In this chapter, the reader is introduced to the protagonist, a young man who has just entered the second year of his studies at a boarding school in London. He is very smart, but he is also socially awkward, and he does not fit in with the other students at the school. He has a difficult time picking friends because he is too smart for school. One day, while playing a game of darts with his friends, he runs into one of the students, whom he calls "wu yan." The two exchange pleasantries, and the two begin to fight. When the fight is over, the protagonist feels that he has killed the "country bumpkin."