Shanghai Redemption Read Online Free PDF

Village in sight. He was probably lost, seeing nothing like the creek the local farmer mentioned.
    His clothes were soaked by the sharper and larger raindrops, and he felt like a chicken dropped into an enormous pot of boiling water.
    There was still no sign of any vehicles cutting through the rain curtain. At another bend in the trail, he saw something that looked like a shelter. He hurried over in that direction, but as he got close to it, he came to a dead stop. It was actually a large straw-covered chicken shed, abandoned.
    Then a white car came speeding down the road past him. Up ahead, it made an abrupt U-turn, its tires screeching on the gravel, and rolled to a stop beside him. It was new Lexus.
    Was it possible that he’d been followed all the way here to Suzhou?
    The driver rolled down the window, sticking her head out.
    â€œWhere are you going?”
    An attractive woman in her midtwenties, the driver had an oval face with delicate features. She was wearing a custom-tailored mandarin dress.
    â€œIt’s raining cats and dogs.” She spoke with an unmistakable Suzhou dialect.
    â€œI’m looking for a bus stop,” he said, “or a taxi. I’ve missed the cemetery bus.”
    â€œYou can never tell when the bus will come. You’re from Shanghai?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œLet me give you a ride,” she said, her slender hand lifting the door lock.
    â€œOh, it’s so kind of you, but—”
    It was a luxurious car with a shining beige leather interior. He hesitated, afraid of making a mess with his wet clothes. She leaned over, pushing the door open for him.
    â€œDon’t worry about it. It’s raining hard.”
    It was a surprising offer, one he couldn’t afford to turn down. He got in and slumped into the seat beside her.
    Her generous offer to a stranger had come out of the blue, but she lost no time demystifying it. “I saw you at the cemetery office. What a filial son! Paying the eternal maintenance fee, all of it, there and then.”
    â€œA filial son?” He then recognized her as one of the VIP customers seated on the sofa in the office.
    â€œWell, I happened to overhear part of your conversation with the manager.”
    â€œI haven’t paid a visit to my father’s grave in years. It was the least I could do for him, and for my mother, too. This way, whatever happens, she won’t have to worry about that.”
    That was the truth, which he blurted out at the spur of the moment, though its full meaning was beyond her.
    â€œI see,” she said. “So you’re going to the railway station?”
    â€œYes. If you could just take me to the stop for any bus that goes to the station?”
    â€œOh, don’t worry about the bus. Let me just take you to the train station.”
    â€œThat would be extremely nice of you, but it’s too much trouble.”
    â€œNo trouble at all—not for a filial Big Buck,” she said, not trying to conceal her curiosity. “Particularly one who doesn’t have his own car. My name is Qian, by the way.”
    â€œAnd mine is Cao. However, I’m neither filial, nor rich. I’ve just completed a well-paid job, so I decided to pay the maintenance fee now, while I still have the money.”
    â€œIt must have been quite a well-paid job!”
    He wasn’t in the mood for conversation, but since she’d rescued him from a long walk in the rain, he didn’t think he had a choice. He took a pink napkin she held out to him and wiped his wet face and dripping hair.
    â€œIn a month or two, all that money may be gone. In fact, after today’s payment, I might have to start cutting back.”
    â€œWhat kind of job was it?”
    That was a difficult question. There was no point in telling her that he was a government official, which was neither a popular profession nor one that matched the “well-paid job” he’d just invented. And he saw no