It is january 1989 in beijing, china, and huang and jiao have just married. They want to conceive a child as soon as possible, as most newly married chinese couples do. Considering it is the middle of winter, and fruits and vegetables are not readily available, what important nutrient in huang's prenatal diet is likely to be missing, potentially causing her child to be born with spina bifida
Spina bifida is a birth defect in which the backbone and membrane are not properly formed, one of the causes is the lack of folic acid which can be found in spinach, and lettuce among others as well in some meats like liver, and kidneys.