He turned around but didn’t take off the silk that covered his eyes, “Am I walking the right way?” He asked me.
“Yes, you did everything right.” I nodded and said.
Leon turned around and continued to walk, then he went to the kitchen successfully with steps being counted, after that, he took me to a bigger room in the back of the house.
I felt so sad, “You lived here when you lost your sight before? Is this the reason why you can measure anything here by steps?”
Leon took off the silk around his head and nodded, “At that time those skyscrapers hadn’t been constructed, when it was dusk, a faint toll would come into my ears. I asked them if there is a temple nearby, but they said no. After a period of time, my eyesight recovered, then I went to find that temple all by myself. Surprisingly, I found a small temple 20 miles away. I could hear the toll from so far away. It’s magic, isn’t it?”
“Maybe not. That sound of toll must be very faint. It’s because you couldn’t see, so you became more concentrated when hearing sounds. That’s why you could hear that toll. You can’t hear that kind of faint bell ring now.” I said in a very gentle voice.
I didn’t know why, but I really wanted to cry.
I couldn’t stop thinking of a scene, that a blind man listening to a distant bell at dusk. It made me feel so sad. Very sad.
But at that time, I didn’t know Leon. What happened to him was none of my business. Why should I feel sad? It’s nonsense.
The room that Leon used to live was big, but now, empty and vacant, because everything in here had been cleared, including the bed.
“Here used to be a desk, upon which were some braille books, but I moved them away after I recovered. As well as other things.”
Actually I knew, he moved those items to the third floor on the Maple Villa and hided them.
“Just as you said, I didn’t hear the bell ring after my sight had recovered. I often wonder, did I really hear the toll? Was it my fantasy?”
His voice and words were flat, but he delivered a sense of sadness to me.
“It all passed, now you have recovered. But, why were you live here at that time?” I asked Leon.
“I came to Su City for work, but I was poisoned by someone, then I couldn’t see. My grandpa took me to see brilliant doctors, they all said that I was not likely to recover due to the heavy damage by the poison. I felt so desperate and never wanted to come back to Hai City again. At that time, there was a hospital nearby, and I had been treating my eyes there. So I rented this house for living, and I never know you would live here in a few years. Maybe it’s fate.”
“You lived here for two years?”
“Nearly three years.” Leon said, “when I couldn’t see at that time, I felt like the doomsday coming, I was ratty, freaked out, and I even hurt myself. I couldn’t accept the fact that I was a blind man, I had a lot of things to do, I couldn’t be a blind man. But after a while I calmed down. I accepted the fact. So, I became desperate. However, she showed up…”
I knew who she is even without Leon’s explain, that’s Nan Lin. She was the one who took care of Leon when he couldn’t see until his sight had recovered.
Although very curious about the details between he and Lin, I knew Leon would not tell me. That was his most precious memory, he wouldn’t let anyone pry into it.
As I expected, Leon stopped talking, “I feel a little bit sleepy, I need to rest for a while. You go to invite Wenbei Su for a dinner, show our thanks for his support.”
“OK.” I answered gently.
After Leon fall asleep, I walked to the yard, and felt about the stone stool that he touched before. Although the weather was hot, I still felt cool when touched it.
I imagined, when Leon lived here, groping and counting steps due to blindness, how could he pull through the darkest times day by day?
Suddenly I could understand the deep love he had for Lin.
An old house, a young and handsome man, blind and despair, fell to the lowest point in his life. At that time a young and beautiful lady appeared, thoughtful and loving, she kept him company until the man recovered slowly.
I wouldn’t forget this kind of love if I were Leon.
In other words, if Leon forget about her, then he was not a responsible man.
So, some people are irreplaceable, because some days can’t be replaced.
Money can buy a lot of things, but money, or any other things, can’t buy time. That’s why something being settled down through time, are priceless.
I felt bummed when thought about this, and I couldn’t tell why.
When thought about it, tiredness struck me slowly. Then I went back to bed and slept.
Again, I was dreaming, and Leon appeared in my dream once more. He couldn’t see again. He was in the “Nan House”, walking while touching the wall, falling from time to time, then he became furious, hitting the wall with his head, and his head popped out bloods.
I was so worried that I rushed to hug him and kept him from hitting the wall with his head, he pushed me to fall in the ground, and I suddenly woke up.
But I found Leon stand in front of me for real, “Why are you calling me?”
I wiped out the sweat due to the nightmare, “I was calling you?”
“Yeah, I walked by the door and heard you calling me, so I opened the door and found you were tossing at the bed. Nightmare again? Is your body too weak to sleep during the day and having nightmares?”
I got up and wiped my face with the wet tissue he handed over me. I felt so tired, having nightmares were exhausting.
“What’s on your dream? It must be me, otherwise you wouldn’t call my name.”
I was hesitated, but said, “In my dream, you couldn’t see. You were irritated, and hit the wall with your head, but you pushed me to the ground when I trying to stop you.”
“Umm, that did happen when I was blind, I tried to hit the wall with my head. What’s on your dream may be something really happened in the past, not all manifested content. But you weren’t there at that time.”
I nodded and wondered, if I had participated in Leon’s past, would Leon still be indifferent and careless about me now.
“When you cried last night, you dreamed about me too. What’s on your dream, about me?” Leon continued to ask.
“I don’t want to say.”
“Say it.” Leon regained his bossy tone.
“I just don’t want to say.” I insisted this time.
“If you tell me, I will tell you my stories in this house as an exchange. Isn’t it better for you?” Leon allured me.
It aroused my interests. I was curious about Leon’s past, and I really wanted to know about it.
“Last night in my dream, you were standing in the yard, and when you turned back, your eyes were full of blood. I was freaked out so I called you.”
Leon came closer and reached up to lift my chin, “So you cried? Are you in love with me? Only dreamed of I get injured, you would cry like that.”
“Mr. Hua, you are sabotaging the atmosphere now with your narcissistic action. If I dreamed of a dog get injured and eyes full of blood, I would cry too. I am a compassionate woman.”