Don’t Cry, Tai Lake Read Free Page B

poetry too—in middle school,” she commented. “In a polluted age like ours, poetry is too much of a luxury, like a breath of pure air or a drop of clear water. Poetry can’t make anything happen except in one’s self-indulgent imagination.”
    “No, I don’t—”
    Chen’s response was interrupted by the shrill ringing of a cell phone in her satchel.
    Taking out a pink phone and putting it to her ear, she listened for a moment. Then she stood up, her face quickly bleaching of color in the afternoon light.
    “Something wrong?” he said.
    “No, it was just a nasty message,” she said, turning off the phone.
    “What was the message?”
    “‘Say what you’re supposed to say, or you’ll pay a terrible price.’”
    “Oh, maybe it was a prank call. I get those calls too,” he said. But usually nothing that specific, he didn’t add.
    Her brows knitted again. She seemed to know the call was more than a practical joke. She looked at her watch.
    “I’ve got to go back to work,” she said. “It’s nice to have met you, Mr. Chen. I hope you will enjoy a wonderful vacation here.”
    “You have a good weekend—”
    He thought about asking for her phone number, but she was already walking away, her long hair swaying across her back.
    It was probably just as well. It was only a chance meeting, like two nameless clouds crossing each other in the sky, then continuing on with their respective journeys. That was probably not a metaphor of his invention, but he couldn’t recall where he’d read it, Chen mused as he watched her walk.
    She turned before crossing the street and said, waving her hand lightly, “Bye,” as if to apologize for her abrupt exit.
    “Another beer?” Uncle Wang said, coming back to the table. He noticed the platter had hardly been touched. “I can refry the tofu for you.”
    “No, thanks. Just a beer,” Chen said. “Do you know her well?”
    “I know her parents well, to be exact. She was assigned a job here upon graduation. She is alone in Wuxi, so she comes here for lunch. I just warm up the food she that brings by in the morning.”
    “What kind of work does she do?”
    “She’s an engineer. Something to do with environment. She works hard, even on weekends. She left rather suddenly. What did you two talk about?”
    “She got a phone call and she left. A nasty prank call.”
    “There are some people who don’t like her.”
    If that was the case, then, the phone message could be a warning, not a practical joke. Still, who was he to worry about it? He hardly knew her.
    He finished his second beer and was ready to leave. He decided to curb his cop’s curiosity. After all, he was on vacation.

TWO
    THE NEXT MORNING, CHEN woke with a start. He thought he heard first a knock on the door, then heard the doorknob turning. Still disoriented, he sat up in bed, thinking that he must have been dreaming.
    “Room service.”
    A young attendant came in bearing a sweet smile and a silver tray of coffee, toast, jam, and eggs. She had clear features, a slender figure, and a willowy waist. She might have been specially selected to appeal to high-ranking cadres.
    He got out of bed and tried to find some change for a tip in the pocket of his pants draped over a chair, but she had already left the tray on the nightstand and had withdrawn light-footedly.
    The coffee tasted strong and refreshing. This was like staying in a five-star hotel, except that it was even more sumptuous. A whole villa to himself. He sipped at his first cup of coffee in bed, looking out the window at an expanse of lake water shimmering in the morning light.
    Then his phone began tinkling, as if rippling up from the dainty coffee cup.
    It was Comrade Secretary Zhao in Beijing.
    “I know you’ve been working hard, so enjoy the vacation, Comrade Chief Inspector Chen, and don’t worry about things back at the bureau.”
    “But the vacation was supposed to be for you.”
    “I’m retired, so I’m practically on vacation