‘What else did Bei tell you?’

‘Not much, but I think I’ll talk to him again soon.’

‘Don’t push him too hard lest he gets suspicious,’ Chen said, changing the subject as he rose, taking a look out the window. ‘It’s truly a nice hotel. It is called Li Lake here, right?’

‘Yes, Li Lake is part of Tai Lake, a tributary. It’s so named because the well-known statesman Fan Li stayed here more than two thousand years ago. The hotel is very close to Li Garden. Named after him. You can walk over there in just a couple of minutes.’

‘You’re right about that. Yes, Li Garden. Do you know about the romance of Fan Li and Xi Shi?’

‘No, nothing. Except that Xi Shi was one of the four most famous beauties in ancient China.’

‘Fan Li saved the State of Yue with his brilliant brain, and Xi Shi, with her voluptuous body. Afterward, the two lovers got reunited. As the King of Yue became so smug with the success, Fan Li and Xi Shi went into hiding, staying incognito in a house here with a back garden, and then sailing out on the lake in a sampan to no one knows where. It’s said that they lived happily ever after.’

‘Why?’

‘According to a judgement made by Fan Li, the King of Yue, like other kings, was capable of sharing with others the hardship and travail, but not the fortune. Whether Fan Li and Xi Shi in their real lives were nearly as lucky as in the romantic tale, no one could tell. Such “happily-ever-after” stories are popular among Chinese people just because they’re practically non-existent in reality.’

‘You know more about Lake Li than a native Wuxianese, Chief Inspector Chen.’

‘O that I could retire by rivers and lakes, white-haired, sailing in a small boat after setting the country in order.’

‘What are you talking about?’

‘Some lines by Li Shangyin, a Tang dynasty poet. Such wonderful lines about Fan Li.’

‘You’re a super scholar, Chief Inspector Chen.’

‘Well, I’m just a tourist guide in Shanghai, so I need to know those stories. Now you go ahead and enjoy the five-star hotel, but I have to leave.’

‘Whatever you say,’ Huang said sheepishly. ‘Take the set of pictures with you. I’ve printed them out for you.’

‘Thanks. You’re very considerate. The set could be a souvenir for the trip. Please forward an electronic file of the pictures to me too. I may have to enlarge some of them in case I need to study the details.’

In the Shanghai Police Bureau, Detective Yu was staring at a picture in a folder from Detective Qin.

Qin had dragged Yu over to his office first thing in the morning for a discussion on the latest development in the investigation. What Qin had just learned from Internal Security was vague, scanty, though the video about Xiang and Geng was developing into quite a storm in cyberspace.

‘The video came out online late Saturday night or early Sunday morning, instantly going viral. Before it was blocked in less than five minutes, it had already been viewed for the Old Heaven alone knows how many times,’ Qin said, shaking his head like a rattle drum. ‘In connection with the serial murder case, an alarming number of wild conspiracy theories have popped up like the bamboo shoots after a heavy rain. Some of the netizens are simply like flies smelling blood, buzzing around non-stop.’