After reading this note, Pao-yü laughed. "Has he come alone?" he asked.
"Or has he any one else with him?"
"He's got two flower pots as well," rejoined the matron.
"You go and tell him," Pao-yü urged, "that I've informed myself of the contents of his note, and that there are few who think of me as he does! If you also take the flowers and, put them in my room, it will be all right."
So saying, he came with Ts'ui Mo into the Ch'iu Shuang study, where he discovered Pao-ch'ai, Tai-yü, Ying Ch'un and Hsi Ch'un already assembled. When they saw him drop in upon them, they all burst out laughing. "Here comes still another!" they exclaimed.
"I'm not a boor," smiled T'an Ch'un, "so when the idea casually crossed my mind, I wrote a few notes to try and see who would come. But who'd have thought that, as soon as I asked you, you would all come."
"It's unfortunately late," Pao-yü smilingly observed. "We should have started this society long ago."
"You can't call this late!" Tai-yü interposed, "so why give way to regret! The only thing is, you must form your society, without including me in the number; for I daren't be one of you."
"If you daren't," Ying Ch'un smiled, "who can presume to do so?"
"This is," suggested Pao-yü, "a legitimate and great purpose; and we should all exert our energies. You shouldn't be modest, and I yielding; but every one of us, who thinks of anything, should freely express it for general discussion. So senior cousin Pao-ch'ai do make some suggestion; and you junior cousin Lin Tai-yü say something."
"What are you in this hurry for?" Pao-ch'ai exclaimed. "We are not all here yet."