Chapter 7 — In the Sea of People, I Only Remember You

10

Before the university entrance exam. Ta Canh Hanh took me to a place. It's his family's private horse farm. Vast steppe, gentle breeze, neither hot nor muggy.

“Why did you bring me here?” – I asked.

Ta Canh Hanh led a gentle white horse, carried me on the horse's back, then jumped on it himself, sat behind, and gave me the reins to hold.

“Because there are few people here.”

He smiled softly in my ear: "Even if you don't recognize horses or grass, I'm the only one here."

“You don't need to try to distinguish who is who anymore, in your eyes, just seeing me alone is enough.”

The horse leisurely walked forward. I leaned into his arms, listening to the steady heartbeat ringing in my ears.

“Ta Canh Hanh.”

“Um?”

“That day, the palace protection dish, why did you eat it all?”

This question, I have never dared to ask. Ta Canh Hanh was silent for a moment, then rested his chin on my shoulder.

“Because at that time, I thought… if I died, would you miss me for the rest of your life?”

My heart stopped.

“Are you crazy!”

“Yes, I'm sick.”

He squeezed my hand tightly: "From the first time I met you, I was seriously ill and incurable."

"But then I thought back, dying like that is too cheap for that bastard Lo Vu. I have to live, live well, hovering before your eyes all day long, letting you look at me eight hundred times a day, until that damn face blindness of yours is cured."

My eyes stung, I turned around and lifted his face. Even at such a close distance, I could still only clearly see his vague facial features. But I closed my eyes, and my fingers brushed over his eyebrows, the bridge of his nose, and his lips. This face has been engraved in my heart for a long time.

“There is no need for treatment anymore.”

I said softly: "I already miss you."

“Remember how?”

“With the heart.”

I pointed to my chest: "Here, there's only you alone." Ta Canh Hanh burst out laughing, the laughter made his chest vibrate. He bowed his head and kissed me. In that prairie with only wind and grass, we shared a long and sweet kiss. There is no bitter taste of peanuts, only the cool taste of mint candy.

11

For four years in college, Ta Canh Hanh and I were in a long-distance relationship. He studied at Kinh Thanh University, I studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in the neighboring city. But I have never once recognized the wrong person. Because every time we met, without needing to see my face clearly, that familiar figure determined my exact location like a radar, then gave me a suffocating hug. On graduation day, Ta Canh Hanh came to pick me up. He put on an extremely grand show. In front of the school gate, there was a row of supercars, each car's trunk was filled with roses. As soon as I stepped out of the gate, I was almost startled by that scene.

"What is it? Who is willing to play so cruelly?!"

The people around were whispering. I was about to quietly go around, when the door of the middle car suddenly opened. Ta Canh Hanh walked down in a perfectly tailored black suit, holding a bouquet of white auspicious flowers, walking towards me. After four years of not seeing him, he has transformed from his former immature appearance, becoming calm and mature. But her eyes, when they looked at me, were still as hot as the first time.

“Ly Tang Tang.”

He walked in front of me and knelt down on one knee. The whole schoolyard was in an uproar.

“What are you doing?!” – my face turned red.

“That's the proposal, don't you see?”

Ta Canh Hanh took it out a ring, a diamond so large that it could dazzle people's eyes.

“Knowing that you are face blind, to avoid you mistakenly identifying your husband in the future, I have engraved the name on the ring.”

He pointed to the inside of the ring: "See? XJX - Ta Canh Hanh." I didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "It's so small, I have to take out a magnifying glass to see it."

“Then take a magnifying glass and look.”

He still persistently held out the ring to me: "Marry me. Later I will be your eyes, help you see the whole world. And you..."

“Just look at me alone.”

There were cheers around: "Agree! Agree!" I looked at the boy in front of me - the man who ate peanuts despite being allergic, fought for me, and even volunteered to drown in the eyes of the whole world for me. My tears blurred my vision. I held out my hand and let him put the ring on his ring finger.

“Okay.”

“But first of all, don't add peanuts when cooking.”

Ta Canh Hanh stood up, picked me up, and spun me around a few times on the spot.

“Obey, dear wife!”

12

Life after marriage is not as "chickens flying and dogs barking" as I imagined. Ta Canh Hanh said he could do it, he truly became my "guide dog". Every time he attends a party, he holds my hand tightly and whispers in my ear, introducing each person:

“It's three o'clock, that's General Manager Truong, the bald guy.”

“At nine o'clock, that's Mrs. Ly, dressed like a flamingo.”

With him - this "living accessory" by my side, someone like me who is both afraid of socializing and face-blind can freely move around in relationships and integrate without any problems. As for Lo Vu... I heard that after that he went abroad and did not live very well. One time, I happened to meet him on the street and he wanted to say hello to me. But I took Ta Canh Hanh's arm, without even glancing sideways, just striding past. Ta Canh Hanh asked me: "Don't you recognize it?" I honestly shook my head: "No. Who is it?" The corners of Ta Canh Hanh's lips curled up crazily, giving me a kiss.

“People who are not important, don't need to waste brain cells to remember.”

That's right. For someone like me who is face blind, this world is very crowded, people's faces are very vague. But luckily... In that vast sea of people, I found the only clear figure. Someone who doesn't need me to recognize, because... He will walk to me first. Even if I can't see the whole world clearly, Just seeing him alone is enough. (Run out of)