Chapter 1.8

Chapter 9

Still deeply asleep, Ivo heard some ring bells he believed were part of the plot of his dreamlike activity, generally profuse. In fact it was always the same dream, in which he was lost in relatively familiar places but in which he could not find a way back home. He turned on the bed and tried to get asleep again. A sixth sense alerted him that there was movement in the hotel room and sliding his hand on the side where Lian usually slept noticed that it was empty. With the dim light coming from the hallway under the door he saw a shadow that was going to the bathroom in the dark. Partially incorporated in the bed Ivo realized that it was the girl and when she turned on the light of the toilet he noticed that the woman was carrying her cell phone to her ear. Thinking that there might be a problem, the man climbed out of bed and walked after her with stealth whose cause he could not explain. Even though the bathroom door was closed Ivo could hear the muffled voice of the woman, who was obviously whispering. He came to realize that she was speaking in Chinese, or at least in some language he did not know. Embarrassed by his stalking attitude and unwilling to violate the girl's privacy Ivo returned to bed. On the way, the man wondered what kind of cell phone was able to receive and send signals in the middle of that loneliness and in the proximity of the mountains.

啊 啊 ... 与 国外 国外 ..., 想去 哪里 哪里? ...... 好, 我 也 必须 走 走 (1) yes ... I'm with the foreigner ... where do you want me to go? ... Well, but I must take him too.

Lian listened intently to the answers of his interlocutor, unable to prevent her stomach from shrinking. She turned off the cell phone and returned to the room. It was then that she heard Ivo's voice.

“Are you all right?”

"I´m fine, I just went to the toilet.”

The two young men walked absentmindedly by the streets of Lanzhou. On arriving at the restaurant where they used to go to breakfast they walked into it. In the course of the collation Ivo told Lian casually.

“I do not know anything about you. Why do not you tell me something?”

“What do you want to know?”

“Where do you live? Whether you were born in Beijing or in the hinterland? Something about your family, your studies, who you work for.”

"Summing up, you want my curriculum vitae."

"No, nothing so formal, I just have an interest in you and I want to get to know you a little better.”

Lian decided that the boy's request was logical and did not want to look evasive, so she said.

“Very good. I will do it. Then it will be your turn. I do not know much about you either, just what was in the memorandum I received when I was asked to accompany you to Liqian.”

She shifted his position in the chair and began her story.

"My name is Zhou Lian and I have a degree in Asian Anthropology by the Beijing University. However I was not born in that city, but in a small town of the Kunlun Shan, or Kunlun Mountain Range. Have you heard of it?”

“Never.”

"It's an important place in Chinese folklore. The mythical Palace of Jade of the not less legendary Yellow Emperor was supposedly in Kunlun. It is a site populated by legends and has even been chosen as the location of films from video games to Chinese TV series.”

"You're surrounded by mysteries," Ivo said in a deliberate voice. The girl laughed loudly and continued.

"My family has been in the area for generations, my father is a clerk of the Chinese Post office and serves as a supervisor in a large region. In one of his business travels to Beijing he took me with him and as I was in the capital I took an examination in the University and won a scholarship between among aspirants”.

"I have no doubt you're a brilliant woman." the man said half-seriously.

"After my graduation I did extensive fieldwork in northern China, in Mongolia and Tibet. I have collected quite a vast experience for my age.”

"Where do you currently work?"

“ In a special agency of the Ministry of Culture that is dedicated to cultural diversity in China."

"I do not think much cultural diversity is allowed in China.”

"We are talking about the different cultural groups that exist in the country. Ethnic, linguistic, and other.”

"Are you affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party?"

"It is difficult to progress in the state if you are not affiliated.”

"So, yes, you are."

“Yes I am. Does that upset you?”

Ivo took the girl's hand in his.

“Not at all. In fact you're not the first communist I've ever been in love with.”

"Are you declaring?"

“Yes.”

"Then tell me about the other Communist woman in your life." She made a pause. “But first, tell me about yourself. I told you, it's your turn.

Ivo gave a long explanation about his family in Milan, his studies in History, his transfer to Venice and his work in the Fondazione Italiana per gli Studi Storici Superiori in that city.

"And you say it's presided by a nobleman?" Asked Lian.

“It's a private institution, privately funded so they can choose whoever they want.”

"What future do you have there?"

"I think they're preparing me for the time when the Cavaliere retires." He is about to turn ninety.

"To take over?"

"I think so."

“You must have important supports inside the institution.”

"That's right." the young man replied evasively.

"Is it the other communist in your life?

“Yes.”

"Come on, tell me about her."

Ivo gave a succinct description of Federica and her relationship with her.

"So it's another noble."

“ Not strictly, she is just a member of one of the traditional families of Venice.”

“Describe her. I mean physically.”

The man did what was required.

“You love her?”

"In my way, yes. But I do not feel the same way I feel about you.”

"And you live with her?"

"Yes, until I came to China."

Lian winced as an attacking tiger and the man burst into laughter.

"There are other things you should know." Ivo added.

"You will not tell me you have a child with her."

-No, no, no. It is something else ... she is the woman who has a spot on the neck identical to yours.”

"Two women with marks on their necks fight for you." Lian did not give up the ironical vein in her comments. Then she suddenly stood up and said.

"Come on, let's go to the hotel and straight to bed." I want to take advantage of my rival´s absence. I'm going to erase her and her neck spot from your mind.”

When they got up it was time to go to lunch. They decided to go to the hotel restaurant so they did not have to take shelter of the intense cold prevailing outside.

After having desserts Lian said.

“I want to tell you something. Some explorers have found additional traces of populations of European origin further west. I think you'd be interested in traveling there.”

"I need the foundation to authorize me to take more time and make extra expenses."

"Ask that Federica woman."

“Where is that place?”

"In the area where I was born, in the Kunlun Mountains.”