Chapter 27 (1/2)
Killer Nights
Chapter 27: Days on a Long Journey
Human beings have a tendency to consider things high above to be holy and sanctified, which is why we wors.h.i.+p people and things that are so high above us as to be out of reach. This is also why people like to use the word “high” to positively describe an individual’s characteristics, hence terms like high born, high cla.s.s, and high fas.h.i.+on. According to that logic, the holiest place in the world should be Mt. Everest, even though the air is thin and the temperature quite cold.
The Tas.h.i.+ Lhunpo Monastery, located at the foot of the Drolmari Mountain in s.h.i.+gatse, Tibet, hosted the annual Buddha Festival. Millions of Buddhist pilgrims congregated here with their holy hada cloths in hand. They came here on this holy day to offer to their holy Buddha their holy hada cloths. They then prayed for protection from evil and peace for all mankind.
“Zema, kherang ga rey choe doe duk?” warmly greeted a middle-aged Tibetan lady. (Translation: “Girl, what would you like to eat?”)
“Umm… thenthuk! Ani ma… I mean, ma’am,” A-Jiao awkwardly replied in broken Tibetan.
“Hehe, you’re a Han girl, aren’t you?” laughed the lady after hearing A-Jiao’s attempt at speaking Tibetan. Dressed in traditional Tibetan garb, A-Jiao certainly could pa.s.s for a real Tibetan girl. (Translator’s note: the Han are the dominant ethnicity in China and are usually what foreigners think of when they describe someone as “Chinese,” although strictly speaking, such usage is incorrect as the term “Chinese” does not denote an ethnicity, but rather a nationality that is composed of 56 distinct ethnicities including the Han.)
“Yes, ma’am, I’m Han. Could you bring me a bowl of thenthuk, a plate of mixed cow tongue, and a cup of milk tea?” A-Jiao happily placed her order with a smile on her face.
“Wait a moment. I’ll bring out your order shortly.” The Tibetan lady yelled something incomprehensible to the kitchen and then proceeded to serve other customers. s.h.i.+gatse was always busiest during the Buddha Festival. The streets are filled with an unending stream of people. If you didn’t take time to notice the unique Tibetan architecture, you could easily mistake this place for one of China’s many megacities.
Shortly thereafter, a waiter brought out A-Jiao’s food. She looked at the chili powder on the table and immediately felt it beckoning to her taste buds. However, when her hand grabbed a hold of the chili powder shaker, she could hear Dr. w.a.n.g whispering in her ears, “A-Jiao, make sure to get plenty of rest after you’ve been discharged. And don’t eat any spicy food.” She vigorously shook her head, as if she to shake Dr. w.a.n.g’s voice out of her head, but just as soon as Dr. w.a.n.g left, another face appeared, “No way! You body can’t handle spicy food right now!”
“d.a.m.n cop!” A-Jiao cursed with pouted lips, but she did pull her hand away from the shaker. Ai, I wonder what that Uncle Policeman is up to these days…
Today was Wei Xin’s turn to stand night watch in the alley again. She came by Jiang Zhengkai’s office to see if he had any specific instructions for the evening and then departed for the alley. Through the efforts of the police and the fact that no new murders have occurred recently, this secluded little alley showed signs of a gradual recovery.
The alley pimp A-Shun was fully cooperating with the police, so he knew which of the girls worked for him and which ones were undercover police officers. He was given free reign by the police to handle his business in the alley, which meant that if one of his girls came across a particularly troublesome john, he would have to step in and set him straight. This wasn’t especially difficult for A-Shun. After all, his purpose in this alley was to provide security. He liked to think of himself as a kind of “law enforcement officer” in his own way.
Those doc.u.ments Jiang Zhengkai requested on A-Jiao had all come back. The post office was able to verify that the recipient of A-Jiao’s wire transfer was indeed Lu Xiaomei’s family in Sichuan. The only difference was that Xiaomei normally wired 2,000 yuan to her family, while A-Jiao wired them 3,000 yuan. After several twists and turns, the Housing Bureau was able to track down the owners.h.i.+p history of A-Jiao’s condo. The owner of the condo is a woman by the name of Lin Fangyun, but she committed suicide two years ago. Before that, the condo belong to a man named Ren Pengfei. According to sources that knew him, he appeared to have emigrated abroad. Sometimes, the truth is only a small step away, yet taking that step may require all the effort you could muster.