Fang Lin-Shan (ファン・リンシャン, Fan Rinshan) is an immigrant of Chinese descent (half-Chinese, half-British) and a member of Jacuzzi's Gang. After he loses his job as an assistant chef on the Flying Pussyfoot, he secures work as a chef under Eve Genoard's employ. Along with friend and fellow gang member Jon Panel, Fang made it possible for Jacuzzi and his friends to ride the Flying Pussyfoot.
In 1933, Maria Barcelito forces Fang to lead her and Tick Jefferson to the rest of the gang by threatening Eve's safety. When they find the gang absent, she prepares to harm him with her katana; he is saved at the last moment by Chané Laforet. For the duration of the Mist Wall incident, he stands watch outside the skyscraper and keeps Eve company.
He is the younger brother of Lia Lin-Shan, a waitress of the Martillo speakeasy Alveare.
Personality[]
Perhaps expected from someone who had 'caused trouble in his community' and a member of a bootlegging gang, Fang is calm under pressure to the point where he is able to joke in the face of those who would do him harm. He is reliable and loyal not only to Jacuzzi's gang but to Eve, whom he tries to protect when the two of them are taken hostage by Maria.
Chronology[]
1931[]
Fang and Jon tip Jacuzzi off about the possibility of a heist on board the luxury express Flying Pussyfoot, where the two of them find or have already found employment as assistant chef and bartender respectively under the watch of Head Chef Gregoire. The Flying Pussyfoot departs on the evening of December 30 from Chicago's Union Station, with the three-way-hijacking of the dining car occurring several hour into the journey.
After hitman Ladd Russo brutally takes down the Lemures in the dining car (and he his cohorts subsequently leave), the terrified passengers direct their fear towards Fang and Jon by demanding that the two employees stop the train and let them off. Jon and Fang subsequently lock themselves in the kitchen, knowing that anything they could have said or done would have only made things worse due to the discrimination against immigrants.
Mr. Turner (a man who framed Rachel's father) verbally assaults Jon and Fang, calling them vulgar racial and ethnic slurs ("yellow monkey" and "stinking Irish hick") while demanding a refund for his ticket. Isaac & Miria, appalled, jump to the two's defense and tell Turner to leave the train, accusing him of ruining everyone's meal and of being one of 'those' customers who acts all superior and mighty. They shove money at him, saying that they will refund his ticket, and he had better get out before Isaac uses his billion guns on him.
Gregoire orders Jon and Fang to throw Turner out of the dining car, and they do so readily. Turner continues to verbally abuse them; having had enough, the two threaten him and inform him that if he tries to reenter the dining car, they will kill him. Fang later tries and fails to convince Isaac and Miria not to leave the dining car.
When Jacuzzi returns and announces that his faction has taken control of the train, he passes off control of the dining car to Jon and Fang and enlists the cooperation of the passengers in their uprising against the Lemures. When several Lemures later attempt to head to Second Class through the dining car, Fang and Jon lead the passengers in ambushing the Lemures at gunpoint (though only Jon and Fang's guns are actually loaded). Thanks to their efforts, the Lemures surrender.
After the train reaches New York and the subsequent police investigations conclude, Fang and Jon realize that it is likely they will be given the boot since they were clearly witnessed in association with Jacuzzi's bootlegging gang and discuss what to do next in the mostly empty dining car. At one point, Fang suggests that they work in the speako his sister Lia works at.
Gregoire informs them that they indeed have been sacked—along with him and the rest of the staff, that is, because Nebula is currently trying to erase the train from existence. Having been impressed by their skills as cook and bartender, he assures them that through his connections he will arrange for them to be hired by the Genoard Family, which is currently looking for a cook and a bartender. As a parting gift he gives them one hundred servings of stew, which the two share with the rest of the gang.
1932 Drug & The Dominos[]
The next day, Fang and Jon pay a visit to Lia's residence for a long-awaited reunion between the two siblings. As a result, Fang is unknowingly roped into the drug problem faced by Edith, Roy Maddock and the Runoratas: Lia, who has been asked by Edith to 'take care' of a black leather case (which unbeknownst to Lia contains the Runoratas' latest prototype drug), passes the case off to Fang as her room has no lock to protect it with.
Fang and Jon head to the Genoards' manor on Millionaires' Row to start a one-month probationary contract there, on the understanding that if they are good enough they will fill the positions permanently. They are greeted by Eve Genoard's servants Benjamin and Samantha, who lead Fang and Jon to Eve's room with the intention of introducing them. However, they find her room empty and the window wide open, with a ladder leaning on the exterior wall.
Fang finds a note which turns out to be a letter from Eve, who explains why she has temporarily left and that she appreciates all the care she has received up until now. Samantha and Benjamin resolve to go find Eve—but before they go, Samantha asks about the case Fang is carrying. Fang asks if he can put the case in the Genoards' safe.
Eventually the four arrive at the DD Newspaper Agency and prepare to spend the night there waiting for news of Eve. Once they are informed of what exactly has been going on, and what Henry's role was in it, Benjamin rushes forward to physically assault Henry. Fang and Jon pull him away from Henry only to see Samantha pick up where Benjamin left off.
Once Eve is safely ensconced back at the family villa, Fang cooks her food to cheer her up. She finds the food delicious.
1933[]
By September, Jon and Fang have firmly secured their positions at the New York manor, and have petitioned Eve (preparing to return to the manor in New Jersey) to allow some of their friends to stay in the manor and house-sit (they argue that the manor is too big for two men to maintain alone). She agrees. About one half to two thirds (twenty people or so) of Jacuzzi's gang thus take up residence in the mansion, as the manor can't house them all.
Ensuing events lead to Jacuzzi's gang hiding in an abandoned factory near the Hudson river. Meanwhile, Tick Jefferson and Maria Barcelito arrive at Millionaires' Row, read the Genoards' doorbell, and are greeted by Eve—who confuses them for Fang's friends. Maria lies and says they are indeed Fang's friends. Eve invites them inside and calls out to Fang, who has just returned from grocery shopping to find the mansion empty, much to his and Eve's confusion. Fang does not recognize either Tick and Maria, which Maria takes as her cue to put Murasámia (her katana) to Eve's throat. With this leverage, Maria interrogates Fang, asking him if he knows Jacuzzi Splot. Before he can reply, Eve recognizes Maria as one of Luck Gandor's associates, as she and Maria had briefly encountered each other during the 1932 Gustavo/Runorata/Gandor incident.
With her katana never leaving Eve's throat, Maria orders Fang to lead them to Jacuzzi and the four—Tick, Eve, Maria and Fang—make their way through the torrential rain to the factory. Fang tries to convince Maria to 'point that sword at [him]' instead, but to no avail. Eve tries to convince Fang to run, but he refuses at once, imagining what the rest of the gang would do to him if he did.
(Back in SoHo, Dallas Genoard leads Jacuzzi and company to Tim's office. Jon suddenly looks visibly upset, and when Jacuzzi asks him what is wrong, replies that he has just realized they forgot Fang).
Fang and the others arrive at the factory only to find it empty, and Fang frantically denies Maria's accusations that he has lied. Tick tries to stop Maria's planned retribution to no avail, but a furious Chané Laforet intervenes, defending Fang—her friend—from Maria's blade. Felix Walken's presence is made known soon after, and he recognizes Eve from the 1932 incident (she, on the other hand, does not recognize him, as he had been in disguise). Fang explains to "Mr. Felix" that Eve is the owner of the house the gang is borrowing. Finally, Jack arrives and informs them that the Lamia and Jacuzzi's gang are planning on storming Mist Wall the next day.
The next day, Fang and the other five people travel to the Mist Wall together. It turns out that Dallas is supposed to be inside the Mist Wall as well, but Felix backs up Fang's plea for Eve to wait outside rather than rushing into potential danger. She and Fang retreat to the building opposite the Mist Wall, where all they can do is wait.
Time passes. Eve realizes that the rain slicking down the walls of the Mist Wall appears to be tinted red, which she fears is blood. Fang attempts to cheer her up, but his attempts are for naught when a large cloud of scarlet fire billows outward from Mist Wall's top floor.
Eve is only more determined to head inside the Mist Wall and find Dallas, but Fang manages to dissuade her once more. Thirty seconds after she settles down, Fang spots a tiny human figure falling from the burning wreckage; he cries out, and embraces Eve to shield her from the sight of her brother splattering against the ground.
1935[]
One day in February, Fang heads to the Genoard villa's kitchen to make breakfast and notices a group of youngsters crowded in the middle of the hall. He walks over to see what the matter is, and is surprised to see several fashionable brand-new tuxedos, dress coats, and dresses made of the highest quality neatly arranged in the hallway. He soon spots Jacuzzi huddled in a corner, and the gang immediately interrogates Jacuzzi on the situation. Once Nice arrives, Jacuzzi explains that the outfits are a "gift" from Ronny Schiatto of the Martillo Family, and that the gang is supposed to wear them and gamble at a mafia casino.
Trivia[]
- Fang's father was British, his mother Chinese.
- Apparently he had been kicked out of Chinatown for causing some sort of unspecified trouble. His sister was subsequently also exiled because of her familial ties with him, and then 'picked up by the Italians' to work at the Alveare.
- According to Jacuzzi, Fang's food is delicious. His sister's food has also been given similar high praise.
- His last name has been translated as "Linshan" and "Lianshan" by fans in previous years, but the official Yen Press translation of The Rolling Bootlegs lists his sister's surname as Lin-Shan.