I hesitated in front of the entrance to the hall for a moment, and then went inside. There were two tables of people playing ‘carriage-horse-cannon’, a type of card game common in the south. There was also a table of people playing chess. Even though I was plainly dressed, and could speak pretty good Shanghainese, everyone stopped what they were doing to stare at me. I wandered about a bit and poked around, hoping that I would be able to guess which one of them was Abing. But none of them seemed right. A small child, perhaps eleven or twelve, his hand all bandaged up, discovered that I was wearing a wristwatch and proceeded to tail after me, trying to satisfy his curiosity and gain a closer look. In the end, I removed my watch, handed it to him and asked whether or not Abing was here. He replied that he was indeed here, that he had just stepped outside to the other hall, and that he would lead me there. ‘What do you want Abing for?’ he asked curiously.

‘I’ve heard that his hearing is quite exceptional. Is this true?’

‘You don’t even know that? You can’t be from around here, right?’ Seeing me nod my head in answer to his question, he immediately warned me in a mysterious manner: ‘Don’t tell him that you are not from our village. Let’s see if he can tell for himself by listening to you.’ Laughing, he added, ‘I reckon he can!’

Entering the other hall, the child scanned to the left, then to the right, and finally led me to stand in front of a young blind man. In a loud voice he shouted, ‘Abing! Here, I want to test you: what family is this fellow from?’

The sightless lad had already noticed my arrival in front of him. Seated on an iron bench, grasping an old, rough bamboo cane, a foolish smile came upon his face; he looked to be not only blind but an imbecile as well. I never would have thought that Luo Shan would recommend such a person to me: a blind idiot. At that moment, however, upon hearing the child’s challenge, as though he had been waiting ever so long for just such a challenge, he immediately hid away his foolish smile and his face took on a serious look. He seemed to be waiting for me to open my mouth. I really didn’t know what to do: the whole situation took me aback.

‘Speak! Come on, say something,’ the child persisted.

‘What should I say?’

‘Whatever you want.’

I hesitated. Excitedly, the child urged me on, ‘Speak! Say something!’

I felt uncomfortable. It seemed as though we were tormenting a poor blind child. Without thinking about it at all, in a very polite and vague tone of voice I said: ‘Hello … Abing … I’ve heard that your listening ability is … rather unique, I’m here to …’