‘Yes, it was so kind of you to let me have that all-inclusive vacation, which had been originally arranged for you. I truly enjoyed it. While staying by the lakeside, I also happened to see a lot with my own eyes how disastrously the lake was polluted—’

‘And you happened to find your muse for the poem, I suppose.’

What was Zhao driving at? The senior Party leader was not a man in the habit of talking about the muse for poetry or anything like that. Unable to figure it out, Chen chose to make no immediate response.

‘The poem shows that you have been following the environmental issues in your conscientious way,’ Zhao said, looking him in the eye, ‘and that’s why you will do the job. It does not require an environmental expert, but a knowledgeable, sensitive and resourceful investigator. More importantly, an honest one I can trust.’

‘But writing in sentimental lines is totally different from investigating in scientific terms.’

‘Well, just come up with whatever you can uncover. Afterward, you may write another environmental poem, our gifted poet inspector.’

‘But what “whatever”, exactly, Comrade Secretary Zhao?’

‘What are they doing? Who are involved and contacted and connected? From where comes the financial support and means to their project? How far are they making progress?’

‘I see.’

‘More material will follow. Make sure you report to me personally. For whatever expense is involved in your work, you may have it reimbursed through the Party Central Discipline Committee, about which I’ve given specific instruction to my assistant in Beijing. You don’t have to explain anything to him. Nor to any other people, for that matter. I’ve told some comrades in the Shanghai city government that you shall be keeping me company – as an experienced tourist guide – during my stay here. So you don’t have to worry about your routine work in the police bureau.’

So it was an assignment to which Chen was not in a position to say no any more.

And for a personal reason, too, even more than the political reasons Zhao had just given him.

Chief Inspector Chen, Chen said to himself, would not let any harm come to Shanshan, or Yuan Jing.

At the same time, he wanted to find out what had happened to her since their parting in Wuxi.

‘Thank you so much for your trust in me, and for your thoughtful arrangement, Comrade Secretary Zhao. I’ll do my level best.’

‘Now, with anything you find – anything important – call me or text me at once. You have my special cellphone number, don’t you?’ Zhao added, as though in afterthought, ‘Some of these activists can be acting out of their concerns for the problem, so there may be nothing really wrong with their motive. I’ve read one of her posts online – Yuan Jing’s, I mean – and it’s quite well written. We don’t have to jump to any political conclusion.’

‘I understand, Comrade Secretary Zhao, and I’ll keep you posted.’