The Goddess of Yantai

by Ian Hamilton

  “Where is it?”

  “The Syndicate offices.”

  “Did he say how he convinced Mo to meet with us?”

  “He said the three of us had to see him, and Mo agreed without asking him why. He thought that was really strange.”

  “Or really obvious.”

  “That would make it easier,” Fai said with a big sigh. “We should be getting ready. I have to shower, but I was thinking that if you need any help in the bathroom, you should go first.”

  “I didn’t read all the directions the hospital gave me about looking after the wound and the bandages, but I can’t imagine that standing under a hot shower will be allowed for at least a few days. When it comes to washing and fixing my hair, I have limited flexibility and mobility with this arm, so I might need some help with those things.”

  “I played a nurse in a movie once, and a woman who looked after her elderly mother in another.”

  “You sound superbly qualified. Let’s go and get ourselves cleaned up for Mr. Mo.”

  ( 52 )

  They left the house at ten minutes to ten. Ava wore black slacks and a white shirt topped with a navy blue cardigan. Fai seemed to have deliberately dressed down. She had on a baggy black dress that had a high neckline and fell to just below her knees. Ava was in high heels and Fai in flats. It was as close as they could come to being the same height, but Fai was still a few inches taller. Fai put on a raincoat at the door and grabbed one of the smaller umbrellas.

  “After talking to Mr. Lam this morning, I can’t help but feel that everyone who lives here knows our every move,” Ava said to Fai as they started to walk across the courtyard.

  “That’s not always a bad thing.”

  “Unless someone was passing along our comings and goings.”

  “Do you think that’s possible?”

  “Why not?”

  “I don’t want to think of my neighbours like that,” Fai said. “I’ll be so glad when this is over.”

  They left the compound and turned right onto the hutong.

  “Fai, I hope you’re prepared for the eventuality that Mo may not be co-operative this morning.”

  “I am,” Fai said rather loudly. “I thought about it last night in bed and again this morning, after Chen called. I think we’re in a better place than we were a few days ago, but I understand there is no guarantee that things will go our way. I’ll cope with whatever the outcome is.”

  “That’s good to hear. But I wasn’t being pessimistic when I said that. I expect the best, not the worst result.”

  Fai squeezed Ava’s right arm. Then she said with a laugh, “Look! My god, Chen brought the Bentley.”

  The night before, he’d driven them home in a grey Mercedes, but it was a black Bentley that was now parked at the entrance to the hutong. Ava recognized it from the night of the premiere of Mao’s Daughter.

  “Why did you bring this car?” Fai asked as they approached Chen, who was standing next to it.

  “I thought a grand entrance would be appropriate. Mo won’t see the car, but I’ll feel very good arriving in it.”

  They exchanged hugs, Chen being careful with Ava, and then they all climbed into the car. “How’s the arm?” he asked.

  “It’s fine as long as the painkillers are working and I don’t have to hit anyone.”

  The car pulled away from the curb and eased into heavy traffic. Ava had been in a Bentley before and had noticed that it made the drivers around it cautious. That wasn’t the case in Beijing. The other cars crowded it as if it were a cheap Fiat.

  “The drive will be slow, but I took that into account,” Chen said.

  “Fai told me that Mo agreed to the meeting without asking why you wanted it,” Ava said. “How did that strike you?”

  “As odd — but then, so was his entire manner. He seemed cautious when we started speaking, and even more so when I asked for a meeting. Then when I told him that you and Fai would be with me, he became calm, almost icy.”

  “Which leads me to assume he knows why we want to see him.”

  “I’ll be shocked if it’s otherwise.”

  “And how does that make you feel?”

  “Far less apprehensive than I felt last night and before I called him this morning, but not overly confident.”

  “Why? What do you expect him to say or do?”

  “I don’t know. With him, you never know. He’s clever and he’s devious.”

  “There are some realities that even being clever can’t help you avoid,” Ava said.

  Chen started to respond and then fell into silence. Ava wondered if he was having second thoughts about the meeting. She could see that Fai was showing signs of stress as well. “Would you mind if I switched subjects?” she said, knowing that talking about something else would diffuse some of the tension.

  “To what?” he said.

  “Lau Lau.”

  “What about him?”

  “When we met with him, he told me he has all kinds of ideas for films in his head. Do you think that could be true?”

  “It could be, but who’d trust him to take those ideas and turn them into anything resembling a movie?”

  “What do you mean by ‘trust’?”

  “I don’t even know where to start. He’s unreliable in so many ways.”

  “Let’s say someone did have an interest in giving him another chance. What would be the starting point?”

  “A screenplay,” Chen said, casting a questioning eye at Fai, who shrugged.

  “Who wrote the screenplays for his earlier films?”

  “He did.”

  “Do you think he’s still capable of writing one?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “If someone wanted to commission him to write a screenplay, how much would it cost?”

  “You’re joking, right? You wouldn’t do that, would you?” he said.

  “If you were his agent, how much —”

  “I’m not his agent, and I don’t know of anyone who’s representing him.”

  “But if you were, how much would you ask for an original screenplay written by Lau Lau?” she said. “I’m curious, that’s all, so don’t be completely dismissive of the idea.”

  “At the peak of his game he could get anywhere from half a million to a million renminbi,” Chen said. “These days, who could possibly put a number on it?”

  The car was now moving at a steady pace. Ava guessed they were going to reach Chaoyang early. “At some point in time I might ask you to do that,” she said.

  “Don’t get sucked in by Lau Lau,” Chen advised. “Many people have thought they could resurrect him, and none of them came close to succeeding.”

  Ava looked out the window and saw the China Movie Syndicate building in the distance. “We’re well ahead of time. I don’t know if that’s a good or a bad omen,” she said, changing subjects again.

  “Well, either way, I’m not going to sit in the car,” Chen said. “We’ll go in. If we have to wait in the lobby it’s no big deal.”

  It was ten-forty when they walked into the building. Ava was prepared to go through the sign-in and nametag ritual, but the middle-aged woman who had greeted her and Lop on their previous visit was waiting in front of the security desk. She almost raced towards them.

  “Mr. Chen, you and your group should come with me. We can go right up,” she said, and then nodded respectfully to Fai.

  “This is unusual,” Chen said softly to Ava.

  They rode the elevator to the forty-fifth floor, exited, and were led immediately into the boardroom.

  “You can sit wherever you wish, and there’s coffee and tea on the table over there. Can I get a cup for anyone?” the woman asked.

  The three of them shook their heads.

  “Excellent. Then excuse me while I tell
Mr. Mo that you’re here. He wanted to be informed the moment you arrived.”

  “This is the royal treatment we’re receiving,” Chen said to Ava when the woman had left. “What do you think is going on?”

  “I have no idea, but we’ll know soon enough.”

  Fai looked around the boardroom and through its open door into the maze of offices that surrounded it. “I’ve never been here before.”

  “Never?” Ava said.

  “Not even once. Chen took care of all the business with these people. I had no need to meet with them,” Fai said. “I’m surprised at how ordinary it all looks. I had imagined something grander.”

  “Given how glamorous the industry appears to outsiders, this is probably a bit of reverse psychology,” Ava said.

  “Here’s Mo,” Chen said suddenly.

  Ava looked through the boardroom door and saw Mo approaching. “He’s not alone,” she said. “I recognize the woman. I met her when I was here. She’s his personal assistant, but I can’t remember her name. I’ve never seen the other man.”

  “That’s Fong. He’s the deputy chairman. The woman is Hua. The only person who knows more than them about what goes on inside these walls is Mo himself.”

  Ava, Chen, and Fai had taken black leather chairs along the side of the table that faced the office, with the windows behind them. Fong and Hua stood to one side to let Mo enter the room ahead of them. He walked directly over to Chen, who rose to his feet. Mo offered his hand, Chen took it, and they shook.

  “Thanks for coming. I was pleased when you called, because it saved me from making the same kind of call to you,” Mo said. Then he turned to Ava and Fai, who remained seated. “It’s nice to see you again, Ms. Lee, and it is always a genuine pleasure to see you, Fai.”

  While those pleasantries ensued, Fong and Hua slipped into the room and took seats directly across from Ava and the others. Fong was thin and about five foot six. Ava guessed he was in his fifties, maybe even sixties. He wore a blue suit, white shirt, and red tie. The clothes looked expensive but were either ill-fitted or Fong had lost a lot of weight since he’d bought them; there was a large gap between the shirt collar and his neck, and the suit jacket looked several sizes too large.

  “Were you offered tea or coffee?” Hua asked.

  “Yes, and we declined,” Ava said.

  “Oh,” Hua said.

  Ava thought her tone seemed almost mournful, and took a closer look at her. The time they had previously met, Hua had been wearing a lot of makeup. Now her lips were pale, and around her eyes there was only the slightest trace of mascara — a small streak along one side. She looks like she’s been crying, Ava thought. She saw Hua bite her lower lip and rub her right eye with her index finger. When she moved the finger away, Ava saw that the eye was slightly bloodshot and the skin beneath was puffy.

  Mo left Chen and sat in his red leather chair at the head of the table. “Ms. Lee, you’ve met Ms. Hua, but you don’t know Fong. He’s my second-in-command at the Syndicate.”

  Fong nodded at her and then gathered his fingertips in front of his mouth.

  “Thank you for seeing us,” Chen said.

  “No thanks are needed,” Mo said quickly. “It’s probably more appropriate for our side to offer an apology for the fact that this meeting was necessary in the first place.”

  “If I heard correctly, you just told Chen that you would have called him to arrange a meeting if he hadn’t called you,” Ava said.

  “That’s correct.”

  “Why?”

  “Pardon me for a moment,” Fong said, leaning towards them. “I’m a lawyer as well as an administrator, and the Syndicate’s legal department reports to me. I met with a few of our lawyers this morning and explained to them — in the most general terms, of course, avoiding any specifics about either side at this table — the situation in which I thought we might find ourselves. Their advice to me was to make it clear that whatever we discuss here and now is to be treated as confidential and without prejudice. I talked this over with Mr. Mo and he’s agreed that’s the position our side will take. Can I have a similar undertaking from yours?”

  Chen looked at Ava.

  “Sure.”

  “Chen?” Fong said.

  “Ava speaks for us.”

  “Then we can proceed,” Fong said. “And if you don’t mind, I’ll ask Mr. Mo to begin.”

  Mo closed his eyes and leaned back in the chair, gathering himself. “My understanding is that some events have transpired over the past several days that may have caused Ms. Lee and Fai emotional distress and even physical pain,” he said, slowly putting his hands on the table and looking at Chen, Fai, and Ava in turn. “I want you to know that the Syndicate had nothing to do with the commission of those events, and had no knowledge of them.”

  “I’m slightly confused,” Ava said. “If you had no knowledge of them, why are we here and why are you discussing them?”

  “That’s a bit complicated to explain, but it starts with understanding that any involvement the Syndicate might have had in what happened would not have had any legitimacy without the specific approval of Mr. Fong or me. We approved none of it. And given the illegality of what we’ve been told has happened, neither of us would ever have approved it.”

  “What do you think happened?” Ava asked.

  “I’ve been told that there has been an attempt to blackmail Fai, and that attempts were made to physically intimidate her and you.”

  “When were you told this?”

  “Late last night. That’s why I was prepared to call Chen this morning, before he called me.”

  “And who told you?” Ava asked.

  “I don’t think that matters as much as the fact that I was told.”

  “We did agree to confidentiality, but to my mind that implied you would be more forthcoming with us. If you can’t be, then I’m already starting to doubt what I’m hearing.”

  Mo glanced at Fong, who blinked and then nodded.

  “We were informed by Ms. Hua,” Mo said.

  “How did Ms. Hua know these things?” Ava said, looking across the table at the young woman, whose head was turned away from them and who couldn’t have looked more uncomfortable.

  “Ms. Hua is loyal and devoted and a valuable member of our Syndicate team,” Mo said. “Unfortunately, this is a circumstance where her devotion seems to have crossed the lines that separate official action from unofficial, and personal from business.”

  “Are you trying to tell me that Ms. Hua instigated the blackmail and the attacks?” Ava said. “If you are, it’s hardly believable.”

  “She did not initiate anything directly. What she did was express to a third party some concerns that I had voiced to her within the confines of my office. At the time, I admit, I spoke with some frustration and maybe even a little anger. But my comments were general in nature, made almost in passing, and should have been treated as nothing more than a complaint stated in confidence to a trusted assistant.”

  “What was the nature of your complaint?”

  “I was frustrated and not pleased by the pressure you brought to bear on the subject of Mao’s Daughter,” he said. “I agree that it’s a good film, but it isn’t suitable for viewing in this political climate. I believe the film has artistic value, but authorizing its release would have brought unwanted attention to the Syndicate, and to me, from people with more power than I have. Second, I did not like the way you approached me, or indeed that you approached me at all. You don’t know this business, and any concerns Fai had about the film should have been channelled through Chen. Instead, you and that man Lop came here to my office under false pretenses and then tried to use what you thought was leverage against the Syndicate. Is that honest enough for you?”

  “As far as it goes,” Ava said, knowing he wouldn’t go any further.

  “La
ter that day, Ms. Hua had a conversation with a third party during which she repeated — and probably enhanced — Mr. Mo’s remarks,” Fong said. “In fact, from what I’ve been able to piece together, I think it is highly likely she implied that Pang Fai and you, Ms. Lee, were irritants who represented an obstacle to the Syndicate, and that anything that could be done to remove that irritation would be appreciated.”

  “She was obviously indiscreet, violated the confidentiality of my office and her position in it, and displayed terrible judgment,” Mo said. “But I don’t believe there was any malice in what she did. She’s exceedingly devoted to me and the organization, and I think she made those comments out of concern. Were her concerns misplaced? No, I don’t think they were. But she should have kept them to herself.”

  “Ms. Hua,” Ava said, staring at her, trying to capture even a sliver of her attention, “they’re talking about you as if you’re not in the room. Is there anything you want to say?”

  The woman glanced at Mo and then lowered her head. “I made a mistake. I’m sorry,” she said. “But I didn’t think he would go that far. I never asked him or expected him to be so cruel.”

  “Who is ‘he’?”

  “Xia Jun,” Fong said.

  “Of course it would be Xia Jun,” said Ava.

  “What do you mean by that?” Mo asked.

  “It’s too obvious for it to be anyone else.”

  “I think the point we need to re-stress here is that the Syndicate had zero involvement in initiating or approving what Xia Jun chose to do,” Fong said. “A trusted assistant was a little too talkative, that’s all. There’s nothing more to be made of it.”

  “What’s going to happen to the assistant?”

  “She’s been reprimanded,” Fong said.

  “But keeps her job?”

  “She’s been reprimanded. Beyond that I’m not going to discuss internal human resource issues.”

  “What’s going to happen to Xia?”

  “I’m not quite sure I understand the nature of that question,” Mo said.

  “What are you going to do about Xia?”