CHAPTER ELEVEN

Li Zhang signed the last document in-front of him and exhaled. He looked at the time, it was 8:15pm. Suddenly the smell of meat and fish cooking made him nostalgic for his mistress. Li Zhang decided there to go see her in Beijing as soon as he gets back. But first, he has business to conclude in Hong Kong. The night was cold and wet, with freckles of snow dropping slowly on the beautiful streets of central Hong Kong.

He was seated on a table with one man, with two armed men behind him and three men behind the man he was seated with. There was clattering of kitchen knives and spoons, as the restaurant staff hustled to cater the needs of teeming customers. The air was rife with a mixture of garlic, cloves, soy sauce, tomatoes, fried fish and grilled beef.

Li Zhang handed over the five page document to the man seated in front of him. The man examined the document for a few minutes and looked at Li Zhang and spoke in a strong Cantonese accent. "Okay. I think everything here is in order. The office building will commence in two months and completed six months later". Li Zhang nodded. The man continued.

"We will provide you with everything you need to be focused and get the job done. You will work closely with our IT guy to ensure that there are no mistakes" Li Zhang nodded and stood up to leave. "Hold on". The man commanded. Li Zhang turned. "We have another job for you." The words dropped on Li Zhang like a bomb. 'What more could this people possibly want besides taking my life.' He thought.

"I can't do anymore jobs for Mr Cheung. We had an agreement." The man smiled. "We will pay you extra for this one." Li Zhang waved his head in disapproval. "No. I am done after this one. Nothing can change my mind. No amount." The man smiled again. He knew Li Zhang well enough to know he was bluffing. The man is as greedy as a pig.

"Well, we can give you two hundred thousand reasons why you are the perfect man for this particular job." The amount rang a bell in Li Zhang's ear. "Dollars or Yuan?" He asked enthusiastically. "Dollars of course". The man answered with a grin on his face. Li Zhang sighed.

"What do I have to do?" The man retrieved a picture from his suit, and slid it towards Li Zhang. Li Zhang picked up the picture from the table and glanced at it. "Who's this?" "His name is Marcus Yeon. We want you to become friends with him." Li Zhang chuckled. "You are kidding right? That's it? That's why you want to pay me two hundred thousand dollars?" The man looked indifferent.

"For starters, we are not paying you that much to ask stupid questions. Just find a way to make friends with him. When you do, we will tell you what next to do." Li Zhang's predicament was beginning to dawn on him. The minute you take the mob's money for anything, you are already in bed with them. And they would hold you by the balls and squeeze till your head pops.

"Do you accept or not?" The man asked, as one of the men beside him dropped a black leather bag on the table and opened it. Li Zhang's eyes widened from the bundles of ten thousand dollars in hundred dollar bills in the bag. In a split second, he thought about all he could do with the money and swallowed hard.

"Okay. I will do it. I mean, how hard can it be right?" The man said nothing. He just took out five bundles of cash from the bag and handed it to Li Zhang. "Here's fifty thousand. You will get the rest when the job is done." Li Zhang grabbed the cash and quickly stuffed it into his briefcase. "Alright. I will keep in touch."

Li Zhang stepped out of the restaurant elated and energetic. He turned around looked at the restaurant's sign which reads 'Hé hû Restaurant.' He wondered how such a nice and peaceful place could be a front for the dreaded 14k triads. Stepping into his Mercedes Benz, he exhaled, turned on the ignition and drove off. Li Zhang was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't notice the blue Toyota Yaris following him.

Back in Shanghai, in the Global Harbor mall, Richard picked up some groceries for the house. Ever since they were little, his father made him pick up groceries while Anna cooked. Anna being back with him was a huge relief and some consolation for the hell he has been through.

At the vegetable section, he picked Garlic, Onions, Cabbage, Bok choy, Mustard greens, Winter radish, Fresh tomatoes, Snow peas, yard-long beans, Eggplants, Cucumbers, Wombok, Pak Choy, Choy Sum, En Choy, Shui Qua, Lotus roots, Gai Lan, and some Carrots. He moved to the processed foods section and picked canned tomatoes, canned beans, canned sweet corn, corned beef, and minced pork.

When he was through with shopping, he strolled down to the cashier's aisle to pay. The overwhelming queue at the cashier's aisle made him want to return everything back at the grocery section. But a familiar fragrance behind him made him change his mind. It was the same fragrance he perceived in the CCTV 1 studio during his interview. It was a distinct combination of jasmine, oakmoss, and lemon grass. So he quickly turned to confirm if he was right.

"Miss Yan? What a pleasant surprise. I didn't know that you shopped here." Yu Yan couldn't hold her widening lips. She couldn't decide if she wanted to laugh or smile, so as not to embarrass herself. So she just chuckled. "Yeah I do of course." She said. Her voice sounded like the strings of harp. "Wow! I mean, what are the odds of us meeting here right?"

"Yeah. It's crazy right?" She replied honestly. But what Richard didn't know was that she spotted him from the female underwear store close to the entrance of the mall and followed him like a creep. She even manuvered her way in the cashier's aisle queue with her silver tongue, just to end up behind Richard Yeon.

Yu Yan couldn't let the opportunity pass her by. Richard Yeon is everything she wants in a man. She had faith that Richard Yeon would treat her right, eventhough the uncertainty of if he would accept her was there. If Richard Yeon is her 'Mr Right' and 'Knight in Shinning Armour' , then she won't back down without a fight.

"Once again, it's so good to see you Yu Yan. I was wondering if I would ever see you again." His words took Yu Yan from the mall's ground floor to somewhere close to the roof. Her heart melted like ice cream. At that point, she longed to kiss Richard, but quickly decided to wait for the right time.

For reasons Yu Yan couldn't comprehend, she hugged Richard Yeon, like a daughter who longed for her father for a long time. And like someone under a spell, she held Richard tight like he was going to disappear any minute. Yu Yan didn't care if Richard would reciprocate the hug or not, but that moment was special, and she would cherish it for the rest of her life.

But surprisingly, her hug was well received. Yu Yan used the opportunity to rest on his chest like it's a feather pillow. Richard on the other hand felt some warmth from her embrace. Something that eluded him when he went to prison. The tough and cruel Kaishui environment suppressed all urges for the opposite sex, and replaced his thoughts with surviving everyday. But Yu Yan has succeeded in exhuming those urges from where Richard buried them.

"Can I buy you some ice cream?" Richard finally asked. Yu Yan reluctantly let go, and looked into his eyes. "Yes. That would be great." Richard nodded. "Okay." They waited a few more minutes till it got to Richard's turn in the cashier's aisle. He paid for his groceries and the pack of chocolate Yu Yan used as an excuse to get into the queue.

They both walked side by side to the nearest ice cream stand in the mall and Richard ordered gelato from the Italian vendor in the mall. Barely ten minutes after sitting down to enjoy their gelato, two ladies approached them. "Yu Yan Xing and Richard Yeon? This is amazing!" One of them said. "You guys look perfect!" The other one added. Richard tried to tell them that they were not a couple, but they cut him off.

"Can we take some pictures with you two? Please, our friends won't believe that we met the fabulous Yu Yan Xing and the extraordinary Richard Yeon together." Yu Yan was just smiling. She loves the idea that she and Richard were a couple and wanted it to stick.

Richard on the other hand didn't know exactly how to react to the scenario. It was all happening too fast for him to be absolutely sure how he feels about Yu Yan. 'But what the hell right? It's worth a shot.' He thought. "Oh yeah. Sure." The ladies quickly came closer to both of them. One sat beside Richard and the other, beside Yu Yan. They both took the pictures and left excited.

There was a technology fair going on in the twelfth floor of the building and one of the attendees who came to grab a cappuccino on the ground floor spotted them as well. "OMG! Richard Yeon? This is awesome!" He quickly dialed the number of the fair convener and told her that she was looking at Richard Yeon.

And in less than thirty minutes the twelfth floor elevator was filled with people heading to the ground floor. Richard was overwhelmed by the crowd that surrounded him taking unsolicited pictures. He had no idea that the interview with Yu Yan Xing has created a fanbase for him. Yu Yan on the other hand, had no complaints. She was enjoying all the attention. Especially when they came with associating with Richard Yeon.

Some kilometres away in Haomeiwei Chinese Style Restaurant, Anna was ecstatic. The past one month has been nothing short of heaven for her. As she listened to Ji-Hoon speak, Anna felt elated. She couldn't wait to take him home to see her big brother.

The restaurant management had been gracious enough to play Richard Marx's 'Right here waiting for you' to create the perfect ambience. Added with exotic candlelights and the beautiful combination of rose and frankincense, Anna knew she was in the right place.

"I am glad I found you Anna Yeon. If reincarnation exists, I'd like to meet you again. In the past one month I met you, my life now has purpose and meaning. You have shown and taught me things only my late mother could have taught me." He paused for a moment, then continued.

"Sometimes I pinch myself to be sure that I am not dreaming. It's.. I mean look at you. You are every man's dream. An epitome of beauty and perfection. God's extraordinary creation." Anna felt she was listening to the heavenly host singing. Ji-Hoon's words sounded like a hymn from heaven to her. Anna couldn't stop blushing as Ji-Hoon spoke. For something that takes her gender a lifetime to find, or not finding it at all, her right and perfect man was seated in front of her. That's something Anna would always be grateful for.