My heart leaped at the words 'total waiver'. I could hardly believe my ears. The board's argument for reduced fees was that the Hegang Gardens development was riverside property, without any basic infrastructure, and construction would necessarily entail many additional expenses. They were hoping that I would be able to secure another ten per cent reduction in the land usage fees, a total of fifty per cent off. That would be an extraordinary discount, as land usage fees generally go, and I never expected to hear the words 'total waiver'. That would practically be giving it to us.

I hastened to ask, 'Name the condition, Secretary Hu. I'm sure we can work something out.'

He smiled craftily, blew a smoke ring, and said, 'A total waiver of the fees would be a princely gift from Mayor Peng to Wantong. I'm sure he could expect some show of grat.i.tude?'

'But of course, of course,' I said. 'Perhaps Secretary Hu could name a price.'

The corner of his mouth twisted down in something like a smile. 'It's not high, just set aside a villa for Mayor Peng in Pear Blossom Garden, and an apartment for me in Hegang Gardens.'

Obviously Peng had asked only for the villa and Hu Zhanfa had tacked on the apartment himself. Truly, it wasn't a very high price, but the figure was still high enough that I couldn't make the decision myself. I used my mobile phone to make a report to the CEO, who a.s.sented with no hesitation.

I hung up the phone and told Hu Zhanfa it was a deal. He was elated, and at a clap of his hands, two lovely young girls approached. I'm helpless before beauty, and when Hu Zhanfa saw the effect the girls had on me, he told them to sit next to me, saying, 'Manager Luo, this is the merest token of my regard. You're emperor for a night.'

I knew that this was his way of keeping me quiet about the apartment he'd asked for, and I a.s.sured him. 'Not to worry, Zhanfa. Boss Peng's business is his business, your business is your business, and I'm quite clear on the difference between the two.'

When he heard that, Hu Zhanfa toasted me. The girl on my left put a grape between her full lips to feed to me while the girl on my right wrapped her white arms around my neck and said sweetly, 'You must always take care when eating and drinking, Boss Luo, you could be in danger! An eighty-five-year-old woman got married to a twenty-five-year-old man, but the next day the young fellow died. Do you know why?'

I shook my head. She gave a snort of laughter. 'I'll give you a hint: the coroner determined the cause of death to be food poisoning.'

Confused, I asked, 'How was it food poisoning? What did he eat?'

The girl on the left said coyly, 'Still can't figure it out? He drank expired milk!'

Suddenly the answer dawned on me, and I burst out laughing.

Then the girl on the left said charmingly, 'Boss Luo, let's test how quick-witted you are, okay?'

I answered cheerfully, 'Sure!'

She asked craftily, 'Why is it that men use v.i.a.g.r.a?'

I feared a trick question, so shook my head and said, 'I don't know.'

She clapped her hands and said, 'Congratulations, that's the correct answer!'

The girl on the right chimed in with a straight face. 'A very incisive answer indeed.'

I was still befuddled and couldn't see how I'd gotten it right. Hu Zhanfa pointed at me and shook with laughter.

I don't have much of a sense of humour. I only understand business, and to a businessman, truth can only be found in a deal, not in a joke. In this regard, I truly appreciate Dongzhou more than Hong Kong. I say this because all the business deals I've conducted in Dongzhou have given me a sense of accomplishment. I've been in the world of business more than twenty years and know full well that there's no charity in the markets, but that doesn't mean you have to scorn making friends with those who make you shine brighter. On the contrary, a businessman must make friends with those whose economic fates are tied most closely to his own, and search for reliable backers who are like him in character. That is the quickest shortcut to wealth, even more so on the Mainland. I became deeply aware of this fact only after coming to Dongzhou.

Former Head of Number Two Department, Zhao Zhong.

I'VE HEARD A lot of rumours and slander about Mayor Liu recently. Ou Beibei has talked to me about it several times. I asked her who she heard it from, and she said most came from Hu Zhanfa, Mayor Peng's secretary.

When I was head of Number Two Department, Hu Zhanfa was always running Mayor Liu down in private. He was Peng Guoliang's lapdog. Without his master's goading, I couldn't see him having the guts to actually bite anyone. A politician who only engages in alliances but never in conspiracies will always be at a disadvantage. Mayor Liu is just the sort of straight shooter who would never conduct manoeuvres or deals behind the curtain. He brings everything on stage, out in the open, and wants to meet his enemies face to face.

That's harder than it sounds. Those driven by jealousy to plot against you will always hide behind the curtains. They don't have the guts to meet face to face. I have urged Mayor Liu more than once that when dealing with someone like Peng Guoliang, who always conducts his stratagems in darkness, you have to give them a taste of their own medicine.

Mayor Liu's face always hardens when he hears me talk like this, and he says, 'No wonder they called you the "false monk" in the office, Zhao Zhong! You may have a Buddhist nature, but you haven't got a Buddhist heart! I like having enemies it makes this work worth doing but I hate internal strife. As Mayor, I work for the people of Dongzhou; I don't get caught up in conspiracies. So long as I'm steadfast, heaven will smooth my path. Jealousy has killed far more people throughout history than cancer ever has, and of course there are risks in politics. We've had thirty years of reform and opening up, and every step of the way was dogged with risk. Why is that? Chuang-tzu has a line in 'Carefree Wandering' that goes: "If one did not extinguish a candle when the sun and moon come out, wouldn't it be hard to discern its light?" I have my own saying: "The rivers and seas are broad, but only the lakes are deep."'

His eyes flashed like fire as he was saying this, and when he was finished, his face wore a smile that spoke of a deep knowledge of the world, and his eyes were once again as placid as pools.

Though Mayor Liu often admonishes me to stick to business and not get involved in politics again, I always feel responsibility to help him where I can. While I was head of Number Two, people took me more seriously because I had Mayor Liu's backing. Now I am making great strides in business, and while that isn't directly due to him, I know that my success comes in part because everyone knows of my connection to him. Not only has our fathers' bond made us closer than blood brothers, but he has practically become the totem of my public self-respect.

For the sake of that self-respect, there was nothing untoward about engaging in a little conspiracy. If Mayor Liu, lofty as a philosopher-king, didn't deign to glance behind the curtain, I'd never thought of myself as particularly lofty, and so I wanted to take a peep to see exactly who was crouching back there.

While I was head of Number Two, I was the boss and I stood by everything I said. They called me autocratic, arbitrary, even tyrannical, to the point where Xu Zhitai, Huang Xiaoming and the others ganged up to drive me out. Given my power now, it would be child's play to make trouble for them, or even ruin their futures, but if they hadn't conducted their coup, I would never have made it so far. In a sense, I should thank them. Though it was a bit of a sucker punch, it was carried out in the open. Now Xu Zhitai and Huang Xiaoming have boarded Peng Guoliang's pirate ship. It will be harder to get off than it was to get on.

Now I am in the business of saving souls I've gone from boss to Buddha. Since my path led me to Buddhism, I've come to believe that all human hope comes from the concept of a far sh.o.r.e, and all human suffering comes from the exact same thing. Everyone is hoping for salvation, and believes that only the far sh.o.r.e can save us. But how often we destroy ourselves in trying to reach it. That's absurd. The far sh.o.r.e can save our souls, but it can also constrict our souls. It is the existence of death that allows us to taste happiness and to yearn for the far sh.o.r.e and a life of deathless happiness, with no vexations. But that's not the true far sh.o.r.e; that's heaven. That's one of the reasons why people worship G.o.ds, and want to become G.o.ds. So what exactly is this far sh.o.r.e? That's one of the eternal human questions. Is it power? Definitely not. Power is the source of suffering and can only lead to the confinement of thought and the stagnation of history. Though all life rushes towards death, it will never stagnate. Only a person who lives can be said to be alive, or be called a 'person'. Otherwise we'd be corpses, and corpses disappear amid stench and putrefaction. Thus, the far sh.o.r.e must exist within our lives. It must be our inextinguishable hope, whereas power can only build walls around us and stifle our fragile hopes. Neither can the far sh.o.r.e exist within any particular social science, because all social sciences come with their own walls, their own systems, their own features. Thus, humans can only rely upon religion to soothe their souls. Religion is the ark that humanity has learned to use in its search for the far sh.o.r.e. To me, the ark is not a ship but a temple. Fan Zhongyan said that whilst living in the temple hall, one thought of the people, but whilst living among the people, one thought of the emperor. I am far from the people now, but very near to the temple. There's nothing contradictory about this. It is fate, and Buddhahood.

But if I meant to become a 'fighting Buddha', I would need to see where Peng Guoliang was sailing his pirate ship.

A few days ago, I invited Zhu Dawei's father Zhu Wenwu to drink with me. The reason was that I had noticed a growing closeness between Peng Guoliang and the Hong Kong agent Robert Luo whose Wantong Group co-operated with Zhu Wenwu's real estate group to develop the Hegang Gardens project. The investment was nearly ten billion, Zhu Wenwu's largest project since he started doing business. Robert was merely the representative of the Hong Kong partner. The project itself had come about when the old mayor had led an investment attraction team to Hong Kong, and Zhu Wenwu had used the opportunity to get to know the CEO of Wantong. He'd secured the project only after a protracted period of negotiation.

After Mayor Liu took office, he took the Hegang Gardens project very seriously. It meant the banks of the Blackwater River would very likely become Dongzhou City's silver belt of economic expansion. That was also the reason that my own new real estate company began to make inroads into that area, and I had asked Zhu Wenwu to dinner both to learn from his experiences in working with the Hong Kong partner, and also to find out why exactly Peng Guoliang and Robert had grown so close.

During the drinking session, Zhu Wenwu made much of my relationship with Mayor Liu, and asked me to recommend his son Zhu Dawei to him. While I was head of Number Two, I had noticed that Zhu Dawei had dreams of becoming a mayor's secretary, but he was stymied by the lack of open positions. Zhu Wenwu had heard that Song Daoming, Mayor Liu's secretary, would soon be moving upwards, and he lost no time in expounding his son's talents and high morals to me.

The very next day, I'd had some business at the Munic.i.p.al Government. Every time I visited the offices, I would drop in to Number Two to sit for a bit, and just as I had entered that day, Huang Xiaoming was calling his wife, arranging for plane tickets. I asked Yang Hengda who Xiaoming was getting tickets for, and when I learned that Mayor Peng was travelling to Hong Kong the next day, I became suspicious. Huang Xiaoming's wife worked in the ticket office of an airline, and when Peng Guoliang was going abroad, Hu Zhanfa would usually go to Huang Xiaoming to get tickets. I chatted for a bit with Yang Hengda and Huang Xiaoming, then bustled out.

That evening I called Zhu Wenwu and asked playfully if he and Robert would be up for a game of mahjong. I was hoping to find Robert's whereabouts, and sure enough Zhu Wenwu said in an irritated tone, 'Robert went to Hong Kong to collect a prize.'

Perplexed, I asked, 'What prize? He couldn't have won the lottery, could he?'

Zhu Wenwu grumbled, 'G.o.dd.a.m.n it, the Hegang Gardens project was plainly my doing, if they were going to give prizes for attracting foreign investment, then I should be the one to get it. What the h.e.l.l does it have to do with Robert? Now Peng Guoliang, as the mayor in charge of the project, has not only got his prizes mixed up, he's gone to Hong Kong to meet Robert in person. There's something fishy going on here, Zhao Zhong.'

Deputy Chief Secretary and Director of the Munic.i.p.al Government, Xiao Furen MY PRECISE JOB description is Deputy Chief Secretary serving Standing Vice-Mayor Peng Guoliang. But when Mayor Liu was a standing vice-mayor and I was in charge of Number Two Department, Combined Affairs before Zhao Zhong, Liu got in the habit of using me and he still comes to me to discuss most everything he does.

This puts me in a bind because both leaders often call for me simultaneously. To be honest, I would much rather serve Mayor Liu. I owe him my career, after all. But Mayor Peng keeps a tight grip on me, and grumbles about my having a foot in two camps.

'Having a foot in two camps' hardly does the situation justice. I'm being split in half by a tug-of-war! I say that because relations between Peng Guoliang and Liu Yihe are starting to resemble the bitter rivalry that existed between General Zhou Yu and Chancellor Zhuge Liang during the Three Kingdoms period. Peng Guoliang has Zhou Yu's resentment. 'Since there is a Zhou Yu, what need is there of a Zhuge Liang?' he says.

I swing between the two of them, as helpless as Lu Su did when dealing with the General and the Chancellor. Actually, Peng Guoliang doesn't have Zhou Yu's talents, and Liu Yihe doesn't have Zhuge Liang's strategic ac.u.men, and of course I would never presume to be a Lu Su with a 'head full of stratagems and heart full of schemes'.

There is one aspect in which I feel I am handling this delicate situation well. I stick by Peng Guoliang in body, and Liu Yihe in spirit.

A strong personality can be a liability in politics, but Liu Yihe has a strong individual character. You could say that he has benefited from this over the twenty years of his political career, but when his position was elevated to vice-governorship, all the old petty personal conflicts and strife were elevated into deadly political struggle. That was precisely when he needed to be Lu Su, with a 'head full of stratagems and heart full of schemes', but there was never anything hidden about Liu Yihe. He goes about his work like a tank, rumbling straight ahead in contempt of any and all minefields. As he puts it, 'All can and should be boldly explored, so long as no national laws, regulations or directives are broken and there are no direct orders to the contrary. If there is flexibility in our superiors' policies, we must be creative in their application. The liberation of thought is a long and b.l.o.o.d.y road, and it is likely that some will be sacrificed as we walk along it. I would rather be martyred on that road than take a single step backwards.' That sort of person may typically keep quiet, but should they ever decide to act, they will shake the world.

These thoughts were prompted by a visit from Liu's secretary, Song Daoming, whom I had called in to discuss some personnel matters. Our conversation strayed to rumours that were circulating about Mayor Liu. Some government functionaries had been saying in private that Mayor Liu had divorced his wife and taken a programme host from Changshan Television as a mistress. Every long weekend he would drive to Changshan alone.

I have served Mayor Liu for many years, and I know that his wife is a bit of a shrew, but Mayor Liu never says a word against her and has never treated her harshly. Could this be a mere facade? In a marriage like that, any man would be p.r.o.ne to stray, so I didn't completely discount the rumours. I was even inclined to place some credence in them. On second thoughts, however, there was something calculated about them. Mayor Liu's wife may have been a shrew, but he seemed to take pleasure in her temper. The foundation of their love was strong they had been college cla.s.smates so how could they separate so lightly?

Song had just left my office when my mobile phone rang, and I was surprised to hear Deng Hongchang's voice. He and I were cla.s.smates at the Provincial Party School young cadre training course. I had been cla.s.s monitor and he was the Party Branch Secretary. Though we had worked well together, we hadn't stayed in contact after leaving the Party School. It wasn't because there was anything wrong with him he was an enthusiastic, honest and straightforward person but rather because he became Director of the Sixth Office of the Provincial Disciplinary Committee, in charge of major cases. The most corrupt officials in the province fell at his hand, and because of his work, he had the habit of watching everyone with a judging look that made you uncomfortable. I'd kept my distance from him.

Now he was calling me out of the blue, asking me to dinner that night, and I honestly did not want to go. Who knew whom I might accidentally offend by dining with him? The malefactors he investigated were punished with disciplinary action, demotion, expulsion from the Party or dismissal from public service that's if their case was minor. Major offenders would find themselves in jail, or even their heads on the block, literally. The family, friends and a.s.sociates of these corrupt officials naturally bore deep grudges against him, and it was these people I feared offending by being seen with him. Those who knew us would know we were friends, but those who didn't might think I was making a report or being pumped for information.

'Hongchang, this wouldn't be the fox asking the hen to dinner, would it?' I joked. 'Why don't I treat you instead I'll feel a bit more relaxed that way.'

Deng Hongchang didn't stand on ceremony. He agreed, saying he just missed our time together at the Party School and wanted a drink. I made a reservation in the Blackwater Room at Beautiful World.

Deng Hongchang arrived at the appointed hour. As we sat, he talked to me about the progress of anti-corruption work, and complained of the 'four bitternesses' of being a disciplinary supervisor: poverty, exhaustion, stress and emotional torment. This last one was most difficult. Placating 'public displeasure' often led to private grudges. Without a certain measure of flexibility and conviction, most people could not stand the pressure. I was moved by the sincerity with which he spoke, particularly when he talked about the five things that a good disciplinary cadre could not fear: death, imprisonment, demotion, expulsion from the Party and divorce. I couldn't help commenting, 'The path of the righteous is desolate.'

After Deng Hongchang's soliloquy, the thread of conversation moved on to the main topic. He clinked gla.s.ses with me and said directly, 'Furen, I wouldn't have asked you to come out without special reason. I have a favour to ask!'

As soon as I heard this, the knot of tension within me suddenly relaxed. I wouldn't have guessed that Deng Hongchang and his 'five things you can never fear' might lower himself to asking me for a favour. I suddenly felt well-disposed towards him, and said in the voice of an old friend, 'Hongchang, there's no need for "favours" between us. Just tell me how I can help and I'll be sure to do my utmost!'

Deng Hongchang lit a cigarette and said disconsolately, 'Furen, I've got a niece, my elder sister's child, who graduated from vocational school a year ago and still can't find work. I'm hoping you might be able to help find a place for her.'

He looked as miserable as if this niece were his own daughter, and I resolved to help him. But what could a vocational graduate do in the Munic.i.p.al Government? Even the cafeteria ticket sellers had bachelor's degrees. I told him, 'Hongchang, with that little education there's not much she's qualified for besides the Janitorial Brigade.'

His face broke into smile. 'The Janitorial Brigade! Furen, my niece is doing a degree equivalency programme, and in a couple of years she'll have her BA. Once that happens, you can find her something better!'

It must have been embarra.s.sing for him to even have brought this up, I thought. If I was going to help, I'd help all the way, so I said frankly, 'Hongchang, I said I'll help and I will. But the Janitorial Brigade just cleans the offices of the mayor and vice-mayors. Isn't that a bit low-level for your niece?'

'Not at all, Furen,' he replied with satisfaction. 'Cleaning the offices of the mayor and vice-mayors is just as prestigious as being an airline stewardess.'

I had to come completely clean. 'All right then, but there's still the question of appearances. The girls in the Janitorial Brigade are all real beauties.'

He replied, 'Furen, cleaning the mayor's office isn't a beauty pageant. Why is that necessary?'

I knew his professional ethics were kicking in and I hurried to forestall him. 'Serving the mayor requires a certain panache of course. You're representing the Munic.i.p.al Government!'

Deng Hongchang burst out laughing, 'If you put it that way, I wouldn't be surprised if my niece became the star of your brigade!'

I relaxed when I heard him say that, and tried to be conciliatory. 'If that's the case, I'll a.s.sign her to Mayor Liu's office. What's your niece's name, Hongchang?'

He seemed more than a little proud of her as he answered readily, 'Shang Xiaoqiong.'

The Instigator IN THIS WORLD, not even idiots are innocent. What could be more ridiculous than Liu Yihe's posture as the paragon of virtue and righteousness? There is too much orthodoxy in 'filing a report', too much that is shadowy about 'anonymity', too much opprobrium attached to a 'frame up'. I want nothing more than to return things to their original condition. The reason I want to do this is that I don't believe that there is such a thing as 'original condition'. Everything is enslaved to nihilism. In a world where you can't be sure what is black and what is white, who would dare dance beneath the sword of Damocles? That person might be able to climb a little higher up the ladder of official success. If anyone seeks to restrain my ascent, I'll brandish the sword of Damocles at him, and knock him off the ladder.

The sword is not in my hand, however Liu Yihe s.n.a.t.c.hed it first.

What to do?

My boss, wise as always, told me that in these situations one must seek to prevail by wits, not by strength. As for how to do that, the only thing I could think of was making use of a proxy to attack Liu Yihe. But who had that power?

It wasn't until Qi Xiuying came from K Province to be Secretary of the Qingjiang Provincial Disciplinary Committee that it suddenly came to me. Qi hated wrongdoing above all else, and if she could be made to see Liu Yihe's wrongdoing, she would be sure to act against him. If the Provincial or Central Disciplinary Committee were to open an investigation into him, it would ruin his reputation and career even if the investigation produced nothing. And how could it possibly produce nothing? Catching Liu Yihe in the act would be the perfect first success in her new position in Qingjiang. Who would turn down such a neatly packaged gift?

So how could I go about presenting Qi Xiuying with Liu Yihe's wrongdoings? Once again, the boss had the answer. He noticed that my handwriting is very similar to Liu's. I'm a calligraphy enthusiast, skilled with pen and brush, and I took his hint at once. A little further direction and my path was clear.

I spent three months painstakingly learning to imitate Liu's handwriting. I can replicate many styles, the way actors do impressions of celebrities. Liu is quite a calligrapher, actually, with a bit of the famed w.a.n.g Xianzhi's style. Anyone who knows calligraphy could tell at a glance that he had studied the Orchid Pavilion, and studied it deeply. Though he had developed his own style, it still bore the marks of w.a.n.g Xianzhi in its firm, masculine grace. But still he persisted in his own development and in the end only retained w.a.n.g's shapes, replacing the spirit with his own overriding personality.

I like that personality, to be honest, because he and I are of the same sort. But my status is too low to allow me to express my personality. I must keep my true self hidden. The real difference, of course, is that he is a mayor, and I am not. It makes me feel like I'm some sort of forgery, like we are a pair of porcelain vases: Liu Yihe the unique and priceless original, me the clever copy.

Some people think that my boss was mistaken in 'buying' me, but he thinks he detected a misappraised treasure, and that's why I'll follow him to the grave. We take respect for talent seriously. I may not be a 'thousand li horse', but I at least can count as a 'hundred li' or 'ten li' horse, right? And who was it who decided that a man of talent had to be a 'thousand li horse' anyway? Couldn't a 'thousand li donkey' or 'thousand li ox' or 'thousand li mule' serve just as well? And besides these beasts of burden, couldn't there be a 'thousand li dog', 'thousand li wolf' or 'thousand li tiger'?

To h.e.l.l with the 'thousand li horse'! I'd rather be a 'thousand li dog'. I will pounce without remorse or hesitation on anyone who dares stand in my or my boss's way. I'll sink my teeth into his crotch and show him what the 'thousand li dog' is made of!

Mayor Liu was born in the year of the dog, and he's a bit of a 'thousand li dog' himself, otherwise he wouldn't look down his snout at others. We've both got the dog nature. The difference is that Mayor Liu is a rebel dog. Dogs can live just fine without faith in anything, but a rebel dog is different. All that is sacred becomes orthodox, and there can never be such thing as a methodology. Methodology is philosophy, and everyone has their own philosophy. My philosophy is not to base my actions on values or principles. When has the advancement of the human race ever been based on anything but selfish interests? I simply didn't believe that Mayor Liu's value system and world view had nothing to do with self-interest. Even if it did, I would create self-interest for him. That was the wrongdoing that I would show to Qi Xiuying. I would do this by means of writing out all his dirtiest secrets in his own hand, in his own voice. I wrote a complete notebook for him, and when it was done and I'd read it from start to finish, I found I'd created something worthy of publication. If it were published, I knew it would be a bestseller. Who wouldn't want a peep into the dark secrets hidden in the depths of a mayor's heart? This book of notes would reveal all.

When it was complete, I gave it to my boss to read, and he once again praised my uncommon talents. I wanted to mail the whole thing to Qi Xiuying but he disagreed, telling me I should mail it to her a few pages at a time, giving her regular doses of stomach-turning medicine. It was a brilliant suggestion. In order to strengthen the impression, I gave my work a t.i.tle, The Civil Servant's Notebook, and every time I mailed an instalment I printed this t.i.tle out and pasted it at the top of the first page.

When I mailed the first part I didn't dare do it from within the city, so I drove to Changshan. As I tossed the envelope into a mailbox in the post office, my heart was nearly climbing out of my throat. The lady in line behind me thought I was having a heart attack. I sneaked back into my car like a thief, a terrible sense of guilt welling up in me. It was terrifying but also thrilling, as addictive as a drug.

These days, if I go more than a couple of weeks without mailing an instalment of The Civil Servant's Notebook I get terribly antsy, as if I were missing my fix, and I leap into my car and go looking for a mailbox or a post office.

I knew that once Qi Xiuying began receiving the The Civil Servant's Notebook she would do everything in her power to find me. I couldn't let that happen. I made sure never to leave fingerprints, and to mail the packages from random locations, ensuring they could never find a clue. The only clues they could possibly find were in the contents of the Notes themselves: the list I had written of Mayor Liu's 'wrongdoings'.

The earliest notes were quite creative, literary even. I guessed that if Mayor Liu had the chance to read them, he would stamp and grunt like a boar in heat.

The opening goes like this: 'Today I spent two hours accompanying Feifei shopping in the Changshan Mall. She couldn't bring herself to buy anything, though she had her eye on a particular skirt. She circled it for a while and I knew she liked it, so I told her to try it on. She wouldn't consider it, saying she would save the money to spend on my birthday. Working as I did from morning to night, I'd practically forgotten my birthday. I started looking forward to the weekend as soon as I started work on Mondays, thinking of how I would relax with Feifei. I said a skirt like that can't be more than ten thousand, and it's not like we're short of cash; I decided I'd buy it. She still wouldn't have it, and said it was me she loved, not my power or money. That's what enchants me about Feifei, she's just so pure, even naive. She doesn't just love me; she actually worships me. And not for my wealth or status either. So long as my heart belongs to her, she thinks she's the happiest person in the world.

'There was something of love at first sight between Feifei and me. That was when I was still a vice department head. I'd gone to conduct a survey in Changshan, where Feifei was the host of a TV news programme. She came to my hotel to interview me, and while we were chatting I told her that she looked like the cla.s.s beauty from my college days, then told her frankly that that cla.s.s beauty had always had my heart, but I had felt so unworthy of her I'd never dared dream of possessing her. Feifei was just as frank, and told me that I looked to her like the white knight she'd always dreamed of in college. Our conversation grew warmer as we got to know each other, and we eventually exchanged numbers. Less than a week after I returned to Dongzhou I got a call from her, and I could hear from her voice that she had been thinking of me constantly. I told her I'd drive to Changshan myself that weekend to see her, and after that it was too late to change our minds about anything.

'Three years went by in a flash, and Feifei became my spiritual refuge. I don't think there's anything immoral or dissolute about extramarital affairs; I respect all that is beautiful about the human character. I was so busy I forgot that today is my birthday. I could never dare hope that my wife would throw a party for me since she's too thoughtless to remember even her own parents' birthdays. Besides my own secretary, the only people who remember my birthday are my lickspittle subordinates who hope to use my power to change their own fates. Only Feifei observes my birthday out of love.

'We returned to her little villa in the suburbs, and as soon as we got in the door she gave me a surprise: a thousand paper cranes of various colours were hung about the room. She told me that she had spent five whole evenings, working late into the night, folding those cranes. As the incomparably lovely Feifei spoke, the tinderbox of my heart suddenly burst into flames, and like Faust falling in love with Helen, the dawn broke over my spirit. If marriage could be compared to the sun, then the most glorious radiance is only found outside of the sun, not inside it. I think this is the truth that all successful men who pursue affairs live by.'

I had a very simple reason for starting with Mayor Liu's affair, rather than with bribery or corruption: Qi Xiuying was a Disciplinary Committee secretary who'd been a widow and single mother for more than ten years, and a woman like that would never forgive such a lofty public servant for straying from the marital fold. She would be sure to treat a corruption case like this one with as much severity as possible. He'd never dig himself out from under it!

After all was said and done my boss proved prescient. His most profound political theory was that if a person was to retain his official position, he needed a perfect understanding of how that position might be taken away from him. If someone wanted to advance, he would need a perfect understanding of the pleasures and weaknesses of whoever it was who could help him do so, and at the same time he would need to sweep away any obstacles to that advancement.

As I put the The Civil Servant's Notebook plan into effect, I realised something. If you want to achieve something in your official career, you have to brave death, imprisonment, demotion, expulsion from the Party, even divorce. Otherwise you will only live in fear.

Mayor of Dongzhou, Liu Yihe I ONCE SAID that I had come to Dongzhou to be a boat-puller, and I wasn't just mouthing fine words. Reform doesn't come from going with the flow, but against it, and along the way we must face sand shoals, submerged reefs, whirlpools and the danger of capsizing. So I've always advocated tolerance towards reformers, even failed reformers. Lack of tolerance would be a tragedy for the nation. But when a boat-puller pulls, chanting work songs, he's often accused of flaunting abilities a major taboo in Chinese politics. But to a real reformer, the target of reform is precisely these old taboos!

Recently I led a team to four South-East Asian countries to drum up investment. The media in Singapore claimed that the openness of my thinking came as a great surprise to the worlds of industry and commerce in the area, and even The New York Times gave me high praise. They called me the mayor 'who dared to be first'. Praise like that was unprecedented, and some feared that by showing my mettle I'd made myself a target for criticism.

After my trip, I'd attended a meeting of the Munic.i.p.al Standing Committee where the old mayor, now director of the Munic.i.p.al People's Consultative Conference, and a few standing Committee members gave me a friendly reminder in private that I should learn to protect myself. My secretary, Song Daoming, was also worried about poisoned chalices and knives in the night. It's not that I don't think about these things. But you can't do nothing simply because you're worried about poisoned chalices. I firmly believe that no matter what storms rock the official world, the basic principles of human society will still apply.

So during the meeting I told everyone frankly, 'I've got an advertis.e.m.e.nt for Dongzhou into The New York Times. Reform and opening up is not just the spirit of Dongzhou, it's the spirit of China. Reform and opening up has allowed China to show its mettle on the world stage. Dongzhou was already moving towards the world, and who can become mayor of a provincial capital of eight million people without a little courage, and the guts to display his own mettle? Dongzhou was once a manufacturing base for the People's Republic's armaments, but development has met with an unprecedented bottleneck, and if it is to continue it will require upgrades of industry and the attraction of foreign investment, all the while encouraging Dongzhou's enterprises to boldly "go out". This was my original motivation in promoting foreign investment at the start of my term.

'To tell you the truth, every time I go abroad to discuss investment deals and I see the clear skies and blue waters of Western countries, I find it as galling as the cadres at the beginning of reform and opening up did when they went abroad and saw the wealth of other nations. Last year when I visited j.a.pan and saw the natural beauty of Hokkaido, I felt an enormous weight suddenly descend upon me. I don't know if Dongzhou has any place that beautiful, and even if it does it's probably only because we're industrially backwards and economically depressed. Meanwhile the j.a.panese are able to reach a high degree of industrialisation while preserving such a beautiful natural environment. It made me deeply envious, but more importantly, it told me I have a job to do! The environment our ancestors left us was beautiful to begin with, so when will we be able to return that beauty to our people, and to our ancestors? Seeing their environment, I suddenly blushed to think that Dongzhou has been praised as a forested city, an ecological city, a hygienic city and a model environmental city. I felt ashamed on behalf of all those officials who don't know to blush, and who instead gloat over the political points they've scored! Those points are not meant for taking credit for the work of others, or increasing one's own wealth and power; they're meant for benefiting the public. Only political achievements that can withstand the tests of practice, history and the scrutiny of the people can really be called achievements.

'Our investment attraction team stopped off in Hong Kong on our way back, and there I saw a news item on the television about how some people had encountered difficulties while mountain climbing near the city, and had been rescued by pa.s.sers-by. I thought to myself that in terms of area and despite its high population density, Hong Kong is barely an ink spot, but after more than one hundred years of development it still has large areas of wild, forested mountains. We've only been developing for thirty years and we've more or less used up our land. The air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat: they're all polluted. The flames are lapping our toes, and we're still bashful about flaunting our mettle in public? We're not worthy of the people of Dongzhou!

'Some may think I have ulterior motives here, that I am thinking first of my career. I'll admit that I hope as much as anyone for a bright political future, but there's no contradiction between climbing the ladder and achieving something real. The higher your position, the more and the greater things you can do. The height of the position I occupy is the business of my superiors, but the height of my aspirations is my own business; therefore the greatness of what I achieve will be decided by us together. Reform in Dongzhou has always been conducted along three principles: market efficiency, democratic values and a harmonious society. In the pursuit of these three principles I do not shun the "rule of man". Today, when the ideals of democracy are not yet fully formed, I have the authority as Mayor to combine the rule of man, rule of law and rule of letters in the execution of reform. When I conduct surveys of the lower levels, I hear more boasting and empty talk than I do serious thinking about development. How will we change the situation without the "rule of man"? Frankly speaking, I will employ all methods and means in the pursuit of human development and social stability.'

Everyone was deeply moved by the speech, and all felt that in taking the team on our tour of South-East Asia we had promoted the advanced thinking, desire for change and 'dare to be first' spirit of Dongzhou not only to the media of South-East Asia, but also to The New York Times. This 'advertis.e.m.e.nt' had been perfectly placed.