Unpredictable Winds, Excerpt by Thomas T. Chin

Shanghai, 1940s: Lee De-Chang serves as the general manager of Bayer Pharmaceutical Company. In secret, he operates a gun-parts factory—a dangerous game to play while the Japanese army occupies the city.
Lee is engaged to Lily, the daughter of a wealthy Hong Kong shipyard owner. Lily has her own secret and uses her wits to keep her fiancé at arm’s length. Though calm on the surface, Lee’s desire for her torments him day and night, until life changes for him forever when Mei, a young beauty from Suzhou, appears in his office and begs for help. Lee faces a moral dilemma when he realizes, to his shame, that he is attracted to Mei, a married woman.
While Mei’s husband is off fighting for the motherland, Mei must work for Lee during the day, but she faithfully writes to her husband at night. After a terrifying event when Japanese soldiers force their way into her employer’s home, Mei catches the eye of a captain of the Imperial Army. She is unexpectedly pursued by him, and this puts her in a precarious situation.
Lee’s greatest desire is to love—and to be loved. Will the outcome of his relationships be everything he hoped they would be? Will Lily ever be brave enough to tell the truth? And will Mei be able to navigate the choppy waters of love and friendship while keeping her honor?
Unpredictable Winds tells the story of unrequited love, secrets, desire, and an unintended friendship that leads to devastating consequences.

Excerpt, Chapter One

At five minutes before eight o’clock, the familiar echo of high heels on the marble tiles sounded in the hallway, and then in the outer space of his office. Within seconds, there was a gentle knock on the frosted glass door.

“Come in.” Lee quickly adjusted his yellow silk bowtie. He felt the subtle crease between his eyebrows relax.

A slender, middle-aged woman in a dark-gray suit walked in with her customary writing pad and some papers in her left hand. She stood tall in her high heels, her back straight. Her dark, pin-curled hair was neatly combed behind her ears. On her smooth, lightly tanned skin, subtle wrinkles around the corners of her eyes suggested she looked younger than her age.

“Good morning, Mr. Lee. I hope you got my note from last night.” She fought to hide her haggard voice.

“Good morning to you as well, Mrs. Shen. Yes, I did. Thank you.” He looked down at a small piece of beige-colored paper next to his Siemens & Halske handset. “I am delighted that Herr Meyer can come to this year’s Chinese New Year’s party.”

“Well, the Year of the Dragon is special, isn’t it? Not to mention it coincides with your birthday, sir.”

“Well put, Mrs. Shen. You know how auspicious the dragon is. Nonetheless, I can’t predict what the year will bring.” He kept his eyes on the note. “And should I assume we are all set for tomorrow night?”

“Yes, sir. The Chang Brothers Jazz Band will return to do their annual Chinese New Year repertoire.” Mrs. Shen looked at Lee expectantly from behind her tortoiseshell glasses, and he nodded his approval.

The whistle of a teakettle sounded in the back kitchen inside the office. Mrs. Shen stood. Lee gestured with his right hand for Mrs. Shen to remain seated and quickly walked into the kitchen.

The small space was enough for a two-burner electric stove, above which a redwood cabinet hung at his eye level. He took out a tin can and put a pinch of loose White Peony tea leaves into his newly purchased dragon mug and then poured boiling water into it.

After putting the lid back, he looked out the window briefly as was his custom. The morning mist was starting to dissipate, and Pudong was beginning to submerge from the eastside of the Huangpu River. Two tugboats were moving slowly downstream to the south. The gentle wind pushed the crimson swastika flag outside the window to the left to allow him to catch a glimpse of two Japanese soldiers standing next to a bus station. One of them was smoking a cigarette.

“My apologies for the wait, but I can’t start my day without my tea.” Back to his seat. “Please do continue, Mrs. Shen.”

“I have a list of what I have ordered from the new catering service, which I hope is going to be better than last year’s.”

“Let’s hear it!”

“Let’s see . . . six cases of Schmitt Sohne Riesling and eight cases of Oasis. For hors d’oeuvres, we are going to have stuffed mushrooms, edamame dumplings, cream of crab and cucumber, shrimp cocktail, pearl meatballs, Leeks Royale—everyone is going to love that—and then we have cauliflower cream with smoked salmon caviar. For sweets, we will have Apple Tarte Tatin and Gourmet Fraisiere, and of course, the big cake. I believe that’s all.” She flipped through her notes to make sure and looked up with a smile. “Do you think we have enough?”

“Everything sounds wonderful. The pearl meatballs will be the only birthday present I need. And thank you for getting this business taken care of, Mrs. Shen.”

“That’s my job, sir.” She grinned again and pushed a stray hair behind her ear.

“By the way, here is something that I need you to sign.”

After Mrs. Shen left the office, Lee opened his notebook to see the list of phone calls that he needed to make. As he was about to pick up the handset, he heard another pair of high heels briskly walking down the hallway.

“Oh, hello, Miss Wong,” he heard Mrs. Shen proclaim from the outer room.

The brass door handle turned, and Lily entered, promptly plunking herself down on the edge of Lee’s desk. She was wearing her favorite red trench coat. Under her glowing cheeks, a small pale-green silk choker arranged in the shape of a butterfly wrapped around her long neck. She raised her hand to check her hairpin, while her bare thin legs dangled next to his arm. “I need to talk to you about tomorrow night.”

“It’s nice to see you too, Lily.” He sighed and tried in vain to remove a small stack of papers she was sitting on, and then settled deeper into his chair. He knew exactly what was coming, and he had only himself to blame.

“I can’t decide if I should go with Marcel waves or pin curls for tomorrow night. What do you think?” Her legs kept swinging back and forth.

Lee must provide this crucial opinion, or the engagement could be in danger. He took a chance. “I think pin curls would be better.”

“You think so?” Lily looked into one of the glass-framed photographs on the wall to see if she could glimpse her hair.

“Yes, Lily. I think the Marcel waves would be too . . . what’s the word I am looking for? Too busy.” He was relieved and proud of himself for his answer.

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Unpredictable-Winds-Thomas-T-Chin-ebook/dp/B0B4C45N52
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Unpredictable-Winds-Thomas-T-Chin-ebook/dp/B0B4C45N52/
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/unpredictable-winds-thomas-t-chin/1141667016
Waterstones: https://www.waterstones.com/book/unpredictable-winds/thomas-t-chin/9781956851335

Meet Thomas T. Chin

Thomas T. Chin is an artist and art teacher. Born and raised in Beijing, China, he is a graduate of
Bennington College, where he studied fine arts and creative writing. He received his advanced
degrees from Columbia University and Pratt Institute. His creative work has been featured in American Poetry Annual, Manhattan Arts, Photographer’s Forum, and his paintings are in private collections in the United States and Europe. Unpredictable Winds is his first novel. He lives in New York.