To Run, or Not to Run

Many, many, many years later...

"Thief! Guards, catch him!"

A young man was pointing madly at a figure that was darting through the crowd. The market goers immediately parted down the middle to let the young man and his entourage pass when they saw the identification tablet in his hands.

Although his clothes were of the finest quality and he looked like the average rich young master, the jade tablet he was waving about proved that he wasn't just from any other wealthy family. After all, which family could mobilize the city's guards for their personal use?

Now that the crowd had parted, the figure the young man was chasing looked really lonely on the wide street. What shocked the crowd was that the 'thief' was not a beggar like they were expecting, but a teenager with a dimpled smile on his face.

Where was the dirty looking face of a poor thief? Or the tattered and worn out clothes of beggars turned pickpockets? Instead, they were greeted with the exact opposite.

Everyone's first thought was: how can someone who looked so honest be a thief?

The thief rounded a corner under the onlookers' awe-filled stares, his pursuers hot on his trails, and disappeared from under his new admirers' starry gazes.

The story the onlookers visualized was a rich young master chasing after the thief who had stolen his heart.

What actually happened was this:

As the thief rounded a corner under the onlookers' awe-filled stares... he tripped and fell flat on his face.

His pursuers immediately surrounded him and pointed their swords at him while the young master who's heart was stolen—

Correction! The young master who claimed to be the victim of a theft, stared down at the person he had caught with an air of a one with a superior status.

The thief's new admirers' starry gazes turned into one of pity and sorrow as they lamented to the heavens as one: Why must such a perfect person die so young?

Apparently, the alleged thief either didn't understand how precarious his situation was, or he didn't care. He even had the mood to push away a sword pointed at his neck and laugh. "Nice sword. It would be even nicer if you moved it a couple inches away from me— Oh hi! This young master, how may I help you?"

The young master scowled. "Don't play dumb! You stole from me!"

The young man positively beamed, playing up his dimples that were the epitome of an honest boy. "You must be mistaken. Why would I steal from you?"

The young master barked, "You swindled me! I paid you twenty thousand taels of silver to get me a membership to Winter Pavilion and you ran away after receiving the money. It took me weeks to find you!"

The crowd started to murmur and point at the lone figure in the center of a circle of imperial guards.

"Such a pity that he's a thief."

"You're right. We truly cannot judge a book by its cover."

"How black hearted can he be if he even dares to swindle from General Wei's estate?"

"That's right! The general protects this town from the spirit beasts that live in The White Forest, yet good is rewarded with evil."

Faced with the crowd's angry stares and sharp words, the teen barely looked bothered. He sat in a lotus position and lazily rested his chin on his hand. "Young Master Wei, right? Why do you think I came here today?"

"How would I know?"

"Tsk tsk. Don't be ungrateful. I came here to let you know that your membership is ready. Do you know how long I waited for the manager of Winter Pavilion to meet me just so I could get you a membership by pleading on your behalf? I had to call in personal favours! My friend who works in the pavilion even had to put in a few good words for you and risked getting fired for being biased."

Just like that, the public opinion turned to the teen's favour.

"Young Master Wei, he's already so sincere, using his own favours just to get you your membership pass, there must be a misunderstanding!" Someone in the crowd shouted. Soon, murmurs of agreement sounded throughout the whole market. 

Young Master Wei decided he didn't want to risk being pelted by vegetables and changed his intended accusation into a question instead. "Why did you run away from me if you aren't a thief?"

"Was I supposed to stand still and let myself be arrested? These swords are very pointy, and they don't have eyes," the teen quipped.

Young Master Wei's face flushed in embarrassment. "Then give me my membership pass."

The teen stood up, brushed off his clothes and said, "Let's go collect it at Winter Pavilion now."