In this chapter, the narrator introduces us to a young man who has just joined the xiangsheng society. The narrator tells us that he is too shy to make friends easily, and that his parents tell him that being able to make others laugh is one of the most important skills in life. He also tells us about how he forgot to say his name when he joined the society, and how his surname has changed. He says that he feels like thirty years have passed, and he wonders if he is still the same person he was when he first joined. He wonders if there will be a day when he and his friends will not be able to perform the same act together again, and if he will be sad when he dies. He concludes that there is no plot in the performance and that it is too exaggerated. He asks why they don't adapt the performance into xiangshu, or magic, instead. The teacher wants to send the young man off himself, but the narrator reminds him that he has a riddle: a true heart leads you to an important person.