A Class Reunion

Number Eight's palm was warm and strong, like the palm of a living person.

Lu Xin clasped his hand. As he met his happy smile, he felt a faint illusion.

It was as if this really were nothing more than two children who had grown up together in an orphanage, then gone their separate ways because of their circumstances.

During a business trip, one of them had remembered an old friend still living in this city, and returned with deep longing to find him, warmly embracing the person who had accompanied him through the loneliest and weakest years of his life, expressing the yearning built up over so long apart...

...If the orphanage had not bid them farewell in such a brutal way back then.

"Yeah. It's been a long time."

Lu Xin froze for a moment before reacting. He smiled at the other man and said, "Number Eight, you've become an adult."

"I have a name now. Xu Jing."

Number Eight smiled at Lu Xin with an open, friendly expression. "Just as you have a name now, Lu Xin."

"Let's call each other by our names. The memories of when people called us by code names aren't exactly pleasant!"

"..."

When Number Eight mentioned "memories," Teacher Lu couldn't help tensing up again.

But Number Eight did not seem to be implying anything in particular. He had merely mentioned it in passing before complaining to Teacher Lu, "These children's foundations are really poor. Over the past few days, I gave them some basic tests in Chinese, mathematics, physics, philosophy, and so on. Other than Chinese, which was a little better, everything else was an absolute mess. What kind of teacher taught them...?"

Teacher Lu froze as well, a faint trace of shame appearing on her face.

Number Eight seemed