“No, I’m not. It’s a new place, off Xidan. Open from eight at night till eight in the morning. The booze is cheap, the women are plentiful, and it’s not all karaoke. There’s live music, too.” He hesitated. “Lotus is singing there now.” And he saw Li’s face darken immediately. “And don’t start preaching at me, all right?”

“For heaven’s sake, Ma Yongli, she’s a prostitute! A whore!”

Yongli looked at him dangerously. “I’ll take your fucking head off.” His voice was barely a whisper.

Li softened his tone. “I just don’t understand how you can go with her when you know she’s been with other men.”

“I love her, all right? Is that such a crime?” Yongli looked away, clenching his jaw. “Anyway, she’s giving all that up. She’s making a career for herself as a singer.”

“Yeah, sure.” Li slipped down off the worktop. “I think I’ll pass, though. Wouldn’t exactly do me any favours to be seen consorting with a known prostitute.”

Yongli turned on him. “Can’t you stop being a cop for two minutes?”

“No. I can’t ever stop being a cop. Because it’s what I am.”

“Yeah?” Yongli pushed his face into Li’s. “But you can stop being my friend, right? When it suits you. When you don’t like my girl. That how it goes? Well, fuck you!” And he turned and stormed towards the door.

Li stood staring after him, his heart battering his ribcage. “Ma Yongli,” he shouted. Yongli kept going. “Ma Yongli!” This time he positively bellowed.

Yongli stopped at the door and turned, his face livid. “What?”

They stared at each other for fully a quarter of a minute. Then Li said, “I think it’s your round.”

By the time they reached the Xanadu, their spat at the hotel was forgotten. Or, at least, each kept up that pretence for the other’s benefit. It was about the last place in the world Li wanted to be right now, but he was trying to be a full-time friend as much as he was a full-time cop. Sometimes it wasn’t easy being either.