‘Welcome to China, Mr. Isaac. I will be your guide and interpreter in these days you stay here.’ That’s the age we first met. Though I wasn’t use to see Asian faces then, I could looked out how different between he and the other Chinese. While he talked to me, his almond eyes were narrow, so I wasn’t sure his eyes were black or not, maybe they just as brown as this guys stayed in Italy waiting for me finish the “holiday”. But I appreciate his eyesight, which I also didn’t like.
‘My name is Hu Xiaoying.’ said he, smiling. ‘You can call me Xiaoying.’
‘So… is there a Tiger Conservation Center?’ He drove me to our own mountain from public airport by himself. ‘On the surface, yes, it is. But we smuggle tigers and some other felines privately.’
We crossed many bridges in the way. Every time I looked down, there was always a dark river waiting for my eyes. Dark and dirty and turbid.
‘Tigers? It that a hot market? Johnson never tell me the business of China.’
‘As I guess, sir. This work is not that important in all our businesses. I think you team in center seldom hear about what we do, and Boss also seldom care about our work by himself.’
‘In this way you said, it sounds like I just come to the Orient Edge of Bloc, eh?’
‘May be right, Mr. Isaac.’ He smiled, again.
‘Can you show me the information of all your businesses here?’ the room for me there was not bad, nothing I wanted to nit-pick, except it was too smaller than the one in Italy. ‘Yes, Mr. Isaac. But I remember you are being on holiday, or I got wrong?’
‘Yep, maybe that is what they said. But go on holiday? Me? Don’t keep act like you didn’t know at all, Xiaoying, I don’t like to see you do so.’
‘Yes, Mr. Isaac. But it wasn’t Boss ask you to go to a holiday in our villa?’
‘John has known that I won’t just be on a holiday. Maybe he really wanted me to take a rest, however it wouldn’t be the only purpose. Anyway, I thought he neglect here too much, and so did he, probable. I think that is why he asked me to have a holiday here.’ I noticed everything was ready when I arrived here; the servants had arranged for my things, and Xiaoying gave me a tea, black tea, though I didn’t remember he ever went away from me.
‘I understood, sir, I will arrange. After your dinner. Which one you would like to try better? Chinese or Italian?’ I drank a little tea, thanks to its taste, I knew that the next time I should try something else, such as coke or coffee. ‘Humm…do you have American fast food?’
‘No, but we will get some before dinner time, of course.’
‘Well, if I were you, I will get more than ever. You had better remember this: I like to eat fast food recently. Oh, and this, I don’t like your manner of speaking.’
‘Yes, Mr. Isaac. I will improve.’ He smiling, as he always kept do so, quite unhurriedly. That’s was which I didn’t like, too.
‘Mr. Isaac, we can visit the Conservation Center first today, and the information is ready. Do you wand to see it right now?’ The next day, Xiaoying knocked my room door when I was eating the burger for breakfast, which was much better their black tea. However I didn’t like their working manner still, ‘cause people in Italy never let me wait for anything. But I thought that just because they couldn’t know who I am really clearly, as Xiaoying said, here just liked the Edge. ‘No, but put them on my office desk. I will see them later.’
‘Yes, Mr. Isaac.’
‘Oh, and why you said we will see the Conservation Center first, why not about the factory? I remember I told you I want to see factories today, didn’t I ?’
‘Yes, sir, you did. But I am afraid that we can’t visit factories that soon. There are some complicated procedures, you know, we should disguise ourselves as a legal organization on the surface. And I think if you want to know our work, Conservation Center is a start better than factories.’
I raised my eyebrows. You think, eh?
‘Fine. But how soon we can visit the factory? I won’t have a pretty long holiday as you may think.’
‘As soon as possible, sir.’
I heard he closed the door, they opened the air conditioners in those rooms for me, but I notice they didn’t do so for themselves. The monsoon of Asia, huh? I thought even though they do such things for me, I wouldn’t like Chinese still. Especially the kind which use to smiling with narrowed their almond eyes.
Sometimes I understood why I don’t like those Asian quiet distinctly, such the time I first saw the real Chinese chess. This age I was finding Xiaoying. That was a bad behavior they had the impudence to let me find my own interpreter by myself especially they weren’t have the conditioners in everywhere, maybe, I didn’t know what way is they use to serve for their chief, but anyhow, that was not my way, and I was the boss to everyone except Johnson so they should worked in this way I use to do, not theirs.
When I found him, he was playing the chess with other guy in his own place, which was very difficult to find out.
Didn’t need any explanation, he knew I was in a bad mood even I didn’t shout until then. ‘Ha, you are here, I just guess is everyone working outdoor, how a hard-working nation! So, what are you doing here while I was finding you form door to door? Playing a Chinese chess?’
‘I’m so sorry, Mr. Isaac, that’s our fault. If you don’t mind, the next time you want to find me, you can cell the switchboard in your room and they will ask me to meet you.’
‘Uh-huh, but next time I hope you will tell me about the phone first. Now that I ‘m here, so why don’t I see you play the game? I never see people play the real Chinese chess before.’ I sat down beside them, the other guy looked a little nervous about my appearance. I guessed I didn’t see him before then, but obviously, he knew me. ‘Don’t be afraid, I won’t eat you.’ Said I, smiling, to the guy.
‘Sorry sir, but he didn’t learn English so he can’t know what we are talking about.’ said Xiaoying.
‘That’s okay, you’re my interpreter, remember?’ I took the cap of coffee on the desk in front of me, his or the other’s, it doesn’t matter, I didn’t mind it, they didn’t have a conditioner in his room and I couldn’t stand any longer like kept to wait for my own cap.
‘Yes, sir. And, do I have this honour to play a game with you?’
‘Me? I didn’t ever play Chinese chess you known that, still more you have had a mate already, isn’t he?’
‘You mean he?’ smiled him, and I saw the guy looked more nervous like he could guess what we said. ‘He’s also not really good at playing Chinese chess, I just caught someone wasn’t working then at will. So, how about you? Everything has the first, Mr. Isaac.’
‘Well, maybe I can try. “Everything has the first”, good saying.’
I admitted that it was not a really difficult game, even I didn’t know what normality the game is, however I also couldn’t ask anyone because Xiaoying let go the guy before we started the game. When the game ended, he smiled: ‘Prove to be Mr. Isaac, the winner in the first try.’
‘You should known, the chess is not tougher than the western one. But I hope if it will be next time, you can be serious about playing with me.’
‘Oh? Why did you think I’m not serious, Mr. Isaac?’
‘Don’t take me for a fool, Xiaoying, I’m not, and so do you. And then, I just remembered I have told you I don’t like to see you acting, right?’
‘Yes, sir, I will remember it.’
‘You had better to do so. Now, just take me back to my room, I cannot bear to stay in the air anymore.’
Trust me, their Tiger Conservation Center would be the sickest scene you never ever seen before. Yeah, no one there was vomiting, but no one can feel well in there. Tigers lay down together, sleeping or be asleep. I didn’t know why the children could scream when they saw the tigers. A hare would be more horrible than those guys. And about they could keep operate, it really made me feel inconceivable.
‘Mr. Isaac, what you thinking about the center?’ The day we went there with the visitors, only Xiaoying and me, we had to dress as the visitor, he gave a foolish hat and sunglasses to me to block the sun.
‘Many big fat cats are lying together.’ Side I, ‘It looks so sick.’
‘Actually, that just what they are. They are the feline livestock.’
I stared at him behind the sunglasses, but he looked back at me smilingly, and I noticed his almond eyes in the sun would become brown, or just because the sunglasses? Whatever he was, I thought that was the secret they could keep live in the age. And, it also would be the one of the reasons I didn’t like Asia.
‘Okay, that’s enough.’ I took out the sunglasses, but his eyes didn’t go into black. ‘I want to go back.’
‘But you don’t see the feeding show yet.’ Even though he said as this, he took over the sunglasses, and turned the face back.
‘Well, I think your boss won’t anger with this. And I really wouldn’t like to see those guys eat anything. You don’t want me vomit right here. Do you?’
‘No, sir.’ said he, still smiling.
Those nights I stayed there were too sultry for me. Going there in summer was a fault, I knew, but because I stayed in the mountain so it wasn’t that bad, I sometime can went out still. The balcony of my room was big but there wasn’t any pretty scenery, at least in my eyes. However I liked there for the early-morning, and I always stood in balcony waiting my servants knock my door to wake me up. There was quite silent when the morning the sun just climbed the other side of mountain. Every sound whether it was loud or not would be very clearly in that time.
‘Wow, so surprising, John, call me in your working time?’
I rested on the railing holding the cell-phone between head and shoulder by the neck, and looked down the railing. Pretty green, but also boring.
‘Okay, I’m sorry I forgot to call you before this, but don’t kidding me, I has been apologetic. Forgive me. Alright, return from the digression, Isaac, did you have a good holiday there?’
‘Not really terrible as I guessed, but there is an impolite guy around me all the time.’
‘Oh, really?’
‘Yeah, he is my interpreter and guide. But it is not the point. I have seen their factories and the working report. You should came with me, do you know, I saw their tiger-bone medicated wines’ factory and Tiger Conservation Center. And guess what, they got the national burglarproof label of tiger-bone medicated wine.’
‘I’m not surprised, anyhow their center has passed the national authentication.’
‘Right, they really have the competent, my guide just told me China has joined the CITES since 1981, and the prohibition of exchanging the tigers’ bone issued in 1993. How a long time, isn’t? But they still have a hot market exchange the tigers. Fur, bone, meat… Chinese always surprise me.’
‘You know, in such country like China always has the best market.’
‘Uh-huh, so, do you want to finish here?’
‘Not yet, and according your saying, I think it will live for a long time.’
‘Well, they have this value. Then, can I come back tomorrow? And next time you need someone to go to the distant place work for me, don’t ask me again. Maybe you can ask Bob.’
‘OK. And for my apology to you, I will ask them to pick up you by our personal aircraft.’
‘Finally. I think I may forgive you.’ I hang up the cell-phone and went to answer the door. I was ready to tell these almond eyes I would like to say goodbye to them.
notes:
Hu Xiaoying=虎肖英
CITES=Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora 華盛頓公約
Finally, thanks for Cent provided the title.
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2.17.2008
