# 2
**Chapter 2: The Angel on the Moon**
The room fell into a brief silence.
A few seconds later, Doctor Li came back to his senses. “A Seraph?”
“Yes.”
“What was it doing?”
“Nothing. It was like a golden statue, sitting in the center of a massive crater on the Moon, looking up at Earth… as if it were watching over it?”
Doctor Li rubbed the corners of his eyes and spoke with a hint of helplessness, “Qiye, do you know how far the Moon is from Earth?”
“Nearly four hundred thousand kilometers,” Lin Qiye replied calmly.
“Nearly four hundred thousand kilometers,” Doctor Li repeated. “Even with the most advanced telescope, we can barely make out the surface of the Moon. And you’re telling me that when you were seven years old, lying on the roof of your old house, you saw an angel on the Moon with your naked eyes?”
“I didn’t see it,” Lin Qiye said quietly. “It saw me. I just looked up, and it felt like my eyes were dragged through space to meet its gaze.”
“So, it forced you?”
“Basically. Otherwise, how could I have seen the Moon’s surface? I don’t have clairvoyance.”
“But if there really is an angel on the Moon, why hasn’t humanity discovered it after all these years?”
“I don’t know.” Lin Qiye shook his head. “Maybe that Seraph doesn’t want to be observed. Besides… do humans really understand the Moon?”
Lin Qiye spoke with such sincerity that Doctor Li almost wanted to call for a car to drag him back to the psychiatric hospital.
After all, Doctor Li was a psychiatrist who had seen all kinds of mental illnesses. Over the course of his career, he had developed a rule: the more seriously someone spouts nonsense that actually sounds reasonable, the more seriously ill they are.
“What about your eyes? What happened to them?”
Lin Qiye reached out and gently rubbed the black cloth covering his eyes. His tone was emotionless. “That day, I met its gaze for just an instant… and then I went blind.”
Doctor Li opened his mouth, glanced down at the medical record in his hand, and fell silent.
Under the section for cause of blindness, only four words were written:
—Cause unknown.
So… what had really happened back then?
Could it be that Lin Qiye really had seen a Seraph on the Moon? How else could his sudden blindness be explained?
The thought flickered for only a moment before Doctor Li immediately snuffed it out.
That was close—he’d almost been led astray by a mental patient!
He could almost picture the expressions on the doctors’ faces ten years ago when the young, newly blinded Lin Qiye stood before them and told that same story.
No wonder the boy had been forcibly institutionalized. No matter how you looked at it, his words were the kind only a mentally ill person would say.
There were plenty of people like that in the hospital. One claimed to be the reincarnation of Sun Wukong and spent his days hanging from a pull-up bar in a daze. Another thought he was a coat rack and stood motionless in his room all night. One middle-aged man saw every man as his husband and couldn’t resist sneaking a grope…
Yes, the last one was a greasy forty-year-old uncle.
“You’re talking about the past. What about now? How do you view what happened?” Doctor Li adjusted his emotions and continued the follow-up process.
“It was all just delusion.” Lin Qiye spoke calmly. “That day, I accidentally rolled off the roof and hit my head. As for my eyes, maybe a nerve was damaged. That’s why I went blind.”
He had said this countless times—calmly, skillfully.
Doctor Li raised an eyebrow, jotted something down in the file, and then chatted with Lin Qiye about daily life. About twenty minutes later, he glanced at the time and stood up with a smile.
“Alright, that’s it for the follow-up. Your condition seems stable. I hope you can adjust your mindset and live well.” Doctor Li shook hands with Lin Qiye and offered some encouragement.
Lin Qiye smiled and nodded slightly.
“Oh, Doctor Li, stay for lunch!” His aunt, seeing Doctor Li preparing to leave, warmly urged him to stay.
“No, no, I have another patient to see. I won’t disturb you.”
Doctor Li politely said goodbye to his aunt and walked out the door.
The moment the door closed, Lin Qiye’s smile vanished, as if it had never existed.
“Delusion… huh…” he murmured.
“Bro, lunch is ready!” His younger cousin Yang Jin carried dishes out of the kitchen and called out.
Yang Jin was his aunt’s son, four years younger than Lin Qiye and currently in middle school. Ever since Lin Qiye’s parents went missing and he came to live with his aunt, the two had grown up together and were closer than real brothers.
“Coming,” Lin Qiye replied.
He had just sat down at the small dining table when a warm sensation came from his foot. He was startled at first, then the corner of his mouth curled slightly.
Yang Jin glanced under the table and laughed, scolding:
“You little black rascal, usually too lazy to move, but when it’s mealtime, you’re faster than anyone!”
A small, black, scruffy dog poked its head out from under the table, tongue lolling, panting heavily. It snuggled up to Lin Qiye and licked his foot again, looking utterly ingratiating.
Three people, one dog—that was a family.
Simple, hard, yet somehow comforting.
Ten years like this.
Lin Qiye reached out and patted its head. From the few pieces of meat on the plate, he picked one and placed it in Yang Jin’s bowl.
“Give him a bone to chew on.”
Yang Jin didn’t refuse. With their bond, saying more would only feel awkward.
What he cared about was something else.
“Bro, are your eyes really almost better?”
Lin Qiye smiled slightly. “Yeah, I can see now. I just can’t handle bright light yet. I’ll need to wear this black cloth for a few more days.”
“A few days? Xiao Qi, let me tell you, eyes are too important! Even if you can see now, don’t rush to take off that cloth. What if… what if the sun blinds you again? That would be such a shame! Let’s be careful and keep it on a bit longer!” His aunt hurriedly advised.
“I understand, Auntie.”
“Oh, right, bro! I saved up some money and bought you a cool pair of sunglasses. I’ll show you later!” Yang Jin suddenly remembered and said excitedly.
Lin Qiye smiled and shook his head. “A Jin, sunglasses might block light, but they’re far less effective than this black cloth. I can’t wear them yet.”
“Alright…” Yang Jin looked disappointed.
“But once my eyes are fully healed, I’ll wear them every day when we go out. I’ll buy you a pair too, and we’ll match.”
At that, Yang Jin’s eyes lit up again, and he nodded firmly.
“Oh, Xiao Qi, I’ve already arranged your school transfer. Once this semester starts, you’ll be moving from the special school to a regular high school,” his aunt suddenly remembered and said. “But are you sure? Regular schools are different from special ones. With your condition, what if…”
“There won’t be any ‘what ifs,’ Auntie.” Lin Qiye cut her off. “My eyes are healed. And if I want to get into a good university, I have to start on the same starting line as everyone else.”
“You child… even if you don’t get into a good university, it’s fine. Auntie can support you for life!”
“Bro, I can support you too!”
Lin Qiye’s body trembled slightly. Beneath the black cloth, no one could see his eyes. His lips pressed together, then curved into a smile.
He shook his head firmly.
He didn’t speak, but both Yang Jin and his aunt felt his resolve.
Even the little black dog under the table nuzzled Lin Qiye’s ankle.
“—Woof!”