On the rooftop, Fangsheng waited for a full half-hour, but Montpellier did not snow.
What is going on? It is already 4:30; dawn will break in two and a half hours, Fangsheng thought to himself, but he remained seated on the roof, waiting for the snow.
Yet after waiting another full hour, the snow still did not fall. Looking at the moon in the sky, Fangsheng was truly helpless. He had sat in the bitter cold on the roof for an hour and a half, and still no snow? Could he have misunderstood? Surely not—a snowy night, such a concise and clear phrasing, could it possibly mean localized snow?
Chapter 186