Five Spice Street

The best demonstration of our vision was that we knew what happened in the granary. Did anyone investigate this mystery? Did anyone collect information about it? No. We seemed indifferent to it. Each of us was drowsy from our own worries, but when this case was discussed, we all seized hold of it as if it were our own experience. We couldn’t tell you how, but we just knew we had ‘‘seen’’ everything, although each of us might have seen it differently. If necessary, we could have seen all the details before it even began! Only people with penetrating vision could so focus their thought. It also made us superior at analysis and logic. Outsiders would have been puzzled and confused by the granary incident. They might think about it for the better part of a day and still come up with nothing and then leave in disappointment. They would have seen nothing. Their heads would be empty of any image, of even a hypothesis. The people of Five Spice Street had only to assemble once in the dark room to solve this knotty problem. Without even moving their lips everyone understood.

So we can posit that the widow’s vision wasn’t hers alone: it wasn’t any better than that of ordinary people. We appreciated her and admired her, not because of something special about her (for example, like X), but precisely because she represented the interests of the ordinary people. It was only because of this that we planned to consider her a genius in the future (this commitment would be cashed in only at the point of death, so she experienced the same kind of trials as the writer; before that, only the writer could identify her as a genius). Thinking of her is always associated with thinking of ourselves, and a tender feeling of attachment is born. The more we look at her beautiful eyes, the more familiar and warm we feel. Such eye contact always stimulates sublime ideas.

Madam X’s gaze is different. It is the gaze of a stranger, blank and unnatural. It frightens you. You get goose bumps. It’s difficult to make eye contact with her for more than five seconds. Even a quick glance will confuse and disorient you. Her gaze doesn’t belong to any category known to us. Perhaps we can say that it doesn’t fit into any category at all. It is simply her foolishness and represents only her abominable inclinations. Everyone abhors it. Even if she stares at your back, you stamp your feet in fury as if it were attempted murder (like murder with a soft knife-referred to above). Hadn’t she already killed Q with ‘‘saffron light waves’’? Who could guarantee the safety of P or Y, who would appear later? And who could guarantee that she wouldn’t pass this power down to her son, Little Bao, so that this evil would continue? No one could guarantee any of this. Therefore, we could only adopt the strategy of using our own gaze to ‘‘exclude’’ her. She had no way to deal with this strategy. After we came up with this strategy, we decided that except for doing business with her, no one should linger in front of her shop, and if we had to buy things from her, we should also avoid eye contact. We were particularly tense. As soon as we entered the snack shop, we squatted and wished we could make ourselves small (everyone knew that either X’s glance was level or else she looked up. She never looked down. That’s why we chose this special posture). Or we would stand outside the door and reach inside to pay, take the purchase, and run off. Someone wore a long red gown and red spectacles when buying things at the snack shop because X particularly abhorred red and would ward off the red rays with her hand. How then could she see the person?

It’s worth mentioning that one day, our beloved widow crossed swords with Madam X. The widow met Madam X’s wanton eyes with her own pure, righteous gaze. In one bout, she ‘‘defeated’’ her. The next day, this news was posted in large characters on the blackboard. ‘‘It’s no big deal,’’ the widow said calmly with a slight smile. ‘‘If you confronted her gaze directly, you’d see that she was too weak to withstand even one blow. I have long since foreseen this. If you’re interested, all of you can give it a try.’’ No one did, however. Our widow’s test was enough proof: and the widow epitomized everyone’s ability. Anyhow, Madam X’s gaze was too weak to withstand one attack. All of us had absolute confidence in ourselves.

Fourth, the widow’s discernment, diligence, and calmness when facing danger also precisely represented the collective character of the people on Five Spice Street. These qualities enabled us to get through difficulties easily, to accommodate and even assimilate aliens from outer space like X and her family. Not only were we not assimilated by her, but we made them nourishment for our organism. How rare this is in human history!