From All Men Are Brothers:
Captain Lu quickly returned the bow and replied, “To see you is to know that you are even better than that which I have heard of you. As to that Instructor Wang whom you seek, is not he the one who offended the Commander Kao Ch’iu at the eastern capital?”
Shih Chin said, “It is even he.”
Lu Ta said, “I have heard of his name. That elder brother is not here. I have heard people say he is in Yien An Fu working in the border protection camp under the old general there. This Wei Chou of ours is guarded by the younger general, and that man is not here. If you are that big fellow, Shih Chin, I have heard of your great fame.
Now come on to the street with me and have a cup of wine.”
And Lu Ta took Shih Chin’s hand and they went out of the teashop and Lu Ta turned his head and said, “This money for the tea I will give you later!”
The serving man made reply, “Sir Captain, drink and it does not matter. Pray go without troubling yourself about it.”
Lu Ta and Shih Chin, still holding each other’s arms, came out from this teashop and went on the street and when they had gone some thirty to fifty paces they saw a crowd of people encircling a piece of empty ground.
Mores about masculinity and holding hands were different in that time and place, but they are kinda silly. It’s all not really that different from the “wearing an earring in your right ear is gay” idea from the ‘80s.