The King of Shanghai (26 page)

( 37 )

She slept fitfully, her mind churning over the conversation she’d had with Lam and preparing for the one she was about to have with Xu. At six she gave up and slid out of bed. After a quick coffee, she put on her running gear and headed for the MTR and the short ride to Victoria Park.

The night before, she’d ordered room service when she got back to the hotel. While she waited for the food, she started up her computer. There was an email from May Ling saying she’d talked to Bowlby and that the law firm was working on the Beijing agreement. Another from Amanda said she’d finally contacted Gillian. Their conversation had been brief and lacking in detail, but Gillian had promised to respond to their offer within forty-eight hours.

There was one message on Ava’s phone. Jennie Lee wanted her to call her father and arrange a dinner. Her father would have to wait until things were more settled, Ava thought. He tended to interrogate her, and she didn’t fancy either lying or being evasive.

The park was almost quiet when she got there. The jogging track was busier than its perimeter, where the exercise clubs and tai chi groups were just beginning to set up, but she was able to get in five quick laps before it got congested. She did three more laps, starting and stopping, before she became frustrated and walked back to the Causeway Bay station.

She made another coffee when she got back to the room and sat down at the desk with the
South China Morning Post
. She read the front-page stories and then skimmed her way through the rest, almost missing a headline that riveted her. “Gang War in Wanchai,” it read. The short article was buried near the back. It reported that a gun battle had broken out in Wanchai two nights before and several people had been killed or wounded. A spokesperson for the Hong Kong Police Special Investigations Unit was quoted as saying that two rival Triad gangs were involved and that the SIU was in the process of identifying and arresting suspects. Ava had no idea how much truth there was in that claim, but the fact that the SIU had gone public was bad. She was sure the story had made the front pages of the local Chinese papers; the only thing they loved more than a sex scandal was anything Triad-related.

She put down the paper and phoned the clinic. Dr. Lui came on the line almost at once.

“It’s Ava Lee. I’m calling to see how Mr. Xu is doing this morning.”

“Much better.”

“So he can speak to me if I come over?”

“Yes.”

“How about his mobility?”

“What do you mean?”

“How soon do you think he can leave the clinic?”

“I think he needs at least another twenty-four hours of rest and care. And frankly, that won’t be soon enough.”

“Doctor, did something unpleasant happen?” Ava asked, surprised by his tone.

“My nurse brought me a fistful of newspapers this morning. They’re full of stories about a Triad gang war. In two of them Mr. Xu is mentioned by name.”

“I see.”

“You do understand that I did this for Sonny? Actually, for my sister.”

“Well, your help has been much appreciated. The last thing anyone, especially Mr. Xu, would want is for his presence to cause you any problems. I’ll be at the clinic in about an hour. We’ll start organizing his departure, and the moment you say he can leave, we’ll take him home.”

“Thank you.”

“Now, could you let him know that I’m on the way?”

“I will.”

Ava hung up. The election was two days away. If the doctor’s prognosis was correct, it seemed that Xu would be in good enough condition to attend. What she had to ensure was that, whether he attended or not, the outcome would be the same.

Ava jumped in and out of the shower, dressed, quickly applied some makeup, and left the room with her bag in hand. She waved off the doorman’s offer of a taxi and headed for the Star Ferry terminal. Rush hour was in full flow, and the ferries to Hong Kong Island were jammed with commuters. She had her choice of seats going to Tsim Sha Tsui and took one that gave her a view of the receding Hong Kong skyline. She took out her notebook and began to review the notes she’d made the night before.

When the ferry docked, she went over to the taxi stand. The driver hesitated when she gave him the clinic’s Mong Kok address. She passed him an HK hundred-dollar bill. “That’s your tip in advance,” she said.

They crawled through Kowloon, and Ava felt her patience beginning to fray. She knew it was her eagerness to talk to Xu rather than the traffic that was the cause, but that didn’t stop her silently cursing the motorists around them. When the cab stopped again about a hundred metres from the clinic, Ava had had enough. She passed the fare to the driver and climbed out.

The sidewalk was crowded, and she was almost at the clinic door before she saw the two men standing on either side of it. They were trying to appear casual, but as she moved towards the entrance, both stepped directly in front of her.

“I’m Ava Lee. I’m here to see Xu. Call Suen,” she said sharply.

“Oh, you’re Ms. Lee. Sorry, I didn’t actually know your face,” one of them said, and leaned forward to open the door for her.

She started up the narrow wooden stairway, which smelled of disinfectant even before she got to the door. The clinic had the same smell as every hospital she’d ever been in, and she hated it. In Ava’s mind these were places where people went to die. She knew it was illogical, but it was a visceral response she’d never been able to get rid of. And spending months with Uncle at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kowloon hadn’t helped.

The door opened into a small reception area with about ten chairs surrounding a large coffee table stacked with Chinese magazines. Ava walked to the reception desk.

“My name is Ava Lee and I’m here to see Mr. Xu. Doctor Lui knew I was coming.”

“Just one second,” the nurse said, reaching for her phone.

There was a woman with a small child and an elderly couple in the waiting room. She heard the older woman say something curt to her husband. Ava turned to her. “I’m not here to see the doctor, so I’m not cutting in front of anyone.” The woman looked embarrassed, and Ava felt ashamed for having spoken that way to an elder.

Before she could apologize, she was greeted by Dr. Lui. “Pleased to meet you, and thank you again for everything you’ve done,” she said.

“Come inside,” he said, standing back so she could pass. “Mr. Xu is in a private room at the end of the hall. Go left — you can’t miss it.”

She walked down the hall to a closed door and knocked.

“Who is it?” Suen said.

“Ava.”

“Come in.”

“You should know that your man downstairs let me in because I said I was Ava Lee. I might not have been,” she said.

“I’ll talk to him,” Suen snapped.

Xu was propped up in bed with an IV in his arm. Suen sat near him in a blue leather chair.

“You look good,” Ava said.

Xu shrugged, and then grimaced from the effort. “Well, I am twice as good as I was yesterday and ten times better than the day before. I have some energy back and my head feels less like mush.”

“Are you up for a talk?”

“Sure.”

“I think it might be best if it’s just between the two of us for now.”

Suen turned and looked at his boss, who nodded. “I was about to go buy you some clothes anyway,” he said. He slid by Ava and left the room.

She stood near the door, fidgeting, shifting her weight from foot to foot. “I should tell you I’m very uncomfortable in hospitals.”

“This is a clinic.”

“Not much different.”

“Come and sit down,” he said.

She settled into Suen’s chair, her head at the same level as Xu’s. “I have to say you look better than I expected. The doctor sounded rather gloomy, but you have colour in your face and your eyes are alive.”

“You should see what is under the gown. I have never seen so many bandages. I feel like a mummy.”

“Well, he’s done a hell of a job.”

“I think so, although when he saw me this morning, he was quite nervous. I wondered if something had gone wrong with me.”

Ava shook her head. “He was reacting to the local Chinese newspapers. The police have been talking up the Wanchai attack. They say it was a Triad gang war, and you were named in a couple of papers. I guess Sonny didn’t tell the doctor everything when he brought you here.”

“I hate publicity,” Xu said. “In all my years in Shanghai I have never been mentioned in any of the media.”

“Hong Kong is a different place. But the good thing is that when something new comes along, they’ll forget about you soon enough.”

“I hope it is not too late. Some of the brothers may see it as well, and they do not like publicity either. You know that the vote is in two days. I do not need to give them a reason not to support me.”

“I doubt that a couple of small news stories in local Chinese papers would upset anyone.”

“You do not know these guys.”

“That’s true.”

Xu pulled himself up, groaning from the effort. Then he looked at Ava and smiled. “Suen and Lop were impressed with the way you handled Sammy Wing and Jimmy Tan. I owe you thanks for that. I meant to say it the moment I saw you, and then we got sidetracked.”

“All I did was what you wanted.”

“Do not be so modest.”

It was Ava’s turn to shrug. “When you said a minute ago that you don’t want to give your brothers a reason not to vote for you, did it occur to you that going after Sammy Wing might already have done that?”

“I do not think so, or at least I hope not. The attack on Wanchai, given the provocation, will be something they all understand as a reasonable response. What they will not grasp is why I let Sammy live and why I am letting him continue to pretend he is in charge of Wanchai.”

“Why did you?”

“I thought it was a good short-term business strategy.”

“And the others won’t see that?”

“They may not. Some may even think I am soft.”

“That would be foolish of them.”

“Foolish or not, it may give them a reason not to vote for me.”

“What if it didn’t matter who they voted for?” Ava said.

( 38 )

“I do not know if it is the painkillers I have been taking,” Xu said slowly, “but I am having problems understanding you.”

Ava leaned forward and put her hand on the edge of the bed. A memory flashed of her laying her head on Uncle’s hospital bed, of his hand covering hers.

“I went to Guangzhou yesterday,” she said.

Xu became still, his face impassive. “Why?” he said.

“To meet with Lam.”

“Not Li?”

“No.”

“Lam asked you to go?”

“No, I approached him through Uncle Fong. I requested a private meeting.”

“And he agreed?”

“He did.”

“What compelled you to do it?” Xu said, shaking his head.

“I’m not very good at sitting back and letting things happen.”

“You were safe here.”

“I wasn’t so sure. We had Wing under control but Li was still out there. You were here in this bed and Li would know you were badly hurt. So in my mind it became a question of what was better — to sit and hope Li wouldn’t come after either of us again or to do what I could to make peace. I’m fed up with Li trying to kill me, however incidental he claims the attempts have been.”

“I understand your frustration,” he said. “But how did you think you would resolve anything by going to Guangzhou?”

“I had some ideas I wanted to discuss. I was told that Lam was reasonable and had influence with Li. I thought it was worth a shot.”

Xu stared at her. “Well, you made it back, so either you did not have the meeting or Lam was as approachable as you thought.”

“I had the meeting.”

“And was he reasonable?”

“I think so, although the next twenty-four hours will tell the tale.”

“What tale?”

“Will it be peace or war.”

“Not making peace does not mean going to war.”

“I don’t believe that where you and Li are concerned. He’s tried to kill you several times, and he has to figure you’ll want revenge sooner or later. Will he wait for you to take it or come after you first? Either way, the violence will linger. Then there’s the question of the chairmanship. No matter how the vote goes, nothing will get resolved, Xu. If you lose, you spend two years hunkered down in Shanghai figuring out how to kill Li. If you win, you could spend two years fighting off a vengeful Li and his friends. Tell me, how many votes have actually been committed to you?”

Xu paused. “Seven.”

“Well, I would assume that if someone isn’t prepared to declare their vote for you, they’re prepared to vote against you. So that leaves you a lot of votes short of a win.”

“And did you share that opinion with Lam?”

“I was hardly that direct, and neither was he. In fact, we spent close to three hours just fencing verbally and trying to find common ground.”

“And did you?”

“Well, we finally agreed that to have Shanghai and Guangzhou battling each other was ultimately and inevitably counterproductive and probably destructive.”

“There is nothing shocking about that conclusion.”

“No, but then we tried to pinpoint the reasons for the animosity driving the conflict.”

“I am interested to hear what he thinks they are.”

“Two of the reasons are obvious enough: the contest for the chairmanship and the insecurity Guangzhou is feeling about becoming economically dependent on Shanghai.”

“I can understand that the chairmanship race is making Li crazy, but how would killing me or starting a war help them economically?”

“Lam says Li believes your lieutenants would be more inclined to co-operate.”

“Then he doesn’t know my lieutenants.”

“And, in truth, Lam doesn’t share that view either. He said that Li is old school, content with running drugs, women, and gambling. Lam is the one who values your products and respects your business acumen.”

“They are making enough money with them.”

“That’s only part of it. He says the police don’t care if they’re selling your devices and that a lot of his men have come to like a life without constant pressure from the law. His problem is that if the Guangzhou gang gives up some of the old business for the new and there’s a supply issue, they’ll have a huge problem with their members. In some ways he sounds like you when he talks about business.”

“So did you promise to keep the supply lines open?”

“I promised nothing other than I’d talk to you. He promised nothing in return, other than to talk to Li. We share some views, Lam and I. If you don’t want to hear them, then you won’t. If you do listen and then reject them, I’ll take myself completely out of the picture and you and Li can have at each other.”

“What did you discuss about supply?”

“Lam tells me that Guangzhou is your single largest market.”

“It is.”

“He wants you to commit to keeping them supplied on a prorated basis. He understands there will be shortages from time to time, but when there are, everyone should be affected equally.”

“How will they verify that? Am I supposed to send them production reports?”

“According to Lam — and I heard something similar from Sammy Wing — the territories talk to each other. They all know what everyone else is getting. It doesn’t take a math whiz to figure out if someone is being shorted.”

“And committing to this prorated deal would make Li happy?”

“It would make Lam happy, and that would be a good enough start. Let him worry about Li.”

“You have that much faith in a man you have met once?”

“Who said anything about faith? He has his self-interest, as we all do. I’m counting on him to look after his.”

Xu smiled and gently shook his head. “Despite all the paranoia about supply, we have been trying to treat everyone fairly. If Lam needs my personal commitment, he will get it. I am as anxious to secure my markets on a long-term basis as he is about getting supplied.”

“I thought that would be your reaction.”

“So that leaves the other issue you mentioned — the chairmanship. What did you and Lam come up with that could possibly satisfy both me and Li?”

“I’m not sure we have anything workable.”

“But you have something you want to talk about?”

“Yes, but first let me give you some background,” she said. “When I met with Sammy Wing and then with Lam, I tried exploring the idea of Li withdrawing his name. Both of them said that would never happen — Li is determined to win. Lam said it’s almost an obsession. He’s an old man and he thinks it’s his time. The chairmanship would be the crown of his career. Lam said he’s been making at least ten phone calls a day, every day for weeks. He’s offering whatever he thinks it will take to get a vote.”

“And how many votes does Lam think Li has?”

“He could have enough, but there is no certainty in the numbers. Lam says Li is as unclear about the outcome as you seem to be.”

“And where does that uncertainty leave us?”

“Maybe he’s prepared to strike a deal.”

“You have lost me again.”

Ava took a deep breath. The case she’d been constructing on paper seemed less plausible now that it was time to voice it. “Lam told me that the last four chairmen were acclaimed. He said this kind of contested election is unusual to begin with. Add in the fact that it’s between two powerful men who dislike each other intensely, and that makes for an uncomfortable environment for all your colleagues. None of them wants to make enemies, but it sure seems that’s what will happen, no matter who they vote for.”

“I would never hold a grudge against anyone who voted for Li,” Xu said sharply.

“Maybe not,” Ava said, surprised by the force of his assertion. “But I’m talking about their mindset, not yours.”

“I can see how they would expect an angry reaction from me.”

“And from Li if he lost.”

“Of course.”

“Anyway, as Lam was explaining this situation and talking about how confused Li is about the final vote, it struck me that instead of being on this path of certain alienation, you and Li should try to find a way to work together in harmony.”

Xu leaned forward. “How can harmony emerge from this set of circumstances?” he said quietly, calmly.

“It can’t. We have to change the circumstances.”

He collapsed back on his pillows, looked up at the ceiling. “I cannot imagine what you have in mind.”

“It isn’t my idea alone,” Ava said. “Lam warmed to it and helped me flesh it out.”

“I am listening.”

“Well, we believe that a joint chairmanship might be the solution.”

“What?” His face was still impassive, but for the first time Ava saw a flash of anger in his eyes.

“I know it sounds far-fetched, but as Lam and I talked about it, it began to make perfect sense,” she said quickly. “You and Li head up the two most powerful societies. If you worked together, there wouldn’t be any question of whether you’d have the complete respect and loyalty of your colleagues. You’d be giving them stability instead of uncertainty.”

“They want more than stability.”

“Things like growth and profitability and a way to carry their organizations forward for a new generation to take over?”

“My words from our meeting in the garden come back to me.”

“If they were true then, they’re true now. The way I see it, you and Li span two very different generations. The two of you represent the old and the new ways of doing business. You said in Shanghai that you need to find a way to build a bridge from the present to the future. What better way than having a man who represents the past working with a man who epitomizes the best of the present and the future?”

“There is a lot of wishful thinking in those remarks. You are discounting Li’s character.”

“No. What I just said is the message that you and Li would have to take to your colleagues. My understanding from Lam is that they have to agree to any major change in the way the chairman is chosen. That is a rationale we thought could be used.”

“And do you honestly think they will believe for a second that Li and I could actually work together? It is quite a stretch to expect those guys to accept the idea of the two of us discussing and analyzing problems side by side, let alone reaching some kind of consensus.”

“Yes, we know it’s an unlikely scenario. In fact, Lam said it was a complete non-starter.”

“So why are we talking about it?”

“We’re not. What we’re suggesting is that you alternate the chairmanship, each man taking one year. Both of you would agree to consult with the other during his term, but the final decision would rest with the man whose term it was.”

“That is too complicated.”

“Not really. All it takes is the willingness to say yes.”

“And why would Li do that?”

“Because he isn’t sure that he has the votes to win. So why would he risk losing when he has a chance to settle for something certain that will save his face? Besides, from what Lam told me, Li is very smart — maybe
shrewd
is a better word — but smart or shrewd, I bet he thinks he could manage you and that ultimately he would come out on top. Lam says that Li would most definitely want to be chairman for the first year. So all you’d have to do is get past that year, assume the chairmanship, and in a heartbeat Li is yesterday’s man. When it comes to politics, people have short memories.”

“What if he will not step down?”

“Do you really think that’s realistic? The two of you go to your colleagues, propose a deal that makes everyone feel secure, and then Li takes it upon himself to renege? I can’t believe for a second that it would be tolerated. That is, as long as you are still running Shanghai and Wanchai.”

Xu closed his eyes and was quiet for a long time. Ava waited. One minute, two minutes, three minutes passed. Finally he said, “What you and Lam have come up with has some appeal.”

“If you are in agreement, I’ll phone Lam. He was going to speak to Li this morning.”

“What were his expectations?”

“He thought Li would go for it.”

“That gives me pause.”

“You have thirty years on him and a pipeline full of products. You are the future. Why not throw Li a bone? Give him his year. It will be a year of peace for you, a chance to grow your business without having to look over your shoulder. There’s a certain irony to that, isn’t there. You give him what he thinks he wants, and then he’s done.”

“Will you be talking to Lam?”

“Our plan was to touch base after I spoke to you and he spoke to Li.”

“When you reach him,” Xu said, “tell him I will call him.”

Ava blinked.

“I know Lam very well,
mei mei
. Eventually he will want to hear directly from me that I agree. We might as well make it happen now.”