Read Crimson China for Free Online Page B

guy who runs the Golden Phoenix Restaurant is breathing fire at a string of cowed employees when she walks through the door. The restaurant is empty of customers. Four tired-looking men wearing stained aprons are seated at a booth just outside the kitchen. The owner stands beside them waving a lit cigarette and berating them in a mixture of Cantonese and heavily accented Mandarin. Close to the door, a young Chinese woman wearing a tight-fitting black dress sits punching numbers into a calculator. At once she stands and approaches Lili.
    “May I help you?” she asks, eyeing her.
    “Could I speak with the owner?” The young woman raises an eyebrow.
    “If you like. I’ll just get him.” She crosses over to where the owner stands and speaks quietly to him. The owner looks at Lili across the room, stubs out his cigarette in an ashtray, then walks over.
    “Yes?” he says in English.
    “I’m sorry to trouble you,” she says nervously in Mandarin.
    He narrows his eyes slightly. “Go on,” he says.
    “I was wondering if you could give me some information about one of your former employees.”
    His eyes immediately register a look of alarm. “Why? Who do you work for?” he asks suspiciously.
    “No one,” she says quickly. She fishes in her purse for Wen’s photo, pulling it out. “I’m looking for this man. His name is Zhang Wen.”
    The owner frowns at the photo.
    “Never seen him.”
    “He worked here. Last year.”
    “Last year? I employ a dozen people here. They come and go like salmon. How do you expect me to remember one?”
    Lili pauses. “He was memorable,” she says quietly.
    The old man hesitates. In that instant, she knows that he is lying.
    “Who are you?”
    “I’m his sister,” she says. “His twin sister.”
    The old man stares at her for a long moment, then points towards a table.
    “Sit down,” he says. He turns to the woman in the black dress and tells her to bring a pot of tea, then sits down opposite Lili with a sigh.
    Slowly he removes a pack of cigarettes and takes one out, offering the pack to her. Lili shakes her head. She waits while he lights the cigarette. The young woman comes hurrying from the kitchen with a pot of jasmine tea and two small cups, which she pours for them. The old man motions for Lili to drink, then takes a long drag from his cigarette.
    “Your brother is dead,” he says exhaling. “Surely you know this?”
    “Yes,” says Lili, her voice nearly breaking.
    “Then why are you here?” The words are harsh, but his tone has softened.
    “I want to know a little more. About him. And his life here, before he died.”
    The old man nods slowly, frowning. He reaches for an ashtray and taps the cigarette in it.
    “I remember him,” he says. “In fact, I liked him. I was sorry when he left. He was smarter than most.” He inhales deeply from the cigarette.
    “How long was he here?”
    The old man shrugs. “Three months, maybe four. I don’t recall exactly.”
    “Did he live here? Upstairs?”
    “No.” He shakes his head. “Your brother lived with his girlfriend. In Hounslow.”
    “Hounslow?” Lili asks. The information startles her.
    “Yeah,” says the man with a smile. “He called it Plane City. Said he couldn’t sleep for the noise of all the planes going in and out of Heathrow.”
    Somewhere deep inside, Lili feels something twist.
    “His girlfriend,” she asks, her voice dropping to almost a whisper. “Was she Chinese?”
    The old man nods. “From the mainland. Nice-looking. Bit of an operator. Dressed like she’d been born here.”
    “What was her name?”
    “I don’t recall. She picked him up a couple of times. He used to complain that she earned twice what he did. I think she taught Mandarin at a language school in Shepherd’s Bush. Sheep Pen, he called it.” The old man shakes his head with a smile.
    Lili stares at him, unable to speak. Jin , she thinks. The old man leans forward, frowning.
    “What happened to your brother was