Before Ying Hui could respond, Aziz came in angrily, "how dare you speak with my client like that? Who the h.e.l.l are you anyways?"Karim tried to intervene but Hui extended his hand towards her and said, "I am Ying Hui. I am a mathematician and a scientist. I came to Tunisia to do some research on the minerals available here. What about you?"
With her reaction to his question about her work background, Hui was now convinced that she was a "honey trap" sent for him by someone. They may not have expected him to grasp and identify the situation. That is the reason she was panicking and trying to extract herself out of the current scenario. He wasn"t going to let her get away so easily. He had to find out who was behind this move.
Jia Li couldn"t comprehend the man"s behaviour. He had been cold and rude at the airport, which was comprehendible. But this 360 degrees U-turn in his att.i.tude was beyond her understanding. She knew that Karim was getting anxious. She didn"t want him to lose out on the client because of her. Why did she decide to accompany him to this meeting?????????
"h.e.l.lo Mr. Ying. My name is Lin Jia Li and I am a language expert. I am here in Tunisia on a personal visit," she responded finally.
"Bulls.h.i.+t, personal visit. She is definitely lying. I need to get to the bottom of this," he thought in determination.
Till now they had been speaking in English but now he switched to Mandarin. Been born and brought up in Britain, he was only familiar with the dialect spoken by his parents. He wanted to gauge whether she was from the same province or a different one from his origin.
She simply couldn"t understand the man. He didn"t seem the kind who would waste time in polite talk when there was work to be done. Then why was he suddenly asking her stupid questions about the weather in China at this point in time and that too in their native tongue? Hadn"t he boarded the flight from Shanghai as well? She wanted to roll her eyes at him in exasperation. But forced herself to answer civilly.
"My apologies. You must be wondering as to why am I switching languages and topics, conversing with you," he said with a fake smile.
She inclined her head politely but didn"t reply to what was clearly a rhetoric question.
"You see I find it tiresome to speak in English all the time. I was wondering if you would be willing to come on board as a translator for me to communicate with the others while I am here. It is a five day project," he proposed.
All three of them looked at him with emotions ranging from suspicion to astonishment to relief.
Having worked closely with him previously, Aziz knew that Mr. Ying spoke English fluently. Also, didn"t he reside in London? So why would he need someone to help him speak that language?
Jia Li didn"t know what to make of that offer. Was the man serious about it?
Karim thought that this was a good opportunity for Jia Li to earn some extra money and he wouldn"t have to worry about her safety because he would be working on the same project with her.
"Err…I am not sure if I am really needed…" Jia Li started.
But Karim cut her off, "we are really grateful for the offer, Mr. Ying. Both of us can start working on this, as soon as you are ready."
"Good, it is settled then. Please ask them to arrange for transport urgently, Ms. Lin and inform me once we are ready to depart," he addressed her in Chinese and walked away.
Jia Li gave a bemused look to his retreating back.
"What did he say?" Aziz asked impatiently.
He was feeling left out of the whole deal suddenly. It was all because of this woman"s arrival. Suddenly his fees from the project also seemed to be in jeopardy.
"Karim, I don"t know what is this foreigner"s relation to you but just to let you know that I won"t be paying for the both of you. The deal was for you to come on board. So, only your fees would be given," he spoke in Darija, so that she wouldn"t understand.
Karim gave him a glare and spoke in English, "this is why I didn"t want to work with you in the first place. Since it the client who has asked for another translator, he would be paying for two. So why would you not pay us both? In fact, lets clear this matter with him, right away instead of squabbling over it later."
"Can you both stop fighting over the money right now. Mr. Ying wants the transport arranged right now. So let"s get that done first," she intervened.