Two new transfer students joined Class 4, Grade 11. After Tan Tai Yu finished introducing himself, Lu Wangg u heard him say he was from Yiquan and his eyes lit up. A fellow hometown boy! From then on, he started paying close attention to his classmate from back home.
Tan Tai Yu brought over a serving of rice tea. "Want some?" It was sold beneath Songfeng Bridge on North Street in Yiquan. Lu Wanggui thought he would never taste it again after leaving home.
"I do!"
Tan Tai Yu brought over a serving of tuan cake. "Want some?" It was a specialty of the honey-flower shop beside the Matchmaker Shrine on the outskirts of town. Usually, once he'd tried one shop, he couldn't be bothered to go to another, but now he could have the best of both worlds.
"I do!"
Tan Tai Yu held out his empty hand, palm up, and asked again, "Want some?"
"I do... Huh?" Lu Wanggui stared blankly. This didn't seem like something he could accept.
Before he could refuse, Tan Tai Yu had already taken his hand and tucked it into his pocket.
"Once you say yes, there are no returns."
Just as Lu Wanggui was at a loss, the class nemesis Ma Shengyi took his other hand too, slipping their fingers together and lacing them tightly.
"I want some too."
Lu Wanggui sensed someone's gaze on him. He looked up sharply. Shen Jitong leaned his head against the classroom door, his eyes shifting between the three joined hands, his lips curling in a half-smile.
Theme: Have the courage to destroy evil
