‘And since that time Kow-Loon has protected Hong Kong and many people still live on sampans so they will be safe if T’un Hai ever returns and there is another great battle and the earth trembles again.’
Heida closed her eyes and bowed her head. The story was over.
‘Thank you,’ she said.
Lowenthal sat back and stared at the young lady, entranced by the story and by her visual interpretation. ‘No,’ he said, ‘it is I who thank you. I’m very touched by your story. You tell it with great passion.’
‘It is only because my father told it to me with passion, for he believed the story, just as he believed that. when he died he would ride on the back of the dragon horse to the place where the August Supreme Emperor of Jade resides.’
‘And do you believe the story?’ Lowenthal asked.
A smile touched her lips. ‘hai. Of course. I believe it because it is a legend that sings with truth.’ She reached inside her blouse and took out a thin gold chain with a gold pendant hanging from it. On the pendant in bas relief was the tiny figure of a dragon, grinning ferociously, his head crouching between his five-toed feet. ‘It is always around my neck,’ she said, ‘even when I sleep. It protects me from T’un Hai.’
DeLaroza thanked her and she bowed and was gone.
‘I must say, you make all of this very real,’ Lowenthal said. ‘I wonder why it is that Easterners have much more interesting and dramatic gods than we Westerners.’
‘You Westerners,’ DeLaroza said with a smile. ‘I am a Buddhist. But enough of that. Let us talk about the campaign. Needless to say, I am delighted you have joined us.’
‘So far you seem to be doing just fine without me.’
‘So far we have played in our own territory.’
Wan Shu arrived with the first of many dishes, what appeared to be tiny chicken wings covered with a clear sauce. ‘This looks delicious,’ Lowenthal said. ‘What is it?’
‘Well, it is hardly what we would call chia-ch’ang-pien-fan — everyday food — in China. You eat the whole thing, the bones and all. Just chew it well. They are sparrow wings.’
Lowenthal paused in mid-bite and there was a moment when he seemed to be wondering whether to go on or not.
‘Please, do not stop,’ DeLaroza said. ‘Heida mentioned the Feast of the Dragon Door. What Wan Shu is preparing is a meal based on that feast. There will be some rare delicacies, such as these sparrow wings. Also quail, elephant trunk, sturgeon intestines, bear paw, and deer tail, along with more traditional fare. The meal for two hundred guests will cost ten thousand dollars.’
‘That’s five hundred dollars a meal!’
‘Exactly. The banquet originated during the time of the Emperor Tsi Tzu of the Sung Dynasty, about seven hundred years ago. It usually went on for clays. I have eliminated some of the more exotic dishes. Peacock tongues, monkey brains, gorilla lips.’
‘Gorilla lips?’
‘A truly rare delicacy in China. But I don’t want to discourage any of the guests.’
‘Elephant trunk and deer tails may take care of that.’
DeLaroza leaned forward and winked. ‘We won’t tell them until after they’ve eaten.’
The sparrow wings actually were quite delicious and Lowenthal finished them with relish. He sat back and said, ‘Tell me, what took you from Brazil to Hong Kong?’
‘I see you have been checking up on me.’
Lowenthal shrugged. ‘There’s not much to check up on, actually.’
‘I have always avoided publicity. A quirk of mine.’
‘Modesty hardly becomes you,’ Lowenthal said, motioning to the spectacle of Pachinko!
‘I am about to change my image.
He chuckled and then the chuckle became a hearty laugh. ‘Fate dictated the move to Hong Kong,’ he said. ‘I was on holiday in the Orient and visited the plant of a gentleman named Loo who manufactured radios, which also happened to be my business. Mr. Loo was in trouble. His company was undercapitalized and a British concern was about to buy him out. But the British were stupid. They would have engulfed him, eaten hint up. Loo’s strength was his ability to produce components cheaply. His weakness was assembly and marketing. So I formed a partnership with him. He produced the parts; I assembled and sold them. We were highly competitive and the merger was quite successful. Had I bought Loo out, as the British proposed to do, I would have lost his expertise. A man always works better for himself than for others.’
‘And how did you get into the toy business?’
‘Fate again. This time an accident of nature. Loo had a side venture, producing toys for the tourist trade, cheap little items. Our electronics plant was seriously damaged in the 1961 typhoon, but the toy company was hardly touched. While we were undergoing repairs I decided to concentrate on toys. Before long it was — how do you put it?’
‘The tail wagging the dog?’
‘Yes. The Chinese might express it more poetically, but the Americans are more to the point. Jt was soon after that I met Nikos Arcurius. Now the tail wags many dogs.’
‘Where does Hotchins come into the scenario?’
‘I decided to move to the United States. This is the marketplace. Also the place to assemble and sell products.
