The funeral for Elder Kueng had come and gone. Fai had been sworn in as the newest of the Elders. Him being particular to the traditional way of things, Po Sin had already begun making things the way he felt they should be. Thankfully Kueng had seen to it that the other two Elders would be able to voice their opinions, and would have a vote as to the final outcome of any decisions the Elders made.

Dee now waited the results from her driver's test. She had been relaxed and confident for most of the test. Now that it was over she was getting jittery. The instructor seemed to be having issues with the man who had brought her, a guard of the Triad. Papers were exchanged and looked over before the man walked back over to Dee and handed her the results.

"Congratulations, young lady. You are now a licensed driver." The man's voice was toneless and sounded as if he could care less that this girl had just achieved such a step in her life. He pointed her to the line to get her photo and turn her papers in, and then walked away to his next appointment.

Happy as she was that she got her license, her stomach was in knots about the party she would come home to. Something just did not feel right about the day. After getting her picture taken and being allowed to drive home, Dee felt happy enough at the moment to get hugs all around in congratulations to her driver's license. As the party started, she forgot some of her nerves in the fun.

{Hey, Xiaohu. Time to open your presents,} Manchu said, pulling the plate of cake from her hand and shoving her onto the dais.

She just managed to catch the sides of her dress before her panties were revealed; a trick Manchu had taken delight in doing to her. He always did it when he had in mind a guy for her. Looking around now from her elevated height, she noticed a great deal more guards in attendance than there would usually be. All of them had their eyes on her. Suddenly, her dress didn't seem to cover enough of her, though it went from her neck to her ankles. As it was a Chinese style dress, there were slits all the way to her hips, showing off her well-toned legs.

After a quick glare at Manchu, who pretended not to see as he met up with a group of particularly interested looking guards, she proceeded to open her gifts. There were many outfits, ranging from casual to extremely fancy. The latter she had no idea what she would ever do with. Many knew her affection for felines and gave her such things as Lucky Cats of various sizes, including jewelry and clothing adorned with the smiling feline. A large assortment of hair combs and sticks joined the growing clutter of presents on the table.

One particular set of hair sticks she had tucked into one of the frogs on her dress, smiling at Manchu for his choice. His had been the last present she opened and now she waited for Po Sin to come forward with the envelope that would tell her where her future would take her. The butterflies and knots in her stomach returned.

The pace at which Po Sin stood and walked to her was excruciating. She wanted to run and grab the parchment envelope out of his hand and tear it open. For a moment, she wondered if everyone felt this way before they found out the answer. Then he was there and handing her the envelope. She took it in hands that looked steady, but felt to her as if they were trembling.

Carefully she pulled the lip of the envelope up and pulled out the slip of paper inside. Her breath caught in her throat as she turned the paper over. Looking up, she blinked through tearing eyes. The sea of expectant faces blurred in her vision. But she would not cry in front of all her guests. Biting her lower lip, she replaced the slip of paper in the envelope and gave an indifferent shrug and obviously forced smile.

{I didn't get in.}
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