The China Affair

By J. T. Gooch

The China Affair is a fictional story about the rescue of a Chinese teacher who has been fraudulently accused of crimes against the state—crimes that are so serious authorities are trying her in court. At great risk to himself, a friend contacts their mutual American friend and tells him of the trial. The American decides to rescue her and help her escape from China. What follows is a comedy of errors, tense moments, travel in China, and powerful comments about modern China.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Apr 26, 2018
• ISBN: 9781984521477

J. T. Gooch

"A graduate of the University of Evansville and of Indiana University, J. T. Gooch has taught sociology, World War II, the History of the Vietnam War, and U. S. History survey courses at Madisonville Community College, Madisonville, Kentucky, since 1970. He is one of the founders of the Historical Society of Hopkins County and served as the first treasurer. He has studied Chinese history and has taught two summers at Changsha Education College, Changsha, China. He likes to tend his Indiana farm and to restore farm tractors.

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Copyright © 2018 by J. T. Gooch.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 08/28/2019

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CONTENTS

The Incident

Wolfman

The Fake Passport

The Trial

The Plan

The Other Passport

Monday Morning Courtroom

The Dragnet

On To Shanghai

The Voyage

The U. S. of A

About The Author

Beware of China! Beware of China! The old man chanting this message was walking around the Beijing airport terminal, banging on a long tubelike drum that resembled a round cardboard container for maps; and occasionally, he would hit a little cymbal that he also carried with the drum. Such was the first encounter of the American teachers who were destined to experience China.

What is he saying? one of them asked.

I don’t have the foggiest, another responded, but he is persistent.

The team leader who had traveled in China several times offered, He is a typical old fart that hangs around public places and panhandles. Walk on. Don’t even look at them because if you do, they sense that you are an easy mark.

The allure of the strange-looking little man proved to be too much for the curiosity of a couple of team members, and they listened to his bewitching performance. The old man now turned on as he had an audience and began banging away, chanting, and doing a little jig.

He really is wound up now, one of them said.

Yeah, it would help if we knew what the hell he was saying, the other responded.

A bystander who was waiting for a flight observed this scene and offered his expertise, He is warning you about China.

But what is there to be warned about in China? one American asked.

The bystander smiled. That is why you must listen to the soothsayer. He is telling you China’s secrets. He says, ‘Beware of China. Beware that China will blind your vision. China will play tricks on your mind. China will dazzle you with the beauty of its mountains, its rivers. Beware of the beautiful China nights. They are seductive.

Why is he telling us all these things?

He knows you are visitors, and this is his way of telling you about his country and also—suppressing a laugh—his way of making a few extra bucks.

The old man went on, and the bystander translated, Beware the mysteries of China, beware the China surprises …

What the hell did I just tell you guys! the team leader yelled. He broke the spell of the old man who glared at him when he sensed his audience was about to be rescued.

I cannot take care of you if you do not listen to what I tell you!

What is the problem of listening to something like this?

The problem is these guys are pros at panhandling. You have never seen panhandlers and beggars until you have come to China! For example, look at that kid over there who is following those people. Look at his desperate, pleading face. Do you think that is normal? That kid is a pro.

He looks retarded to me, another offered.

Whatever! But if you start running around like a bunch of cats, you are on your own!

This was the first of many times that Micah Mike Nussbaum, team leader, tried to rein in the American teachers and to protect them from what he perceived as perils to the uninitiated travelers to China. He had been to China several times, had studied the language and culture, and headed up the teacher exchange program at Burkholt College in Peoria, Illinois. He prided himself on knowing his way around.

Mike then designated a place in the terminal by a fountain and an indoor tree to wait for the tour guide. The teachers piled their luggage into a small mountain of suitcases, carry-on bags, and camera cases and waited for the tour guide and bus to take them to their Beijing hotel. Certain ones volunteered to watch the bags, while others went to the restroom or sauntered around the waiting room. This became a familiar scene at all the other airports and hotels they would visit.

After some time, a Chinese man carrying a little green flag on the end of a flexible stick and a sign with American Teachers on it came through the front door. One of the Americans went to guide him to the pile of luggage, and he asked for Micah. Mike had spotted him and was headed in his direction.

Let’s load up! It is time to go! he barked. Where is Tony?

He was here just a minute ago. Maybe he went to the restroom, someone volunteered.

Well, go look for him. We need to get to the hotel.

Tony was wandering around the airport looking for photo opportunities. An architecture teacher, he constantly looked at building designs and construction techniques. He found many interesting examples in China. His family was from Arkansas, but his father, tired of sharecropping for the white dudes, moved to Baltimore where Tony came into the world, and his parents named him Antonio for an Italian pizza place. This name plagued him most of his life.

What’s a black bro doing with a name like Antonio, Antonio?

Tony finally had the patent answer to these questions: Call me Tony, Antonio, bro, black, African American, or whatever the hell else you want, but do not call me late to supper! So early in life, he learned how to hold his own with jokesters.

Tony, Mike says to load up.

Right. Let’s go.

The team loaded the bags, and the bus made its way toward Beijing. The guide perched himself on top of a bag that was in one of the forward seats and said in perfect English, "My name is Eddie.