Now we all knew why Huang Yiyi had been in such a hurry to get married: it couldn’t be more clear. What nobody knew was that in addition to the obvious reason, there was another that was much more important and much more mysterious. Huang Yiyi had been married twice already, and had had innumerable boyfriends. But in spite of all those men, and over such a long period of time, she had never once been pregnant. This was the first time! Even Huang Yiyi was amazed that after so many men Zhang Guoqing was the first for her, and even with him nothing had happened to begin with – they had to go through a certain period of getting familiar with each other and waiting. It was as if there was a lock on her womb, which Zhang Guoqing had only gradually worked out how to open.

Having found Mr Right, and now also being pregnant, I should have been happy for her. But every time I thought about her having to stop work, even if only temporarily, I was really unhappy. This simply wasn’t the right moment for Huang Yiyi to have a baby. Everything has its time and place, and if the same thing happens in two completely different times and places, the result is totally different. But how could I tell her that? This was so important to her, besides which she was already well into her thirties – so how could I ask her to put it off? There it was: the national interest on one side and her happiness on the other, neither of which could be ignored, and I was caught in the middle. What to do for the best? I was deeply worried.

In the end I came down in favour of the national interest and made a suggestion to Huang Yiyi that really wasn’t within the scope of my duties.

I was anticipating that she would refuse, but I was not expecting what actually happened next. One day Zhang Guoqing came to ask me for permission to take a car out, because Huang Yiyi was feeling ill and wanted to go to hospital. The hospital was next to the training centre, a good few kilometres from the housing complex. In the past, when she was having the affair with Comrade Wang, she had regularly walked there and back, but this time she clearly wasn’t feeling at all well and needed the car.

The car brought Huang Yiyi back from the hospital less than two hours later. She came straight to my office, and stood in front of me. Then she said something very peculiar: ‘Happy now?’