The Flower Net by Lisa See

doesn’t matter…”
    “It matters to me.”
    “Those men are gone. They are on boat to China.”
    David, not knowing how much longer Zhao would talk now that he’d broken his silence, tried to remain focused. “Let’s go back to this Guang Henglai. Who is he and why were all of you afraid of him?”
    “We are not afraid of
him
,” Zhao said derisively. “He is the son of a dragon.”
    “His father’s important?”
    Zhao snorted again. “His father is Guang Mingyun.”
    “I’m sorry, Zhao, but we don’t know who that is.”
    “I am only a peasant. Do you understand? I am only a peasant, but even I know of Guang Mingyun. He is one of the Hundred Families. He is very powerful and very rich.”
    “Is he the leader of the Rising Phoenix?” David asked.
    Zhao laughed bitterly. “He is not triad. He is a dragon. The triad is less than a dog to Guang Mingyun.”
    Gardner cleared his throat. “But if you reported his son’s death, wouldn’t you receive a reward?”
    “I tell you something. When the crew learned that there was a body on the boat, they didn’t feed us. They didn’t give us any water. We are on the sea for many days. But the people who own the boat, they say, you can’t come to America until you say who this body is and who put him there. This boat has many people and many ears. There are no secrets. Every night people gossip about what they see and hear. They say the captain is talking to the leader in America. The news must be very bad, because they say they will beat us until someone confesses. Let me tell you something. The Chinese people are very strong. We are used to punishment. But no one likes to lose face. Two men tell what they know. Those two men lost too much face. They cannot go forward to America, because everyone on the boat knows how they screamed and begged. They cannot go home, because if they return to their home village how can they face their families? How can they pay back their trip money? Those two men were hungry and thirsty and tired. They tell what they know and then they jump overboard. The captain calls to shore. He is yelling. Everyone can hear it.”
    “Who was he talking to?”
    “The leader in America.”
    “Do you know his name?”
    “I am not there!” Zhao spat out. “I am not listening! I do not want to die!”
    “Take it easy, Mr. Zhao,” Milton Bird said. “Maybe this is enough for today…”
    “No, I want to finish! I want to leave this place! You tell me I can leave after I tell you.”
    “That’s right,” David agreed. “We promised you could leave as soon as you told us what you knew. Please finish. What did the leader say?”
    “I do not know. But the storm comes. The other boat comes and the crew leaves. We think that the crew knows you are on the way. That is all I know.” Zhao lowered his eyes back to the table.
    “What more can you tell us about Guang Henglai? Do you know who might have killed him and why?”
    Zhao, reverting to Chinese, spoke to Mabel. When he came to the end of his speech, she said, “There are many phrases in Chinese that are similar to what you have in English. One of these is—look the other way. Mr. Zhao says that he looked the other way and you should, too.”
    “You ask questions and you get in trouble,” Zhao added. “You want to know about the crew, I tell you. They ask questions. They get the answer and they are dead.”
    David started. “You told me they left the
Peony
on lifeboats for a rescue ship.”
    “You don’t hear me,” Zhao said. “I don’t see them die, but I think they are dead. It is true, I tell you that I see some of them wash off their little boat when they try to get away. But I tell you, those men are dead. The leader in America will kill them.”
    “They didn’t do anything wrong.” Even as the words came out of his mouth, David wondered what he meant.
    “Guang Henglai is a Red Prince,” Zhao warned. “His father is powerful. Don’t be a fool. You look the other