The next day, before the sky even turned light, Old Smoke Bag was already pacing back and forth impatiently in the courtyard, waiting for the sunrise.
He had waited for a good hour and a half before he finally saw a hint of dawn's glow light up the eastern sky.
Today, Old Smoke Bag had changed into clean clothes and, unusually, did not carry his smoking pipe with him. He had already warned his son not to come to the backyard before noon.
In the center of the courtyard, he had placed a stone he had found elsewhere, as big as the head of a hunting dog.
Originally he had wanted to find a stone as big as a millstone, but considering it was his first attempt at casting, he should not be too greedy, so he had not actually done so.
After straightening his clothes, he did as Yuan Ming instructed, lighting a stick of incense to the east first.
