The Interior - Страница 26

The remarks were condescending, but Sun's affability took the sting out of them.

"To answer your question," Sun continued, "no, I'm not in trouble. But people have many reasons to need lawyers."

"I'm not an expert on Chinese law," David said. "You'd be better served by a Chinese law firm."

"You see, Miss Quo, there he is showing his open heart to us again," Sun said.

Miss Quo cast her eyes down modestly, pleased that her new boss had fallen into favor with such a powerful man.

"I don't need someone who is familiar with Chinese law," Sun said after a moment. "As your Miss Quo has already explained, I act on behalf of my province and my country when foreign companies come calling. I have actively sought foreign investment in Shanxi. You must understand, until very recently we didn't do much business using contracts. You don't need things like that when the government owns every business, factory, and farm. So in China we've had many problems with outsiders as we negotiate our deals. I think foreigners would be pleased to deal with someone like you who understands their ways. What I'm proposing is that you represent me both as an individual, for I have many investments of my own, and as the representative of Shanxi Province."

"It would be a conflict for me to represent you in any dealings with Tartan," David said.

"Again, that's just one deal. It's my job to bring many foreign companies to Shanxi."

"If I represent you, I'll be privy to many aspects of your business. There may be things you won't want Tartan to know and vice versa."

"Lawyers are supposed to be discreet."

"Discretion isn't the problem," David said. "Many clients simply prefer to know that there'll never be a chance that their affairs will be anything other than completely private, that work product won't somehow get misplaced or misfiled, that no one will be in the office and glance at something they shouldn't see."

"What you're saying, Attorney Stark, is making me nervous about you and Phillips, MacKenzie…"

"We are scrupulous with all work product, but accidents can happen. Not to mention…"

When David hesitated, Sun finished for him. "You're in China and you can't guarantee complete confidentiality anyway."

David turned his palms up and surrendered to that truth, then added, "In addition, what if five years from now there's a disagreement between you and Tartan?"

"There won't be," Sun said.

"But what if there were?" David persisted. "Wouldn't you want to know that your affairs had always been totally secure?"

"We're both working toward the same ends," Sun said. "There are no conflicts and there never will be."

"Still, if there were, I'd have to choose which client I'd represent. I'm afraid it would have to be Tartan."

"Because it's a bigger client than I am."

"And because my firm has represented Tartan longer."

"This is all right with me."

"Then let me call my office and Tartan to see how they feel about it. I'll get back to you as soon as I can with their answers as well as a waiver that you'll need to sign."

Governor Sun stood, signaling the end of the meeting. He shook David's hand, looked deeply into his eyes, and said, "As soon as you get your waiver, I'll send you a report of my various activities." He walked David and Miss Quo to the door. He bowed his head. "If you need anything before I see you later this week, please call my assistant Amy Gao." Then Sun turned his attention to a delegation of businessmen waiting in the foyer.

"There's something quite wonderful about listening to people's troubles, then trying to help them," David said to Hulan that night. "I made a couple of phone calls this afternoon and was able to resolve the problems with the winery. The pig thing will be a little more difficult, but Miss Quo has already drafted a couple of letters to whom she says are the right people. Hopefully we'll be able to have some meetings at the beginning of next week after the signing of the Knight deal and those pig guys can go back to their manufacturing with no more problems."

Hulan thought David still had a lot to learn about the way things worked in China.

He'd saved the news of his meeting with Governor Sun for last. Hulan absorbed the details, listening carefully for the usual Chinese nuances that David might have missed. They both laughed when he told her about the new Beijing-Taiyuan expressway. "How was I supposed to know it existed?" Hulan asked, groaning in mock horror at the needless misery she'd put herself through on those two trains, while at the same time thinking just how far removed Suchee and the others she'd met in Da Shui were from this life-changing news.

They laughed even harder when David got to the part about Sun speaking perfect English. "I should have known better," David said. "I do know better!"

"But?"

"Jet lag?" he tried. And again they laughed. Then he said, "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For Sun. Landing him as a client is a coup. I know I owe that to you."

"But I didn't do anything."

"He isn't a friend or some part of the Red Prince network?"

"I've never met him. I've seen him, of course. He was at Deng's funeral. He's a powerful man, David. Very important."

"So how did he…"

"As Sun said himself, your reputation precedes you. Besides, Miss Quo has impeccable connections."

David thought for a moment, then asked, "All that pro-democracy, pro-capitalism talk, isn't that dangerous?"

"A year ago, even three months ago I would have said yes. But Deng is dead. Look at who runs the country now. President Jiang Zemin is trying to recast the U.S. as China 's friend, not its enemy. As mayor of Shanghai, Zhu Rongzi brought that city back to world prominence. Now that he's premier, he hopes to do the same for the whole country. I don't know much about Sun, except that he's trying to do for his entire province what Zhu did for Shanghai. It doesn't take a mathematician to add this up. Today Sun is one of one hundred and seventy-five people on the Central Committee. People say he's vying to become one of the seventeen members of the Politburo. From there maybe he'll go onto the five-man Standing Committee. Then again, maybe he can bypass those steps entirely and go straight to the top. In ten, twenty years, he could have it all."

"You like him."

Hulan shrugged. "Again, I don't know him personally, but I like what he says. He'll be a great client for you."

"I don't know," David said. When Hulan looked at him quizzically, he continued, "I don't know much about the way things work here. I don't understand the politics. I go out on the streets and see capitalism. I come home and you tell me about communist party rule. I have trouble meshing those two ideas."

"But you don't have to. Listen to what he said: He wants your help in working with foreigners, because the rituals are different. He said it; you just didn't hear it. In a Chinese deal the negotiations are intricate: will tea be offered, will you accept it, who will sit at what part of the table, who enters the room first. Effusive compliments are exchanged but never accepted. You can never say what you want or what you'll concede. The 'final' contract is never the last version. On the eve of signing or just before a big banquet, there are always 'a few last matters to attend to.' Negotiations can go on for months, sometimes years. This is true in business and personal relationships, but it's absolutely contrary to the American way. When you tell me Sun wants you to help him cut through all that, I like him even more." "But he's a politician, Hulan."

"He's not just any politician. He's a forward thinker. If he needs help, I think you should give it to him. That's what you do best-help people who are on the side of right."

David didn't like the idea of getting involved in politics, but if Hulan thought Sun was a good guy, then what could David do but help him, because as Hulan said, this was what he did best. He tried to explain the heart of it to Hulan.

"I guess it doesn't matter to me if a client is big or not. Like today with those people who were manufacturing clothes out of pigskin. I enjoyed talking to them. It pleased me that with a couple of phone calls I could fix their problem or at least make some headway. But a politician is different. I'm not convinced about how complex his deals are. I worry about integrity. I worry about what I won't understand. I worry about what Sun's real problems are and why he wasn't forthright about them. Because he must have them or else he wouldn't come to me. Still, as a lawyer I can look at his problems and steer him in the right direction, but…" He drew the word out as he thought back. "I remember once seeing a painting of a shipwreck. There was a lighthouse and the beam reflected over the water, but that still hadn't prevented the ship from hitting the rocks. That's how I see what I do, Hulan. There's the sense that you can orient to the light in the darkness and even know the waters, but if a surprise current comes up or a fog descends, then suddenly logic and experience might not be enough to stop disaster from occurring."

On Wednesday they were awakened as usual by the yang ge troupe. This time David said he wanted to go out and see it. They dressed and a few minutes later stepped out into the alleyway. Standing at David's side, Hulan saw the dancers in a new way. How sweet they were in their colorful costumes. How dear to see these old people like Madame Zhang and Madame Ri with their smiling faces and delicate movements. Even the music that had sounded so loud and inharmonic to her ears now sounded festive and gay. And at her side was David. He was dressed casually in khakis, a button-down shirt open at the neck, and loafers. His body was loose and relaxed as he leaned lackadaisically with one shoulder against the wall of the Liu family compound. Hulan edged closer to him, and he draped his arm easily over her shoulder. She felt cautiously happy.