Chang had misgivings and so borrowed Liu Pang's chopsticks and laid them out as counters on the table to explain what was likely to happen. Once put in the picture, the emperor hastily spat out his mouthful of food and reprimanded Li Shih-ch'i: "This useless bookworm came within an ace of wrecking my empire."
張良一聽，心覺不妥，便向劉邦借筷，以箸代籌（計數器），擺開在桌上，一一解說可能發生的各種狀況。劉邦聽了，急得吐掉口中食物指著酈食其大罵：「這沒用的書生差點壞了我的大事。」