Chapter Two
Using a remote control hidden inside a sideboard, Elsie Chu pressed a button which unfolded from the ceiling a massive PrestigeStatus television set made by Stuart Hughes, fetching one and a half million dollars. The price of the tv was due to its nineteen kilograms of yellow gold, the forty eight round diamonds built in its frame, which also included topaz, aventurine, sunstone, and amethyst, and an inner screen layer surrounding the fifty five inch set, made of alligator skin.
Clarity expected a glossy film appealing to the extravagance of the cheeky doyenne, or a news program featuring Hunan Enterprises, but the image settled on the main bedroom upstairs, a four column canopy king size round bed, with mirrored backing adding depth to the room, and a memory foam reversible mattress.
"This is the second floor of the penthouse, isn't it, it's upstairs," said Clarity, lifting her finger. Elsie Chu nodded, saying nothing. She was trying to elicit access to the Vaulneigh Private Channel services, which boasted a list of clients including classic and up-and-coming billionaires and an international roster of prominent members of high society, frequenting websites such as aSmallWorld, Diamond Lounge and Squa.re. But Vaulneigh was not accepting the request of Elsie Chu to include her and her husband among the list of customers, alledging 'lack of proper social credentials'. Frustrated with the refusal, she often opted for her own reality show instead, which she called daobin dot tv.
"Where's the camera?" Asked Clarity.
"There's a teddy bear with a camera placed on a credenza across the bed, which my husband bought for Vanity. He likes to see her cosplay at times."
"Cosplay?"
"Costume play, dressed as cheerleader, or maid, or as a character drawn out of the Grimm Brothers tales."
Clarity watched Vanity walk into the bedroom. She'd taken off her jeans and was wearing a barely-there bra and white panties from the bridal lingerie collection of Agent Provocateur. The maid lied down on the bed, caressing the bedsheet like a cat. Two large elevator door panels leading directly to the bedroom opened, showing the chubby, stocky silhouette of billionaire Dao Bin dressed in a dark blue suit stepping out of a car door. The elevator, with a shaft covering four times the size of a regular hotel elevator passageway, also elevated the Rolls Royce of Dao Bin to the thirty second floor, because Dao Bin felt a sense of reassurance when he was inside the car. The car was both his office away from the office of Hunan Enterprises at Republic Plaza, and his second home when he was not at 'Wilkinson Vue'.
The Rolls Royce Silver Seraph was driven by his butler and driver, Smethens, brought from England after Dao Bin saw him during the filming of a Beefeater ad depicting the gin tonic experience. Immediately, Dao Bin walked towards a large bronze statue of a sumo wrestler, built by sculptor Tom Frantzen, placed near the bed. He pressed a step-on button on the pedestal with his shoe, but nothing happened. He tapped on the statue several times, and this time, the statue poured out a fountain of water, much like the 'Zinneke pis', the Tom Frantzen statue of Brussels depicting a 'bastard dog', zinneke, lifting a leg, content to do its deed on the pavement.
"Who is the sumo wrestler?"
"It's my husband, he likes to look at himself, at a bigger, self-aggrandizing version of himself, while he listens to the sound of water." She added.
"I've been thinking about ways to bring symmetry to the bedroom. I want the replica of a woman peeing, facing the statue of the sumo wrestler. Just not sure about how to share that with him."
"You think he might not appreciate the symmetry?"
"No, I'm afraid he'll look at her more than me, or that he'll decide to divorce me. Unless the statue is of me, of course."
Elsie explained that her marriage was not going well. She found her husband distant, unapproachable, interested mostly in business. Communication was not fluid and Dao Bin did not confide the details of his business matters with his wife, as much as she wanted. As a result, Elsie Chu wanted more independence from him, or more influence in what he did. This annoyed him at times, and she'd brought in Vanity to appease his bursts of annoyance, which could turn to anger. With Vanity, he was as docile as a sheep, and it was easier to learn about the monthly profit report of Hunan, without having to talk to Lim Li, the moneytician of Dao Bin that she despised, who did not confide much of anything with anyone, much less anything related to confidential business matters.
"I'm not as competent as Olivia Chai." She sipped some red wine from the two thousand bottle bar and wine cellar of the apartment, changing the subject. The moneytician had shared with her the facts about Clarity Nice.
"Lim Li has told me about how you got to Singapore, he verified it through some contacts we have at Singapore customs." She paused, letting the words sink in the mind of Clarity.
"So you came here through Herbaline. I find the company somewhat aggressive in their business routines, but the fact you came through them, in ways which are not completely clear, is for me a guarantee that I'm talking to the right person. I know they're having some problems because the Bureau of business legitimacy and the Federal Trade Commission have placed an information gathering order on them, questioning their business practices. It's part of the reason why I took you out of Shalia Owell's apartment. I want someone not completely proper to do what I envision for you. And if you are not completely loyal to me, I'll turn you in to the authorities, saying you're involved with Herbaline, so that they send you back there." Clarity nodded. She had no intention of going back to the herbal company in Orange County, which she didn't particularly appreciate.
"In addition to being my assistant, your assignment of damage control means other things. I also hired you so that you keep me informed of what Shalia Owell does here in Singapore. What do you know about her company? About the new health division of Owens & Owell?"
She offered a glass of wine to Clarity, who opted for some Redstone Coriole coming from the Mclaren Vale region in Australia, blending a variety of Shiraz grapes.
"Not much, they're launching a new body analyzer division, and some software that goes with it, but she didn't share any details with me."
Elsie Chu kept crossing and uncrossing her legs. Clarity could see that the woman looked uncomfortable, not only with the answer of the teleoperator, but also with herself. It was clear to her that the wife of Dao Bin was lacking support, in terms of business networking and also emotionally, and that possibly, that was one of the reasons that Clarity was with her as informant.
The girl with auburn hair knew that the wealthy doyenne disliked being uninformed, and was careful to let the woman know that she approved of all her empowering moves with her husband, ultimately carried out to gain more influence in his business dealings. She poured some red wine in the glass of her host and probed deeper about Elsie Chu's social life, inquiring about the reason for her presence at the Institute of Long Health with White Tigress Madame Wa.
"I don't trust Madame Wa. The sexual meditations that she teaches give her too much power over my way of thinking. She wants to get closer to the business affairs of my husband. He sees it but not completely."
The cheeky wife of Dao Bin ignored Clarity and zoomed in on her husband, who was talking on the phone.
"Does he know you listen to him and his conversations?" Asked Clarity.
"Yeah, he knows, he just doesn't want me that close to him when he talks business. But I know what's going on at Hunan. I have to, I'm his wife."
Elsie Chu turned up the volume of the right speaker, listening to Jiang Xiong, the Economic and Commercial counselor of the Chinese embassy in Singapore, sent by the department of Foreign Investment of China.
"General Tian Yazhou, our respected head of China Western Theater Command, is willing to pay for information that Professor Chang has regarding health, ignored by our Traditional Chinese Medicine Institutes."
"That's very good news," said Dao Bin.
"He wants you to make a deal with Professor Chang immediately, to gain access to all of his Taoist knowledge."
r /> "That can be arranged," said Dao Bin.
Dao Bin was not completely convinced by the knowledge of Professor Chang, but he knew it could be sold for a hefty price. The Taoist professor was introducing Dao Bin to a method for recycling sexual energy, and the billionaire received several 'sexual awareness' courses during the week on Wednesdays. After a cycle usually spanning five days, his arousal became too wild, and he ended up in bed on top of Vanity, spilling his 'Jade' inside her like his sumo statue spilled the mineral water brought from Pasarbella Markets on the pedestal. Knowing that his wife was watching him bang Vanity through a camera aroused him, but it made the work of Professor Chang more difficult.
Dao Bin jumped on the bed, springing Vanity up one foot from the foam mattress, towards the edge of it. She placed herself on all fours, providing a nice back view to Dao Bin, before moving out of the bed and walking to the elevator. She opened a panel and pressed several buttons to call the elevator. A few seconds later, the doors of the elevator opened and she pulled out a three floor trolley and restaurant bar, carrying a catering lunch and some wine from Chef Kang, the renowned Cantonese eatery in the city.
"Come to the Embassy tomorrow," said Jiang Xiong, "I have to provide additional details that cannot be spoken over the phone. General Tian Yazhou is skeptical about Chang's teachings and assertions on immortality."