capitalist interest. So entrepreneurs simply took over a bunch of state-run companies, buying them at an incredible bargain.”
“Yes, a lot of deals like that were made under the table, I’ve heard,” Chen said. “It has resulted in a huge loss of state property.”
“However, the situation for our company is different. The ownership system is to be changed, but it is not being purchased by an outside entrepreneur. Rather, the company will become a public one, owned by shareholders. As a consequence, Liu, the company’s general manager, could end up owning millions of shares. He would have been able to buy them at a huge discount-an ‘inside price’-or simply get shares for free through all sorts of tricks-say, setting five cents per share as the inside price for executives like himself, when each share will be immediately worth twenty or thirty yuan once it goes on the market. What’s more, Liu was in a position to purchase shares without paying a single penny from his own pocket. It would have been easy for him to get the money by mortgaging the chemical company.”
“It’s called
“You’re not that bookish, are you?” she said, nodding. “In Western countries, it’s a matter of course for the owner to have the largest number of shares, since he started the company. But people like Liu simply happen to be in a position that enables them to turn state property into their personal property, all in the name of economic reform.”
“Yes, these Communist Party officials turn into billionaires, but at the same time they remain Party officials,” he said, looking up at her. “You’ve made a thorough study of the issue, Shanshan. It’s as if you were teaching a course.”
“It’s because the IPO plan is somehow related to the pollution problem. That’s why I’ve been paying attention to the so-called reform. A successful IPO depends on having an impressive balance sheet, so for the last half year, Liu has been dumping industrial waste into the lake like never before. It was a business decision designed to drastically reduce production costs. For his own personal gain, the world itself can go to hell. He was already in his mid-fifties, getting nearer to retirement, so he had to rush the process.”
Shanshan’s lecture testified to something he’d sensed in her. She wasn’t merely a “flower vase,” a pretty but naive girl. Things in China were complicated. The reform was, as Deng Xiaoping had said, like wading across the river by stepping on one stone after another. But which stone was next, no one could tell. For instance, the changes in the ownership system were confusing to most people, and some simply didn’t bother to understand.
Shanshan didn’t have to worry about these things, which weren’t in her field. But apparently she did, studying all the factors that were behind the current environmental problems.
The pending IPO could actually be another one of the new problems that Comrade Secretary Zhao wanted Chen to pay attention to.
“Thank you for enlightening me. I’ve finally got some idea of what is going on with the IPO,” Chen said. “Do you think Liu’s death could be connected to it?”
“That I don’t know.”
“Another question. You told me that Liu died at his apartment-or, rather, his home office. Can you tell me something about that place?”
“It’s close. Only a five-minute walk from the company. It’s just another privilege provided to the Party officials. The apartment was assigned him in recognition of his hard work, and it’s in addition to the two-story house he bought with the company housing subsidy. But many people work hard at the factory, and they didn’t get an apartment. Some of them still don’t have even a single room.”
“He stayed there all by himself?”
“What do you mean?” she asked, then added without waiting for his answer, “Mi, his ‘little secretary,’ was there with him, of course.”
“Did he go there a lot?”
“Perhaps the only one who could really say is his little secretary.”
“Yes, she would be there to help him with his work, right?”
“And help with his bed too.”
“Oh that!”
He should have guessed. Nowadays a big boss, whether at a private or a state-run company, had to have a “little secretary”-a young girl who accompanied him in the bedroom as well as in the office. It was a sign of his status and, of course, more than that.
“A little secretary. I see. Do people know about the relationship between Mi and Liu?”
“Are you from Mars, Chen? That’s how she became his secretary in the first place. What are her qualifications? She had barely graduated from middle school when she was hired. It’s an open secret, but people don’t want to talk about it.”
“In other words, Mi would know not only about Liu’s whereabouts that night, but a lot more.”
“As far as I know, if Liu was there for some business reason, she would be the one to make the plans and preparations. If it wasn’t for business, she would be the one to make the bed.”
This was quite different from Sergeant Huang’s version, according to which Mi didn’t know anything about Liu’s plans that evening and instead had worked late at the office, a fact that had been corroborated by a colleague.
“That’s right,” he said, aware that it wasn’t easy not to talk like a cop. “But that evening, it could have been something he didn’t want her to know about.”
“That’s possible. Who can really tell what’s happening between a man and a woman?”
“He must have paid her a lot.”
“At the company, her pay was appropriate to her position as a secretary. To give the devil his due, Liu at least tried to keep up appearances.”
“Well, whatever he was worth, it could have eventually been all hers. For her, it would have been only a matter of time.”
“She might not have been so sure about that. If a little secretary doesn’t turn into a Mrs. in a year or two, then a little secretary she’ll remain. The boss may have all kinds of reasons to do or not to do something. How much Liu gave her in private was, of course, another story.”
“That’s a very good point,” he said. “But what about Mrs. Liu? She knew about Liu’s evening plans, right?”
“I don’t know, but she knew about the little secretary Liu kept there-”
The sampan swayed and she lurched forward, her hand touching his shoulder for support.
“Now tell me about your argument with Liu. It was about a week before his death, I heard.”
“You’ve heard a lot, Chen. We argued several times. For Liu, profit was more important than everything else. That’s what had made him-and not just as a general manager but as a much-propagandized representative of China’s economic reform. It probably would have to be a top priority to keep up production at whatever cost for anyone in his position. But I had to do my job as an environmental engineer.”
“You did the right thing.”
“But that day, about a week ago, he snapped and started shouting at me in his office. People must have heard our argument.” She added softly, after a pause, “I don’t want to speak ill of him now that he’s dead.”
A short silence ensued. Another fish jumped out and fell back in, splashing. The boat was probably in the middle of the lake.
“That’s the Wuxi Number One Chemical Company,” she said abruptly, pointing to their left. “Over there, I can show you something in the water.”
“Move over there,” Chen called, rising to give the order to the sampan man.
“There?” The sampan man looked puzzled. It was far from any scenic sights, and no tourist would be interested going there. But the sampan went there as instructed.
“Let’s stop here for a while,” Shanshan said to the sampan man. Turning to Chen, she said, “Take a close look at the water here.”
Already Chen could see a difference in the color of the water close to the chemical company. But it was more than that. An immense expanse of the water was covered in something like a heavy blackish-green shroud. It was substantial, almost solid, and stretched far into the distance. He hadn’t seen anything like that in the Huangpu River