On the nineteenth day of the tenth month, the solar term of Minor Snow, the Huainan Honglie said: "Rainbows hide from sight, the breath of heaven rises, and all closes up to form winter." In the provinces of Si, Yan Province, Yu, and Ji Province along the Yellow River, snow had already begun to fall, but in Jiangdong, the time for snow had not yet come. On fine days, the weather was still like spring, yet as soon as the sky clouded over, one felt the bleak severity of winter.
The weather in Wu Commandery on Minor Snow was overcast. After Chen Caozhi and his two servants ran a lap around the lake, they climbed Lion Mountain with Xu Miao. Xu Miao had not kept up the lake runs; he could not keep pace with the three of them and worried that working up a heavy sweat would make him susceptible to a chill. Climbing was better after all: looking far into the distance from a height could nourish one's noble spirit.
Standing on the summit, Ran Sheng pointed to a small figure outside the Thatched Cottage below and asked Xu Miao, "Young Master Xu, do you see that man? What's wrong with him? He's always watching our young master from behind. When we were climbing just now, he kept peeking at us from the back, sneaking about. Two days ago he even asked me where Young Master Chen had gone-the time we went to Shanluo Village."
Xu Miao had not taken care of his eyes while reading and was already quite nearsighted. How could he make out someone so far away? "Which one?" he asked.
"The servant named Ye Zhu," Chen Caozhi said.
"Ye Zhu is a local, not someone my father brought from Jingkou," Xu Miao said. "He's