Chapter 8 — Internet Users Love Me

Life after getting married passed very peacefully. Although Manh Khai Nien cannot speak and cannot hear clearly, he is the most thoughtful person I have ever met. In the spring, he hid a newly folded paper crane under my pillow. In the summer, he built a small tent in the yard and hung a row of wind chimes. He gave me a piece of paper:
"Lang Lang likes to hear the bell. I can't hear it clearly, but Lang Lang can hear it."
That night, the moonlight was very beautiful. He squatted down in the hallway to write, one hand on his chin, the other holding a pen, and wrote for a long time. Turning his head to see me leaning against the doorframe, his ears immediately turned red and he quickly hid the paper behind his back. I walked over, took the paper out of his hand and opened it. On the entire piece of paper were the two words "Lang Lang", large and small, crooked, written thirty or forty times. I stood on tiptoe and kissed him on the cheek. His whole body looked like he had acupuncture points, his face was red from his ears down to his neck. His mouth opened and closed but no sound came out. Finally, he was so impatient that he continuously stomped his feet and turned around, not daring to look at me. After a while, he slowly turned around, trembling and handed me a piece of paper.
— My heart beats so fast. Am I about to die?
I was both amused and reluctant, pulling his hand and placing it on my chest. His palm was as hot as red-hot iron, and he immediately withdrew it. The tips of his ears were as red as two flames, and even the back of his neck was hot. Early the next morning, without knowing where he found a pile of medical books, he locked himself in the study room to read all day. In the evening, he came out and very seriously gave me a piece of paper.
— I'm not sick. It's because I like Lang Lang so much.
When autumn comes, the fruit on the apple tree behind the hospital is ripe and red. Manh Khai Nien insisted on climbing up to pick it himself. I can't stop it, so I have to let him. He climbed high, reached a tree branch laden with red apples, turned his head and smiled at me, holding up the apple in his hand. What he means is: This is the biggest fruit, for her. The foot suddenly slid down. When he fell to the ground, there was a dull sound. The back of the head touches the ground first. Blood flowed out. Blindingly red. I went crazy and ran to help him off the ground.
“Manh Khai Nien!” I call you. “Look at me!”
His eyes disintegrated for a long time. So long that we thought it would never gather again. After that, his pupils slowly retracted and fell on my face. Something has changed. The clear, soft light like feathers before in his eyes suddenly sank. Sinking to a very deep place, very deep, turning into a cold, clear moon. Then… He opened his mouth.
“Lang Lang.”
His voice was hoarse and rough, like a rusty knife rubbed on a grindstone. It was the first time in his life he spoke. I was stunned on the spot. His trembling fingers touched my face, tears silently flowing down.
"I remember everything. The stories of my past life, everything."
"In my previous life, when my ear disease was cured, it was too late. She married into the Luc family and suffered too much."
He spoke very slowly, as if he was picking up items from deep water that had been submerged for a long time.
"I entered the Martial Arts school, participated in martial arts competitions, joined the forbidden army, and fought with Luc Van Cu for five years. Just because I wanted to take her back from him."
“But I can't wait for that day.”
His voice trembled, almost crumble.
"The night she died, I led people to rush into Luc's house. In the hall, there was only her, not even the soul watcher. Ngan Hanh was married to her, Luc Van Cu did not know where she had gone. She was lonely like that, lying alone in the coffin."
"I killed Luc Van Cu. Then I took her away, brought her back to Hoai Nam, and buried her in the hospital where she lived when she was a child. In the yard there was a cinnamon tree. She once told me that she liked that tree the most."
He smiled, raised his hand and squeezed it tightly, ten fingers interlaced together.
“Lang Lang, in this life I am neither deaf nor mute.”
I was stunned.
"Before I died in my previous life, I made a wish. I told God, please let me live again, so I can not need anything."
“Ears, voice, future, all can be dispensed with.”
“Just let me see you a little sooner.”
"So early that she hasn't even married Luc Van Cu yet."
“So early that I can still stand in front of you, let you choose me.”
His tears fell onto the back of my hand, hot.
"So, in this life, as soon as I was born, I couldn't hear or speak. In my previous life, it was because of an unexpected high fever that damaged my ears. This life is different."
“This life is my own choice.”
“I exchanged all of those things.”
“In exchange for a chance to do it again.”
“In exchange for a start that can protect her.”
My tears burst. The ninth day of the first lunar month is the birthday of An Chieu Vien. It was not yet dawn, Manh Khai Nien woke up, changed into elegant clothes and stood in the yard waiting for me. The carriage left the citadel and headed straight north. The grave of An Chieu Vien's physician is located in the An family's ancestral cemetery on the outskirts of the capital. Manh Khai Nien stood in front of the grave, lit incense, and neatly bowed three times.