Fiction: THE RECKONING (3)

In which the confession of the communist princess about a long-lost love raises questions about what comes next. (excerpt from a novel with the working title, MY OLD CHINA: A Delicate Friendship)

Huamei’s husband was a powerful bureaucrat but a ponce of the party, not an easy man to feel kinship with. Yet after hearing his wife's confession over wine, I couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

Through the good offices of the communist prince, the hard-to-please Huamei enjoyed untrammeled access to a world of private villas, private planes and luxe hideaways not even on the map. She had a free pass to the VIP beach bungalows at Beidaihe and the keys to lavish state guesthouses from Hangzhou to Guangzhou and Urumqi to Lhasa.

Wherever they went, there were government cars, alert bodyguards and state-appointed drivers put at their service. So her husband’s attempt to lead a simple life was to his credit, though she sometimes complained about this. He didn’t leave the compound much, in part for security reasons, in part because he didn’t like to flaunt it.

This was not some baofahu looking to strut his stuff, nor a big spender throwing his cash around to wow the crowd. He was a confirmed…