Red Mandarin Dress Read Online Free PDF

things in accordance to the rites.”
    But what could have been the rites regarding people falling in love?
    He went to request more books. Susu said that it could take some time to get them because of the staff’s lunch break. So he decided to go out for lunch. It was a warm afternoon for that time of the year.
    People’s Park was close by, in which there was an inexpensive but nice canteen. Many years ago, his mother had taken him there. It took him a while to find it, but he finally did. He ordered a plastic box of fried rice, slices of beef in oyster sauce with green onion, plus a fish ball soup in a paper bowl. The same beef recipe, he hoped, as he had enjoyed in the company of his mother.
    He also looked for a bottle of Zhengguanghe lemon water, but he saw only a variety of American brands: Coca Cola— Delicious, Enjoyable ; Pepsi— Hundreds of Things Enjoyable ; Sprite— Snow Pure ; 7-Up— Seven Happiness ; Mountain Dew— Excited Wave . At least the translations of the drinks were not so Americanized, he contemplated in wry amusement.
    His cell phone started ringing again. It was Overseas Chinese Lu, his middle school buddy, now the owner of Moscow Suburb, a swank restaurant known for its Russian cuisine and Russian girls.
    “Where are you, buddy?”
    “In People’s Park, enjoying a box lunch. I have this week off for my Chinese literature paper.”
    “You must be joking—a Chinese literature paper in the midst of your soaring career?” Lu exclaimed. “If you are really going to quit the police force, come and be my partner, as I’ve said hundreds of times. Indeed, customers will come pouring in because of your connections.”
    But Chen knew better. His connections came from his position. Once out of that position, most of his “friends” would evaporate into thin air. He would probably never go to work with Lu, so he saw no point in discussing it.
    “Come to Moscow Suburb,” Lu went on. “I have all my Russian waitresses wearing mandarin dresses. It’s a weird sight. Westerners look out of joint in mandarin dresses. Still, so mysterious, so exciting, so delicious that customers practically devour them alive.”
    “The exotic flavor, I bet.”
    For an entrepreneur like Lu, it was natural to seize any opportunity to make money without worrying about aesthetics, or ethics.
    “Whatever flavor, the plastic box lunch in the park is definitely not edible. A disgrace to a renowned and refined gourmet like you. You have to come—”
    “I will, Lu,” Chen said, cutting Lu short, “but I have to go back to the library now. Someone’s waiting for me.”
    The box lunch was waiting, to be exact. It would soon get cold.
    Before he opened the plastic box, however, his phone shrilled yet again. He should have turned it off during the break. It was Hong, the young cop in the homicide squad who worked as Liao’s assistant.
    “This is a surprise, Hong.”
    “Sorry, Chief Inspector Chen, I got your cell phone number from Detective Yu. I tried your home first, but no success.”
    “You don’t have to say sorry for that.”
    “I have to report a case to you.”
    “But I’m on vacation, Hong.”
    “It’s important. Both Party Secretary Li and Inspector Liao told me to contact you.”
    “Well,” he said. A lot of things could have turned into important grains in Li’s political mill. As for Liao, his request that Hong call Chen was possibly no more than a deferential gesture.
    “Where are you, Chief Inspector Chen? I can come over immediately.”
    It could be another sensitive case, something not convenient to discuss on the phone. But, if so, then it wasn’t for the library, either.
    “Come to People’s Park, Hong. Close to the entrance of the number three gate.”
    “You’re enjoying your vacation. People’s Park. What a coincidence!”
    “What do you mean?”
    “A second body in a red mandarin dress was found early this morning. In front of the Newspaper Windows close to the number one gate