"When did I say I couldn't see?"
"This morning."
"This morning? I didn't see you this morning."
"Mr Helan, though you may have practised the art, a lie is still a lie."
He snorted softly, then give a silent smile. "You're right. I have day blindness. I can't see in the daylight, but I can see at night."
Eh? Pipi felt slightly flabbergasted. She felt that if a person couldn't see anything in the day, they must feel a fair amount of pain or melancholy. However, Helan Jing's tone had no trace of sadness in it. It was as though it was simply in his nature to not feel regret.
"Day blindness? Do they have that kind of illness at the hospital?"
"After night it always comes back."
"Huh..."
"Do you always think a lot?" He asked.
"Not really."
She looked out of the window in a daze.
The early snow had already stopped. In the dark night, the sky was a gloomy purple. The splendid, shining moon resembled a slice of lemon in an iced tea. The snow on the caps of the far-off mountains and bundled on the distant tree branches was gleaming like coral. The car sped along its route towards the mountainous area outside the city at an unexpectedly high speed. It was so fast, it was almost gliding. Guan Pipi was extremely familiar with the city and she knew it like the back of her hand. The centre was filled with restaurants, bars, dance halls, opera houses, stadiums and many kinds of entertainment to suit any heart's desire. Crossing around ten bridges, one would come to the fringes of the city, where there were fewer lights, fewer cars, but one could not feel tranquil. In those areas, there were drugs, fights, theft, and all manners of illegal transactions. Fear permeated the air.
As they crossed through the wilderness, they gradually turned onto an indeterminate mountain road, where trees rushed over them as if they'd chosen to devour the encroaching humans.
Pipi knew Helan was taking her in the direction of the city's most expensive area: Clear Water Villas. It contained over 50 houses scattered around the base of a huge mountain. It was closest to the best schools, there were hot springs on the mountain along with old pines, a forest and waterfalls. At the base of the mountain there was a subway, cafes, a zoo and a golf course. When it came to the so-called transition between the city and nature, every finger pointed here.
The car ascended rapidly, and Pipi felt a burst of muddle-headed dizziness. Not long after, they suddenly stopped. Helan hopped out of the car and opened her door. As Pipi's foot touched the ground, she caught sight of a disorderly mass of snow covering a thicket of whirlpool-shaped reeds.
Helan's house was unexpectedly old fashioned, in the Chinese style with a closed courtyard and vermilion lacquer doors, accompanied by a wind chime that clanged like an iron horse, and a half-furled bamboo flag through the threads of which a few glimmers of light shone. Helan took Pipi by the arm with one hand, fished out his key with the other, and put it into the old copper lock.