In this chapter, we are introduced to a young woman named Shu-Liang, who has just graduated from an elite boarding school in New York City. She has just received a letter from the headmaster of the school informing her that she has been expelled from the school for truancy. In the letter, the headmaster tells her that the reason for her expulsion is that she was involved in an argument with another student, who had rejected her proposal of marriage. The two students had been hanging out at the academy for a few days when the other student rejected his offer of marriage