Enigma of China(15)

“Did he say anything specific about it?”

“He wondered how the government could allow mobs on the Web to go on like that. He thought the government should have exercised total control over the Internet.”

“What did he mean by that?”

“He thought they should order all the Web sites to shut up about 95 Supreme Majesty, and delete all posts about it. If the authorities had really wanted to do that, they could have. In fact, they’ve taken actions like that on previous occasions. But they were unwilling to do this for him.”

“Well, it could be difficult,” Chen said vaguely. He didn’t know what else to say.

“‘When the rabbit is caught, the hound will be stewed too,’ Zhou always said, quoting an old saying. I know for a fact that particular speech that started his trouble had been approved by the people above him. It’s not fair that he shouldered all the blame.”

Her complaining didn’t surprise Chen, but the object of her complaints did.

“You mentioned that many people have come to your place. Can you tell me more about them?” Chen asked, shifting the focus of the conversation.

“Yes, various teams showed up over many weeks. I was too shocked to remember their names. They looked through the things Zhou left behind, then took away the computer and other stuff that they claimed was possible evidence.”

“Did they find what they were looking for?”

“I don’t know. Zhou hadn’t left anything valuable here.” After a short pause, Mrs. Zhou continued. “We do own several apartments in the city, but it was my decision to buy them. Zhou hardly ever talked to me about his work, but he would get many phone calls. From what I overheard, I thought housing prices would keep going up, so I borrowed heavily from banks for the various down payments. I am still paying off those mortgages. Please don’t believe all the Internet stories about how wealthy our family is.”

It wasn’t up to him to look into the wealth of the Zhous, but Chen couldn’t bring himself to believe anything she was telling him about how their real estate was acquired.

“They were back again the day before yesterday, combing through the apartment one more time.”

That was after Zhou’s death, Chen thought.

“What did they say to you?”

“Jiang, the head of the group, kept demanding that I turn over what Zhou had left behind. I didn’t know what he was talking about. As I’ve said, Zhou seldom talked to me about his work at home, and he didn’t give me anything related to it.”

“Did they have a search warrant?”

“No, but they went ahead without one. Didn’t you say shuanggui is beyond the police bureau’s control? They didn’t have to follow any procedure. They just turned the place upside down.”

“That’s not right.”

“They even forbid me to talk to anybody about it. I was told I couldn’t say a single word to the media or to other people. You’re different, I know. You’re the only one I’ve talked to.”

Chen couldn’t help feeling a wave of sympathy for her. In China, as long as a Party official was in his powerful position, he had everything. But once he was out of power, everything was gone.

That was why Mrs. Zhou appeared so helpless. Her husband was gone, her home had been repeatedly searched, and no one would ever lend a hand.

That was probably why Party Secretary Li had been hanging onto his bureau position so desperately, making things difficult for Chen.

“It has been just like a dream shattered to pieces,” she said, then started sobbing inconsolably. “Last night, I wished I wouldn’t wake up, and would instead stay lost forever in the dream.”

It is nothing but a dream, / in the past, or at the present. / Whoever wakes out of the dream? / There is only a never-ending cycle / of old joy, and new grief. / Someday, someone else, / in view of the yellow tower at night, / may sigh deeply for me.

But was there something else to Mrs. Zhou’s complaints?

It was an elusive thought. Chen told himself not to jump to anything like a conclusion. There was a lot more for him to check out first.





SIX


THE FIRST THING CHEN did when he got back to his office was turn on his computer, almost exactly the way Yu had described Peiqin.

Chen was struggling with something he had heard before Peiqin filled him in more fully.

On the Internet, anything politically sensitive would be “harmonized” into nothing through a keyword search by specific Web control mechanisms. So Chen wasn’t exactly surprised when his search for the phrase “95 Supreme Majesty” repeatedly drew a blank. With each search he got the inevitable error message.