Good Child, Bad Child (Working Title)

Shen Fang was the good kid in every teacher and parent’s eyes: a top student, gentle and refined, with nearly every virtue imaginable.

Guan Lu was the bad kid in every teacher and parent’s eyes: terrible grades, nothing to do but loaf around, and always hanging out with shady friends from the streets.

So these two complete opposites became the classic examples teachers and parents liked to talk about. Whenever people mentioned Shen Fang, they would look at him with regret and say, “A kid this wonderful… why couldn’t he have been born into our family?” Then they would bring up Guan Lu with disgust and say, “Thank goodness trash like that wasn’t born into our family.”

Hearing this, Shen Fang would always smile and lower his head shyly, while Guan Lu would give a disdainful snort and walk right past the middle-aged women without a care.

But it always bothered him. One day, Guan Lu waited for Shen Fang at the mouth of an alley. When Shen Fang came home from school and saw him, he froze for a moment, then lowered his head and walked past. Guan Lu reached out to grab him, but Shen Fang swiftly turned around and seized his wrist, twisting it hard until it popped out of its socket.

“You…” Guan Lu clutched his injured wrist, too stunned to speak.

“You’re nowhere near good enough to fight me. Don’t think good students are pushovers you can squeeze whenever you like.” Shen Fang turned his face, wearing a cold smile that didn’t suit a “good student” at all. Then he turned and left, leaving Guan Lu standing there alone.

That was Shen Fang and Guan Lu’s first conversation.