Chapter 35: 001 Part 3

Misfortunes never come singly. He didn’t even have much time to grieve before another unexpected calamity descended silently upon him.

Wu Cisheng received a call from within the Tower inquiring about the whereabouts of a huge sum of expenditure. They suspected him of abusing public office for private gain and, on those grounds, suspended his position as Student Council President.

Bad news came wave after wave. In a daze, Wu Cisheng participated in a hearing he couldn’t see at all. He didn’t know what that evidence was, nor where to even begin his defense.

His reputation was ruined.

His life was destroyed.

He had originally planned to die. It was his partner—who at the time was just a kind stranger—who encouraged him. It was his partner who told Wu Cisheng, who wanted to escape from the past, that he could take him somewhere where no one knew him and start a completely new life.

Wu Cisheng… agreed.

And so, that year, he arrived in Chunhui City and started a new life. The first year, he was still in a daze, not going out, not seeing people. All day, he did nothing but eat and sleep.

It was only in the second year that he started learning from scratch the basic skills a person normally learns in childhood: how to walk, how to cross the street, how to use a white cane, how to identify obstacles in front of him, and so on.

Wu Cisheng hadn’t told his mother about the blindness or the matters at the Tower. After all, the woman’s mental state had always been poor. If she knew such things had happened to her son, it would inevitably and severely affect her.

Therefore, even during the period when Wu Cisheng didn’t want to speak and refused to go out or see people, he would always ask his partner to help send the usual holiday greetings on his behalf and regularly remit a sum of money to his mother.

Later, when his mental state improved somewhat, he started calling his mother himself, but would always make the excuse that he was currently carrying out a classified mission and couldn’t come back.

There were indeed many confidential matters related to Heterogeneous Humans and the Tower that could not be disclosed to outsiders. Especially during missions, most of the time, outside contact was not permitted. Therefore, his mother never once doubted this reason.

As for the host job, that was found during the midsummer of the third year.

The other party originally wasn’t hiring blind people, thinking that hiring a disabled person would bring a lot of trouble. But he persistently called, and the other party finally made an exception.

In order to better integrate with everyone, Wu Cisheng didn’t reveal his identity as a Heterogeneous Human either. He enrolled in the job as an ordinary person.

Hiding it was actually simple. After all, Guides didn’t have the obvious characteristics that Sentinels did. As long as he didn’t actively expose himself, in all these years, no one had ever discovered his true identity.

From the place he lived to the radio station where he worked, the journey required one thousand six hundred and fourteen steps in total. Along the way, he needed to pass two intersections and turn three times.

The fourth year—this year—after Wu Cisheng reached the legal marriage age, he naturally married the partner who had stayed by his side all along.

Looking back, it was truly a tumultuous, unimaginable series of events. When he was eighteen, planning his future, he certainly could never have guessed what kind of life he would be living at twenty-two.

When he studied at the Tower, everyone around Wu Cisheng was either a Sentinel or a Guide. He had the illusion that the entire world consisted of Heterogeneous Humans. It wasn’t until after misfortune struck and he was forced to live under an ordinary identity in a strange city that he discovered, after all, most people were still ordinary.

At this time, living under an ordinary person’s identity in an ordinary city, he would often hear about the Tower construction progressing step by step in various places, about what happened recently with some celebrity Sentinel or celebrity Guide—it felt just like listening to stories from another world.

Sometimes even he would forget his own identity as a Guide. He would also consciously restrain himself from recalling the past. As long as he didn’t think about it, as long as he didn’t compare, there would be no pain, and no other turbulent emotions.

To a certain extent, this was also a self-defense mechanism instinctively initiated by his psyche.

“Alright, since no one has any more opinions, then this meeting is temporarily adjourned here. Everyone, go back to work!”

The director’s voice rang out, and an indescribable oppressive atmosphere instantly dissipated. Following that were the scattered sounds of chairs scraping the floor, notebooks closing, pen caps clicking on, mixed with the chatter of men and women and the sound of different footsteps.

The colleague in the broadcast studio next to Wu Cisheng’s was a newcomer who had just joined last month. Wu Cisheng hadn’t had much contact with this person, virtually never having had a conversation.

He didn’t know what was up today. Perhaps the sight of him fumbling was too pitiful? As soon as Wu Cisheng touched his white cane, the other party took the initiative, wanting to help him.

“Teacher Wu, be careful. How about I hold your hand and lead you…”

“No need, thank you.”

Gripping his white cane, Wu Cisheng left the conference room tap-tap-tapping, not needing anyone to point the way. With great precision, he headed in the direction of the broadcast studio himself.

“What are you looking at? Come back to earth.”

A colleague passing by saw the newcomer still standing there and reached out to pat his shoulder. The newcomer was startled by the sudden touch, jolting.

The seasoned old hand, considering himself very worldly-wise, also looked in Wu Cisheng’s direction. “Ah, say what you will, Little Wu is really quite good-looking. It’s just a pity he’s a blind man…”

The newcomer belatedly chimed in with “Yeah, right.”

The old-timer, with a bit of seniority, lowered his voice and continued, transmitting his own unique, figured-out insights in a mysterious tone:

“Take your big brother’s advice and stay away from that blind man. You think he’s the same as you? He comes to work for fun. I heard he was personally recruited by a big boss from the company above. His position was already arranged before he even came for the interview. In the case he accidentally tattles…”

“Ah? Really? Are you sure…”

“Never mind. You also don’t want every little thing reported upwards, right? Anyway, staying far away is the safest bet…”

“……”

The voices gradually faded into the distance. Counting his steps in his mind, Wu Cisheng stopped precisely at the door of the broadcasting room.

Pushing the door open, closing it behind him, he walked to his seat and sat down. He skillfully activated the equipment, put on his headphones, and began the day’s work.

His voice was warm and gentle. He was the type whose warmth could be felt even through the receiver. The program he was in charge of was the emotional column, primarily handling live calls, listening to the emotional life troubles of the audience.

The start was similar to his usual work content: replying to two messages and one phone call.

Every time a new call came through, even knowing the other party couldn’t see his expression through the line, Wu Cisheng would still greet them with a smile. This time was the same.

But the other side was completely silent.

“Hello? Can you hear me?”

He spoke again.

After a burst of static crackling, a strange voice finally sounded. Its gender was indistinguishable—like a mix created by some machine synthesizer:

【Beware of the person beside you! He is the one who caused your blindness and ruined your reputation!】

A recording, right?

The radio station sometimes received prank calls from audience members. They’d either deliberately play some startling audio clips or speak utter nonsense. Those who did this sort of thing were usually some mischievous kids. Wu Cisheng wasn’t alarmed. He continued asking questions in a patiently guiding manner.

“I don’t quite understand what you mean. Could you explain a bit more clearly?

“Hello, may I ask if you’re still there?”

No matter how Wu Cisheng questioned, the other party said only that same one sentence, over and over. Finally, at exactly the twenty-second mark, the call displayed as ended.

Wu Cisheng hadn’t actively cut it off. This was done by the producer in another room. He probably also figured it was a prank.

Only Wu Cisheng remained in a long silence.

He hadn’t thought about those things for a long time, especially after the events had already happened.

Yes, they had already happened. To keep thinking all day “Why did this happen?” “Why me?” was a meaningless act. Even if he asked a million more times, he’d receive no answer.

Natural disasters, human malice, accidents—in this world, people experience these things at every moment.

One second you’re walking down the street. The next, you might be killed by a flowerpot falling from the sky, killed by a truck driver suffering from fatigue, killed by a lunatic who ran out of a mental hospital. Would those people have a chance to ask, “Why me?”

Would those soldiers unlucky enough to die on the battlefield just before the war ended also wonder why others returned home, but they themselves did not?

There’s no “why.” It’s just bad luck.

“Many questions have no answers. It can’t be helped. A person can’t dwell on things that are already set in stone. That’s just asking for trouble. It’s utterly meaningless. We have to think about something else…”

These were even the very same words—the exact same words—his partner had once used to comfort Wu Cisheng.

During the time Wu Cisheng found most unacceptable, it was his partner who stayed by his side without leaving an inch. It was his partner who encouraged him, comforted him, consoled him. When he had just gone blind, it was his partner who fed him, gave him water, and patiently took care of him.

And when Wu Cisheng wanted to go outside, it was also his partner who held his hand and taught him to walk. When he fell, he helped him up and applied medicine and bandages to his wounds.

Even the neighbors who witnessed all this back then came to console Wu Cisheng, saying that he could already be considered extremely fortunate.

They said that although his eyes couldn’t see, The Man beside him could be called steadfastly loyal, taking care of him with the greatest dedication. Compared to those whose lovers ran away the moment they got injured, this was already a pretty good outcome.

In the four years he’d known him, apart from having been a bit busy the recent few days, his partner had spent most of his time before that at home, keeping Wu Cisheng company. So no matter how he thought about it, he really shouldn’t be doubting this model partner of his.

But in his reply to that mysterious message call, Wu Cisheng had, amidst a seemingly normal response, still inserted a question:

“You’re not even willing to speak to me face-to-face. Why should I believe what you’ve said?”

Although he received no reply, he always felt that an answer to this question would come before long.

Wu Cisheng sat in silence, his fingertip gently stroking the ring on his left ring finger, tracing the fine patterns upon it.

In Wu Cisheng’s memory, this ring should have been given to him by his partner. It had never been lost in between, always worn on his hand. Logically, there was no possibility of it being swapped.

But Wu Cisheng always had an indescribable premonition. He always felt that this ring was no longer the original one. Although the weight and texture, even the patterns, were exactly the same, he just felt that something was off.

The ring band rolled around in his fingertips round and round, his thoughts likewise spinning at high speed.

Who was the person who sent him that “Message”? Why did they do it?

…

Was his partner really the culprit?