During the summer vacation of her sophomore year, Shen Ransheng was at home working as cheap labor for her own mother, brewing medicine and serving tea to customers at the family clinic. In the steam rising from the tea, she indulged her hobby of reading people's palms. She had never seen anyone with such faint palm lines, though. In all seriousness, she said, “Sir, your palm lines are so faint. I'm afraid your luck is poor and you have little fortune or happiness.”
He glanced at her and smiled. “Luck may be hard to come by, but you haven't said anything about fate.”
On her wrist was a strand of agarwood beads exactly like the one on his, only a little paler in color.
The person in charge of the city came over to welcome him respectfully. Shen Ransheng looked from the medicine pot to the teacup and then at him. Feeling guilty, she blurted out that the tea was too hot. It was so hot that her cheeks flushed and her ears burned.
Later, wearing his prayer beads, she lowered her eyes and traced the lines in his palm with her finger. The line said to signify love wouldn't grow longer or deeper, no matter how much she traced it. He kissed the furrow from her brow.
Theme: Protect our precious heritage of traditional Chinese medicine.
