76: Chapter 76 The Invisible

After those thirty-seven letters were sent out, Mark opened the happiness map several times every day.

It wasn't to look at the data. It was to look for replies.

The first day, no one replied. The second day, neither. On the morning of the third day, he opened the page and saw the first message.

"Eric, I saw your mushrooms."

Mark stared at that line of text for a long time.

He remembered how Eric had looked with his head down, saying "We were wrong," remembered the girl's trembling fingers as she handed him a stack of handwritten letters, and remembered them sitting together in that dilapidated house, old computers arranged on the table, the light from the screens illuminating their young faces.

He took out his phone and sent Eric a message. It wasn't through the happiness map, but a direct text—when he left that day, Eric had chased after him and stuffed a slip of paper into his hand with a phone number written on it.

"Someone saw it."

Eric didn't reply. But Mark knew he had seen it.

In the afternoon, Mark was called over by Edna.

She was leaning on her crutches, standing at the church entrance, squinting at him.

"You, come here."

Mark walked over and stood in front of her. Edna was a head shorter than him, but the way she looked at him was like she was looking at a disobedient child.

"I heard you know how to look up data?"

Mark nodded.

Edna said, "Then help me look up where my old man is now."

Mark was stunned.

Edna looked at him, waited for three seconds, then smiled.

"Can't find him, can you?"

Mark didn't know what to say.

Edna pointed to the "Ear" sculpture inside the church: "That, you can't look up either. But I know he is there."

She leaned on her crutches, walked inside slowly, and sat down next to the sculpture.

Mark stood at the entrance, watching her back. Sunlight shone in through the stained-glass windows, landing on her graying hair, making it sparkle.

He stood there for a long time.

That night, Mark found Lin Feng.

Lin Feng was squatting under the old locust tree, chewing on a straw. Margaret walked over carrying a plate of mushrooms and squatted down next to him. The two of them ate mushrooms while looking at the lights in the distance.

Mark walked over and squatted down next to them.

"Lin Feng."

Lin Feng turned his head to look at him.

Mark said, "I was thinking about something today."

Lin Feng waited for him to continue.

Mark said, "Data can see many things. User dwell time, number of messages, emotional curves, trend changes. But where Edna's old man is, data can't see. Why Martha smiles when she plays the guitar, data can't see. What George is thinking about when he grows mushrooms, data can't see either."

He paused, "What do these things count as?"

Lin Feng chewed on a mushroom, saying nothing.

Margaret spoke up from the side, "It counts as living."

Mark turned to look at her.

Margaret put down the plate and looked at the lights in the distance, "My husband has been gone for twenty years. Data can look up where he died, where he is buried, where his tombstone is. But what he liked when he was alive, what he hated, what he looked like when he laughed—these, data cannot see."

She looked at Mark, "But these are what make him who he is."

Mark was silent for a long time.

Then he said, "I want to learn."

Margaret asked, "Learn what?"

Mark said, "Learn to truly see these."

The next morning, Mark found Edna.

Edna was sitting next to the "Ear" sculpture, talking to it. Her voice was very soft, and Mark couldn't hear it clearly. He stood at the entrance, not daring to go in.

Edna finished speaking, turned her head, and looked at him.

"What are you standing there for?"

Mark walked in and sat down next to her.

"Edna, I want to learn."

Edna asked, "Learn what?"

Mark said, "Learn to see the invisible things."

Edna stared at him for three seconds, then smiled.

"You can't learn this."

Mark was stunned.

Edna continued, "The invisible is not something you see. It is something you feel."

She pointed to her own chest, "If you feel it, it's there. If you don't feel it, it's not."

Mark placed his hand on his chest. His heartbeat was steady, normal. He didn't feel anything.

Edna watched him, laughing out loud.

"You are truly interesting."

In the afternoon, Mark went to find Martha.

Martha was playing the guitar at the church entrance. She had been playing that broken guitar for over a week, still couldn't play well, and often made mistakes. But she kept playing.

Mark walked over and sat next to her.

"Martha, can I ask you a question?"

Martha stopped and looked at him.

Mark asked, "When you play the guitar, what are you thinking about?"

Martha thought for a moment and said, "Nothing at all."

Mark was stunned.

Martha continued, "I just play. As I play, I forget that I'm playing."

She handed the guitar to Mark, "You try."

Mark took it, pressed the strings, and strummed. It was still that dull thud, still just as unpleasant.

Martha asked, "What are you thinking about?"

Mark said, "I'm thinking about whether I'm playing it right."

Martha smiled, "Well, there it is. You are thinking about right and wrong, not the sound."

She took the guitar back from his hands and gently plucked a string. The note was very soft, drifting in the air, slowly dissipating.

"Did you hear it?" she asked.

Mark nodded.

Martha said, "This note has no right or wrong. It sounded, so it sounded."

Mark sat at the church entrance, looking at the guitar for a long time.

Yuki walked over and squatted next to him.

He turned his head to look at her, "Yuki, can you see those invisible things?"

Yuki thought for a moment, took a slip of paper out of her pocket, and handed it to him.

Mark took it to read. There was only one line of text on the slip of paper:

[Before you can see it, you must first believe it is there.]

Mark stared at that line of text for a long time.

Then he asked, "Do you believe it?"

Yuki nodded.

Mark asked, "When did you start believing?"

Yuki took out another slip of paper:

[When you sent the first message.]

That night, Mark sat under the old locust tree, holding that slip of paper in his hand.

Lin Feng was squatting nearby, chewing on a straw.

Mark spoke up, "Lin Feng, I want to try."

Lin Feng asked, "Try what?"

Mark said, "Try believing in those invisible things."

Lin Feng looked at him for three seconds.

Then he stood up and walked toward the church. After two steps, he turned back, "Follow me."

The place Lin Feng took him to was the open space behind the church.

Moonlight shone on the open space, bright and white. There was nothing there.

Mark stood there, not knowing what to do.

Lin Feng said, "Squat down."

Mark squatted down.

Lin Feng also squatted down. The two of them squatted in the open space, watching the moonlight.

After a long time, Lin Feng spoke up, "What do you see now?"

Mark said, "The open space. Moonlight. Grass."

Lin Feng asked, "Anything else?"

Mark looked around. There was nothing.

Lin Feng said, "Wait."

They waited for a long time.

Mark's legs went numb from squatting. He changed his position and kept squatting.

The moon moved slowly, and the shadows slowly lengthened.

Then Mark saw it.

It wasn't with his eyes. It was felt.

There was something there. Not a person, not an animal, not anything visible. But it was there. Right in that open space, right in the moonlight, right in those invisible places.

His chest felt a little warm.

Very light, very faint, like someone had patted it gently.

He turned his head to look at Lin Feng.

Lin Feng was still squatting, the corners of his mouth turned up.

Mark asked, "What is that?"

Lin Feng said, "What do you think it is?"

Mark thought for a moment and said, "I don't know. But it is there."

Lin Feng stood up and brushed off his backside.

"That's enough."

That late night, Mark sat at the church entrance, looking at the open space.

Yuki walked over and squatted next to him.

Mark said, "I felt it just now."

Yuki looked at him.

Mark continued, "I don't know what it is. But I felt it."

Yuki took a slip of paper out of her pocket and handed it to him.

Mark took it to read. There was only one line of text on the slip of paper:

[That is it.]

Mark folded the slip of paper and put it into his pocket.

There were already several slips of paper in that pocket. He touched them, and the corners of his mouth turned up.

He looked up at the open space. The moonlight was still there, the shadows were still there.

That invisible thing was also there.

[Chapter 76 End]