One of the agreements Fun Weng
had with Mr. Yi was that the origins of Golden Helper
be kept secret until Weng was ready
to publicly honor his father.
But you may not realize what reporters are like,
how cunning and occasionally evil,
and Weng’s hutong district was soon flooded
with men and women asking questions
about giant metal eggs, and tricycles that pedaled themselves.
Weng went to hide out at the Peninsula Hotel
on Goldfish Lane, where he could watch television in the bath.
Mr. Yi began to visit him there,
and they often had morning congee.
After living at the hotel for a month,
Mr. Yi brought representatives
from an American motor corporation to meet Weng.
The hotel prepared a banquet, and everyone
shook hands and bowed.
The Americans were like giants and kept smiling for no reason.
Weng was soon bored by Mr. Yi’s talk of money, investment,
and growth, and so after an hour, he excused himself
and rode the escalator
down to the Chanel boutique in the lobby.