In truth, my advice was unnecessary. In our particular quarter, as well as throughout Unit 701, no one showed Abing any less respect than they would show for the Director, and absolutely no one dared to tease him. It was easy for me to see that wherever Abing went everyone would stop what they were doing and show him respect. If necessary they would step out of his way, and always with a smile on their face – even though he couldn’t see it. In the history of Unit 701, no one had been accorded the amount of reverence and respect given to Abing, and I dare say no one ever will.

18

The days passed by.

Winter came and Abing found himself in hospital because of a sudden bout of appendicitis. The hospital was located in the first valley, in the residential quarter; quite a journey from our division on foot, but not so long by car. While he was in hospital, I often went to see him. On one occasion, as I walked into his room, I saw a nurse by the name of Lin Xiaofang changing his IV drip. To my surprise, I actually recognized her. She came from the nearby village. Her elder brother had served as a platoon leader for the security forces, but he had died during a live ammunition training exercise. Because the intelligence service considered her to be the younger sister of a revolutionary martyr, they broke with protocol and brought her into our care. Later she was trained as a nurse and when she became a Party cadre, she was given employment at the hospital.

Since her brother was considered a martyr, Xiaofang was quite hard on herself: she had to live up to his reputation. Her feelings towards Unit 701, however, were the plain and simple emotions of a country girl. When I saw how attentive she was to Abing, something suddenly dawned on me and I quickly relayed my idea to the Bureau Chief. He thought there was merit in my plan, but said that the hospital and its personnel were beyond his jurisdiction and so I should contact the hospital director in person and gauge his response to my idea. With this in mind, I made my way to Director Tie’s office to see what he thought.

Director Tie listened and then responded matter-of-factly, ‘Hmm, it’s not a bad idea – certainly better than just assigning him an attendant. I like it; it all depends on whether or not you can facilitate it.’

‘If that’s so,’ I asked, ‘might I be able to use the influence of our Unit to assist in the matter?’

Director Tie never answered my question directly, but suggested that it would not be a problem. ‘If I had a daughter and Abing seemed to fancy her, I would use a father’s influence to see that she married him.’