Détruisez le mal

Chapitre 67

Which one?

The men replied, "That Chinese woman."

Heinrich nodded, approving of Berhali's taste.

"Also, I'm sorry to report to you, boss, we've discovered another theft."

"What is it this time?"

"A bicycle generator, but this time they abandoned the bicycle."

"Wasn't the house locked as I requested?"

"The lock was cut cleanly."

"What's wrong with a watchdog?"

"Still inside the enclosure, but chewing on fresh bones."

Heinrich counted the things stolen over the past six months: a small television set, a satellite receiver used to illegally receive international channels, a bicycle, a hand-cranked flashlight, some Toyota 12-volt batteries, a box of ginger-flavored sunflower seeds, and now a bicycle generator.

"Let's go into town and see if the generator is on the black market."

But Heinrich knew the generator was almost impossible to find. He would charge the American "TV Star" two hundred dollars for the fire damage, even though repairs would cost less than ten dollars. He would use the remaining money to buy a new generator, perhaps this time a fuel generator.

For any problem, you just need to be more creative, and you can always find a better solution.

edge

The Chinese have an ancient aesthetic appreciation for the margins; my father once recited a poem by Li Bai to me—

The lake is connected to the vital energy.

The turmoil is far from over.

Merchants from beyond the heavens return.

A single sail rises amidst the clouds.

The turtle swam on the lotus leaf.

Birds roost among the reeds.

The girl returns to the boat,

The song drifts with the flowing water.

And when I was sixty-three, my American friends were standing on that edge.