Wednesday was Christmas Eve.
The night before, the girls in dorm room 205 had already started talking about it.
Xiong Xiaoying, from bed number three, was the first to bring it up. "Did you know? You're supposed to give apples on Christmas Eve. They'll keep you safe and sound."
"Who told you that?" Zhu Yun, Fatty from bed number four, asked while crunching on potato chips.
Xiong Xiaoying said, "The senior boys and girls all say so. It's been popular overseas for years."
Tao Xue said, "But the English words for apple and peace don't sound alike, do they?"
"Foreigners don't give apples because of a homophone," Xiong Xiaoying said solemnly. "In the West, apples symbolize health, longevity, and rebirth. I think it was originally connected to religion and got passed down generation after generation."
"Really?" Tao Xue was somewhat convinced.
Information was scarce in those days, and there were limited ways to get it. All kinds of urban legends spread by word of mouth.
And they spread across the entire country.
For example, Wang Jie's voice had been poisoned away, Zhuo Yiting had tragically died in a car accident, and Huang Jiaju had been deliberately murdered by the Japanese...
"Tiantian, what do people give on Christmas Eve where you're from?" Zhu Yun asked Yu Tian in bed number two.
Yu Tian came from neighboring Wine City, where Wuliangye was produced.
Her accent was vastly different from the one in Dragon Capital. People occasionally teased and mocked her for it, and gradually, she stopped liking to talk.
"I don't know. I think it's apples too," Yu Tian guessed.
Xiong Xiaoying worked up her courage and said, "I want to give Wang Haochuan an apple. Do you think he'll accept it?"
"Oho~~~"
Tao Xue and Zhu Yun drew out the sound