Chapter 12: The Association

The Interpreters' Association met in a tired room on the third floor of an old building off Nanjing Road.

The table was long and scarred.

Three senior interpreters sat behind it, and the one in the middle, a grey-haired woman with half-moon glasses, was the chair.

The agency boss sat on the left in his camel coat, as the complainant.

Cheng Ao sat beside him with his notebook, pale but upright.

Lu Wen sat alone on the right.

Yan Shiliang stood against the back wall in a dark suit, because he had refused a chair.

Lu Ning sat in the front row of the public seats with her phone in her lap.

"Sir," said the chair. "Your complaint."

The agency boss rose and spread his hands.

"Madam Chair, this is painful for me," he said. "Mr. Lu is a gifted young man."

He sighed.

"But he altered a client's words for eight days, and the agency's reputation was at risk," the agency boss finished.

"Evidence?"

"Mr. Cheng's log. And a further matter, of the greatest seriousness."

He nodded to Cheng Ao.

Cheng Ao stood.

"On the fifth night I stood at the open door to the terrace," he said. "I understand Norvane."

"The Minister offered Mr. Lu a Ministry post, a salary, and free tuition for his sister. Mr. Lu replied that he would think about it."

A murmur went along the public seats.

The chair turned her glasses on Lu Wen.

"Mr. Lu. Is that accurate?"

"It's accurate," said Lu Wen.

He stood.

"The Minister offered it. I didn't accept," said Lu Wen. "That night, in the car, I told my client what had been said."

"You told Chairman Yan."

"I told him within the hour. I haven't spoken to the Minister about it since."

"Is that so?" The chair glanced at the back wall. "Chairman Yan. You're here as a witness?"

Yan stepped forward.

"I am."

"Then you may confirm the conversation."

"I heard it," said Yan.

The room waited.

"The terrace door was open," he said. "I was at the table."

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