There the missionaries learned that they were to stay for a longer period, and they were lodged in a shed surrounded by rice fields. This was different from what they had expected, because they had been told in Canton that Father Ts'ai had arranged for a place in Hsiang-t'an. They therefore wished to proceed to Hsiang-t'an, but since that was impossible under the circumstances, they asked Liu Shêng-tuan to be their messenger to Father Liu asking him to come to them.