In this age, there isn’t much entertainment, but whenever something happens, everyone is eager to see the commotion. Some people, while eating, even bring their bowls out from home just to enjoy their meal while watching.
“This person looks like he really can’t see.”
“Is he pretending? I can’t tell.”
“They say he’s blind, but why doesn’t he have a cane? Aren’t all blind people supposed to have one?”
“He’s quite good-looking; judging by the clothes, his family might not be well-off.”
“This person doesn’t look like he’s from around here…” In this era, even if you live in a county town, most neighbors are very familiar with each other. When someone unfamiliar appears, it’s easy to recognize them. Moreover, Lin Ya spoke authentic Mandarin, which many older folks barely understood.
Mandarin hadn’t been fully popularized yet.
Thus, anyone with eyes could tell that Lin Ya was not a local.
Glancing at Lin Ya’s handsome face and overall demeanor, most people did not believe he was a lecherous man staring at women. Someone suggested, “Why not just test him? Blindfold him and have him walk a bit. If he’s blind, he should be able to manage without trouble.”
The elder sister rolled her eyes but readily agreed: “Fine! If he really is blind, I’ll apologize to him!”
“But I’ll say this upfront: if he’s not, he’s definitely getting a beating.”
“Alright! If he’s not blind, I’ll help out!”
“Me too!”
Hearing the crowd support him, Lin Ya couldn’t help but sigh. It seems that regardless of the world, looks matter. Good-looking people always have an advantage.
If he were an ugly monster, he would probably already have gotten beaten up.
Lin Ya fished around his clothes, tore a piece of cloth, and blindfolded himself. Although he couldn’t see, 123 could and guided him to walk forward.
[Host, lift your leg after two steps, there’s a stone ahead. Slow down, there’s a pit ahead…]
The onlookers watched as he calmly walked forward, accurately avoiding stones and puddles on the ground, unable to suppress their astonishment.
“Even with his eyes covered, he can avoid pits? How skilled is this blind person?”
“Indeed impressive…”
After a while, Lin Ya made his way back, stopping perfectly in front of that elder sister.
“Sister, there’s no need to apologize.” He smiled slightly, clearly blindfolded yet seemingly able to see her, startling the elder sister into taking a few steps back.
With a fierce voice, she retorted, “What do you want?!”
Lin Ya recalled the face he saw earlier, realizing the few coins he had on him weren’t enough to get back home. He needed to think of a way to earn some money, so he replied, “I don’t want anything. Although I’m blind, I have a special insight. I stared at you because I saw darkness over your brows, indicating you are about to encounter bloodshed.”
“What?” She hesitated for a moment before her expression darkened. “Are you cursing me?!”
“What darkness and bloodshed? You can just say whatever comes to your mind!” She spat, shot Lin Ya a glare, grabbed her basket, and squeezed her way out of the crowd without saying another word.
Lin Ya wasn’t angry; he planned to stay here for a few days to earn some money and wasn’t in a hurry to leave. That elder sister wouldn’t encounter any major mishaps, at most, she would trip and bleed a little.
Others had heard his words but didn’t take them seriously. After a short while, as the crowd dispersed, Lin Ya followed 123’s directions to leave.
In 1985, the cities mainly featured tube buildings. In this era, you wouldn’t find many cars, let alone bicycles in the more remote areas.
The original character, Shui Cheng, had come to Lin City after the economic reforms. It was a rapidly developing city. After being dazzled by the urban splendor, the original character, along with a fellow townsman, had scammed around a thousand yuan using metaphysics tricks. Later, the townsman was caught, taking the original character down with him.
Lin Ya strolled leisurely down the narrow streets. The cloth blindfold he wore was now akin to dark sunglasses, and his worn-out clothes transformed into a thick cotton coat.
At that time, surveillance was nonexistent. As long as he avoided people, he didn’t need to explain his appearance. No one in this city knew him anymore.
By afternoon, the weather grew gloomy, like it was about to snow. Lin Ya took a breath, and white mist dispersed into the chilling wind.
After a long walk, he spotted a well-dressed young man near a department store and paused for a moment.
Dressed in a suit, he clearly looked affluent.
Through the sunglasses, Lin Ya could clearly see the lifelessness on the man’s face.
Within three days, this man would be dead.
After pondering for a moment, Lin Ya decided to take a chance; saving a life was better than building a pagoda for merit.
“Sir, would you like a fortune-telling?”
Zhang Run glanced at his watch, standing impatiently as he waited for the driver. Just as he felt annoyed, a voice reached his ears.
“Huh?” He turned around to see a man in a black cotton coat, wearing oversized sunglasses that obscured half his face. Zhang Run appraised him and waved his hand dismissively, irritation evident in his tone: “Not interested, not interested.”
“Are you sure you’re not interested?” The man persisted, his tone resonating eerily, “Your fate has only three days left.”
Zhang Run was taken aback by his words; anyone hearing that would be startled.
It’s often said that nine out of ten fortune-tellers are frauds, and the last one is only half a fraud. This guy was definitely trying to scam him.
Looking at this so-called fortune-teller, he didn’t look the part at all—who wears a cotton coat and sunglasses to tell fortunes? Shouldn’t he be in a robe or something?
Had the previous years’ campaigns against the “Four Olds” frightened everyone into removing their gear?
Zhang Run stared at him with a strange expression for a moment, then his face darkened. He pulled out his wallet with an unsatisfied look, took out a ten-yuan bill, and threw it at him, mumbling, “Alright, tell me how I’m going to die.”