In chapter 21 of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Cao Cao invites Liu Bei to a small pavilion, where a plate of green plums and a jar of warmed wine are set out. When the wine is half drunk, Cao Cao asks Liu Bei to name the heroes of the age and dismisses every name he offers. Then he points at Liu Bei and at himself: “The only heroes in the world today are you and I.”
Liu Bei drops his spoon and chopsticks. Thunder breaks at that moment, and he picks them up, saying that one clap of thunder can do this. Cao Cao laughs: “Is a grown man afraid of thunder?” The novel adds: “Cao Cao then no longer suspected Liu Bei.”