Little Apple

Little Apple and Li Yang arrived by bus early the next morning, but the father and daughter went to the zoo first and didn't arrive at Xiang Kun's house until after 11 a. m.

Xiang Kun, who was wearing an apron and preparing lunch, welcomed the two into his home and said with a smile, "You two shopped very quickly!"

Their bus arrived at the city station around 9 a. m., and then they took a taxi to the zoo. Taking into account the time spent on the road, buying tickets and entering the zoo, as well as the time spent taking a taxi to their home afterward, they probably only spent about an hour at the zoo.

Still sporting dark skin and a buzz cut, Li Yang, who looked like an old farmer, chuckled, "We mainly visited a few bird areas, but many of the birds don't usually sing, so there wasn't much to see."

Xiang Kun understood. When "Little Apple" went to the zoo, she wasn't there to "see" the animals, but to listen to their sounds. If there were no chirping or singing, then it wouldn't be very interesting.

Today, Little Apple wasn't wearing sunglasses, Xiang Kun could see her eyes, which at first glance didn't seem any different, and could even be described as very beautiful. He couldn't help but feel a little wistful. He knew that Little Apple was seventeen years old this year, and normally she should be in her first or second year of high school, the age when she would secretly play on her phone during class, secretly play on her computer after school, go shopping and eat snacks with her friends, and watch variety shows and follow her idols at home.

Xiang Kun had previously spoken with Professor Li Yang, who had also originally intended for Little Apple to attend a school for the blind, as there was a very good one in their city. However, after graduating from junior high school, Little Apple no longer wanted to go to the school for the blind and instead wanted to independently and systematically learn the knowledge that interested her.

So Li Yang hired a housekeeper to take care of her daily life. As for her studies, in addition to Li Yang's guidance, she is now able to find the information she needs online with the help of the voice functions of various electronic devices.

Upon entering the room, after greeting Xiang Kun, Little Apple slightly raised her chin and walked towards where the canary "Gold Glitter" was.

Xiang Kun's living room was quite empty, and the dining table wasn't in her path, so Little Apple walked unimpeded to the table in the corner where the birdcage was placed.

"Xiang Kun, the way you've decorated your home... is quite suitable for a blind person," Li Yang joked.

Xiang Kun naturally understood that he meant the house was almost bare, with hardly any furniture or obstacles. He laughed and said, "I haven't actually moved in for very long. You guys play in the living room for now, I'll continue cooking."

Little Apple reached out and gently touched the outside of the birdcage. Li Yang, who was standing next to her, looked puzzled and asked the question that almost everyone who came to Xiang Kun's house and saw the birdcage asked, "Why is the birdcage door open?"

However, this time it was Little Apple who answered, "'Gold Glitter' is absolutely loyal to Uncle Xiang. Even if you open all the doors and windows in the house, it won't run away."

Li Yang couldn't help but laugh, "Loyal and faithful? Is that what you 'read' from its cry?"

Little Apple chuckled, "If you can make such delicious birdseed, it will be loyal to you too."

As they were talking, the canary in the cage chirped twice, then hopped out of the cage in a few leaps, stood by the table, and tilted its head to "sizing up" Little Apple.

Li Yang quietly described the canary's posture. He knew that with his daughter's hearing, she would have known as soon as the canary left its cage and could accurately determine its location. But her hearing couldn't tell her what posture or action the canary was currently taking.

Little Apple didn't speak, standing still as if listening intently.

After a while, she slowly reached out and touched the spot where "Gold Glitter" was.

Surprisingly, instead of running away, "Gold Glitter" leaned closer, tilted its neck, and let her hand gently stroke its feathers, its eyes narrowing in a very relaxed manner.

If Tang Baona and Yang Zhen'er were here, seeing this scene, they'd probably be so jealous they'd hang "Gold Glitter" up and yell at her, asking why Mi ignored them and wouldn't even let them out of their cage!

Xiang Kun prepared four dishes and a soup for lunch as usual. Since he had never eaten with the Li family before, when he asked them about their preferences on WeChat, Li Yang only said that it shouldn't be too spicy and that everything else was fine, so he could only make a rough judgment based on the tastes of the area where they had lived for a long time.

"Uncle Xiang, do you have any other pets?" Little Apple asked Xiang Kun as he brought out the dishes before dinner.

"It's a rabbit, a Belgian rabbit, but you'd better not look at it, because I'm raising it to eat." Xiang Kun said, then turned to Li Yang and said, "I'm planning to open a restaurant with a friend, specializing in rabbit meat. We've been researching various ways to cook rabbit meat lately. Come on, Professor Li, you should try some."

Although Xiang Kun had just opened the doors and windows to let in some fresh air and cleaned the rabbit cage earlier, there was still a lingering smell, which is normal for people with a sensitive sense of smell to be able to detect.

"Oh." Little Apple didn't seem to have any particular aversion or rejection to eating rabbit meat.

Unsurprisingly, both father and daughter praised Xiang Kun's cooking skills. Although he couldn't adjust the dishes to suit their tastes, he had made several of the dishes many times, so he naturally had a basic level of skill.

"This is my first time eating rabbit meat, and I didn't expect it to taste so good." Li Yang nodded in praise while serving Little Apple some food. "This cooking skill is definitely up to par for running a restaurant. I'll definitely be a repeat customer after I've tried it."

While eating and chatting, Xiang Kun told Little Apple about some interesting stories about raising "Gold Glitter," how he judged Gold Glitter's emotions based on its voice, posture, and movements, and talked about some of Gold Glitter's habits and bad habits.

Then the conversation moved from "Gold Glitter" to the calls of other birds and their habits, knowledge that Little Apple had been learning since graduating from junior high school.

Then, following this topic, we discussed the impact of changes in the number of gut microbiota in certain birds on their diet, the research project that Li Yang is currently involved in, and some examples of the practical applications of microbial research.

The father and daughter thoroughly enjoyed the meal and had a pleasant conversation. They found it very enjoyable to eat with Xiang Kun not only cooked delicious food but also made chatting with them very comfortable. They felt that they could always be encouraged to talk, and whenever they felt a little tired or didn't want to continue the conversation, Xiang Kun would skillfully take over the topic or introduce a new one.

Xiang Kun also found the conversation quite enjoyable—except for the two "lively" pebbles in his belly.

After dinner, Little Apple wanted to take "Gold Glitter" out for a walk, so Xiang Kun took the father and daughter to a place not far from the neighborhood where people often strolled.

As they watched Little Apple sitting on a stone bench by the artificial lake with her birdcage, Xiang Kun and Li Yang chatted not far away.

It wasn't until today that Xiang Kun learned that Little Apple's real name Li Jun, a name that sounded rather masculine at first glance.

Little Apple's mother passed away in an accident not long after her birth. Little Apple was not blind later in life, but was born blind, and was completely blind, unable to perceive light.

However, despite Li Yang taking his daughter to see many experts about the cause of her blindness, none of them could give a definitive explanation. And with current technology, there is essentially no possibility of restoring or curing her sight.

If blindness is acquired, such as due to corneal damage in adulthood, and vision is restored through corneal transplantation or other methods, then there is no problem.

However, if the blindness is congenital, especially total blindness, treatment after adulthood involves more than just "repairing" the eyeball, retina, and visual pathways—these "photosensitive elements" and "transmission elements." It also involves the visual areas of the cerebral cortex, with its numerous, complex, and interconnected neurons, a field that humans have not yet fully mastered.

When we "see" things, it's not just with our eyes; it's our brain that ultimately forms the cognitive images in our minds from the light and shadows of the outside world.

During infancy, the corresponding visual nerves need constant stimulation from external information to build visual experience and three-dimensional cognitive abilities.

Otherwise, even if the "photosensitive element" and "transmission element" are restored after adulthood, without a corresponding and complete "processor" and "processing software", normal visual ability will still not be obtained.

For example, they cannot distinguish distances visually, and they only see two-dimensional images without being able to form three-dimensional cognition. They can distinguish colors and shapes, but they cannot correctly recognize slightly complex combinations, such as human faces, which they would perceive as a combination of strange components.

Even if someone who was blind had already developed a certain level of normal human behavior and judgment through auditory or other training methods, the sudden restoration of vision can disrupt their established cognitive system, leaving them disoriented and their brain in chaos.

After hearing Li Yang's words, Xiang Kun looked at the quiet girl sitting on the stone bench in the distance with a smile on her face, and suddenly felt a tightness in his chest.

The thought that a child who loves nature and birds is destined to never see those creatures she admires in person is somewhat disheartening.

Li Yang sighed and said, "Perhaps in the future, when technology advances to a certain level and we have a sufficient understanding of the human brain, with more advanced technology and equipment, we will be able to truly cure Little Apple's eyes. As for now, all I can do is try my best to let her live happily and healthily."

Li Yang and his daughter were originally planning to leave around 3 p. m., but Xiang Kun called them back home and asked them to stay for a while.

He took out one of the twelve Minions he had carved yesterday and gave it to Little Apple. However, since the wood carvings were originally intended to be used as "experimental tools," they stopped when they reached the point of establishing a connection and were not further refined, so the details were still somewhat rough.

He then began to carefully polish the surface right in front of the Li family father and daughter, using different fine sandpaper.

Little Apple was very excited when she found out what gift Xiang Kun had given her. Although she was blind, she had loved watching cartoons since she was little because they often had a lot of funny and comical sound effects, and she could laugh happily just by listening to those sounds.

When Despicable Me came out, she was particularly interested in the Minions' voices, and her WeChat notification sound is the Minions' infectious laughter.

As Xiang Kun sat in his room polishing the Minion, Li Yang looked at the Arthas Wooden Carving and the Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Wooden Carving placed next to his computer desk and couldn't help but admire him: Xiang Kun really is quite talented.

After carefully polishing it for more than an hour, he handed the finished product to Little Apple. Watching her carefully handle the boxwood Minion, feeling its shape and texture, her eyes squinting with joy, Xiang Kun also felt happy, a sense of comfort that made him unable to suppress a smile.

Looking at his daughter, Li Yang patted Xiang Kun's shoulder and whispered, "Thank you."

Xiang Kun smiled and shook his head, saying, "You're welcome to bring Little Apple over whenever you have time. Just let me know in advance so I can buy the groceries and prepare the ingredients. I promise the food will be even better next time you come!"

"Haha, the food today was already fantastic! When do you have time to come visit us?" Li Yang said with a smile.

To be honest, he was a little worried before coming here today. After all, strictly speaking, getting to know Xiang Kun was just a way for him to hitch a ride. Although they chatted a few times on WeChat, they didn't have any deep conversations, let alone become close friends. They didn't really know each other very well.

But his daughter insisted that Xiang Kun was her good friend and wanted to see the canary "Gold Glitter," so he had no choice but to bring his daughter along.

However, after spending the last few hours together, Xiang Kun left a very good impression on Li Yang. His greatest wish and motivation in life is to make his daughter happy, and today can be said to be the happiest day his daughter has had in the past few months.

After seeing Li Yang and his daughter off, Xiang Kun returned home, took out a piece of boxwood from the cabinet, cut it to the appropriate size, and began to complete the twelve boxwood Minions.

Eleven is actually fine, since he wanted to test the effects of "Emotional Injection" items. Eleven and twelve are not much different, so it shouldn't just reach the threshold.

But the number eleven made him feel like something was missing. It might be because he originally wanted to carve the twelve zodiac animals, or it might be because he had already considered the twelve as a whole. So after thinking it over, he decided to add another one to make up the twelve.

As for giving one of the Minions to Little Apple Li Jun, Xiang Kun's purpose was to try to influence her with the "happiness" embodied in the wood carving, and to try to let her have a happy dream occasionally.

Two nights later, around 11 p. m., Xiang Kun casually sensed the little yellow man and tried to activate its emotional influence function to guide the surrounding targets into a dream.

Then he suddenly paused, gaining some perceptions he had never had before...

Xiang Kun couldn't even figure out if he was observing a dream, because he couldn't see anything, but it wasn't the darkness of closed eyes; rather, it was an emptiness and nothingness that he couldn't describe.

Then he felt emotions that weren't his own—happiness, joy, and a wide, uncontrollable grin.

He heard two people talking nearby. The voices gradually became clearer, and he recognized them as two men performing a crosstalk routine.

He even knew which crosstalk performance it was; he had heard it before, and he also knew that the performers were Miao Fu and Wang Sheng.

Then, amidst the sounds of the crosstalk performance, he heard the clear chirping of birds. These sounds were melodious and pleasant to listen to, yet they did not interfere with his enjoyment of the crosstalk at all. They were like gentle background music, perfectly complementing the performance and making it a pleasant experience to listen to.

Xiang Kun clearly sensed the "emotional being's" giggling laughter, and then he immediately realized that this was indeed a dream, Little Apple's dream.

However, her dream contained no visuals.

That feeling of emptiness, that feeling of "not being able to see," frankly, shocked Xiang Kun, even more so than the dream of being thrown into a vat of boiling oil.

But just as he realized this, Xiang Kun suddenly discovered that the nothingness before him did not seem to be completely nothingness.

For some inexplicable reason, he seemed to have "seen" something.

Moreover, those sounds, whether they were the voices of a comedian or the birdsong, all seemed different from what he usually heard.

Thanks to book friends book friends 20180830081619129, Liufucaoyun, starting point reading iOS, Banjin, Baliang, ricecake, starting point reading iOS, idateyou, Xiaoxiao, book friends 20170714140336914, and Nuannuan Nuanyang for the reward.