BOOK 2. Zhao Yunlan is a successful detective and has been blind from birth, and is attacked on his way home from a night out but someone steps in and saves him and runs off. Shen Wei is a university lecturer in Architectural Technology and liv...
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She Wei was tired, loss of blood, anaesthetic, analgesic, everything was causing the lethargy and he had to give in or fall asleep on his feet, so he ate some of Gelan's meal and fell into bed under the watchful eyes of his AI protector. In his dream, he watched as he saw Yunlan in the street sitting on the kerb, curled up in pain with an old stomach complaint and couldn't leave him there. So he took him home to his own flat and put him to bed hoping to give him his medication but he fell asleep before he had the chance. Yunlan's flat was a mess, how can he live like this and only cleaning one area doesn't work because it makes the rest look worse, therefore he cleaned and tidied the whole flat while waiting to see if Yunlan was alright in the morning and made sure that he took his meds before he returned home.
The story continued every night but not in sequence as far as he could tell, if in fact it was a story and not just a continuous recurring dream of someone that he didn't know and had never met. Except, he had found out that he was real and did exist, although he was blind in life but not in his dreams. He had known him for a very long time and had lost him in death, only to be reunited thousands of years later, that itself was impossible. No one lives that long, but in his dreams he did, the funny part being, that he could remember what he did during the thousands of years waiting.
All the knowledge that Wei had acquired, stayed with him when he started dreaming from an early age, therefore designing this house was easy once he graduated from university with the technical knowledge required to build it. He needed to know if Zhao Yunlan had dreams and if not why?
Gelan watched Shen Wei sleep, glad to see that it was a nice dream this time, because sometimes it's not and he cries out in pain. She switches screens to watch CCTV, the camera outside Zhao Yunlan's house, and everything is quiet, no burglars, no prowlers. She doesn't have access to views inside the house because he's not technically minded, not even a smart TV which would have made things a bit easier for watching him, as long as he in the same room. However at the police station, she can watch him through the security system and the PC's. Tonight was going to be long and quiet, so she put herself into half power, to partially sleep until the alarm in the morning.
The alarms go off in two separate houses, one wakes up Shen Wei for work and the other forces Yunlan to get out of bed. Gelan is aware of both.
Shen Wei slept well during the night, losing all the effects of the drugs in his system from the hospital and the necessary painkillers from Gelan, the combination of both gave him a really good sleep. Ready to face the students in his classes today, Architectural Technology. He could have taught Ancient History if he had wanted, but felt that it was too close to his dreaming state at night. The Tech course also kept his mind open to new innovative ideas and gave him fresh perspectives. Gelan prepared some breakfast for him and checked his wound before he left for work, healing nicely.
Yunlan is up on his feet, tired from the night before and wants to go back to bed. He sat up too late listening to a book that he couldn't put down. He'll make an effort and go to bed earlier tonight, he promises himself, but now breakfast. Toast will do and he can get something else at the office, because he misses his house keeper who is on a well deserved holiday and he has to sort out his own tea in the morning. He knows what he's wearing today but the nurse has a look for wardrobe malfunctions. It's not the first time that he's made mistakes due to tiredness.
Arriving at the office, everyone is cheerful and lively and he wonders what kind of happy pills have they been taking, how is it he's so tired and they're so lively, and he drops onto the sofa enjoying his coffee. Yunlan listens to the chat feeling his tiredness slowly disappearing and heads off to his own office to find out what's on today. He finds a report about a student death on his desk in Braille, and shouts on Chu to ask where it came from, learning that it has been passed onto them as a new case, so he chooses who to accompany him to the university to investigate. Gelan has picked up on this in her security room and is trying to contact Shen Wei to warn him but the technology class might have a firewall preventing her from sending the signal, so until he finishes that class or takes a break, there is no way for her to contact him.
On arrival at the university grounds, Yunlan and his team head towards the grass where the girl's body was found by two security guards while on patrol, and he can smell the scent of death before they reach her. Chu examines the grass around her looking for any evidence to help find her killer but Yunlan stands back with his hands in his pockets, just sniffing the fresh air, as it looks to anyone watching. There is only the smell of the body, he detects no odour of blood, therefore he assumes that there are no puncture wounds and he asks Chu,
"Marks around her neck?"
"Yes, strangulation"
"Not here, somewhere else," Yunlan suggests, as he turns and walks away following the girls scent across the grassy area with Chu closely following and almost colliding as he suddenly stops. The smell of cedar aftershave assaulted his senses causing him to freeze and change direction in the hope of finding his saviour from the previous evening.
"Chu, who do you see right now?"
"Students, a professor, gardener, and a couple of older women, why?"
"Take me past the students, the gardener and the professor, the hero who helped me is here, I can smell him."
"What about the murderer?" Chu asked him.
"We'll get back to that, he will be caught, this hero is elusive, he's hiding."
Chu took Yunlan past the students who were talking and obviously not who he was looking for, and as they passed the gardener, he had the smell of alcohol, which left them with the professor who was walking ahead of him with a breeze blowing, carrying the smell of cedar floating behind him. Gelan watched Shen Wei on the security screen and failed to warn him by choice. Chu ran to catch up with him and called on him to please wait, and as Shen Wei turned around, he froze, looking at Zhao Yunlan in person, and couldn't speak or move.
"I wanted to thank you for your help, but didn't know your name or where to find you, so this is a lucky coincidence. I'm Zhao Yunlan, pleased to meet you," he said as he reached out to shakehands.
"Shen Wei, it was no problem, are you alright after the attack?" He said being aware that Chu was not blind and could see his every facial expression, as he shook hands with Yunlan who answered.
"I should be asking you that, were you in the hospital yesterday, I thought I sensed you there" Shen Wei hesitated, slightly taken aback, and Yunlan heard the pause in his speech pattern.
"Chu could you leave us for a few moments to talk please," and Yunlan reached out for Shen Wei's arm as a guide, while Chu backed away to give them some privacy as they slowly strolled forward.
"I'm asking because I'm concerned, not for any other reason and I can smell blood and antiseptic lotion. My senses are very sharp."
Shen Wei couldn't lie, if his senses were that good, he could probably detect lies as well.
"Yes, I have a wound with 15 stitches but I am healing well. Thank you for your concern."
"Why did you leave so fast, was it a coincidence that you were there, am I asking too many questions?"
Shen Wei stopped walking and thought before he answered any more.
"I am a very private person, and I would like to get to know you, but I'm not ready to answer any more questions just now. I can give you my phone number and if you would like to meet sometime, give me a call." and he nodded back at Chu who had been following them discreetly, handing his phone number to Yunlan before walking away. Chu returned to Yunlan's side and said,
"It's a pity you can't see what I can see, he's very attractive, are you going to call him?"
Yunlan answered him, "It's a pity you can't see what I can see, he's pure in his heart, and yes I will call him, once you put the number in my phone on speed dial." and he laughed.
