Beijing, East 6th Ring Road
Scene 4
«Wrigleys» belonged to the vocabulary of a language, which Maille called the global idiom of the branded product. In those quarters of the world in which one could not get by with French, English or Spanish, the global language of the brand helped one to get something of the atmosphere, to generate the correct currents of thoughts – and, as such, «Cola» stood for thirst, «Nike» for sport on clean streets, «Mercedes» for politics, «BMW» for unabashed business, «Sony» for party, «Starbucks» for a place where one can sit, and «Mc Donalds» («Mai Dong Lao») for clean toilets. The idiom was useful, even if Maître Seugrem, Maille's old school-friend and favourite butcher, contemptuously dismissed it as the «Esperanto of the ‹Mars›-devourers» and, while rolling his eyes and drawing a big circle in the air with his leg of lamb, therefore also prophesied «the return of the mind-‹Snickers›.»
They drove to the East, than to the North and finally to Northeast – out of Beijing in the direction of the Juyong Pass. A few minutes after they had passed a sparklingly restored piece of the Chinese Wall, Zhang revved up the street, drove through a green valley and then up an incline. The car pulled up in front of an elegant bungalow, beside which a footpath led deeper into the forest. «Ni Ko Ne», Maille informed his driver, to indicate to him that this was merely a photo stop. «Ka No Ne», winked the latter, even as he insisted on getting his fare for the ride.
