My Asian Dragon: A BWAM Romance Story (7 page)

"Thank
you," she replied, coming over and wrapping her arms around his
neck. "Tell me, is there any major Chinese custom that says I
can't kiss you?"

"Well,
no more than an American one," Longwei said. "I'd avoid
doing it in front of the village's children, they tend to giggle and
tease."

"Then
we'll just have to avoid the children for a while," Joy said,
kissing Longwei tenderly. "But again, thank you."

"Would
you like some breakfast?" Longwei asked, pulling away slightly.
Joy chuckled as she saw the slight bulge in his trousers. While part
of her wondered if she could get him into bed with her now, she also
knew he had duties to perform.

"Okay.
While we eat, I'd like to talk about the upcoming months," Joy
said, following him out. "I was hoping to give Billy a call
today."

"Oh?
What for?"

Joy
sat down at the table, which already had rice and vegetables on it.
"Well, we talked a little about it yesterday, but I want to get
some things from my apartment, close up the place, stuff like that.
Also, I was thinking maybe I can use some of my money to get some
things for the children. I bet they would like some new DVD's."

Longwei
smiled as he scooped up a mouthful of rice. "Not necessary, but
I will not stop you," he replied. "Would you like me to
give you a list of what the children want most?"

"Maybe,"
she replied. "Let me talk to Billy first, see when he can come
out to pick me up. Then we can make further plans."

*****

The
road was dusty, but Joy was still glad to have a signal on her cell
phone. She reminded herself that she would have to bring back her
charger, if only so she could charge it in the school or doctor's
office if needed.

The
connection rang, and Joy found herself tapping her foot waiting for
Billy to pick up. It was kind of funny, how easily some of the old
mannerisms came back to her. Finally, just as she was about to hang
up and send Billy a text message, she heard him pick up. "Hello?"

"Hey
Billy, long time no talk."

"Joy!
How's live in the country?"

"Pretty
good, honestly. Listen, I need to ask you a favor."

"Sure,
what's up?"

"Well,
some things happened, and I think I'm going to be staying here long
term. And I mean real long term. So, I need to clear out my stuff,
and get some things out here. Is there any way I could convince you
to come pick me up in your van?"

She
could hear Billy humming as he thought, or perhaps he was checking
his calendar. "Okay. I can meet you in the village in about a
week, I've got a service I am preaching out there. If you don't mind
taking an extra day getting back, and then about three days in
Shanghai to clear your stuff, I can do it for you."

"That's
great, Billy!" Joy said, jumping excitedly in the dirt. "Listen,
my battery is almost dead, so I may not be able to know when you are
getting close. So, what day are you thinking you'll be in town?"

"Let's
say, if everything goes right, a week from tomorrow?"

"Excellent.
Thanks, Billy."

Joy
closed her phone, and headed back to the village. If she had a week,
she and Longwei would have plenty of time to make a list of things
she could pick up in her time in Shanghai. Starting with DVDs for the
kids and medicine for Yingtai.

*****

Billy
was true to his word, pulling up exactly as he had promised, right
around lunch time. Joy came out of the village doctor's to greet him.
She had been in to visit Yingtai, and with Longwei's help told her
about Joy helping out. She was just telling the young woman about
what the school children were having for lunch when the puttering
sound of Billy's van came through the doorway. Smiling, Joy excused
herself before sticking her head out the door, flagging down Billy
who was still fifty meters down the road. It was amazing to her how
far sound carried when there was so little man made cacophony around.

"Wow,
you've gone country," Billy remarked, after giving her a
friendly hug. "It looks good on you."

Joy
smiled and stepped back. "Thanks. Billy, this is Longwei, the
leader of the village. Longwei, this is Long Pao Chin, or Billy as he
likes to be called in English."

The
two men exchanged greetings in Chinese, before Billy switched back to
English. "So, he's the guy, huh?"

"What
do you mean?" Joy asked nervously. She was sure she hadn't said
anything about Longwei's secret to Billy, but still, she was nervous.

"I
mean, this is the guy you're in love with," Billy said with a
laugh. At the shocked expressions on both of their faces, his
laughter grew. "Come on, Joy. I knew from the moment I met you
the only way to pull you away from the reporting gig would be if you
found love, and I mean real love. Also, your body language was
practically screaming that you wanted me to like Longwei when you
introduced us. I'm no police profiler, but I can read people pretty
good."

"Whatever
the case may be," Longwei said tightly, "there is another
reason Joy has decided to stay here for a while."

Longwei
led Billy inside the doctor's office, where Yingtai was getting her
hand re-wrapped carefully with gauze. "She faces a long and
difficult rehabilitation," Joy said sadly. "I've agreed to
stay and help Yingtai until she can use her hand again."

"I
see. You know, I know a medical supply guy back in Shanghai. I bet I
can get some medicine from him if you think it would help,"
Billy said, smiling and looking at Longwei. "It would truly be
my pleasure."

Longwei
nodded. "Your generosity is most welcome. However, you must be
exhausted, and should rest and be refreshed before you and Joy head
back to Shanghai. How about some lunch?"

Over
a simple lunch, Longwei and Billy chatted in Mandarin, which allowed
Joy to at least follow along, and interject in English occasionally.
Thankfully for her, both men seemed to like each other, with only the
minimum amount of uncomfortable silences and figuring each other out.
Since both men had spent time in university in the United States,
they had a common ground to work from. They even had some good
natured verbal sparring in the sports area, where Billy's UCLA and
Longwei's Oregon had been conference rivals for years. By the end of
lunch, while the men couldn't be called friends, Joy was at least
happy that they could co-exist peacefully.

Longwei
had a somber look on his face as Joy put her bag in the van threw her
for a moment. "What is it?" she asked, worried.

"I
will miss you," Longwei said. "I have grown used to having
my breakfast and dinner with you."

Joy
smiled, and quickly kissed him on the cheek. "I'll miss you too.
But it's only for about a week."

Longwei
nodded, and Joy climbed into the passenger's seat of the van. While
the sun was going down soon, Billy could make his other stop on the
way back to Shanghai before midnight if they left now. Billy beeped
his horn twice and pulled away. Joy watched Longwei's figure
disappear in the rear window, until he was too small to see.

Turning
back to the front, Joy could see Billy looking at her out of the
corner of his eye. "What?"

Billy
smiled, and turned on the van's CD player. The heavy guitar of rock
music started up from the speakers, as Billy looked back out at the
road. "You've got it bad, Joy. Real bad."

*****

Emptying out her apartment in Shanghai was surprisingly simple for
Joy. Her landlord, in a show of generosity, was willing to waive the
early lease termination fees if she was willing to leave behind most
of her furniture. He would be able to rent the space out for more as
a furnished apartment than as an unfurnished place. Since the village
didn't have electricity in all but the school and the doctor's
office, she didn't see the point of keeping most of it anyway. She
could take her laptop, her CD and DVD collection, and the clothes
that would be useful in the village. She also decided to take as much
dry and preserved food as Billy could carry.

More
difficult for her was talking to the
AER
offices. Her boss, whom she had only ever met once as his office was
in Beijing, was a bit of a stickler on the rights to her research.
Finally, after agreeing that any stories she had submitted but had
not had published could be used without her byline, he relented, and
she cleaned out her desk. As she did, she saw a final e-mail on her
office computer. Curious, she opened it, and was chilled by the
contents.

Your
lies have injured some very honorable people. If you do not cease
your investigations, you will be punished for your actions.

The
unsigned e-mail was from an anonymous address, and the spelling
errors made her suspect it was from a Chinese source. She was no
idiot, she could see the fingerprint of the Triad on the message even
if it was unsigned. She flipped open her phone, calling Billy. "Hey
Billy, just got a threat from what I think are Triads."

"You
worried?" Billy asked back. In the background Joy could hear
traffic sounds, he must have been driving.

"I
don't think so," Joy said. "The message is a few days old,
and seems to be more of a warning to stop my investigating more than
a direct threat on me. Since that's happening anyways, I don't think
there's a problem."

"All
right. Still, if you like, I can be ready to leave town tonight."

Joy
shook her head, even though she was on the phone. "No, I think
it's all okay. There's supposed to be nothing new coming out with my
byline, and if I drop off the scene, they'll leave me alone."

"Okay.
So what's your plan for this afternoon?"

"I'm
going shopping, actually. There are some things I want to take back
to the village with me, and since I'm leaving all the furniture
behind, your van will have plenty of space."

"Great.
Hey, I talked to the medical supply guy I know, and he said he'll be
able to get you some medicine for that girl's hand. He even got most
of it for free. Technically you're getting a lot of samples. Most of
the rest he's writing off on the company's charity budget. You're
only going to need about thirty dollars for the rest."

"Wow.
You're a miracle worker, you know that Billy?"

"Not
me, Joy. I just work for the miracle worker, remember?"

Joy
chuckled. Even though she didn't have Billy's evangelical faith, she
could appreciate his goodness anyway. "Okay, Billy. I'll see you
in three days, with the cash you need for the stuff you got."

Joy
left the office after exchanging goodbyes with the reporters on duty.
It wasn't all that painful, she hadn't really liked any of them, and
made her way to go shopping. In addition to more durable clothing for
herself, she still had to find some DVDs for the children, and she
had a few other ideas in mind, including a mini-solar panel charger
so she could trickle charge her own computer and cell phone if need
be.

As
Joy walked, she started to get a weird feeling. Looking around,
nothing seemed out of place, but as the feeling persisted, she
noticed there were two men who seemed to be following her. They were
relatively nondescript, but both were consistently ten meters behind
her. When Joy stopped to look in a window, they would stop. When she
moved on, they moved on as well.

Joy
considered darting into a police station or turning back, but knew
either one was useless. The police would do nothing without a direct
threat, and even then may have been on the take. By keeping herself
in public as much as possible, she minimized the chances of something
happening.

Still,
knowing the men were following her took a lot of the pleasure out of
her shopping expedition, and she took care of things in a utilitarian
fashion. In addition to more trousers and underclothes, she bought
two pairs of work boots, and a pair of galoshes. In a supermarket,
she bought dried goods in addition to coconut oil (one of the few
natural ingredients she could find to treat her hair. Chinese ideas
of hair care did not mesh with black hair that was for sure). Her
final stop was the music store, where she relaxed and found plenty of
DVDs for both the school and for Longwei. Departing the store with
her bags, she saw the two men, who were waiting outside at a food
stall, and she shrugged. As long as they were just keeping her under
observation, she could deal with it.

Billy
helped her pack her last things into the van. She carried all of her
money in cash, a wad of bills that she would have felt uncomfortable
with in her childhood neighborhood. Even in Shanghai, it made her
nervous. Billy lifted the last sack of rice into the back of his van,
and closed the back gate. "All right, that's everything. Hey,
you okay?"

"Yeah,
I guess," Joy said, looking around nervously. "But let's
get going, okay? Having those guys tail me and then to be standing
here with all my cash is kind of freaking me out."

As
they pulled away, neither Joy nor Billy noticed the man on the cell
phone across the street. He nodded a few times, speaking in rapid
Chinese. "
Yes,
they just left,"
he said into his phone. "
She's
with that missionary. No, I couldn't hear anything, but from what she
loaded into the van, I think she is leaving town."