White Jade Mystery Pearl

[Realistic mystery, with the relationship serving the story.]

Deep in eastern Sichuan lies a village called Lianhua’ao, surrounded by mountains on three sides.

Chen Sheng grew up there. He was blind, born without eyeballs, and his grandfather, Chen Dehou, had found him abandoned by the roadside. His grandfather raised him with loving care until he was sixteen. People in the village often said Chen Dehou was a true saint, saddled with a blind boy who dragged him down. They looked down on Chen Sheng, but he never minded. He would just smile. They were praising his grandpa, after all. His grandpa was the best person in the world.

His grandpa had gotten him a white jade bead from a temple, tucked it into a red brocade pouch, and told him to wear it close to his body. It would ward off evil and keep him safe. Chen Sheng believed him. He treasured that bead as if his life depended on it, feeling for it once before bed and once more when he woke. He only touched it through the pouch, never daring to reach inside. His hands were rough, and he might scuff or dirty it.

He couldn’t see what Lianhua’ao looked like, but he knew every sound there: the rooster’s crow each morning, the bubbling porridge on the stove, and the light footsteps of his childhood sweetheart, Yang Xiaoman, as she came running in her cloth shoes. He thought that although life was dark, it wasn’t bitter. He was already very happy. He could hear so many sounds, and he had a childhood sweetheart and a grandfather. His grandpa treated him well, Xiaoman kept him company, and though the villagers were gossipy, they didn’t mean any real harm.

His one regret was that he couldn’t see the light.

Some truths are right in front of you from the very first day. You touch them, feel them, hold them against your chest to warm them, and think they’re the finest things in the world.

And, of course, they are.

Because the person who tells you the answer is the one who took it away from you.