by a new Chief. He was very amicable and asked Nuannuan about her business: Are there many tourist and how is the profit? Nuannuan gave him a brief introduction to Chu Di Ju before she changed the topic to her purpose of visiting. She told the Chief about everything that Xue Chuanxin and Kuang Kaitian did in Shang Xin Yuan. Nuannuan thought the Chief would be so angry that he would send people to investigate them. However, he only sighed after hearing her words. “Nuannuan my comrade, you and Kaitian, your Leader, established Chu Di Ju and Shang Xin Yuan, and you made good use of the tourism resources on the west bank of the Red Lake. You did a good thing; you gained wealth for both yourselves and your village and I support you. On the other hand, Kaitian is expanding Shang Xin Yuan to strengthen entrepreneurship in this town. Therefore, the town government agreed and offered him more land. Your competition with him is normal in the course of developing a free market. But you have to remember, your competition in business should not aim at bringing each other down!”
Nuannuan listened to him carefully, and she frowned at his words. She asked: “Mr. Chief, what do you mean?”
The Chief smiled and said: “I’ll tell you the truth. A few days ago, your Leader Kuang and Mr. Xue from the Five Continents went here and told me that due to the competition between your Chu Di Ju and their Shang Xin Yuan, you would come to me and report their ‘fraud’.”
“Did they? And you believe them?” Nuannuan raised her eyebrow.
The Chief held his smile: “I, your Chief, hope that you’d only spend your efforts on your work instead of making up frauds to report. All these reports on each other will only be a waste of time and energy.”
“So you think that I have wasted my time and energy on making things up?”
The Chief’s face turned rigid for an instant. It seemed he had seldom been questioned in such a style. Yet he answered in the same tone: “It is not an easy thing to find an effective way towards wealth in a rural area like ours. Even though some things may go wrong, you should not be too sensitive. Your Chu Wang Village had suffered enough from poverty in the past. Now you have Shang Xin Yuan and you should cherish such a functional business!”
Nuannuan’s face went cold. She rose abruptly and said: “Mr. Chief, as you think what my actions show that I don’t cherish the opportunities from Shang Xin Yuan, I will leave you to your business.”
She walked out without glancing back at the Chief, who was stunned as he stood in his office. She realized that with all the “sense” which Kuang Kaitian and Xue Chuanxin had talked into the Chief, her words would not do her any good. She stood angrily outside the town office. In her mind, she was shouting to herself: “Then I will go to the county!”
A motorcycle pulled up beside her. She did not notice it, as she was planning her next move. Suddenly she heard someone besides her saying: “Madam Chu, are you going to the county?”
She turned her face and saw Mr. Han the accountant, whom Xue Chuanxin had brought to Shang Xin Yuan from the provincial city, sitting on the motorcycle.
“Han, how do you know that I’m going to the county?” Nuannuan was surprised.
“Leader Kuang and Mr. Xue have expected you to go to the county after you failed to report them in the town office. So they sent me here to take care of you. Do you want to take my motorcycle or the public bus there? If you want to take the motorcycle, we can go now. You may be able to see the county officials before sunset!”
“Fuck off!” Nuannuan shouted out in anger. She did not expect them to send someone to follow her. They must have made sure that she would fail in the town office and they must have dealt with people in the county office, too. What do I do? Should I go? I will go! You can’t have all of the county officials on your side too!
The next day, Nuannuan took the public bus and arrived at the countytown during midday. She quickly had some noodles for lunch in a local restaurant and rushed to the county government office. She planned to stop the Magistrate outside but she could not recognize either himself or his car. So she had to go to the reception and expressed her wish to see the magistrate to the porter. The porter replied coldly: “The magistrate is very busy. He can’t possibly see everyone that wants to see him, or he wouldn’t be able to work at all. If you have something to talk to him about, you can go to the anteroom and talk to them. They will bring it up in front of the Magistrate.”
Nuannuan knew that according to the way things normally worked, she could never see the magistrate and she must think of another way. She stood in front of the reception and thought for a long time. Suddenly she remembered Xiao Cao from the Bureau of Culture, whom she had met once because of the Great Wall of Chu and another time also for the protection of the relics. She decided that she would go straight to him.
It did not take her long to see Xiao Cao. He was a helpful man. After she talked about her intention to see the Magistrate, he immediately said: “No problem, I will make the contact for you. However, cases like yours will be more efficiently solved by the vice magistrate in charge of the sub-division of tourism. Even if you do bring the case to the Magistrate, you will be sent to him.”
Nuannuan nodded and agreed to see the vice magistrate. Xiao Cao made a good effort and took Nuannuan to several offices himself. They found the vice magistrate in one of the conference rooms. The vice magistrate seemed quite busy; he did not hide his impatience when listening to Nuannuan as she talked about her issue. He inspected her for a short while before he responded: “Someone has already passed me the information that you and Leader Kuang Kaitian were married; divorced couples always have a problem with each other, but you should not bring such personal problems into your business. Otherwise your competition will not be fair …”
Nuannuan was offended by his words, and she asked: “What does the vice magistrate mean by saying this? Do you think that I am making up the problems in Shang Xin Yuan because I have a personal issue with Kuang Kaitian?”
The vice magistrate immediately put on an upset look and said: “I am only giving you a kind piece of advice. Alright, I will remember what you said and I will look into it. Go home now.”
Nuannuan understand now; Xue Chuanxin and Kuang Kaitian had already cast their influence on the vice magistrate. It seemed that she would not have a satisfying answer from the town office. Xiao Cao comforted her on their way back: “Since the vice magistrate has said that he’ll look into it, you should go home and wait.”
She nodded and gave her gratitude to Xiao Cao. Then she went to a hotel to spend the night, with the plan to head to the provincial city the next day with the same issue. He can’t have bought his way passed every official!
After dinner in the hotel, Nuannuan made a phone call to Shallot. On one hand, she wanted to know about the business at home; on the other hand, she had her mind on Dangen. Before s
he left, she asked Shallot to take care of Dangen and she wondered whether or not he had been troublesome. Much to her surprise, once the call went through, Shallot cried out in anxiety: “Nuannuan, you must come back now. Something serious has happened in our Chu Di Ju!”
Nuannuan was shocked as she asked what had happened. Shallot answered: “Two of the guests in our Chu Di Ju were diagnosed diarrhea last night. Leader Kuang came to check the kitchen and said that our Chu Di Ju did not meet the standard of food hygiene, then he ordered that business be suspended immediately. This morning, all of the guests in our Chu Di Ju moved to Shang Xin Yuan. The Leader even sent someone down to seal our kitchen.”
Nuannuan’s face clouded in anger. That bastard, how dare he frame me like this?! She answered in a solemn voice: “You should go home and wait there. I’ll be back tomorrow morning.”
The next morning, Nuannuan was leaving the hotel for the bus station when she caught a glimpse of Mr. Han the accountant on his motorcycle across the street. She knew that he was still following her. She strode towards him and spoke in a jeering tone, her teeth clenching: “Mr. Han, how hard you have worked! You must follow me close and be careful of losing me!”
Mr. Han smiled in embarrassment and quickly started his motorcycle to leave …
It was after midday when Nuannuan returned to Chu Wang Village. Unusually, nobody was present around Chu Di Ju. Dangen was playing on his own in the empty courtyard. Hearing her steps, Shallot walked out of the house and said: “The Leader has just had the seals torn off the kitchen. He said his investigation showed that it was not food poisoning that had given the two guests diarrhea, so we can reopen the business now. But what business do we have left? The guests were all too scared to check in, and now they are all staying in Shang Xin Yuan.”
Overwhelmed with anger, Nuannuan turned and headed straight to Shang Xin Yuan.
Kaitian and Xue Chuanxin were chatting over tea in Xue Chuanxin’s office. When Nuannuan pushed the door open with a loud noise, neither seemed too surprised, as if they had already known that she would be coming. Kaitian turned to face Nuannuan and asked: “Can I help you?”
“Why did you seal off my kitchen?” asked Nuannuan as she tried her best to contain her anger.
Kuang Kaitian was not upset by her tone. He spoke with a phony smile: “I am the Leader and I have the responsibility to make sure of the food hygiene in the village. If I simply let you have food poisoning cases, trouble from above will surely come to me, right? We must take care of the guests and satisfy those from above!”
“Your true motivation is to stop me from reporting you to those above. You planned all this to drag me home. I was such a fool, because I didn’t know that you are full of craft and cunning!” said Nuannuan in full resentment as she glared at Kaitian.
“I warned you not to ask for trouble with me. You seem to have ignored what I said. I will tell you again, if you continue trying to report us, and bringing trouble to the village committee and me, something really bad may happen to you! Just try and cross me again! I did not give you what you deserve because I do care for Dangen’s mother!”
“Hah! So you care for me?! Go to hell! I don’t need your care, do whatever you like! You think you can threaten me like this?! Show me all your tricks; I’d love to deal with them!” Nuannuan shouted out.
Pahh! Kaitian kicked a chair over.
Bang! Nuannuan knocked down a stool …
Chapter 52
The “food poisoning” incident stopped guests from checking into Chu Di Ju for half a month. It was during the peak season of tourism, and Chu Di Ju had lost much profit. Since Nuannuan had quit farm work, all of her income now came from Chu Di Ju and she had to pay Shallot and the other employees with that income too. Therefore, she did not yield. Instead, she spared no effort in saving the reputation of Chu Di Ju.
She instructed Shallot and the other staff members to carry out a thorough cleaning of Chu Di Ju and they paid special attention to spots that were not covered before. Then, they set up a billboard in front of the courtyard that read: Daily sterilization on tableware and cookware to insure your food hygiene; daily change and cleaning of bedding and room to ensure your comfort.
Nuannuan also went to the pier herself to take the visitors on a tour in Chu Di Ju before they checked in. After several days, people eventually did regain trust in Chu Di Ju.
Nuannuan realized that the tourism business was quite a show: without a good reputation, no profit could be generated. It was also the first time that she felt the fear of sabotage from Shang Xin Yuan. If Kuang Kaitian and Xue Chuanxin do something that could seriously harness the reputation of Chu Di Ju, what could she do if she never turns the tables on them? Evermore, without the profit in Chu Di Ju, how could she live with Dangen, her parents and Grandma? What could Shallot do without a job? Maybe she should not be so pennywise and pound-foolish. Maybe she should stop trying to report them and let Xue Chuanxin and Kuang Kaitian run their risky business. After all, it was not her business.
Once Nuannuan no longer left the village to report them, Kuang Kaitian and Xue Chuanxin did not make trouble with Chu Di Ju. Life in the village went back to normal. As usual, Shang Xin Yuan was very popular, performing Farewell once every three days; more young women came to work as “masseuses”, which had attracted more rich men to stay there, Xue Chuanxin built a pub and a nightclub in the neighbourhood and brought over several young girls from the capital city to work as waitresses, on condition that they must all work in mini skirts; the loud music every night seemed to flaunt the great business of Shang Xin Yuan.
Yet Chu Di Ju still maintained its own style. They targeted common visitors, and organized guided tours. In order to attract more people, Nuannuan invited several street artists on Juxiang Street to perform He’nan Zhuizi storytelling and sing Yu opera after dinner in front of the lotus pond of Chu Di Ju. The guests were quite fond of the performances and many of them would sit besides to watch with a cup of tea. Though not as posh as Shang Xin Yuan, the large number of common visitors generated a good profit for Chu Di Ju.
One evening after dinner, Nuannuan was watching He’nan Zhuizi with some guests by the lotus pond when she saw Xiang Xiang, the girl who worked in housekeeping in Shang Xin Yuan, walking towards her in tears. She quickly stood up and walked towards her. She asked in a soft voice: “Xiang Xiang, what’s wrong?”
Tears ran down Xiang Xiang’s face as she heard Nuannuan’s caring whisper. Nuannuan knew that she must have been ill-treated. She took Xiang Xiang into her room in Chu Di Ju to sit her down. She poured a glass of water before asking again: “Tell your sister what happened.”
Xiang Xiang cursed as she wept: “They are pigs!”
“Who?”
“That Xue guy and Leader Kuang!”
Nuannuan’s heart sank. She asked: “Them again? What did they do to you? Did they cheat your salary?”
“No,” said Xiang Xiang as she shook her head, her voice low and anxious. “This afternoon, an old man under the name of Liang checked into Room 8 in Shang Xin Yuan. He seemed to be an official because Xue Chuanxin and Kuang Kaitian treated him with much respect. I took water to Liang’s room and he stared at me, checking me out. Then he asked me how old I am and whether or not I was married. I told him I am 19 and I don’t even have a boyfriend yet. He smiled and said ‘good’. I didn’t know what he meant, so I didn’t pay more attention to him. After dinner, Xue Chuanxin asked me to go to his office because he had some work for me. I hastened over and saw Leader Kuang there. I asked about the work and Xue Chuanxin smiled. He asked: ‘Xiang Xiang, do you want to earn some big money?’ I hesitated, then said: ‘Of course. What do I need to do?’ Leader Kuang said: ‘you don’t need to go elsewhere. You can earn the money right here in our Shang Xin Yuan.’ I thought it was something that needed my strength, so I said: ‘Sure, as long as I can help.’ Xue Chuanxin said: ‘It’s no hard work. We just need you to keep the guest company in Room 8.’ I asked him what kind of company
he meant, and Leader Kuang said: ‘Just chat with him and introduce the local specialties to him. Whatever the guest asks you to do, do it. Afterwards you can come to Mr. Xue and claim your 5,000 yuan.’ I was surprised to hear such a big amount. 5,000! I thought they were making fun of me, so I said to them that I didn’t believe something like this could happen to me. Xue Chuanxin then took a lot of cash out of one of the drawers and handed it to me. He said: ‘If you don’t trust me, take the money now!’ I said: ‘Ok, ok, I’ll work first. Then, I’ll take the money.’ How happy I was! I thought of my parents; they will be so proud knowing how much money their daughter could earn! I almost bounced my way to Room 8, and I asked the guest: ‘Whatever you need from me, just say it!’ He smiled and asked: ‘So they have made an agreement with you?’ I nodded. Before I could answer, he pointed at the bed and said: ‘Now get on the bed and take it off.’ I was shocked and said: ‘Take off my what?’ ‘Your clothes! Let me have a good look at you! I grew attracted to you when I first saw you. I have never seen such an innocent girl. Let me have a good look at you, then we can —’ I suddenly understood how I must earn 5,000 yuan from this. I was so angry! How can they trick me into such a nasty business! How blind are they to see me like this? I turned and tried to leave, but when I pulled the door, I found it had been locked from the outside. I pulled so hard but it simply wouldn’t open. That man walked to me and took me in his arms. He touched me and kissed me, he even pulled my blouse down to suck on my boobs! I couldn’t push him away so I cried out for help. I cried really loud and Xue Chuanxin had to open the door from outside. That man let me go and I ran out as I fixed my clothing. I saw Leader Kuang and Xue Chuanxin standing outside. They looked very unhappy. Leader Kuang said to me: “You are so disobedient. You can’t work in Shang Xin Yuan anymore. Go home to farm your field.”
