She laughed heartily. ‘I’m not as small-minded as all that. Really, what do you think of me! Though I wouldn’t mind if he did leave. That way … well, to tell you the truth, we were having an affair but it didn’t work out. These things happen. I guess you know that when people have been having an affair and then stop, quite often they end up as enemies, leaving a kind of festering sore. Who wants to spend all day, every day together under those kinds of circumstances – seeing each other every time you raise your head? If you want him, take him with you. If you want him to be your assistant, or indeed someone else’s, that would be wonderful, and I’m sure you’ve made an excellent choice. He’s very conscientious and hardworking. But if you want him to do original work, you’re going to cause him a lot of unnecessary pain and suffering, because he simply can’t do it.’

I could hear footsteps approaching in the corridor outside. Huang Yiyi heard them too. ‘That’ll be our Party secretary wanting to invite you to lunch. I’ll say goodbye, then. After all, you won’t be wanting me to join you.’

‘Are you going to take the test?’ I asked her.

She smiled and said, ‘Nope.’ Then she left.

The footsteps weren’t actually those of the Party secretary, but one of the canteen staff, who had come up to tell me that lunch was ready. After lunch, I had a meeting with Xie Xingguo and Wu Guping. I had already read their files, and wanted to have a chat with them. It was strange, though: pretty much the only topic that we talked about was Huang Yiyi. She seemed to dominate my thoughts, like having a fish-bone stuck in your throat: you can’t be happy until you’ve got rid of it. Clearly Huang Yiyi’s independence had strongly aroused my interest and curiosity. When I discussed her with the others, what I really wanted was to find out the truth. The appraisal of the other two men made me realize that the Huang Yiyi that I had seen was the real one, but only part of her and not the whole. Much more than I had understood, they thought of her as a genius, an eccentric, a shameless woman, an original, a riddle … To quote her former lover, in Xie Xingguo’s own words: ‘She has a good side and a bad side – half angel and half devil.’