Li climbed into the driver’s seat and started the engine. “Most of the technology for the super-rice was developed at Zhuozhou agro hi-technology development region, just south of Beijing. After that they spent a number of years in the south near Guilin in Guangxi province conducting field trials. That’s where Chao was before returning to Beijing to be appointed adviser to the Minister of Agriculture.”

Margaret was thoughtful for a moment. “Could you show me Chao’s flat?” she asked.

“We’ve already been through it from top to bottom.”

“I know . . . I’d just like to look for myself.” She looked at him very directly. “Indulge me. Please?”

He looked at the appeal in those palest of blue eyes and knew that he couldn’t resist. “What time is it?” he asked.

She checked her watch. “Just after four.”

“Okay. I have to go to the railway station first to pick up tickets for my uncle. Then we’ll go to Chao’s flat.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

I

Wednesday Evening

The traffic on the second ring road heading south was nose to tail, crawling through a late afternoon haze of humidity and pollution. Li took a pack of cigarettes from the glove compartment. “Mind if I smoke?”

Margaret looked at the cigarettes with distaste. “Actually, yes.” Then she relented. “Well, I guess if you open your window . . .”

“Then the air-conditioning won’t work.” He dropped the pack back in the glove compartment. “In China,” he said, “it is considered bad manners to refuse someone permission to smoke.”

“Then why did you ask?”

“I was being polite.”

“Well, in the States it’s considered impolite to ask somebody else to breathe your smoke.”

He smiled. “We’re never going to agree on very much, are we?”

“Well, there’s certainly room for improvement on our record to date.”

He blasted his horn at a yellow taxi and switched lanes to gain a couple of car lengths. “So what happened that night?” he asked.

“What night?”

“The night of your banquet.”

“What, with McCord?” He nodded. “The guy’s a total creep.”

“So why did you invite him?”

“What?” She was shocked. “Where in the hell did that story come from?”

“I thought you knew him.”

“He tried to pick me up in the bar of the Friendship. I’d never seen him before then. It was Lily who told him we were going to a welcome banquet, and he just turned up.” She gave vent to her indignation. “Jesus!”

“But you got into a fight with him.”

“I didn’t get into a fight with him. I took issue with the work he does.”

Li was surprised. “But he’s a scientist.”

“He’s a biotechnologist. He tampers with the genetic make-up of foods and then expects us to eat them.”

“He was responsible for developing the super-rice. What’s wrong with that? It’s feeding millions of hungry people.”