The room fell into a brief silence.
A few seconds later, Dr. Li came back to his senses. "A seraph?"
"Yes."
"What was it doing?"
"Nothing. It just sat there, like a golden statue, right in the center of a massive lunar crater, gazing up at Earth—as if… watching over it."
Dr. Li rubbed the corner of his eyes and sighed. "Qiye, do you know how far the moon is from Earth?"
"Nearly 400,000 kilometers," Lin Qiye replied calmly.
"Nearly 400,000 kilometers," Dr. Li echoed. "Even the most advanced telescopes can barely observe the lunar surface. And you, at the age of seven, lying beneath your old home's eaves, saw an angel on the moon with your naked eyes?"
"It wasn't I who saw the seraph," Lin Qiye said in a soft, distant voice. "It was the seraph who saw me. I merely looked up—and my gaze was drawn across space, pulled into its eyes."
"So you're saying… it compelled you?"
"In a way, yes. Otherwise, how could I have seen the moon's surface? It's not like I have clairvoyance."
"But if there truly is an angel on the moon, why has no one else discovered it after all these years?"
"I don't know," Lin Qiye shook his head. "Maybe that seraph doesn't want to be seen. Besides… do humans really understand the moon?"
He spoke with such sincerity that Dr. Li nearly reached for the phone to call an ambulance and have him sent back to the psychiatric ward.
As a psychiatrist, Dr. Li had seen all kinds of delusions. Through years of experience, he had come to a conclusion—the more serious a person sounds when uttering nonsense, and the more convincing they make it seem, the deeper the illness.
"And your eyes? What happened to them?"
Lin Qiye raised a hand and gently brushed the black silk band covering his eyes, his voice devoid of emotion. "The moment I looked into its eyes… I went blind."
Dr. Li opened his mouth, glanced at the medical report in his hands, and fell silent.
Under "Cause of Blindness," there were just four words—Cause Unknown.
So… what really happened back then?
Could it be true, what Lin Qiye said—that he saw a seraph on the moon? Otherwise, how could one explain his sudden blindness?
The thought flashed through Dr. Li's mind but was immediately dismissed.
That was close—he had almost been drawn into the patient's delusion.
He could practically imagine the expressions on the doctors' faces ten years ago when young, blind Lin Qiye had recounted the same story.
No wonder he'd been forcibly institutionalized. Everything he said fit the classic profile of a delusional patient.
There were many like him in the facility: one believed he was the Monkey King and spent all day hanging from the pull-up bar in a trance; another thought he was a coat rack and stood motionless in his room through the night; yet another saw every man as her husband and went around grabbing people's behinds…
Well, that last one was a greasy forty-year-old man.
"You were talking about the past. But what about now? How do you see it all, in retrospect?" Dr. Li adjusted his tone and returned to the examination.
"It was just delusion," Lin Qiye replied evenly. "That day, I fell from the eaves and hit my head. Maybe the nerves got damaged, and that's what caused the blindness."
He had repeated this explanation countless times, calm and practiced.
Dr. Li raised an eyebrow, jotted something on the report, and then moved on to casual conversation. After about twenty minutes, he checked his watch and stood up with a smile.
"Alright, that concludes the follow-up. You're doing much better. I hope you can maintain a positive mindset and live well."
He shook Lin Qiye's hand and offered a few words of encouragement.
Lin Qiye returned a faint smile and nodded.
"Doctor Li, stay for dinner!" his aunt called out warmly as she saw him about to leave.
"Thank you, but I still have another patient to visit. I won't impose."
Dr. Li politely declined and stepped out.
The moment the door closed behind him, Lin Qiye's smile vanished, as if it had never been there.
"Delusion… huh…" he murmured.
"Bro, dinner's ready!" his younger cousin, Yang Jin, came out from the kitchen carrying a dish.
Yang Jin was his aunt's son, four years younger than Lin Qiye and just started middle school. Ever since Lin Qiye's parents disappeared and he came to live with his aunt, the two had grown up like real brothers.
"Coming," Lin Qiye replied.
As he sat at the cramped dining table, a sudden warmth spread from the soles of his feet. He froze for a second, then a smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
Yang Jin glanced under the table and scolded, half-laughing,
"You lazy mutt, you act dead all day, but the moment it's mealtime, you're faster than anyone."
A small, scruffy black dog poked its head out from under the table, tongue lolling and panting noisily. It nudged up to Lin Qiye and gave his toes a friendly lick, all flattery and affection.
Three people and a dog—this was home.
Simple. Struggling. Yet oddly comforting.
Ten years had passed just like that.
Lin Qiye patted the dog's head and, from the few scarce pieces of meat on the plate, picked one out and dropped it into Yang Jin's bowl.
"Gnaw off a bone for him."
Yang Jin didn't refuse. With the bond they shared, extra words would only seem distant.
What he cared about was something else.
"Bro, is your eyesight really getting better?"
Lin Qiye gave a faint smile. "Yeah. I can see now, though bright light still bothers me. I'll need to keep the bandage on a few more days."
"A few days? Qiye, listen to Auntie," she said, immediately worried. "Eyes are precious. Even if you can see now, don't take the bandage off too soon. What if the sunlight damages them again? That would be such a shame! Better safe than sorry—wear it a while longer."
"I understand, Auntie."
"Oh, right! Bro, I saved up and bought you some really cool sunglasses! I'll show you later!" Yang Jin suddenly remembered, face lighting up.
Lin Qiye chuckled and shook his head. "Jin, sunglasses block some light, but they're nothing compared to this black silk. I can't wear them yet."
"Oh… alright," Yang Jin said, disappointed.
"But once my eyes are fully healed, I'll wear them every time we go out. I'll even get you a matching pair—we'll hit the streets in style."
That brought the sparkle back to Yang Jin's eyes. He nodded eagerly.
"By the way, Qiye, I've already prepared everything for your school transfer," Auntie said, as if recalling something. "Once the new term starts, you'll be moving from the special school to a regular high school. But… are you sure about this? Regular schools aren't the same. With your situation, what if—"
"There's no 'what if,' Auntie." Lin Qiye interrupted her gently. "My eyes are fine now. And if I want to get into a good university, I need to start on equal footing with everyone else."
"You stubborn child… Even if you don't make it into a good college, it doesn't matter. Auntie will take care of you."
"Bro, I'll take care of you too!"
Lin Qiye's body trembled slightly. Beneath the black silk, no one could see his eyes. He pressed his lips together, then smiled.
He shook his head firmly.
He said nothing, but both Auntie and Yang Jin felt the unshakable resolve in his silence.
Even the little dog nuzzled gently against his ankle.
"—Woof!"