In the second year of Ji'an (AD 197), Ge Xuan passed away. Zhuge Liang and his younger brother farmed in Longzhong. In his spare time, Zhuge Liang liked to chant the Liangfu Ode, and often compared himself to Guan Zhong and Yue Yi, but none of the people at that time thought highly of him. Only his good friends Xu Shu, Cui Zhouping, Meng Jian, and Shi Tao believed in his talent. He was known as the "Crouching Dragon". He also associated with the famous scholars of Jingzhou at that time, such as Sima Hui, Pang Degong, and Huang Chengyan. Huang Chengyan once said to Zhuge Liang: "I hear that you are choosing a wife; I have an ugly daughter, yellow-haired and black-skinned, but her talent is worthy of you." Zhuge Liang immediately agreed to this marriage proposal and married her. People at that time made jokes about it for fun, and there was even a proverb in the village: "Don't imitate Kongming in choosing a wife, only to get the ugly daughter of A Cheng."