Since we were neighbours, I called in on Abing practically every day. That was how I learnt of a peculiar habit he had developed since receiving the telegram from Xiaofang. As the attendant responsible for taking care of Abing in the absence of his wife told me, and as I soon saw with my own eyes, Abing took every empty pack of cigarettes and folded them into doves: one pack, one dove, on the table, on the bed, in each and every space he could fit one. The paper doves had become so plentiful that there was no longer any space free to put them. That was when the attendant assisted Abing in using red thread to string the paper doves together and then hang them about his house. They were hung on armrests, on the walls, from the ceiling – everywhere. By the time Xiaofang returned to the compound with their son, their house was filled with multicoloured paper doves. According to people’s calculations, there were five hundred and forty-three paper doves in total, a number which corresponded exactly to the number of days father and son were separated from each other. When Xiaofang returned, Abing’s dreams were satisfied. His son was adorable, and especially striking were his two bright and inquisitive eyes, which couldn’t help but delight everyone.

I remember it quite clearly. On the day that Xiaofang returned I was busy preparing a welcoming dinner for mother and son. Perhaps it was because I was so excited to see Abing’s son, I don’t know – but at any rate, when I went round to invite them over for dinner, I learnt that Abing had a terrible headache and had already taken some medicine and gone off to bed. Without Abing, the welcoming dinner was naturally not quite as joyous, but his boy did surprise and delight everyone present.

The next morning, after I had taken my daily stroll, I returned to sounds of activity coming from Abing’s residence. Naturally I knocked on the door and asked how Abing was doing. Xiaofang told me that his headache was gone and that he had already left for the office. In fact, he had left in the middle of the night saying he had something important to take care of. He told her that it was the office that had summoned him. I thought nothing of it at the time – after all, he had been summoned in such a fashion before and so nothing seemed unusual. Just as I turned to leave, Xiaofang called after me and asked me to wait a moment. She had a package that Abing had asked her to give to me. I asked what it was, but she did not know. Abing had told her it contained top-secret files and had forbidden her to look into it.