Scene 16

«If your head offers no solution, think of your stomach»*, goes a saying by Lucien Blagbelle that Maille heartily endorsed. And so he allowed himself to be driven directly from the airport to the restaurant of Ren Zilin. – A number of establishments in Beijing are either pragmatic snack joints or rich culinary temples with large, incredibly well-organised kitchens – something that encourages the Chinese tendency to eat out regularly with family and friends and treat themselves to a range of culinary delicacies. As a solo guest one cuts a strange figure in these large dining halls.

But the Ren Zilin restaurant was a small neighbourhood eatery with a nice, lamp-lit by night ambience and a pretty although rather shabby courtyard. As luck would have it, Maille had landed up accidentally at this restaurant during his very first visit to Beijing and had enjoyed, along with his supper, a good conversation with its lady-proprietor.

As always he had introduced himself as a culinary inspector from Santa Lemusa. A trademark that allowed for diverse interpretations – as such Maille considered himself as a mixture of food critic, hygiene inspector and peripatetic researcher in the subject of nutrition. The camouflage was practical – and covered up Maille's secret melancholia because instead of keeping vigil over a criminal from São Paolo, he had often preferred to test the temperature of a poulard from Bresse. At Ren Zilins, the discussion was inevitably about food, local specialities, prices, products and work at the stove… and naturally Maille always had many questions about the items served to him – so many that he occasionally landed up in the kitchen, where the gracious owner personally brought forth a pinch of something or the other. Not for nothing was one a spy.

Unfortunately, Maille had little time now to continue with his research. He was totally preoccupied with the clue provided by Zhang, and the fruitless stint at the airport angered him – he could not rid himself of the nagging thought that he might have overlooked something. Moreover, it was fairly late, the oven was closed and the cooks were in end of work mood. As a result, there was just cold food available at the restaurant. He ordered some marinated peanuts, cucumber salad with pork ears, leftovers of red braised chickpeas, some cold roast with Ren Zilin's special sauce, and a bottle of beer to wash it all down with. He laid the picture postcard of the dragon before him on the table and stared at it – in the fervent hope that it would provide him with some secret, would some-how help him make a leap forward.

* Note of the publisher: In fact the original statement of the doctor Lucien Blagbelle had been somewhat different: «If your head does not propose, then let your belly dispose»

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