XW and I walked into KFC (not my idea. I haven’t eaten there since I arrived. And even for a long while back when I was in the States. It’s even nastier here than in the States. The meat, I mean. Sides aren’t half bad, though). It was packed. I saw a girl, clearly a foreigner, sitting alone. We made eye contact and I smiled at her. She smiled back.

We went to order. Ordered. Standing, waiting, a presence behind me. “Are you from Russia?”. Uh, no. I asked where she was from. One of the “stan” countries in Mid-Asia. Was it “kazakh” or “kurgi”? The accent was thick. She looked Russian to me. What are you doing in China? She works in a hotel. And then, literally no more than 20 seconds into the conversation…

I have a big problem. My boss won’t let me leave the hotel.

Click. Imported sex worker. Serious, this was my train of thought.

What do you mean? She means her luggage is there but she cannot leave. Her contract is expired. She has her passport. She wants to go to another city where her friends are. She “can’t live here”.

Okay, how can I help you? I had to be somewhere and she didn’t seem in immediate danger so I traded phone numbers and agreed to be in touch. I contacted her later that night via short message. She called me back. My phone is still broke. Cannot hear the other party. And I’m with other people, so I couldn’t talk at length anyway. Tell her to message. No response.

A few days pass. No contact. I send a message. Tell me your problem. An immediate response. I have no problem. Thank you.