Chapter 23 (Part 2)

Riya was in her apartment, making mango pickles. Lucas bought ten kilos of mangos yesterday. He gave some to Holly, Aliya, and Riya to make some pickles. Lucas gave them so many mangos. Riya was happy that he bought the green ones. They were nice and sour and perfect for pickles. Judging by the number of mangos, Riya could probably make five big jars of pickles. She was going to give some to Liang and Kris. Kris had been asking her to make pickles for him. This was the right time. Riya finished cutting them into quarters which took her almost two hours. Now she had the cut mango in containers with salt. She just needed to wait for a few days.

Riya decided to relax for the rest of the evening. Her left hand was paining from all that cutting. At least, the worse was done. She just slammed her body on the sofa, someone was knocking on the door. Riya was exhausted to get up. The person knocked again. Riya slowly got out of the sofa and then started walking slowly to the door. Finally, she made it to the door without collapsing. She opened the door a little bit to check the visitor. A woman was standing by the door but her face was blocked by the door.

"Hello.", Riya answered.

The woman looked into the opened gap. "Hello, are you Riya Moodley?", she asked.

"Yes."

"I'm Samantha Lau, Head Officer of Shanghai Police Force."

Riya was curious about what she did wrong even though she did not. She closed the door to unlock the chain. Then she opened the door wider. "Hello Miss.", she bowed to Samantha. "Sorry for being rude, can I see your identification?", she asked politely.

"No problem.", Samantha took out her wallet and gave it to Riya. "It's good to ask these days.", she said with a smile.

"Yeah. I also used to do that in South Africa because crime rates are increasing there.", Riya said while examining the wallet and found nothing suspicious. "Here you go Miss Lau.", she gave Samantha's wallet back.

"Thank you."

Riya opened the door wider for Samantha to enter. Samantha bowed to Riya and then entered. She looked around the apartment as she was walking further into the room. Riya closed the door behind her while looking at Samantha. Samantha was liking this apartment. Suddenly, she could get a strong smell of mango.

"Why do I smell green mangos?", she asked.

"I'm making mango pickle. It's fermenting right now with salt.", Riya answered.

"Oh, nice. Are you making spicy or mild?"

"Slightly spicy."

"Oh, awesome."

"Miss Lau, do you want any tea or coffee?", Riya asked.

"Water is fine, thank you.", Samantha took a seat on the red sofa. She was looking around the apartment again. "You are working in The Rose Valley Hotel."

"Yep, starting on the 24th of June.", Riya poured bottled water into a tall glass.

"It looks nice and cozy."

Riya came to the sitting room. "Not when it's hot.", she gave the glass to Samantha and she took it. Riya took a seat on the single sofa. "Miss Lau, what brings you here?"

"Please call me Sammy or Samantha. As you know this latest popular news is White Jaguar. She sent me a lot of information this morning about businessmen that are working with Yanwu.", Samantha put the glass on the wooden coffee table. She lifted up a big black folder. "There is over two hundred businesses' information here."

Riya was shocked by the number of businessmen involved with Yanwu. "Okay, why do you need me?"

"Because I can't do this on my own. I don't want my officers to know that I'm sort of working with her. So, she told me that I need someone who is not an officer to work with me. I immediately thought about you."

Riya was super excited about this. "Do I get to meet her as well?", she asked.

"Eish, I don't know how she works. She just comes to my office to deliver packages and just leaves. Anyway, I checked your background details and you are the perfect person for this job."

"Well, I don't know because I'm not an officer..."

"You don't have to do those things. All you have to do is come to my office, read these files and check if this information is perfect for arresting these businessmen. I will pay you.", Samantha said.

"Even though I want to help, I just arrived in Shanghai. I'm still getting used to the environment and I still don't know how to drive on the right yet.", Riya was politely rejecting Samantha.

"Don't worry, I will pick you up around four o'clock in the morning. I hope you have formal clothes.", she was eager for Riya to work.

"I will need some clothes tonight. And I will work with you. About the money, I don't need the money because..."

"Riya, I read your report about becoming a businesswoman. I'm allowing you to work with me so we can solve this case more quickly. And thank you for bringing two of Yanwu's men to prison. The money will contribute to the start-up of your business. And I want to see more women as business owners. I also know you are going to work with the most arrogant businessman in Shanghai. And I don't blame you for getting on his nerves. But I just hope that none of the boys are working with Yanwu.", Samantha explained.

"Which boys?"

"Michael and Liang. They are businessmen at the end of the day. There is a possibility that they will be working with Yanwu."

"What about Elvin Wu? Where he is now?", Riya asked Samantha.

"Elvin Wu went to France for a business trip. He will be back for a few days."

"Okay, he must be really busy with some work.", Riya knew Elvin was not involved in this.

"Correct. His reports are not in this folder including Liang's and Wang Shing (Liang's father)."

"Okay Samantha, I will help with this investigation.", Riya made up her mind.

"Great, I will see you tomorrow.", Samantha was excited by the decision.

Samantha got up from the sofa. Riya also got up to escort Samantha to the door. Both the women were walking to the door. Samantha stopped in the middle of the room.

"Riya, I wouldn't mind ordering some chocolate tarts. I went to Unicorn Café to see Kris and I saw him eating the tart. I tasted it and I love it. He told me that you made."

"Okay, how many do you want?", Riya asked.

"I just need two big tarts. It's my mother's birthday in three days. She doesn't like cakes. She only likes tarts.", Samantha answered while shaking her head.

"I will bring them went I see you at work. And I will bring you some mango pickles for you to taste."

"Thank you. Have a nice day."

"You too."

Samantha walked towards the door. Riya opened the door for her. Samantha thanked her and went out of the apartment. Riya closed the door. She started jumping up and down with excitement. She got her face baking order in six months. She was also excited that she was going to actually work. She was really getting slightly bored at home. She grabbed her handbag and apartments keys. She opened the door and ran out of the apartment to do some shopping.