The Mountain and the Factory

Chapter 3: The Mountain and the Factory

Chapter 2 is linked here.

At dinner that night at the Riverside restaurant, Robert got no answers about John's friend. Every time he brought it up, John would deflect the conversation to talking about the girl that Robert had met at the River Club. They had a delicious lobster dinner, with fresh vegetables and a bottle of wine, as they watched a young man and two women playing traditional Chinese instruments.

After the dinner and show, they were both tired and decided to call it an early night.

Back at the room, Robert made a short call to his mother and sister in Toronto before falling asleep.

He told them that he’d met a beautiful Chinese girl who was taking him sightseeing the next day.

Before hanging up, they warned him to be careful with this girl. Robert laughed at their warning as he said goodbye.

In the morning Robert felt like a teenager again, as he was showering and deciding what to wear.

He picked something light and practical, as it was going to be another hot day and headed down to the foyer to meet Lina. When he was coming out of the elevator, he saw John outside the side door again.

He was talking to a Chinese man, who was angrily pointing at him and saying something loudly.

Robert hurried towards the door just as the man pushed John and walked away, disappearing into the crowds of people around the American Embassy.

Robert went outside and asked John, "What's going on, are you ok?"

John seeming surprised by Robert's sudden appearance replied, "I'm Ok, no problem, I bumped into the guy when I came outside, and he started yelling at me in Chinese. I have no idea what he said."

Robert thought there was more to it then John was letting on, but he didn’t want to question him.

John said he was heading back to the room to change, as it was hotter then he thought. He said jokingly, “I’ll see you tonight, if you make it back from your date.”

Robert laughed and left John at the elevators as he walked to the front entrance.

Robert walked out the front entrance just as a private taxi pulled up to the curb. Lina got out from the passenger side rear, and waved at him, smiling. She looked incredible, dressed in running shoes, with shorts and a loose-fitting top. She had on sunglasses, and to his surprise, a Toronto Maple Leafs ball cap, with her ponytail pulled through the back. Robert could think of only one word to say as he walked towards her; "Wow!"

They got in the taxi together, and Lina said something to the driver in Chinese as they pulled away from the hotel. Robert asked where she was taking him, and she said, "To one of my favourite places."

She said they were going to “Baiyun Mountain,” a beautiful place to relax and enjoy nature which had a lookout area at the top with a great view of the city.

The drive took about 25 minutes, with Lina pointing out landmarks and interesting facts along the way. She was easy to be with, and seemed genuinely happy to be with Robert. He immensely enjoyed her company and couldn't believe his good fortune at having this beautiful woman as his private tour guide. They arrived at the foot of the mountain beside “Yuntai Garden,” which Lina told him was famous for its wide variety of rare flowers and trees. He waited for Lina as she spoke to the driver for a few minutes before entering the gardens.

They spent the entire day at the mountain, making their way to the top, with lots of rest stops along the way. They made it to the top around lunchtime, where Lina pulled a pre-made lunch from her bag. They stayed at the lookout eating lunch, enjoying the fantastic view, and talking about how their lives were different in their respective countries. After spending a few hours enjoying the sights and each other's company, they started to make their way down the mountain, to where the driver would meet them.

It started to get dark as they arrived at the arranged pick up area.

They sat on a bench, waiting and talking about the city, when Robert looked into her eyes and asked if he could kiss her. She didn't say anything but nodded her head, yes, as she blushed.

Looking into her large brown eyes as he kissed her, Robert felt something he hadn't felt in a long time.

**

Robert thought about his day at the mountain with Lina, while John was checking messages, on the ride to the factory the next morning. The driver, who worked for the factory, would pick them up each morning and drive them back to the hotel at the end of the day. He told them that the drive would be a little longer today, as their contact, William, needed him to pick up a machine part along the way. He said the part was required for another machine being installed at the factory by a local manufacturer.

The drive took about thirty minutes longer than usual, as they had to make a detour to the area where the old airport had been. It was an older part of the city, and seemed extremely busy as they pulled up to a large brick building, with a sign on the front written in both Chinese and English. The name on the sign, written in blood-red letters, read "Zhang Machine Parts."

Robert recognized the name "Zhang" as he had seen it on several businesses around the city. The driver made a quick call, and in a couple of minutes, a man came out carrying a box about two feet square. Robert could tell the box was heavy; by the way, the man carried it as he walked to the car's trunk. He felt sure he saw this person before, as the man walked past his window. He turned to tell John this but could see that he’d turned his body so his back was to the guy with the box. After placing the box in the trunk of the car he returned to the driver's window to get him to sign a paper. Robert was sitting behind the driver and could clearly see the man as the document was being signed. Robert realized it was the man he’d seen at the river club, as he bent down and looked in the window towards John. Robert turned towards John and could see that he looked uncomfortable, as the driver pulled away and back into traffic.

Robert told John about seeing the man at the river club, as they continued the trip to the factory.

He was telling John that he felt sure he had seen the man before the night at the club, when John's phoned pinged with a message. John looked at his phone, and then started looking at the other cars around them, with concern in his eyes. Robert questioned him about the message, and John said," "Oh, it's my friend wanting to meet for dinner this week; I'm thinking about which night to go."

He knew John was lying, which upset him, and decided he would confront him about it later tonight at the hotel. During the trip to the factory, as John was texting with his friend, Robert couldn't understand why John would lie to him.

William was waiting for them when they arrived at the factory and asked if they could help him with a problem on a machine, being installed by the local company. As they walked into the factory, two men came to the car to get the part and stared at John as they walked past them.

The machine they were installing coated small gum pieces, with a flavouring and clear coat, before they moved on to drying and blister packaging.

The machine William wanted them to look at was a short walk from their machine and transferred the gum from drying to the packaging line. As they walked, William explained that they couldn't get the transfer process to work in sync with the blister packing. He told them, the part they picked up was the transfer shuttle for the machine. It was supposed to sync with the packer, to deliver the gum at a controlled rate. William said they had been dealing with this problem, with the machine manufacturer, for more than a week, and they couldn't get it right. He was getting a lot of pressure from his managers, as they fell behind schedule for the start-up date, and hoped that Robert and John could help him. He said he told the manufacture to supply a new shuttle by that day or risk losing other contracts coming up in the factory.

Walking into the room, they could see it was busy with about six guys working around the machine, removing the shuttle that didn't work. The two guys, whom Robert had seen when coming into the factory, we're unpacking the new part and getting it ready to install. They looked at Robert and John as they came in, and Robert recognized one of them as the guy John was arguing with outside the hotel.

When the new part was installed and wired, they tried it at a slow speed and could see it transferring too fast for the packer. Robert inspected the part but couldn't find any mechanical problems with it, so they both assumed it was a wiring problem. John left and went to the other room to get his test equipment, while Robert was looking around the machine for any obvious mechanical issues. He went to the machine nameplate to check what the incoming voltage was supposed to be, as John told him that might be the problem.

When he got to the nameplate, he thought, "do these guys own the whole city," as the name on the plate said "Zhang Machinery Company."

John had been gone about ten minutes when Robert realized that the guy he had seen with John, outside the hotel, was also gone. When Robert noticed this he felt concerned, and decided to go check on John.

As he was approaching the other room, he could hear someone speaking loudly to John in Chinese. When he got close to the door, the person had lowered his voice as he said something, but Robert could hear John's reply clearly, as he answered the guy in almost perfect Chinese.

Robert remembered clearly that John had told him that he only knew a few words in Chinese and thought, "What the hell?" as he opened the door.

***

Chapter 4 of this story is linked here.