Robert’s Problem

The phone rang for a long time without an answer.

Just as Jiang Chen was about to hang up, someone picked up.

"Hello?" an unfamiliar voice curtly said in English.

The voice was deep and slightly scratchy—not at all like Robert.

"Jiang Chen, Robert’s Han friend. And you are?" Jiang Chen used his broken English to slowly answer.

"Nick. My boss is currently in trouble... can I trust you?" Nick asked after some hesitation.

"Of course. Robert is a good guy. Even though I’m in Han, I still miss him dearly. Also, we have unfinished business." Jiang Chen dug deeply into his vocabulary to finally articulate what he needed to say.

The other side remained silent for a while before Nick finally explained the situation.

Because of Jiang Chen’s terrible English, Nick purposely slowed down for him, and after a while, Jiang Chen finally understood what happened.

To put it simply, Robert went on a business trip to Iraq two days ago and was kidnapped.