Earnest Gratitude

Before long, Des and Cujie left the market. On their way home, Cujie stopped abruptly, then looked forwards with an odd expression.

"Flora?" She muttered in surprise.

Des perked up immediately.

"Flora is here?" He looked around, and although he could see a few moving grey figures, he couldn't tell which one was her.

"Hmm?" Des paused for a moment. He stared hazily in a certain direction, his gaze landing on a grey figure like any other.

Somehow, there was something different about this figure. He felt like he recognised this person…

"Flora, is that you?" Des asked, feeling uncertain, yet sure of himself at the same time.

Rationally, he knew that it made no sense, how could he possibly tell that it was her? But in his heart, he knew that he was right.

"Of course it's me! I heard you lost your memories, did you actually forget my face too?" Flora approached Des directly, only stopping when she was stood right in front of him. She was slightly bigger than the malnourished Des.

Des was assumed to be 12 years old. He decided to make his 12th birthday the day that Flora found him in the forest. Flora was 14, two years older than him, it was normal for her to be taller.

Even though Des was clearly younger than her, when Flora looked at him, she felt as if she was facing someone even wiser than the village elders…

"Flora, Des's eyesight is not good, it's almost impossible for him to distinguish people from one another…" Cujie quickly explained, looking at Des oddly after saying this.

Flora blinked, then looked into Des's eyes and realised something.

'So they're hazy again…'

Ignoring what Cujie had just said, as if Des being able to identify her was not surprising, Flora suddenly asked him:

"Did you really lose your memories? All of them?"

Des slowly nodded.

"I remember that I was lying down, injured in a crater in the forest. I was muttering to myself, but I can't remember what I said…then I remember you appearing from the forest. I remember that we spoke, but I can't remember most of what we talked about…"

"I see…" Flora muttered, seemingly lost in thought.

"But I do remember you saying some interesting things." Des added, looking at Flora with unblinking eyes. Even though he clearly couldn't see her, Flora's eyes widened…she felt as if those hazy, unclear eyes, were staring straight into her heart and soul…

"You said that all life is bound to suffering, in some shape and form, no matter who they may be. You said that our suffering is unique to us as individuals, making it such that nobody is able to understand the pain of any other."

"Ah, I did say something like that didn't I…I'm sorry about that." Flora sounded truly apologetic, causing Des to raise an eyebrow.

"But I don't think you said anything wrong?"

"Well of course I didn't." Flora stated matter of factly, placing her hands on her hips. "But…I missed the most important point. All of us suffer in unique ways, and we cannot possibly understand the suffering of anyone other than ourselves…but isn't that in itself a shared understanding, between all people, between all life? We suffer alone, but because every single living being is alone, we are all alone together."

Des became silent, mulling over Flora's words. Unknowingly, a smile spread across his face.

"I see…did you think of that whilst you carried me back to the village?"

"How did you know?!" Flora gasped, making Des laugh. He couldn't see her expression, but from her gasp, he could imagine the look on her face.

Doctor Leah said that he had probably been blind since birth, so he wasn't sure how he was able to picture a person's face, but why dwell on it?

As the two spoke as if they were old acquaintances, Cujie watched on blankly from the side.

They had only met a single time before now, so how were they able to enjoy this bizarre back and forth conversation in such a carefree manner? Honestly, Cujie could only understand half of what they were saying!

She suddenly recalled some rumours that she had heard about Flora. Now that she saw the girl for herself, those rumours reemerged in Cujie's mind.

'People say that she's a strange person, she has been highly philosophical ever since she was young. Some people seem to think that her outlook is pessimistic, whilst others think the opposite, that she's naive and idealistic…'

Cujie continued to watch Flora and Des interact, but just as the pair started laughing, a booming voice echoed out from the distance, startling all three people.

"Flora!"

Although all three were startled due to the strangely loud voice, they all felt differently after turning towards the approaching person.

Flora sighed, looking towards her father as he marched their way with a stern expression and purposeful strides. She didn't show any fear or anxiety, only disappointment that she had been caught so quickly, and that now, she would be forced to cut short her conversation with Des.

Cujie paled and showed a nervous expression, but not because she was afraid of Flora's father, Tiger. Although he was a strong man and a renowned hunter with a sizeable influence in the village, he wasn't a bad person; he would never lay his hands on another villager without an extremely good reason.

"What did I tell you before about going near the doctor's place?" Tiger half-shouted in a gruff voice, almost sounding like the growl of a beast. Before Flora could respond, he added: "And I thought we had a deal - I would pay for the boy's medical treatment, so long as you stayed away from him and this place!"

This was what made Cujie feel nervous. From the beginning, Tiger had been paying for Des's medical treatment. Des now owed Tiger a very significant amount of money.

Tiger only agreed to pay these bills in order to keep his daughter away from Des, who she had clearly developed a bizarre interest in…but now, Flora was breaking her side of the agreement!

"Tiger, I apologise for this, we really didn't intend for this to happen. We met Flora on our way home from the market, and the pair just fell into conversation so quickly…" Cujie showed a bitter, apologetic smile towards Tiger, who finally lost the tension from his body, sighing deeply as he scratched his head.

After glaring at Flora, who pouted and looked away, he turned his gaze towards Des.

"Des…" As he addressed Des, Tiger looked into the orphan child's eyes and paused.

Des looked up at Tiger, but as always, his brown eyes were hazy and unfocussed. Seeing this, Tiger sighed, immediately softening his tone of voice.

Shouting at a blind and injured orphan really didn't feel like something he should do. However, he remained stern, he would not back down on this.

"Des, do you understand the conditions of our loan agreement?"

"I do." Des nodded. Although his eyesight was poor, he could roughly see Tiger's size…he was huge. Des could tell that Tiger was tall and well-built. And somehow, as Tiger spoke to him, changing his tone of voice as his own emotions conflicted, Des began to feel as if he could see this man…

He could not see Tiger's face, but his heart. He developed his own internal image of this man's face based upon the growing understanding in his heart. Des wasn't sure how he was able to do this, but it was something that he could do with anyone he met.

In Des's mind, he saw a towering man, standing at over six and a half feet tall. His muscles were huge, much bigger than most hunters.

Tiger felt frustrated that his daughter would have such an interest in a blind orphan, and yet, he felt pity for the poor boy, who had no family, no vision, and no memories. He could have simply restrained his daughter using force, but instead, he decided to sooth her concern by paying for Des's treatment. Besides, helping a pitiful child like Des was something that Tiger believed he should do anyway.

When Tiger saw Des smile at him warmly, he was taken aback.

"Flora agreed to stay away from myself and the hospital, and in return, you agreed to pay for my treatment. Actually, I'm glad that I was able to meet you today, Tiger…"

"Glad?" Tiger raised an eyebrow, now feeling bewildered. This kid…was not even the least bit nervous!

But neither was he acting with arrogance, like some of those other brats liked to do.

He was being so…genuine…

"You paid for my medical treatment, but that's not all. You provided enough money such that after my recovery, I would be able to settle down in the village, supporting myself with food, clothing and shelter for at least another couple of years."

As Des revealed the truth behind Tiger's generosity, both Cujie and Flora looked at him in shock. Cujie simply thought that Tiger was too rich and severely overestimated how much the treatment would cost, whilst Flora had no idea that her father had given so much!

Des's warm smile became even more appreciative.

"So you didn't even tell anyone….Tiger, not only did you help me tremendously, you also assisted the hospital with your funding. For that, I want to say thank you. Really…this village, everyone I have met…Flora, Doctor Leah, Cujie, Tiger…everyone has been so kind, everyone has helped me so much…"

When the three people stared at Des, he coughed and quickly add:

"Anyway, I really am grateful, Tiger. I know that a promise from a blind orphan might sound laughable, but I promise to pay you back twice what you donated towards my treatment, however long that might take me."

"Des, you can't-!"

"Auntie, it's ok." Des interrupted the worrying lady. He was just a child, but somehow, the gentle, relaxed expression on his face, which was filled with earnest gratitude, caused her, and everyone else, to fall silent.

'He called me auntie…' Cujie thought to herself dazedly.

"Now that I've said that, I'm sorry Tiger, but I'm going to request something shameless…even though I no longer need the remaining money, I would like to hold onto it for now."

Before Tiger could say anything, Cujie panicked.

"Des, why are you saying something so greedy? Since the money Tiger gave you was far too much, you need to return everything that you don't need!"

Des turned to face Cujie. He took hold of the woman's wrists, allowing him to more easily locate her eyes. Like this, he was able to look straight into her eyes, despite not being able to see them.

"Auntie, the hospital is struggling. You were forced to raise the prices because you can't deal with everyone in the village. Even so, it makes it difficult for average villagers to get treatment for troublesome ailments…"

Cujie's eyes teared up as Des openly spoke of the huge problem that had caused them so much stress over the past few years.

"Tiger's money isn't enough to fix everything, but it's enough to help, right?" Des smiled, finally getting to his point.

For a moment, everyone became silent. As Cujie stared at Des in disbelief when she realised what he was offering, Tiger finally broke the silence.

"You're saying that you wish to keep the money, not to spend on yourself, but to fund the hospital?"

Des nodded, this was indeed what he wanted.

After staring at Des for a long time, Tiger tapped his daughter's shoulder, waking her from her daze.

"Flora, let's go home."

"Huh? Ah, right…" As she followed after her towering father, who had turned to leave without responding to Des, Flora quickly looked back, smiling at Des and waving, before shouting out:

"Bye Des! I'll see you again soon, promise!"

"You disobedient child, you will do no such thing! If you so much as leave the manor without a chaperone, I won't let you go out until you are able to write out the first volume of 'Forest Gathering' from memory, without making a single error!" Tiger glared at his tiresome daughter.

"Huh?!" Flora looked shocked. "But that's a 250 page book!"

"It's actually 254 pages if you include the contents pages."

"I have to memorise the contents pages too?!"

At some point, Tiger stopped bickering with his daughter. He paused, then glanced back at Des, finally answering his request.

"Good luck. I hope you don't ruin your credibility by failing to live up to your word…also, don't try to visit my daughter."

As Tiger headed back into the now dim streets of Namuh Market, Cujie breathed out a sigh of relief besides him. She finally realised, after Tiger left, that her back was soaked in cold sweat.

Tiger was simply too intimidating!

She glanced at Des to see if he was ok, but found him staring up into the sky. She followed his gaze and also stared for a while, only understanding what it was that he was staring at after recalling his blurred vision. Since Des's eyes were poor, he often tried to guess at what he was looking at, even though he could only see faint grey blurs.

"Birds." She stated simply.

"Mm…" Des nodded. Eventually, he lowered his gaze and followed Cujie back home, listening with a funny feeling in his heart as she lectured him about why he should not be so impulsive.