Jiang Wei sat on the medical chair. Because he was currently blind, his eyes looked exceptionally hollow and lifeless; he sat motionless, like a marionette with its strings cut.
In the space before him that he could not see, several people in lab coats were frowning at a freshly printed physical examination report, seemingly unable to fathom why the results were as they were.
Eventually, one of them handed the report to Jiang Yi, who had just finished tidying his appearance and stepped into the lab.
"What is it?" Jiang Yi asked, looking at the report.
"Subject 001 was brought in by you. You mentioned his eyes were experiencing the same condition as years ago, so we performed a localized examination. However, the results indicate there is nothing wrong with his eyes. We then conducted a full-body scan to ensure nothing was missed, but the results remained the same."
They couldn't find a single thing wrong.
"Oh?" Jiang Yi’s voice rose in a slight lilt, as if he found the situation quite amusing.
Jiang Wei, however, was clearly unable to remain so calm. The person speaking hadn't lowered their voice, and he had heard every word clearly. His breathing grew ragged. "What do you mean?"
The group turned their gaze toward Jiang Wei in unison, but no one spoke. Only Jiang Yi, in the face of such a scene, was in the mood to speak leisurely. "Don't get worked up yet..."
"Jiang Yi! You're not the one sitting here blind! It’s easy for you to talk when you’re not the one suffering! Is it because you can't find the problem that you can't fix it? Is that it?"
The prolonged visual deprivation, combined with being back in this place he hated and feared most, had caused Jiang Wei’s internal anxiety to peak. His psychological defenses were crumbling. Though he was shouting, his voice trembled—just like his rigid, tense body.
"No." Jiang Yi could obviously sense that Jiang Wei’s mental state was abnormal. He casually set the two sheets of paper aside. "They are just trainees being fostered here; their words do not carry absolute weight or accuracy. Currently, I am the only one here with that level of expertise."
"I haven't reached a conclusion yet." Jiang Yi leaned one hand beside Jiang Wei, wordlessly closing the distance between them. "Now, tell me one more time: what exactly does the world look like to you right now?"
Feeling the faint warmth of breath near his ear, Jiang Wei instinctively tried to pull away. But because he couldn't see, he lost his balance. Just before he could fall, Jiang Yi grabbed his arm. Jiang Wei began to struggle violently. "I can't see anything! I can't see a thing! It’s all black! Everything is black..."
Jiang Yi struggled to restrain him and seemed worried about wrinkling the lab coat he had just put on. He waved his hand, signaling the bystanders to come over and hold the boy down.
"All black?" Jiang Yi seemed to think of something and changed his line of questioning. "You can't perceive any light at all?"
He didn't recall the experimental reports mentioning such a side effect after the modification. He only remembered the last column stating: *'If Subject 001 experiences significant emotional fluctuations in the future, it may lead to a recurrence of the conditions seen in the early stages of the experiment.'*
What were the conditions in the early stages?
According to the records, Jiang Wei’s vision should have been a vast expanse of white, where he could still perceive light sources.
It was the exact opposite of his current state.
The analysis provided by the machines couldn't lie. If they said there was no problem, there truly was no physical problem.
"Nothing! There's nothing..."
"Alright, I understand." Jiang Yi nodded. He walked toward a person standing idly by and lowered his voice. "Administer a sedative. Not too large a dose; use the previous standard as a reference."
"Understood."
***
By the time Jiang Wei’s consciousness gradually cleared, he was back in Jiang Yi’s car.
However, unlike the previous night, his vision had returned. He could even see the outlines of the swaying leaves outside the window.
"Awake?" Jiang Yi’s voice came from the driver's seat. He sounded the way he used to years ago when the two brothers sat together and chatted; at any rate, it had been a long time since Jiang Wei had heard him speak like this. "The commotion last night was quite significant. I’ll have to go have a drink with your school’s Dean of Students later."
"But that kid Tang Zihe... you really can't judge a book by its cover," Jiang Yi remarked with a click of his tongue. "He kept that 'model student' skin wrapped tight. I didn't see through him before..."
Jiang Wei’s expression instantly became tense at the mention of Tang Zihe’s name. "Tang Zihe? What happened to him?"
He couldn't imagine what kind of unsolvable trouble the boy could have encountered at school, so the worry on his face was palpable.
"He’s fine, doing great. He just got into a fight with someone because of what happened to you last night, and then announced in front of the entire school that he intends to bully that person from now on."
Jiang Wei: "..."
That didn't sound like something that could be described as "just."
"We're here." Jiang Yi stopped the car.
The two stood at the school gate. Though only one night had passed, looking at the entrance gave Jiang Wei a sense of unreality.
"Going in together?"
"No," Jiang Wei shook his head. "You go ahead. I’ll stand out here for a bit."
Jiang Yi nodded and didn't push. However, before turning away, he added one more thing.
"Actually, back there, I only gave you a sedative." Jiang Yi looked into Jiang Wei’s eyes and curled his lips into a faint, shallow smile. "I thought you ought to know."
Jiang Wei was stunned for a long while. By the time he snapped out of it, Jiang Yi had already entered the school.
He could only give a self-deprecating laugh and found a patch of shade under a tree to stand in.
If he had to cast off these shadows to become a normal person again...
He thought that day felt quite far off.
***
Jiang Yi walked into the teaching building. This wasn't his first time here; he had come when he processed Jiang Wei’s leave of absence before. The layout hadn't changed at all, yet he found himself a bit hazy on the directions.
Tang Zihe stood outside the Dean’s office. A few minutes ago, he could hear the sounds of an argument coming from within, but now those voices had died down. It seemed Ms. Tang had emerged victorious in her verbal battle against the crowd.
Before coming, Ms. Tang had specifically called him to demand an explanation of what had happened. Once Tang Zihe had given her the gist of it, he saw her step out of a black business van—likely because parking was difficult at the school gate, so she had a driver drop her off.
Ms. Tang had walked up to Tang Zihe with an air of fury. He had expected a scolding—after all, what he had done wasn't exactly blameless—but instead, Ms. Tang simply patted his shoulder, gave him a firm look, and muttered, "I'll see who the hell dares to bully my son," before marching valiantly into the Dean’s office.
Tang Zihe had wanted to say that her son hadn't been bullied at all, but then it occurred to him that the word "son" might not have referred to him, but to Jiang Wei. So, he said nothing and watched her go in.
Perhaps fearing that Tang Zihe would actually keep his word, Gu Renwen and his mother were kept inside the office, while Tang Zihe was left alone outside—to prevent the two from meeting and staging another one-sided beatdown.
In the boredom of waiting, Tang Zihe spotted Jiang Yi walking toward him.
His heart tightened, but he could only watch as Jiang Yi approached step by step.
"There are people inside."
"I know." Facing Tang Zihe, Jiang Yi’s expression returned to its usual mask of indifference, as if he had no affection whatsoever for this brat.
Tang Zihe, meanwhile, appeared somewhat nervous—not because of Jiang Yi himself, but because of the unpleasant associations forming in his mind.
He remembered Jiang Wei telling him that Jiang Yi was the one who had processed his previous leave of absence.
So why was he here now? It couldn't possibly be just to resolve last night's incident.
Jiang Yi watched Tang Zihe out of the corner of his eye, finding the boy's reaction amusing. He decided to go all the way and make the kid's expression even more interesting.
"Tang Zihe? That's your name, right?" Jiang Yi asked with a hint of a smile, striking up a conversation.
"...Yes."
"I remember you and Jiang Wei used to be quite close. How is your relationship now?"
His tone was entirely conversational, like an older brother asking how his younger brother was doing at school.
"...It's still very good." Tang Zihe frowned slightly. The movement was quick, but Jiang Yi caught it. "What are you here for?"
The question wasn't particularly polite. Jiang Yi thought kids these days were getting more and more interesting; Tang Zihe’s answer practically had the words "claiming ownership" written all over his face.
"Me? I'm here to process Jiang Wei’s transfer papers," Jiang Yi said, then unabashedly admired the way Tang Zihe’s face turned pale before continuing. "After such a big incident, he obviously can't stay here. Jiang Wei has his pride, after all."
"Where is he?" Tang Zihe could no longer hide the panic on his face. He took a step forward, closing in on Jiang Yi.
"He’s waiting for me at the school gate. If you hurry now..."
Before he could finish, Tang Zihe had already turned and bolted toward the stairs.
Jiang Yi stared at his retreating back for a few seconds before knocking on the office door.
Tang Zihe could swear he hadn't pushed himself this hard even during his middle school long-distance running exams. He felt as though, in order to catch the butterfly that was about to fly away, he wished he could take flight and grasp it firmly in the palm of his hand.
Under the shade of a tree outside the school gate stood a figure so familiar it was etched into his soul. The boy was looking down at something, then, as if sensing something, he turned around and waved with a smile.
Seeing Tang Zihe rushing toward him in such a frantic state, Jiang Wei instinctively flashed a bright smile. But before he could say a word, he was pulled into a desperate, crushing embrace.
***
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