8, Annei Kennedy
The Chinese saying goes, "Misfortunes never come singly, but good fortune never comes in pairs!" After seeing the princess and Korniloff , a telegram from Hong Kong was already on my desk. It said that Song Feihu, along with his plane, had been detained by the Canton government. Later, I learned that the Canton Air Force wanted to start its own aviation business. It just so happened that Song Feihu's attempt to poach their pilots in Kwangchow had been discovered, so they used this as an excuse to seize the plane and the pilots as capital for their startup. As a result, my "Hong Kong Dragonair" and "Shanghai Dragonair" went out of business on the same day.
With both planes gone, I spent my days at the company doing nothing. The weather in Shanghai in July was extremely hot and humid. The yellowish sunlight streamed in through the blinds, creating streaks of light and shadow in the room. The copper electric fan in the office spun listlessly, seemingly doing nothing. Soon, I slumped onto the leather sofa and fell into a deep sleep.
In my hazy state, I felt someone standing at the door. Through my sleepy, half-closed eyes, I saw the shapely figure outlined by beige tight riding breeches and brown boots. Looking up, I saw a white shirt with one button undone, revealing a full bust that seemed about to burst out. Moving my gaze further up, I saw a head of fluffy blonde hair cascading down after the sun hat was removed, covering half of her beautiful face.
"Who are you?..." Am I dreaming? A girl like this just comes to my door?
"You're not dead? It's me, Annie!"
Now I was fully awake. It was Annie Kennedy, the American I used her name to make a fake passport for the princess. Could it be that she found out and came to settle accounts with me?
"I thought you were dead, thank goodness you're still alive! It's so hot here..." Annie plopped down on the table, leaning over so her chest was facing the fan, and said, "I just went to the shipping company and found out your plane was destroyed." Through the open collar of her shirt, I could almost see from her neck to her lower abdomen at a glance.
"Yes! The plane's cancelled! There's no way to get you on the ship." I said, "Then you'll just have to wait for the ship at the dock!"
"It's perfect that the plane's gone! I'll hire you!"
"You're hiring me? Miss, you must be joking! Can you even afford to hire me?"
(Figure 2-8-1) Anne came to Paul's office to talk about business, but it turned into flirting.
Before I could answer, she continued, "I want to buy an airplane." As soon as I brought it up, my father hesitated. It wasn't about the money, but he was worried that I was always reckless and that flying a plane alone would be dangerous. But what could he do since he had already said it? "So you're going to hire a pilot as your assistant?" Annie suddenly threw herself at me and hugged me, saying, "Paul, you're so smart! How did you know that's what my dad said?" "Me? I was just saying it casually..." With such close contact, she must have sensed the changes in my body's instinctive reactions, so I quickly pushed her away to avoid embarrassment. "Excuse me! Please continue..." "Listen to my plan..." Anne sat down, tidied her slightly disheveled hair, and took out some blueprints, saying, "I have ordered a Calcutta S.8 seaplane from the British Short Brothers. The parts are packed in crates and shipped by ship, and it should arrive in Shanghai in a few days." "What are you going to do with such a big plane?" I was quite surprised to hear this. I had seen reports about this aircraft in magazines before; it was a brand-new model developed by the Short Brothers specifically for long-haul transoceanic passenger transport. Its fuselage was 120 feet long, with an upper wingspan of 144 feet, a lower wingspan of 96 feet, a tail span of 56 feet, a cabin width of 16 feet, a cabin height of 8 to 12 feet, a draft of 5.6 feet, and an empty weight of 36,000 pounds. It was powered by three Bristol Jupiter 9-cylinder air-cooled radial engines, each with 480 horsepower, and had a top speed of 100 knots and a range of about 800 nautical miles. It was probably more than four or five times larger than my old relic. I originally thought this was a model that was still in the planning stages, but I didn't expect that she had already pre-ordered it. "I'm going to assemble it at the Kiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai and have them redecorate the interior. Look! This is my idea..." Annie spread out another drawing, and I was even more astonished. "This...this is practically a yacht!"
Indeed! Have you ever seen an airplane with a bathtub suite, a spiral staircase, a piano salon bar, and all decorated in brass and oak? In addition, there is a seawater-cooled wine cellar in the cabin and a small boat hangar at the tail for launching small boats ashore.
"I want the cabin to have a Chinese feel to it, hmm... I want to buy porcelain from Ching-teh-chen, and it should be printed with the dragon pattern exclusive to the Chinese imperial family..." Annie looked at me with fervent eyes: "Wouldn't it be incredibly romantic to travel around the world in it?"
"What a nouveau riche American; I can't believe you even came up with this idea..." I thought to myself.
"Paul, what do you think would be a good name for my plane?"
"Hmm! Your dad really treats you like a precious gem. How about this... let's call it the China Pearl!" Actually, what I was thinking about at the time was the Loulan Pearl that my father wanted me to find.
"China Pearl! It's so beautiful!" Annie exclaimed excitedly. "Yes! I want the entire fuselage painted in the bright yellow of the Chinese imperial family, and I also want a blue dragon vying for a red pearl on the bow, just like the pattern on the old Ch'ing Dynasty flag!"
"Are you sure you want to do this?" I said. "In the past, if any ordinary Chinese person dared to use these colors and patterns, they would be dragged out and beheaded!" This is what Puyi told me.
"Would you be heartbroken if my head were chopped off because of this, Paul?"
"No!" I replied, and Annie took the opportunity to lean in and punch me hard: "You're so mean, you don't know how to be gentle with a woman!"
I grabbed her hands and pulled them apart, and we both fell onto the sofa. I pressed my face against her heaving chest, the scent of sweat mixed with perfume clearly indicating that our desire had reached its peak. I don't know who started it, but we let our tongues roam in each other's mouths. She then unbuttoned a button and let my hand slip inside her shirt... Suddenly, she pushed me away and slapped me.
I looked at her in surprise and confusion.
"I'm the boss, you're the employee!" she said. "How can an employee treat their boss like this?"
"You're crazy! Who agreed to be your employee?" I felt a bit cheated, and I was even more furious at her unpredictable, spoiled princess-like temper. "Go act like a boss somewhere else! Don't forget, I'm the boss in this office!"
"You! What did you say? Even my dad wouldn't dare treat me like this..." Annie stomped her foot angrily and turned to run away.
"Hey! Your China Pearl..." I shouted after her, holding the blueprints she left behind, but she had already dashed downstairs and left!
"Luo Mei is the bandit princess, Anna Stashia is the Russian princess, who is the queen? Li Yunhe? No way! Then Annie is..." My mind was filled with the words of the fortune teller Chu Taokee, and I began to savor the ecstatic pleasure I had just experienced with Annie. Nothing was happening at work, and I was in a bad mood, so I simply skipped work for several days and spent my days wandering around on my motorcycle. One day, halfway through my ride, a car overtook me and stopped me in front of me. The car door opened and a foreigner got out. Just as I was about to lash out, I took a closer look and realized it was that jinx, Mr. M, again.
"Mr. M, I'm in a bad mood today, so don't upset me!"
"Hey! What's wrong with you today, buddy? You just came to me a few days ago asking for help with your passport, and now you're turning your back on me? Come on, get in the car, let's see who's sitting inside!"
I curiously peeked into the car and saw a pale, thin face with blue eyes... "Huh? Sergeant Shaw, is that you?"
"Let's get in the car first, it's not good to just stand on the side of the road!" Mr. M said, so we got in the car together and drove away.
"How did you end up with this guy?" I turned to ask Sergeant Shaw.
"Ask him!" Sergeant Shaw smiled but didn't answer.
"Should I call you Sergeant Shaw or Colonel Lawrence?" Mr. M said, "Colonel Lawrence is one of our men; he's been assigned to North China on a business trip..."
"The Huanggutun incident! Right?" I interrupted their conversation.
Mr. M's expression changed drastically upon hearing this, and he immediately said in a stern tone, "Don't talk nonsense! Who told you that?"
"Let's not talk about that now. Do you want to know about the luminous pearl?" Colonel Lawrence said.
"You found the luminous pearl, didn't you?" I shouted as the car drove into a garden villa and the iron gate was quickly closed.
We were led to our seats in the wicker chairs of the arcade, where servants brought afternoon tea refreshments. Colonel Lawrence then began to tell me a horrifying story: "You know about the Tingtong Mausoleum, right?"
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