China Rich Girlfriend

Singapore. Returning from Paris, Astrid spots a magazine with a picture of Michael and Cassian on the cover. As she reads the article about “Father of the Year: Michael Teo,” she is mortified at what Michael has revealed about their lives. The article goes in depth into her own background, which her parents have always tried to keep out of the press. Astrid confronts Michael, who is proud of the article and says his new publicist arranged it. Astrid warns him that her father will be furious and Michael mocks her for being more interested in the article than in seeing her son after her long trip.

Shanghai. Carlton takes Rachel out for dinner to Jinxian Lu, “a narrow street lined with old shophouses in the French Concession” (363). The restaurant is tiny but the crowd is very posh. They are led to a table in an upstairs bedroom, the best seat in the house. The place is famous for preparing authentic home-style Shanghainese food. Carlton apologizes for lashing out at Rachel and explains his mother’s unhappiness and her fears that Rachel could ruin her husband’s image and everything she’s been working toward. He wants her to be able to spend time with their father. But Rachel says she feels bad for creating upheaval in their family. She and Nick are talking about ending their trip and returning to New York.

Shanghai. Jack Bing is pleased to have property in a new development in Pudong, part of what he considers “new China” (369). He thinks about how, a decade ago, this was farmland, and now it’s the center of the world. Jack summons his daughter to tell Colette she disappointed him by turning down Richie Yang’s proposal. He and his wife chide Colette for being in love with Carlton Bao, whose “family has two billion dollars at most” (373), when she and Richie could establish a new dynasty. Jack says Colette is his prized possession and he wants to see her married to the best possible man. Colette responds that she can make Carlton propose whenever she wants him to, but for now, she’s not ready. She says that while her parents might be peasants, they did not raise her like a peasant. They gave her a great life, and she intends to live it. As she leaves the room, Jack says they’ll see how she lives once he freezes her accounts.

Singapore. Michael gets a text from Astrid that her father wants to see him. Michael says he has a meeting with the Singapore Monetary Authority and he, for one, works for a living. Michael’s personal assistant informs him that his meeting has been canceled and his father-in-law demands he meet him at the Pulau Club.

Michael finds Harry Leong golfing with the minister of commerce, who controls the Monetary Authority. Harry tells Michael he shouldn’t upset Astrid’s grandmother or her brother, Uncle Alfred. Michael doesn’t understand why Alfred Shang is considered a big deal. Harry informs Michael that the article makes him look like a pretentious buffoon. Michael offers to let the minister and Harry to golf at his club sometime, and Harry says he’d never set foot there. Beside Pulau, the only courses he plays are St. Andrews and Pebble Beach. Harry informs Michael he bought up the print run of the magazine and had it pulled from stands and bookstores. When Michael explains he meant to advance his business, Harry snaps back that Michael’s has all been handed to him, and as far as he’s concerned, Michael’s only mission in life is to protect Astrid and his grandson, and he has failed at that.

Back at his office, Michael digs up the paperwork on the purchase of his tech company for so many millions years ago, and learns the holding company was called Pebble Beach. He realizes what Harry meant when he said Michael’s success has been handed to him.

Shanghai. Carlton meets his parents for dinner and invites Colette to join them. Bao Shaoyen is concerned about the black eye Carlton received in his fight with Richie Yang. Colette orders their meal, including bird’s nest soup. She likes hers “spiked with nine drops of amaretto di Saronno and sprinkled with shavings of twenty-four-carat gold” (383). The Baos chide Carlton for his behavior—and his spending—and Colette defends him. Carlton says that Rachel knows everything—implying she knows about the girl who died in his car crash—and Bao Shaoyen is distressed.

When Colette tries to pay for dinner, her credit card is declined. As she and her personal assistant, Roxanne, leave to handle the dispute, the Baos argue. Shaoyen says that if Gaoliang acknowledges Rachel, all of China’s top families will know he sired a bastard child. Gaoliang says Carlton is not ready to take over their company. Shaoyen is the one who transformed it into a billion-dollar empire, but Carlton has nowhere near that level of ambition or skill. He wonders if it will help if he threatens to disinherit Carlton. Gaoliang accuses Shaoyen of ruining the boy with her pampering, and Shaoyen responds that Gaoliang has destroyed everything by bringing Rachel to China. Shaoyen says she refuses to hand over her family’s legacy to a girl they barely know.

Hangzhou, China. Rachel and Peik Lin are boating on West Lake. Hangzhou was once the retreat of emperors, and Marco Polo called it the City of Heaven (392). Rachel sips tea and they discuss the spa treatments they will get at their hotel, the Four Seasons. They have lunch and Rachel shares how she was astonished to see the Shanghai girls spending so much in Paris. Peik Lin reminds Rachel that she would appear rich to someone living in a mud hut. Peik Lin suggests that the girls’ spending habits are supporting seamstresses, just like Peik Lin’s mother supports artists through her commissions to decorate their house. Peik Lin points out, “We all choose to spend our money in different ways, but at least we get to make that choice. Just think—twenty years ago, these girls you went to Paris with would only have two choices: Do you want your Mao jacket in shit brown or shit gray?” (395). They go to their rooms, and later Peik Lin gets a strange call from Rachel saying she needs help. She goes to Rachel’s room to find her unconscious on the bathroom floor.

Beijing, China. 3:54 pm. Nick gets a call from Peik Lin saying Rachel is in the hospital with possible food poisoning. At 4:25 pm, as Nick is racing to the airport, Peik Lin reports that Rachel’s kidneys are shutting down and Peik Lin has arranged to airlift Rachel to Hong Kong for medical care. Nick calls his uncle Malcolm Cheng, a heart surgeon. Edison Cheng, Malcom’s son, meets Peik Lin at the airport and escorts her to the hospital. He boasts of his connections and says Rachel will get VVIP care. Peik Lin responds that she just wants Rachel to be treated effectively. Eddie asks questions about Peik Lin’s family and Peik Lin gathers he is evaluating her as a potential client.

At the hospital, they find Nick already there. Uncle Alfred made a call and Nick got transport on a military jet. Rachel’s doctor says they are trying to determine what is making her organs fail. Nick anxiously watches over Rachel while his Aunt Alix, Eddie’s mother, brings food. An arrangement of flowers is delivered with an anonymous note saying that Rachel has been poisoned with Tarquinomid and she should never set foot in China again.

Singapore. Astrid emails Charlie asking his help in discovering who was behind the buyout of Michael’s tech startup. Michael is furious because he thinks Astrid’s father may have helped him out when Michael has bragged that he made his money on his own. They fought, and Astrid left their flat and checked into a hotel. She reports that Michael was so mad he trashed one of his Porsches. Charlie contacts his employee who arranged the buyout and asks why he named the fake holding company Pebble Beach. His employee says that’s where he was when he got Charlie’s initial call.

Pok Fu Lam, Hong Kong. Nick sits in the hospital room with Rachel, who is recovering. Carlton and Colette arrive bearing food. Colette reports that she has a new contract with Prêt-à-Couture, the company she hired for her fashion show, and she invites Rachel and Nick to her upcoming party. Nick reveals there is an investigation into who tried to poison Rachel. Tarquinomid is a hard-to-get pharmaceutical manufactured in Israel and it’s said to be used by Mossad agents for assassinations.

Carlton rushes home to confront his mother. He’s aware that their company has a contract with a company in Israel to manufacture Tarquinomid. Shaoyen is outraged that Carlton would accuse her of murder. Carlton gets angry and confesses to his father that he accidentally killed a girl in London, and his mother covered it all up. He says this will haunt him the rest of his life, but he’s trying to take responsibility and mend his ways, and Rachel has helped him. Carlton declares that it will be his mother who drags the family name through the mud when she’s arrested for murder.

Singapore. Shang Su Yi and her brother, Alfred, visit the cemetery where their parents are buried each year on the anniversary of their father’s death. They have an al fresco lunch and then Su Yi and Alfred clean the headstones on their parents’ grave, a ritual of filial piety important in Chinese tradition. The family gossips, and Su Yi instructs Astrid not to talk about Nicky.

Astrid learns from her father, who learned from Uncle Alfred, that Charlie bought Michael’s company. Stunned by this news, Astrid walks by herself through the cemetery and recalls a memory of when she and Charlie were together in Paris and he said he would never stop sending her love letters. She realizes Charlie bought the company to save her marriage, and this is another love letter from him. She realizes Michael has become unrecognizable and wants her to change too, but Astrid wants someone to love her for herself, as Charlie does.

Los Angeles, California. Kitty brings Corinna to meet Bernard and Gisele and explains what happened. Bernard had a botched plastic surgery and came to Los Angeles to get it corrected. He got sucked into the culture and moved to Los Angeles with Gisele, who is now three. Corinna is shocked to see that Bernard Tai, “who grew up in huge mansions and on the biggest superyachts” (433), is living an all-organic, California lifestyle in a modest bungalow.

Bernard explains that he has designed the house as a learning space. Gisele gets only the most conscious, nourishing food, and she has extensive therapeutic treatments, from Reiki to cranial-sacral massage to time in a sensory deprivation float tank. As Bernard leaves to take Gisele to her supervised session of undirected play with real-world-immersion friends, Kitty explains to Gisele that Bernard fell in with a set of super-competitive mothers during his recovery and dedicated himself to becoming “an enlightened, conscious parent” (436). Corinna is appalled that the granddaughter of Dato’ Tai, who as an important official in Singapore, is being raised in this impoverished environment. Corinna insists that Gisele deserves to be raised properly—by a team of sensible Cantonese nannies, in opulent surroundings, with designer clothes—and Kitty agrees.

The Peak, Hong Kong. Rachel and Nick are enjoying her recovery at Eddie’s place. Rachel can’t get used to being waited on by the domestic help. Eddie’s shoe closet is organized alphabetically according to brand. Bao Gaoliang is coming to visit, and Eddie rushes around in a tizzy, yelling at the help to have everything prepared according to his exact specifications. Gaoliang says he will do whatever he can to help the investigation into Rachel’s poisoning, but he is certain his wife is not responsible. He thanks Rachel for helping Carlton. Eddie has a meltdown when a vintage designer champagne glass breaks. They go out for dinner. Inspector Zhang, the Shanghai chief of police, asks Rachel to identify persons of interest in her case. Rachel recognizes the man who rowed her boat on West Lake as well as Roxanne Ma, Colette’s personal assistant.

Fuzhou Lu, Shanghai. Under interrogation, Roxanne insists that she wasn’t trying to kill Rachel but only send her a message to leave China. Roxanne had left Colette’s phone on the table during dinner with the Baos and recorded their argument. Colette was distressed that Carlton might lose his inheritance because of Rachel, so Roxanne decided to step in. Roxanne brags about how important and visible Colette is, and how it is Roxanne’s job to take care of things before they can annoy Colette. She says Colette had no idea what Roxanne meant to do to Rachel. Bao Gaoliang takes Rachel to his house, where she is graciously welcomed by Shaoyen. Shaoyen’s animosity toward Rachel dissolves when she realizes how much Rachel looks like Carlton.

Singapore. Astrid and Michael fight when Michael accuses her of cheating on him with Charlie. He reveals that he’s been tracking her texts, emails, and phone calls. Astrid realized the man she loved has changed beyond recognition and decides to collect Cassian and his nanny and leave. Michael grabs one of his antique weapons and threatens her, saying he’ll smear her name in the paper. Astrid reminds him that her grandmother and Uncle Alfred are the largest private shareholders of Singapore Press Holdings. They will never be in the papers.

Shanghai. Over the phone, Rachel’s mother scolds her that she had to learn from Eleanor that Rachel was ill. Kerry and Eleanor talk frequently and have been discussing when Rachel will get pregnant.

Rachel agrees to meet Colette for dinner at another fancy restaurant. Rachel believes that Colette had nothing to do with her poisoning. Colette confesses about the pressure she is under to always be the best at everything. Her parents wanted her to marry Richie Yang, but she loves Carlton. She’s upset because Carlton asked Colette to stop calling him. Colette wants Rachel to persuade Carlton to see her. Rachel says she doesn’t want to get involved in their relationship and Carlton will have to figure things out for himself. Colette says Rachel should do as she asks because she owes her for all the money Colette has spent on her, paying for meals, inviting her to her house, flying her on her private plane, introducing her to important people.

Colette insults Rachel for her cheap American clothes and her cheap American jewelry, claiming she is better than Rachel, who is nothing but “a common little bastard” (470). Rachel replies that she feels bad for Colette for being a spoiled, entitled child. She says Colette doesn’t live in the real world and benefits from her father’s polluting companies. She tells her, “You may have all the money in the world, but you are the most morally impoverished child I’ve ever met” (471). This take-down is filmed and posted on social media and goes viral immediately.

The Los Angeles Daily News and others report the kidnapping of Gisele Tai and how her father, Bernard Tai, is frantic. Further reports reveal that the kidnapper is the girl’s mother, Hong Kong soap opera actress Kitty Pong. Neighbors in his Mar Vista neighborhood report being surprised to learn how much money Bernard has. The South China Morning Post reports that Kitty used the private jet of billionaire Jack Bing. Kitty’s representatives report that she intends to file for divorce and sue for joint custody. Society columnist Honey Chai shares the scoop by announcing that Kitty is the mistress of Jack Bing. Colette Bing has left the country after her deal with Prêt-à-Couture was canceled. Honey further reports that the Baos held a farewell dinner for Rachel Chu and her husband, Professor Nicholas Young. Among the guests was tech titan Charlie Wu, who recently announced his separation from his wife, and who was escorting a beautiful woman in white whose name the columnist didn’t catch. Corinna scolds Kitty for sabotaging her work, but Kitty says she doesn’t care what Hong Kong thinks of her. She’s moving to Singapore, into a house Jack bought for her. Kitty watches complacently as Oliver T’sien arranges the placement of The Palace of Eighteen Perfections on her wall.