A man named Zhang Xuze, after having his bed repaired and embellished, wanted to show it off. As no one was likely to come into his bedroom to look at it, he hit upon an idea. Pretending to be ill, he kept to his bed so that his in-laws and friends might come over to see him.

His brother-in-law, You Yangzi, who had a pair of new stockings knitted, wanted to show it off, too. The day he came over to see Zhang, he purposely tucked up his robe as he sat down and lifted one leg, putting the ankle of it on the knee of the other.

Then he inquired: "Well, what's wrong with you?"

Zhang Xuzi, looking at him for some time, could not help smiling. "We have the same illness," was the reply.