by Zoey Gong
I’ll be there, he said. Just tell me when and where.
Ma says that an Australian girl was helping with your mom’s treatments, Kangmu added. Was this the New Year girlfriend you told us about? Is something really going on with her?
Kai sighed as he dried his hands and walked out of the bathroom to the elevators. She’s just a friend, he said. She’s a medical student so she had some ideas to improve Mom’s treatments.
Just a friend, Fenghe said. Sure. Be sure to invite us to the wedding.
Shut up, Kai said. And don’t any of you say anything to your moms or I’ll kill you.
Whatever, man, Hongji said.
Kai stood outside his office building and looked at the Whirlwind building across the common area courtyard.
Any hot tips on making money? Kai asked hopefully. Ma’s treatments aren’t cheap.
I’m talking to a guy about developing an app, Fenghe said. I guess his dad is a big-shot investor and wants to make a move in China.
For real? Kai asked.
I don’t know, Fenghe said. Have to wait and see.
Unfortunately, Kai couldn’t wait. He needed the money now.
Let me know how it goes, Kai said. I have a meeting. Talk later. He slipped his phone into his pocket, took a deep breath, and started the what felt like a long walk to the Whirlwind building. As he did before, he looked around to make sure none of his workmates saw him. As he entered the building, the elevator attendant greeted him with a smile, but they didn’t need to exchange words. Kai got in the elevator and hit the button to the top floor.
The elevator attendant must have alerted Mr. Yang that Kai was coming because Mr. Yang was waiting for him when the elevator doors opened.
“Mr. Zhong,” Mr. Yang said, holding out his hand to shake. Kai pulled the USB drive out of his pocket and handed that over in lieu of a handshake. Mr. Yang chuckled. “I was beginning to doubt if you were going to come through for us.”
“I didn’t do it for you,” Kai said.
“Of course not,” Mr. Yang said. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out another USB drive, handing it to Kai. “Your fee. Simply insert it into any computer with Internet access and the money will be deposited into your account. Pleasure doing business with you.”
Kai gave him a tight smile but didn’t return the sentiment. He just turned and left the building, as though staying a minute longer was going to infect him with some sort of plague. He certainly felt sick enough.
When he left the building, he exited the industrial complex and walked a few blocks to a LAN center, a large computer bar where people could rent computers by the hour to play games, and rented a computer he could use to transfer the money. If anything went wrong, he didn’t want the money transfer to be traced back to his computers at home or work. But the money transfer went off without a hitch. He had never seen so much money in his account before. He practically ran out of the LAN center and drove to the hospital at top speed. He went to the accounting department and paid the fees for the next month of treatment. He could have paid more, but he thought that suddenly having so much money after struggling to make the payments for months would look suspicious. But he felt the urge to pay as much as he could as soon as possible, as if the money might suddenly disappear as quickly as it had appeared.
As he left the accounting department, having successfully paid the bill, he had expected to feel lighter. Freer. His mother was taken care of, the treatments were working, and he had enough money to pay for more treatments for at least the next year, if she even needed them for that long. The way things were going, she could go into remission at any time.
But instead, the knowledge of what he did to get the money sat in his stomach like a stone.
He knew this was going to come back to haunt him, one way or another.
13
“The treatments are working,” Winnie told Kai on the phone as she walked from her last class toward her apartment. “Her doctor sent me her latest test results and everything looks great. She’s responding well. Your mom is a fighter.”
“That’s great,” Kai said, but something in his voice told her that something was bothering him. “I can never thank you enough for your help.”
“And I keep saying that you don’t have to thank me,” she said. “But if there is anything else you need help with, you can always talk to me.”
“That means a lot to me,” he said. “I wish you were here so I could take you out to dinner and thank you properly.”
I wish I was there too, she thought, surprising herself, but she kept her words--and her heart--guarded. She might not have gotten that fellowship, but she was still in medical school with years left of training to go through before she could actually call herself a doctor.
“Well, if I’m ever in Shanghai again,” she finally said, “I’ll let you know.”
“I suppose that won’t be until next New Year, huh?” he asked, and he wasn’t even trying to disguise the disappointment in his voice.
“I don’t know,” Winnie said. “I hadn’t been home in two years before this last trip. Maybe I should stay away for three years this time.”
“Your mom would kill you,” Kai said with a chuckle.
“I wish she’d just forget me,” Winnie said. “She already has a good daughter. She doesn’t need me.”
“Don’t say that,” Kai said. “She loves you...in her way. She’ll come around someday.”
“I hope you’re right,” Winnie said, and at that, her phone buzzed. She glanced at it and saw that it was her mother. “Ugh. She’s calling me right now.”
“She must have known we were talking about her,” Kai said.
“Maybe…” Winnie said, and her phone pinged with a text. She looked at it and her heart stopped.
Your sister is in the hospital.
“I...I have to go,” Winnie said. “Something’s wrong.”
“Okay, text me later,” Kai said.
“I will,” Winnie said and hung up the call, then she called her mother, who answered quickly.
“Where are you?” her mother said.
“Umm...working,” Winnie said. “What’s wrong?”
“The baby,” her mother said, and her voice sounded frantic. “It’s coming now. And something is wrong. I don’t know what. But the doctors...everything is wrong they say.”
“What?” Winnie asked, her medical training keeping her calm. “Mom, are the doctors there now? Let me talk to them.”
“No time,” her mother said. “I’m at Lingling’s apartment, getting her things. She is being helicoptered to Shanghai, to the maternity hospital. She will be there soon. We have to fly down in an hour to meet her.”
Winnie felt panic rise up in her throat. What could possibly be wrong? And they were in Shanghai? They would expect her to be there. She hated herself for worrying about being caught in her endless maze of lies while her sister was fighting for her life, but everything was suddenly crashing down around her and she didn’t see a way out.
“What? You’re coming to Shanghai? Now?”
“Wenwen,” her mother said. “You are a nurse. You need to go to the hospital. Talk to the doctors. Find out what is happening. Let me know, okay?”
“I...I just started my shift,” Winnie said, racing through the halls looking for Brock and Lian. Somehow, she needed an emergency ticket to Shanghai. How was she going to afford it? “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“Forget work!” her mother screamed. “Your sister is dying! She’s losing the baby! Can’t you be there for her for once?”
“Ma,” Winnie said, the room spinning. She felt sick and wanted to cry, but she was in public and couldn’t find her friends anywhere. She was surrounded by people and yet completely alone. “I...I’ll be there. I’m coming. Tell Lingling I’m coming.”
“Okay,” her mother said and hung up.
Winnie looked at her phone and tried to message Brock and Lian, but her hands were shaking and her vision wa
s blurry. Her phone rang again, and she answered it without looking at the name, expecting it to be her mother again.
“I’m here,” she said.
“Wenwen?” a male voice she didn’t recognize said.
“Uh...hello?” Winnie asked. She looked at her phone, but she didn’t recognize the number. “Who is this?”
“It’s me. Chang,” he said, and Winnie could feel her face frown even harder.
“I don’t really have time to talk--” she started to say, but he cut her off.
“I know about Lingling,” he said, shocking Winnie into silence. Why would he know? “I just wanted to tell you not to worry about your parents. I’m driving them to the airport and am flying to Shanghai with them.”
“What?” Winnie asked, her shock wearing off and turning to anger. “Why? This doesn’t concern you.”
“Of course it does,” Chang said. “We are practically family.”
“What are you talking about?” Winnie asked, thoroughly confused now.
“Your parents are a wreck,” he said. “But they will be fine. I’ll make sure they get to Shanghai okay. I offered to take them to a hotel, but your mother insisted on staying at your place.”
“What?” Winnie asked again, nearly shrieking. “You need to back off and get away from my family. Mind your own business.”
“Wenwen,” he said gently. “You are my business.”
“And don’t call me that!” Winnie said. “My name is Winnie.”
“Look we can argue about this later,” Chang said, his voice cool and enow ven. “I have to get your parents to the airport before they miss their flight. See you soon.” He hung up.
Winnie was pacing the hall. What was happening? At least she was calm enough to message Brock and Lian.
Meet me at my apartment STAT, she wrote.
She was throwing everything she would need for an emergency trip into a duffle bag when Lian and Brock entered her apartment without even knocking.
“What’s going on?” Brock asked, concern on his face.
“I need money,” Winnie said. “Enough for a ticket home right now.”
“What’s going on?” Lian asked.
“Lingling is being helicoptered to the maternity hospital in Shanghai,” Winnie explained quickly as she rushed to the bathroom to grab her shampoo, deodorant, and hairbrush. “She’s in some sort of distress, but Mom couldn’t tell me what. She might be losing the baby. I have to get to Shanghai right now. They are going to get there before me and I won’t be there! Their flight lands in four hours. The helicopter with Lingling is probably already at the hospital. If I leave Sydney right now, I won’t even land until tomorrow! They are going to wonder where I am. What am I going to do?”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Brock said, gripping Winnie’s forearms and looking her in the eyes. “Calm down. Let’s just take it a step at a time, okay?”
Winnie nodded her head and could feel the tears flowing down her cheeks.
“Lian,” Brock said, “use my credit card and book Winnie on the next flight to Shanghai.”
Lian nodded and pulled out her phone, tapping away on a ticketing app.
“See,” Brock said. “Done. Now what?”
“Umm...They will need a place to stay,” Winnie said. “They said they will just stay at my place. My place! My place in Shanghai. My place that doesn’t exist!”
“No problem,” Brock said. “We can just book you an AirBnB. Those are all apartments, right? Just say it’s yours.”
“Oh, right,” Winnie said, and she could feel the panic subsiding. “Okay. So I just need to go to the airport, get on a plane, and then go to the hospital.”
“See,” Brock said. “Everything will be fine.”
“But I’ll have to pick up the keys to the AirBnB,” Winnie said. “And drop my stuff off there before I go to the hospital. If they see me with a bag, they will know something is up.”
“I’m sure you can arrange for the house owner to meet you with the keys,” Brock said.
“But they are going to be there soon, like within hours,” Winnie said. “And I won’t be there. They won’t be able to call me while I’m on the flight! They are going to worry about me.”
“Umm…” Brock looked to Lian and shrugged. He was running out of ideas.
“Kai,” Lian said. “You’ve still been in contact with Kai.” Winnie had been telling them about how she was helping with his mother’s treatments. “Kai can go to the hospital and meet them. He can tell them that you were scheduled for surgery and couldn’t get out of it.”
“And he can take them to the apartment if they need to rest,” Brock said.
“I don’t know,” Winnie said. “He’s not my boyfriend. I can’t just tell him what to do. He has his own life.”
“He’s better than a boyfriend,” Brock said. “He’s your friend. He’ll help you, just like we are.”
Winnie felt her heart ache as tears welled up again. She didn’t have many friends, but she was lucky to have the ones she did.
“Aww!” Brock said, wrapping his arms around her. “We are here for you! Don’t cry!”
“I just don’t know what I would do without you,” Winnie said, pulling back and wiping the tears from her eyes.
“Well you don’t have to wonder because you do have us,” Brock said. “You just need to call Kai and see if he can take off work to participate in your little charade.”
“Then you can just worry about Lingling,” Lian said. “She needs you. I know you two don’t get along, but she’s still your sister.”
“Of course,” Winnie said. “I need to be there. I’m the only person in the family with medical training. I can help her.”
“Finish packing then,” Brock said. “And let’s get you to the airport. We can call Kai on the way.”
14
Kai hung up the phone and put it in his pocket. He hoped everything with Winnie was okay, but he was sure she would message him later. They had been talking on the phone every few days and texting each other at least once a day. He didn’t know if he and Winnie could ever be more than friends, but just having her as a friend was enough--at least for now. He needed to focus on work and his mother right now anyway.
Kai headed up to his office with the heaviness still in his gut, but hope in his heart. Finally, everything was going his way for once. He had a good job, his mother was taken care of, and he had a good friend in Winnie. He could have nearly whistled he was so happy as he took the elevator up to the Rad Phoenix office.
But as the doors to the elevator opened, he wished the floor would have opened and swallowed him. Several men in suits were waiting for him, and they did not look friendly. He mashed on the elevator buttons to close the door, but two of the men put their hands on the door to hold it open while two other men grabbed him by the arms and dragged him into the HR office.
“What’s going on?” he demanded. “I didn’t do anything!”
In the HR office, several of the upper-level managers and Kitty were there waiting for him. Kitty looked worried, her brow furrowed. Everyone else looked mad.
“You can’t treat me like this!” Kai said as the men unhanded him.
“We can treat you much worse,” one of the older men, the company president Kai thought, said. “You’re lucky we haven’t called the police.”
“Called the police for what?” Kai asked, still doing his best to feign innocence.
“You stole the code for our newest game,” the man said. “And sold it to Whirlwind. They are already advertising their ‘new’ game, which will be released a month before ours.”
“Years of research and development,” another man, probably a vice president, said. “Millions of dollars in investments. All gone!”
“I’m sorry for whatever is going on,” Kai said. “But it has nothing to do with me.”
“Don’t try to deny it,” the head of IT said. “We were able to trace the code download. It was after hours, when only a few people were on th
e floor. Including you.”
Kai shook his head in denial, but really it was in his own stupidity. Of course the company would be monitoring the code in order to protect their product.
“I was just here killing time, playing games,” he said. “You said yourself other people were on the floor.”
“But none of them have been seen going to Whirlwind's office,” the president said. “You were seen on a CCTV video visiting their offices just last week.”
Kai did his best to not show any emotion, but his heart was racing. He was caught. He was stupid. He’d messed up. And now he was going to pay the price.
“Why, Kai?” Kitty asked, shaking her head. “This hurts all of us. If our version of the game doesn’t perform the way the projections promised, most of us are going to lose our jobs.”
Kai sighed. “I...I don’t know. I’m sorry. I can’t...It wasn’t…” He couldn’t admit to what he had done without putting himself at risk, but continuing his denial was insulting to all of them.
The president slid a piece of paper across the table toward Kai. “Sign this,” he said. “It says that as long as you pay the fine as stipulated in your contract and accept your termination, we won’t press charges.”
Kai looked at the paper and his eyes fell on the amount of the fine. One million yuan. Nearly one hundred and fifty thousand American dollars. Way more than Whirlwind had paid him. More money than he would earn in a decade at his current wages. And now he wouldn’t even have that. He was out of a job. Out of money. What about his mother? He felt sick. He thought he was going to pass out.
“Sign it!” the president yelled.
“I...I don’t have the money…” Kai mumbled.
“Then you better find it,” the president said, holding up a pen, “after you sign.”
Kai took the pen from the president with a shaking hand and signed the paper.
The president picked up the paper and shoved it at one of the other managers. “Now, get out of my sight,” he said to Kai.
