Mrs. Ssu-ming, with her eight-year-old daughter Hsiu-erh, was making paper ingots in the slanting sunlight when she suddenly heard the thump, thump of slow and heavy footsteps of someone wearing cloth-soled shoes. Although she recognized the step of Ssu-ming, she did not stop to look up but went on with her work. When the footsteps drew close and stopped right by her side, however, she could not help looking up, and when she did so she found Ssu-ming engaged in reaching down into the pocket of his long robe underneath a horse jacket.
With a great deal of difficulty he finally succeeded in extricating his hand from his pocket and handed a small, oblong package, palm green in color, to Mrs. Ssu. As soon as she took the package in her hand she smelled an exotic fragrance which was something, and yet not quite, like the fragrance of olives; on the palm-green paper wrapping there was a golden seal and some elaborate patterns. Hsiu-erh jumped up to her and asked to see it but Mrs. Ssu pushed her away.
"Been to town?" she asked, as she examined the package.
"Mm, mm," he answered, also looking at the package.
The palm-green package was then opened, revealing another layer of thin paper, also palm green; and it was not until this thin paper was removed that the object itself was exposed. It was firm and smooth, also palm green in color,
