The following is the end of an Americans tale of rehabbing an apartment in China from last weeks NY Times.
The total cost of the project, once everything was added up — materials, labor, furniture, fixtures and appliances — was about $60,000. But the final chapter of the construction story didn’t occur until several weeks after we had moved in.
One morning, I found a letter to Andy in the mailbox, handwritten in Chinese. It said, in effect, “We are a large gang of dangerous men. We know you are rich” — we are not — “and unless you give us 10,000 yuan” — about $1,500 — “we will kidnap you and torture you and then ask for an even larger sum. If you pay, we will leave you alone.”
From the details the writer had provided about us and our belongings, it wasn’t hard to figure out that the “gang” members were among the local laborers who had been in the apartment during the post-construction decorating process.
In the family powwow that followed, I argued that if we conceded, they would be back for more. Andy’s parents thought it wasn’t worth the risk and insisted that Chinese criminals are usually men of their word. So we paid.
A week later I found a nicely worded thank-you note in the mailbox. So far, we have heard nothing more from our extortionists.
