The signature sign-off of
章回小说 (zhāng-huí xiǎo-shuō, chaptered novels) like 《
三国演义》(Romance of the Three Kingdoms) and 《
水浒传》(Water Margin). It echoes the storyteller tradition these novels grew out of: a
说书人 (shuō-shū-rén, professional storyteller) would stop on a cliffhanger to bring the audience back the next day. The full classical formula is
欲知后事如何，
且听下回分解 ('to know what happens next, please listen to the next installment for the explanation').
