Fat Years - Chan Koonchung [94]
“Now that things have gone this far,” said Lao Chen, “there’s no point hurrying. We still have some time, so let me see if I can think of something.”
While Lao Chen was mulling over various possible escape strategies, he remembered that in his detective novel Thirteen Months there was a plot twist that he called “live or die together.” It got him thinking. When they reached Miaomiao’s house, he sat down by himself in a corner and didn’t say a word. He closed his eyes and saw his wasted life pass before him, his ruined reputation, his happiness drifting away in a mist, the impermanence of life, and himself in prison and on the execution ground. His hands were trembling and he broke out in a cold sweat, but he pulled himself back to reality and tried over and over again to calculate the possible implications of using his “live or die together” plot twist. In theory, it could just work, but in practice, he didn’t have much confidence. He kept struggling back and forth in his mind until he was exhausted. He knew time was not on his side; the moment to make a final decision was upon him, and four lives hung in the balance.
Zhang Dou and Fang Caodi had already carried He Dongsheng into the house, tied him up in a big armchair that had been bolted to the floor in one of the two rooms. A digital camera was set up so that they could watch their prisoner from the other room to check when he woke up.
Little Xi pulled a chair over in front of Lao Chen and took his hand in hers. Being close to her made him feel calm; he had been considering one particular element of the situation. His “live or die together” plot might not have any effect on an ordinary bureaucrat, but it might just have a chance with He Dongsheng. This was because He Dongsheng was no ordinary unimaginative bureaucratic official. He Dongsheng was intelligent enough and his mind was nimble enough to understand how to play this game. So Lao Chen came to his final decision to gamble everything on his idea.
“Lao Chen,” said Fang Caodi, walking over with a tense expression on his face, “whatever you decide, we’ll all do what you tell us. I have a premonition that we can turn this situation to our advantage.”
“Is he coming around?” asked Lao Chen.
“Sure is,” answered Fang.
“Is the camera connected properly to the computer, and ready to broadcast onto the Internet?” asked Lao Chen.
“A digital camera, an MP3 player, a desktop computer, and a laptop are all linked together to broadband,” said Zhang Dou, settling down beside the TV monitor. “Also, three cell phones with cameras are all aimed at Professor He and are all ready to broadcast simultaneously.”
“Perfect. You all have a lot of questions you want to ask him, right?”
They nodded.
“Good,” said Lao Chen. “When he comes to, don’t utter a sound; listen to what I say. When I tell you to start talking, you can ask him all the questions you can think of. Okay?”
“Okay, we’ll follow your lead.”
“Even if I tell you to do something you don’t want to do, you must still do it. Are we agreed on that?”
“Agreed.”
“Now let’s go in the other room and question him,” said Lao Chen.
“But we can question him from this room,” said Fang Caodi.
“We can’t communicate properly that way,” said Lao Chen. “It has to be face-to-face.”
“I’ll go in and question him for you,” offered Fang Caodi.
“I have to do it myself,” insisted Lao Chen.
“Then you better put on a mask.”
“Old Fang, will it make any difference if I wear a mask or not? The moment you kidnapped He Dongsheng, I was already in on it with all of you, past the point of no return. I’m going in there now. You can all choose to remain in this room and keep well out of it, if you want.”
Lao Chen took the lead and walked into the other room. Then Little Xi pulled off her mask and followed; Fang Caodi and Zhang Dou went in together behind her.
He Dongsheng was an extremely analytical person. As soon as he woke up, despite a raging headache, he seemed to be considering the possibilities behind what had happened to him. He soon came to the conclusion that