‘You won’t regret it, Kwang Lee,’ Collis told him loudly. ‘Mr McCormick and Mr Tucker and I, we’re all going places. If you get into the business now, you’ll be a big shot in a few years’ time.’

Kwang Lee nodded again, but said nothing.

Mr Kwang raised his hand, and a girl shuffled in from the house to bring him two carved-ivory pipes, and tobacco.

‘These are opium pipes from the T’ang dynasty,’ said Mr Kwang. ‘But I myself never smoke opium. Only fools need dreams.’

‘I have a dream,’ said Collis carefully.

‘I know,’ Mr Kwang replied. ‘But your dream will one day become a commonplace reality, unlike the dreams that come with opium. Your dream will one day seem so ordinary that people will not even remark on it.’

‘I wish I had your confidence,’ said Collis.

‘No,’ said Mr Kwang. ‘You wish you had my tranquillity.’

Collis frowned. He wasn’t at all sure what the Chinaman meant.

‘You allow obstacles to stand in your way,’ continued Mr Kwang, carefully thumbing tobacco into the tiny bowl of his pipe. ‘You do not look at them the way I do, and simply say, “Begone”.’

‘I see your philosophical point,’ said Collis. ‘But there isn’t any hope the Sierra Nevada is going to vanish, just because I want it to.’

‘The Sierra Nevada isn’t your only obstacle,’ said Mr Kwang expressionlessly.

Collis looked at him closely. ‘What do you mean?’

‘You are a well-known personality in San Francisco, Mr Edmonds. Your comings and goings are noted. I understand that a certain storekeeper is an obstacle for you these days.’

‘You mean —?’

Mr Kwang raised his hand. ‘It is best not to say too much, even in the privacy of one’s own house. Servants, like parrots, can learn to talk — and not always in the most discreet of places.’

‘The lady in question is going to seek a divorce,’ said Collis. He took a melon seed from the small porcelain dish in front of him, split it with his teeth the way Wang-Pu had taught him, and ate the kernel.

Mr Kwang lit a match and sucked gently at the long stem of his pipe. ‘Divorce is not always the most honourable way, is it? And to marry a lady who is divorced, well, that is not always good for face, is it?’

‘Face?’

‘You understand, Mr Edmonds. You were a friend of Wang-Pu’s.’

Collis felt uncomfortable. ‘I’m not sure what you want me to do, Mr Kwang.’

‘Do?’ asked Mr Kwang, his face as smooth as a blanched almond. ‘I don’t want you to do anything. That is the whole point of what I have been telling you. Be tranquil, do nothing, and your obstacle will disappear.’