It was the first time I'd driven into the compound of the Provincial Military Headquarters. Though the reception centre was only fair-to-middling in quality, it was clean and well appointed. Many cars belonging to Disciplinary Committee members were parked out front, two armed policemen watched the door and everyone who entered and exited wore a special tag. Xiao Furen had given me a phone number for the special investigation team, telling me to ask for a director-level researcher named Shang Xiaoqiong. After calling that number I got out of the car and had just lit a cigarette when a pretty girl with a certain heroic mien came out of the building.

'Did you bring the clothing, Department Head Yang?' she asked with a smile.

My jaw dropped. 'You? Don't you work in the Janitorial Brigade at the Munic.i.p.al Government?'

The girls in the Janitorial Brigade were each one prettier than the last. During munic.i.p.al or mayor-level meetings they were responsible for pouring tea and water. I had a vague impression of each of them, though I didn't know their names.

'That's right. So you remember,' she replied, her eyes flashing with pleasure. 'Actually, I was in the Janitorial Brigade hunting rats, and now that the rat is caught, it's time for me to leave. Thank you, Department Head Yang, for taking care of Dawei. One of these days we'll treat you to dinner.'

My eyes widened. 'How do you know Zhu Dawei?'

'He's my boyfriend, didn't he tell you?' She looked happy.

When she said that, it was like a thunderclap going off in my head. Zhu Dawei could certainly keep his secrets. I always thought Huang Xiaoming was the subtle one, but it turns out I was wrong.

Thinking about it now, Huang Xiaoming's 'subtlety' was nothing more than a certain stolidity of character. The truly subtle one was able to conceal enormous secrets, and as I considered the little duet performed by Zhu Dawei and Shang Xiaoqiong, the hair stood up on the back of my neck. Perhaps Peng Guoliang's demise at the hands of w.a.n.g Chaoquan was only a prelude to a greater tune. Extrapolating from the date when Shang Xiaoqiong began her work in the Janitorial Brigade, it could have been her and Zhu Dawei who brought down Peng Guoliang. No wonder Zhu Dawei had been visiting Song Daoming so frequently. He was a step ahead of me in shifting his loyalties to a safer berth. He may have been young, but he was subtle enough to make me nervous. Come to think of it, Zhu Dawei had been sucking up mightily to Hu Zhanfa for a while now. Could he have been searching for evidence for Shang Xiaoqiong? Hu Zhanfa, now in detention, must be curdling with regret.

'With such a beautiful, capable girlfriend,' I joked, 'isn't Dawei worried about who'll wear the pants in the family once you're married?'

'What's wrong with someone else wearing the pants?' she replied, giggling. 'A man who lets his wife wear the pants probably won't end up in detention!'

We chatted a bit further, then I handed over the bag of clean clothes for Peng Guoliang and she gave me another bag with dirty laundry, waved to me, and went back into the reception centre. I threw a glance at the grey, unprepossessing centre, which looked like a huge tombstone.

After returning from Zhang Peifen's home having dropped off the laundry, I thought back carefully over the interactions I'd had with her and Shang Xiaoqiong. At work the next day, I visited Mayor Liu's office. He sat me down beside him and asked solicitously, 'Hengda, what is it?'

I gave him a complete account of everything I'd thought over the night before. When I was done, I added the finishing touch. 'Mayor Liu, the Old Leader often used to say to me that there was only one real rule in life: you reap what you sow. Zhang Peifen doesn't think that way, however. All signs indicate she is trying to frame you. I think she, not Peng Guoliang, is the key figure in this case. So long as Zhang Peifen is free to act, the investigation team will suffer interference, and you yourself will have no rest. So I believe it would be better if Zhang Peifen were inside as well.'

When I was finished, Mayor Liu sat with knitted brows then said, 'Hengda, if a person contracts a terminal illness, their spirit can live on. But if someone contracts a disease of the soul, they cannot save themselves no matter how they blame others, or switch right for wrong. The path of righteousness is narrow indeed!'

I felt I hadn't fully expressed my loyalty, so I deepened my tone of concern, saying, 'Mayor Liu, we mustn't do others harm, but we must defend against harm from others!'

He laughed and said, 'You weren't the Old Leader's secretary for nothing, Hengda! Your political understanding runs deep. The deeper the political risk, the more it tests a person's political perspicuity, and in this sense you're far more mature than Xu Zhitai. These are unusual times, Hengda, and they will test our political mettle. You're going to have to withstand some trials as head of Number Two Department!'

He was obviously using Xu Zhitai as a warning. What had he done to make Mayor Liu hold a grudge against him?

After leaving Mayor Liu's office, I thought back over everything he'd said and felt there was something behind his last words. He didn't completely trust me yet, otherwise he wouldn't have mentioned 'withstanding trials'. How could I make him trust me the same way he trusted Song Daoming? By positioning myself opposite Xu Zhitai? No, Xu Zhitai had climbed on board a pirate ship and wouldn't disembark. What I would need to do is draw a clear line of separation between myself and Peng Guoliang. But I was still directly employed in Peng Guoliang's service. I was right to strike a blow at him, but perhaps my 'finishing touch' had been too much. I'd been pleased with myself at the time, but now it seemed not only excessive, but even unnecessarily cruel. If it were someone else it might be different, but I was Peng Guoliang's right-hand man. It would be acceptable to make an objective report, to express my point of view in a natural way, but I'd been in too much of a hurry to show my loyalty, and I might have given the impression of being in a hurry to sell Peng Guoliang out. What trials could be in store for me otherwise?

The more I thought, the worse I felt.

Since Peng Guoliang had been detained, Number Two was sealed and we had little to do. Each of us had gone his own way. Zhu Dawei spent his days researching chess and Ou Beibei spent hers studying make-up or flirting with Zhao Zhong over the phone. Only Xu Zhitai had vanished altogether. At first I had hardly noticed, but Mayor Liu's mention of him made me feel that his disappearance probably had something to do with Zhang Peifen.

I'd learned from Zhao Zhong about Xu Zhitai's friendship with Qi Xiuying's old lover, someone named Lin Yongqing, a journalist at the Qingjiang Daily. Is that what Xu was busy with? Could this Lin Yongqing really influence Qi Xiuying?

It seemed unlikely. They might be old lovers, but even if they were married, I doubt Lin Yongqing could influence Qi Xiuying. She was known as the 'Female Bao Gong', and Bao Gong was willing to put his own nephew's head on the block for the sake of the law. Not only would Qi Xiuying not be influenced, but chances were she would take care of Lin Yongqing, Xu Zhitai and all the rest as well.

Why had Xu Zhitai never gotten anywhere in politics, even after all these years? He couldn't read the shifting winds. As the peasants say, you p.i.s.s with the wind and s.h.i.t against it. He, on the other hand, seemed to make a point of getting it backwards, and now he was p.i.s.s-drenched and stunk like s.h.i.t. He should have considered his own abilities more carefully before deciding to become Peng Guoliang's saviour!

Number Two Department, Department Vice-Head, Xu Zhitai I DON'T KNOW if it was my intuition that was wrong, or if there really are people in the world whose hearts are made of stone: Lin Yongqing told me he had failed to move Qi Xiuying.

When Peng Guoliang was transferred from the Dongzhou Detention Centre to Changshan, Lin and I felt ashamed to meet Zhang Peifen. But Lin is someone who doesn't take defeat lying down, and since things had turned ugly between him and Qi Xiuying, then let them be ugly.

He came to me to discuss our next step, and we talked for a whole afternoon in a private room in a teahouse before deciding that our pens would be our weapons. It was mostly my idea. Lin Yongqing was a senior reporter and well known in his field. He would be able to place an article in the internal reference section of an influential newspaper where the central leadership would be sure to see it.

When he heard my idea, he thought it was a good one. If he could attract the attention and interest of the central leadership, there was a good chance that Peng Guoliang could be saved.

We were elated to have thought of this, though Lin was still a little concerned about his lack of materials. He thought if he was going to write this kind of article, he should write three at once to ensure they drew interest. I laughed slyly and said, 'Lin, you've forgotten than I'm the Vice-Head of Number Two Department, Peng Guoliang's office. I know his achievements better than anyone, and I know the political situation of Dongzhou better than anyone. How could you lack for materials? You'll have the most complete, accurate and convincing materials possible!'

When he heard that, he said enthusiastically, 'If that's true, then there's really hope for Mayor Peng!'

After we parted I couldn't wait to call Zhang Peifen and tell her I'd hired a 'bounty hunter' who would be sure to win justice for her. Zhang Peifen was at home, stewing over a nationally known journalist who had accepted bribes but done nothing in return. She was a little sceptical about my news. She admitted that Lin Yongqing was an ideal 'bounty hunter', but he'd already failed her once. Would his articles be authoritative enough to make it into the internal reference section?

She was still worried, and asked me to visit her house, saying she had something important to entrust to me. Ready to do my part, I went to see her.

She was crying when I saw her, saying Qi Xiuying was determined to wreck her home and destroy her family. When she talked about the suffering Peng Guoliang had endured at the Dongzhou Detention Centre, her expression was so miserable, my heart trembled. I struck my chest in indignation and said, 'Whatever you need me to do, sister, just speak up, and I won't deny you.'

She was deeply moved, and took a package from her maid's hands to give to me, saying warmly, 'Your brother sent word from the detention centre. He sends his greetings and thanks you for all you've done in his cause. He's proud to have a brother like you, and believes that with you fighting for his cause, justice is sure to be done. He told me that, with winter here, spring cannot be far behind. This is his darkest hour and I cannot leave Dongzhou even for a moment. We're in our greatest need, but we've been abandoned by everyone. You're the only one I can trust, and I'm begging you: visit Beijing for me, and give this package to this official.'

As she spoke, she handed me a photograph of three people: the official, his secretary and Peng Guoliang. I gasped when I saw the official. He was a powerful leader, someone whose reach extended from heaven to h.e.l.l. Though he was retired, a word from him carried equal weight to that of a member of the Political Bureau Committee. With an old cadre like this speaking and acting on our behalf, Peng Guoliang's case would be overturned for sure! And once it was, I would be his right-hand man. He would be sure to reward me!

My heart was filled with hope and enthusiasm, and I swore to Zhang Peifen that I would complete my mission. Honestly, at that very moment, I was moved by my own devout chivalry. Who would have known: not only am I a man who would die for his friends, but I'm also staunch in the face of danger.

Zhang Peifen drove me to the airport herself. On the way, she instructed me to find a place to stay in Beijing where the official's secretary would contact me. She'd arranged everything. The black bag she handed me was locked, and as we drove I couldn't help imagining what was in it. It was a big bag, and if it held money, it would be two or three hundred thousand. Zhang Peifen seemed to guess what I was thinking and she spoke directly. 'I'll tell you the truth, Zhitai. Peng Guoliang has always struggled in his official position, and we don't have much savings. I've spent what little we had on this struggle to clear his name, and I've had to borrow some from friends. I've got no choice. I'd be willing to go bankrupt to save your brother.'

Her sincerity moved me deeply. I'm helpless to resist someone who really trusts me. The minute someone speaks their heart to me, I'm bound to respond in kind. I boarded the plane to Beijing.

I was in Beijing for two whole days without contact from anyone. Eventually I was obliged to call Zhang Peifen, who told me to wait patiently. An official of that level was busy, but someone would contact me for sure. I waited another two days, then one evening a thin, tall man in his early thirties arrived, wearing a Western suit and shoes. He was the secretary from the photo Zhang Peifen showed me. After I'd verified his ident.i.ty, he left with the bag. I called Zhang Peifen to tell her, and she congratulated me excitedly, thanking me for my work and asking me to fly back from Beijing the next day.

From her mood I guessed that the acceptance of the bag was a guarantee that we'd receive help, and I was deeply happy for her. The thought that my mission to Beijing might result in Peng Guoliang's restoration reminded my soul which had hid for so long in loneliness, in darkness of the value of existence.

One afternoon, about a week after my return to Dongzhou, I was reading the newspaper in my office when I got an excited phone call from LinYongqing saying that his articles had been published. He asked me to come out. He was waiting for me at the gate of the government compound. I hurried into the elevator.

When I left the government building I saw Lin Yongqing waving to me from the mail building. I trotted over, gesturing that we should go to the government square to talk, and he followed me over to the huabiao at the centre of the square. He pulled out his internal reference articles and handed them to me excitedly. I tore the paper open and the t.i.tle of the first, 'Avoid Negative Influences from the Powers Behind the Corruption Allegations Against Peng Guoliang', leaped off the page at me. It was written in a sharp, incisive style, amply backed up with evidence, with a fresh new point of view; an article of substance.

When I'd finished, I couldn't help calling Zhang Peifen's office on the spot. All I said was that Lin Yongqing and I wanted to meet her, and we were heading over to the Administrative Academy immediately. I didn't say any more on the phone because I wanted to give her a surprise.

Zhang Peifen seemed to know why we were coming and was waiting at the gate of the Administrative Academy. When we got out of the car I pa.s.sed her the newspaper, my face expressionless, and she took it, obviously beside herself with pleasure. She read the article from start to finish, then took off for a photocopy shop near the academy, holding the newspaper lovingly. She made ten copies, then returned the original to Lin Yongqing gratefully, saying, 'Lin, Zhitai, I'm going back to my office to gather my things, then let's all go to the Dongzhou shopping mall. I'll buy you both a full set of Zegna clothing, then we'll all go to Jinchongcao for a celebration.' Lin Yongqing and I couldn't turn her down.

A single stone will create a thousand ripples. Lin Yongqing's article provoked a strong response in the Dongzhou Government, which wrote a letter directly to the newspaper that ran Lin's article, arguing in their defence. He kept up the attack, publishing two more articles in quick succession which attracted the attention of the top leadership in Beijing. Zhang Peifen, elated, treated me to dinner and told me that many influential leaders had begun asking about Peng Guoliang's case, particularly the top official who'd accepted the bag I'd brought to Beijing. He'd made a special trip to Zhongnanhai. It was clear from Zhang Peifen's news that holes were starting to appear in the case against Peng Guoliang.

But nothing turns out the way you hope. The high-level attention failed to bring Peng Guoliang's case to a new turning point, and what's more, the investigation team retaliated by transferring Peng Guoliang from the Dongzhou Detention Centre, where conditions were relatively lax, to Changshan, where he knew practically no one. Zhang Peifen was once again thrown on the defensive.

About this time, I received an unexpected phone call. It was w.a.n.g Chaoquan. I'd been trying to contact him ever since he'd effected his glorious transformation into the Deputy Chief of the Anti-Terrorism Unit, but the phone number he'd left me before going to Shenzhen had pa.s.sed on to a new owner, and I had no other means of contact. Since Peng Guoliang got in trouble, a rumour had been going around that w.a.n.g Chaoquan, while on an anti-terrorism operation in Macau, had filmed Peng Guoliang gambling in the casinos there. I didn't know what to think, and had wanted to ask him directly, but could never get in touch. Now he'd re-emerged of his own accord. I agreed to meet him at the Apricot Village Hotel near the Provincial Public Security Bureau.

When I entered the private room, I found that w.a.n.g Chaoquan had already finished ordering. He looked much better than he used to: he was natty in a Western suit, and even his face had changed. It was more heroic. As soon as I saw him I thumped him on the chest and said, 'You sure kept your secrets well, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d!'

w.a.n.g Chaoquan was my best friend among the civil servants. I am quite a bit older than him, so I spoke to him as if to a younger brother.

He laughed lightly and said, 'Brother Xu, people in my line of work only know one principle: "ultimate loyalty to the country". For the sake of loyalty we can, and do, sacrifice everything.'

Hearing that, I felt a little moved, and patted his shoulder, saying, 'No need to explain; I understand everything. I once thought that True Lies was just some Hollywood producer's way of squeezing cash out of moviegoers. Who would have guessed that sort of stuff happens in real life? And right under my nose . . .'

He gestured for me to sit, then poured out two beers and toasted me, saying, 'I'll tell you the truth: I'm carrying out a mission right now. I just made a little time to come from Shenzhen to treat you to a meal and a drink. Do you know why?'

'Not because you think I'm a terrorist?' I joked.

He answered in all earnestness, 'In my eyes, there's no real difference between a terrorist and a corrupt official. They both pose a threat to national security, and I think the threat from corrupt officials is actually the greater. Given our friendship, I can't watch you throw yourself over a cliff! I'll tell you straight: I came back to save you!'

My heart lurched when I heard him say that. I knew he was perfectly serious, but I still didn't know why he should say all this, so I asked, 'Chaoquan, what do you mean?'

His face drew long. 'Do you know what kind of person Peng Guoliang is?'

I said, with some displeasure, 'I worked with him. Of course I know. He's a man of uncommon talents and capabilities.'

w.a.n.g Chaoquan replied, 'I'm not denying that Peng Guoliang has done a fair amount of good, but he is corrupt to the bone. To me, he's like a rotten mackerel under the moonlight: bright and shining, and reeking of putrefaction.'

I finally understood why w.a.n.g Chaoquan had suddenly reappeared and invited me to dinner. He'd always suspected that it was Peng Guoliang who had gotten Ou Beibei pregnant, and he hated him for stealing his wife. Now he was hoping to stop me from helping Peng Guoliang. Yes, that had to be it.

Now that I knew what he was up to, I replied calmly, 'Chaoquan, you shouldn't make baseless accusations!'

He swept me with an eagle's gaze and said, 'Very well. First I'll describe for you what Peng Guoliang looked like while he was gambling at the casino. At the time I would never have guessed this was a man who acted as standing vice-mayor over a city of eight million. He was wearing a gold Dharmachakra around his neck, diamond rings on his fingers, a gold necklace as thick as your thumb and had a gold cigarette holder between his teeth. I was leading a field operation at the time and he suddenly appeared within our surveillance area. Do you know how much he lost at that one sitting?'

He paused here and clucked his tongue, then held out five fingers and said in tones of contempt, 'Fifty thousand dollars. And do you know where that fifty thousand came from? Even if I didn't say, you could probably work it out for yourself. That alone would be grounds for his wearing out a cell bench in jail, but it's only the tip of the iceberg. He's been keeping a mistress in Hong Kong called Niu Yuexian, who he sent there back when he was head of the Munic.i.p.al Bureau of Commerce. Do you know why he sent her there? To launder money for him. Right before his case broke, this woman took all his money and fled. Do you know how much she took? More than thirty million Hong Kong dollars. Brother, I hear you've teamed up with a journalist to help Zhang Peifen interfere with Peng Guoliang's case, and that he's written a series of articles for internal consumption that severely violate his professional ethics as a journalist, not only twisting the facts to an enormous degree, but also slandering and personally attacking the members of the investigation team. I just want to ask you, my brother: what are you trying to accomplish? I can't believe your goal is simply to help overturn the case against Peng Guoliang. We've known each other for years and I know how you've suffered. You've been vice-head of the department for years with no opportunity for advancement, but even so, you can't imitate Peng Guoliang and start gambling. What gambler comes to a good end? I'm speaking from the heart here, my brother, though I know you won't like hearing it. I just can't watch you take the road to death.' He poured himself another gla.s.s of beer and drained it.

To be honest, his words really did find their mark. When we'd been friends before, he'd always seemed so weak and pathetic. I'd always been the strong elder brother. I'd never seen him behave so forcefully before, but perhaps this was the real w.a.n.g Chaoquan. I was cowed into silence and didn't know what to say; I had never imagined that Peng Guoliang had been so far gone.

If what w.a.n.g Chaoquan said was true, then it was impossible that Peng would keep his head.What hope was there of overturning the case?

'What's the matter with me?' I kept asking myself. Had I really been led astray? w.a.n.g Chaoquan had hinted that my purposes in helping Peng Guoliang were not pure. What about his purpose in treating me to a drink? Could someone who kept his own ident.i.ty secret from his wife his mate and companion really speak from the heart to me?

I argued back. 'So there's nothing behind your words, huh? You don't hold any grudges over what happened with Beibei?'

He shook his head with a bitter smile. 'It looks like you'll hold out to the very end, my brother. If you're determined to dash yourself against the wall, then there's nothing I can say. You're right: I hold a grudge against Peng Guoliang because of Beibei. He ruined my marriage, didn't he? We call each other brother, yet you have so much sympathy for the person who ruined your brother's happiness? Do you still know the difference between right and wrong? No wonder you and Zhang Peifen get along so well. I'll tell you the truth: no one can save Peng Guoliang. The door of h.e.l.l is always open for those rash fools who thought they would never end up there. I've said everything I can to you. Don't try to excuse yourself with this 'my leader, right or wrong' att.i.tude. Before we part, my brother, I have just one thing to say to you: you're on the brink of the precipice, but there's still time to turn back. Do the right thing!' He shook his head in disappointment and then stood, saying, 'I've paid the bill already, brother. I've got something I need to do so I'm going. I hope you think hard about what I've said.'

He left without a backward glance, leaving me sitting there stunned, not knowing what to think. It was as if w.a.n.g Chaoquan had woken me from a dream and I'd suddenly discovered that different truths existed in different parts of the body: some in the heart, some in the liver, some in the kidneys. Furthermore, some of the truths that hid within the body were hidden within dung. When it came to the error I'd committed, I didn't know in which part of the body the truth in question was hidden. Were the truths hidden in stinking dung more true, or the truths hidden inside the heart and its beating blood? Apparently I'd misunderstood Chuang-tzu when he said that the Dao was in dung and urine. I'd thought that every part of the human body has its conscience, but I'd forgotten that dung is just dung, and urine is just urine; they are mere waste products and only stay within the body temporarily. Sooner or later they will be excreted. At that moment I had the feeling that I was being excreted, and flushed down the toilet, spiralling into the sewer.

Since I'd got a scolding from w.a.n.g Chaoquan, my spirits were low. The reason was that I felt my 'saviour' had come too late, and I'd already sunk into the mud.

I remembered something a j.a.panese writer once said: 'Between a high, solid wall and the egg that breaks against it, I will always stand on the side of the egg. Yes, no matter how right the wall may be and how wrong the egg, I will stand with the egg.' Clearly he saw the egg as truth, but he forgot that an egg can become putrid, it can be hardboiled, turned into a hundred-year-old egg by lime. If any of those were hurled against a wall, they certainly wouldn't leave behind a bright yellow smear of yolk.

I was no longer a fresh egg though I once thought I was and that's why I chose Peng Guoliang, that rotten egg. All eggs, before the sh.e.l.l is broken, appear whole, but now w.a.n.g Chaoquan had smashed all the eggs before my eyes and I could smell a rotten stench. It wasn't the stench of rotten eggs, however. It was the smell of a human soul. Peng Guoliang's soul, to be precise, reeking amid fragments of broken sh.e.l.l. On the wall was a stain, as though dung had been flung against it, and flies circled incessantly.

The flies helped me understand the three fates of eggs: hatching into chicks, being eaten or rotting. Aren't those the very fates of man? Don't think it's good fortune not to be eaten or not to rot. Even if you hatch into a chick, you can't avoid a fate of being eaten, or getting some fatal disease like avian flu. Even chickens that lay eggs like crazy end this way. I'm already unsure whether I'm a chicken or an egg. All I remember is what my grandmother said to me when I was a child: 'Flies will ignore an egg with no cracks.' If I was an egg, then I was a cracked egg. But I didn't know when I had cracked, or how.

I was not corrupt; I was just someone who had helped the corrupt. It was just a pity that, because I'd put my money on the wrong square, my official career never made it past vice department head. That didn't seem right.

First-Level Superintendent of the Changshan Detention Centre, Wu Wenzhong I'VE BEEN WORKING at the detention centre for ten years and I'm still only a first-level superintendent. We get all sorts here: naive students, stubborn repeat offenders, irredeemable murderers and, of course, corrupt officials of various ranks and grades. This is the first time we've had one as high-level as Peng Guoliang, though.

Around a month after he arrived, I got a phone call from Xu Zhitai, the husband of an elementary school cla.s.smate, asking me to dinner. I hadn't spoken to him in years, and I guessed he had a favour to ask. In a job like mine, you often hear from friends or family of criminals on the inside, and I guessed that had to be the reason for this particular invitation. I was right, but I hadn't antic.i.p.ated that he would be asking for my help on behalf of Peng Guoliang, the former standing Vice-Mayor of Dongzhou.

The dinner was actually arranged by Zhang Peifen, Peng Guoliang's wife, who arrived together with Xu Zhitai. We ate shark's fin soup and abalone, and drank Remy Martin. She spent the meal insisting that her husband was innocent and then tossed me twenty thousand yuan. I didn't want to take it, but it was nearly the equivalent of a year's wages for me. Anyone would consider it. I grew up in the countryside, and if I hadn't been accepted at the police academy and sent to work in the detention centre, I'd be a farmer right now. My parents still live in the village and support themselves off the land. Both are in poor health, and twenty thousand would mean the world to us. With Vice Department Head Xu urging me as well, I decided to take it.

Xu was not only the husband of my elementary school cla.s.smate, but he was also Vice-Head of Number Two Department, Combined Affairs, in the Dongzhou Munic.i.p.al Government, so he was essentially the vice-director of the office that served Peng Guoliang. He went on and on about how Peng Guoliang served the people with heart and soul, and the reason he had encountered difficulties was because of a political struggle. Though I only half believed what I was hearing, I was truly moved by Zhang Peifen's determination to save her husband, and I agreed to provide what help I could. Xu had thought of everything. He even had a pair of mobile phones prepared for me and Zhang Peifen.

When I went home that night and handed twenty thousand yuan to my wife, her eyes shone as if they were electrified. In the eight years since we've been married, we'd never seen twenty thousand together in one place. The next day I went to the cell where Peng Guoliang was being held, called him to the door, and asked him if he knew anyone called Zhang Peifen. His dull gaze abruptly brightened as he nodded and said that was his wife. I expressed my concern in a few words and told him in a rea.s.suring tone, 'If you need anything, just let me know.' When he heard that, the rigid muscles of his face relaxed a little.

A few days later, when I was leading a work detail of prisoners to clean the latrines, I found Peng Guoliang alone in his cell and pa.s.sed him the phone Xu Zhitai had prepared for him, telling him to call Zhang Peifen. I opened the door to let him out for some exercise, and he took the hint, dialling Zhang Peifen's number excitedly.

In order to thank me, Zhang Peifen made a special trip to Changshan to treat my wife and me to dinner, even making a present of an Omega watch to my wife. In my ten years at the detention centre, I'd never seen such a valuable gift, and my wife fawned over it. I like people who are generous in their dealings, and Zhang Peifen was the most generous person I'd ever seen. I couldn't say whether Peng Guoliang had ended up in the slammer because he was framed, but I hoped to h.e.l.l that he had been. If it were true, I'd be the one who had come through for him in his moment of crisis, and when it came time to show their grat.i.tude, it would come to a lot more than an Omega watch and twenty thousand yuan.

I needed to prove my capability, of course, and couldn't disappoint Zhang Peifen, so I brought her a letter Peng Guoliang had written to her. Her hand was shaking as she took the letter, and her eyes filled with tears as she read it, as if she wanted to inscribe its contents on her heart. I could tell she wanted to keep the letter, so before she could ask, I stopped her, saying, 'Sorry, but you can't take that with you. It would be a disaster if anyone were to find it.' Despondent yet understanding, she pulled out a notebook to copy down the contents and then burnt the letter in front of me.

On the way home, my wife began to worry. 'Are you sure this won't cause us any trouble?'

I gritted my teeth. 'You've got to do a little extra to get a little extra. I'll be careful. Anyway, politics is just a big web. If there are people who want to hurt Peng Guoliang, then there must be people who want to help him. Can't you tell that Zhang Peifen is a woman who gets things done? If Peng Guoliang really does come out of jail as a martyred hero, things will be pretty good for us!' I really believed what I was saying, and I guessed that Xu Zhitai, who had accompanied Zhang Peifen, was thinking the same thing.

Later, Zhang Peifen made another visit to Changshan, and the two of us met alone. Before she came, she called me and said that the two lawyers she'd hired for Peng Guoliang wanted him to write a self-defence. When I told Peng Guoliang, he wrote a five-thousand-character self-defence on the spot and gave it to me. When I pa.s.sed it on to Zhang Peifen, she gave me another five thousand yuan. Then, with tears in her eyes, she pa.s.sed me Peng Guoliang's freshly laundered clothes and a picture of his son, who was in middle school. I'm a father myself, and I could imagine how much Peng Guoliang was missing his son.

When I brought the photograph into the detention centre and gave it to Peng Guoliang, his lips trembled and tears wet his gla.s.ses as he looked at his innocent son. He didn't keep the photograph, however. Eyes still full of tears, he turned it over and wrote, 'My son, learn true abilities, and become a n.o.ble man! Whatever you do, don't go into politics! Don't you worry about your father, he can take care of himself.' Then he gave it back to me and asked me to give it to Zhang Peifen.

As it happened, I was summoned to the city reception centre by the investigation team of the Provincial Disciplinary Committee before I could give the photograph to Zhang Peifen. I had a bad feeling. When I entered the room, I found six people waiting. Their leader introduced himself as Deng Hongchang of the Sixth Office of the Provincial Disciplinary Committee, leader of the team investigating Peng Guoliang. He invited me in a not unfriendly way to sit down, and poured me tea. A pretty, self-a.s.sured young girl introduced herself as Shang Xiaoqiong. Then they got straight to the point, asking me about the 888 mobile phone. That was one of the two phones Xu had prepared for me and Zhang Peifen. The two numbers were the same except for the last three digits. Hers ended in 777.

I've seen plenty of big shots in my ten years in the detention centre, but I've never had a slip of a girl come over as hard-boiled Shang Xiaoqiong's demeanour was unflinching. But I didn't think much of her and played dumb. 'What 888 mobile phone? What do you mean? I think you've made a mistake.'

The next thing I knew, the friendly expression had vanished off Deng Hongchang's face, replaced by a glower. 'Wu Wenzhong, we wouldn't have talked to you without incontrovertible proof. If you're not willing to talk now, we can find a place to discuss things at length. I hereby inform you that the Provincial Disciplinary Committee has authorised your detention. You must now come with us.'

I could only ask, stupidly, 'Where are we going?'

He laughed coldly and said, 'You'll know when we get there.'

The six of them escorted me out of the reception centre, and I was stuck in the back of a Santana between two big guards. An Audi drove ahead and our Santana followed behind. We drove straight out of Changshan and onto the expressway to Dongzhou, and I knew that was where we were going. My heart leaped into my throat and I cursed the situation. Things were going from bad to worse. If we'd stayed in Changshan I might have stood a chance, given all my contacts in public security, but I had no friends in Dongzhou. If I disappeared, my wife would go crazy with worry, and if my parents found out, their health would suffer for sure. 'What now?' I asked myself. 'What now?'

After less than two hours on the expressway we entered Dongzhou, and after a series of twists and turns we entered a military compound and pulled up in front of a reception centre. I was taken to a room on the fourth floor.

Before we entered the room, the pretty female investigator gave me a hard look and said, 'Don't get any smart ideas, Wu Wenzhong. We've got Zhang Peifen upstairs, and she's already told us all about the 777 phone.'

I had no idea if the girl was telling the truth, but it truly surprised me that she knew the last three digits of Zhang Peifen's number. Once we were inside, they didn't start right away with the interrogation, but instead left me to think things over, with two guards to watch me.

Before he left, Deng Hongchang spoke frankly. 'Your case is a serious one, Wu Wenzhong, but there's a chance we can go easy on you. If you tell us absolutely everything about how Zhang Peifen asked you for help in interfering with the Peng Guoliang case, our higher-ups will consider giving you a second chance. I hope you'll take the chance to do something for yourself. Think clearly now!'

His words reached me, and for the next couple of days I was hardly able to eat. It wasn't that I was weakening, but suddenly none of it seemed worth it. I had both young and old to look after, and if I happened to catch ten years, how would my old mother and father survive? My wife had lost her job and hadn't found another, our son was still young and I was the mainstay of our household. If I fell, wouldn't that mean the end of the family?

By this point the tears were running down my face and I turned to the two investigators guarding me. 'I want to see Director Deng. I want to make my report to the organisation.'

When the two disciplinary cadres watching me heard that, they exchanged glances and smiled in satisfaction.