Having made up his mind, Hu Ma got up and dressed, while sending Xiao Hong Tang to call Zhou Da Tong out.
By the time he had put on his shoes and socks, he heard a loud "pa" from the side room across the way.
Shortly after, Zhou Da Tong emerged, covering half of his face.
He complained to Hu Ma, "My dear Ma Zi Ge, can't you just call me directly next time?"
"I dreamt of a delicate little lady, and just as I was thinking of giving her a kiss, she turned around and slapped me..."
"Isn't that a good thing? It saves you from leaking your fire in the dream!"
Hu Ma held back his laughter and said seriously, "I called you out for a serious matter."
"I need to go out for a while, and I'm not sure when I'll be back. You handle things for tomorrow."
"Resolve what you can, and if there's something you can't, just go to the inner courtyard to find the old steward. If he asks where I've gone, just say I went out to handle a small matter and will be back in a day."
"Also, lend me your knife."
"..."
Zhou Da Tong agreed and went back to his room to fetch the knife, saying, "Isn't this my knife? Isn't it yours?"
Hearing this, Hu Ma felt a bit embarrassed and laughed, "I'm used to it. I'll return you a knife without a notch later."