Showing off literary talent is self-defeating

During the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, there was a rich man named Hu in Shanxi. He had not studied for a few years, but he especially loved writing couplets. Because of his low level, he often made jokes.

Once, the rich man’s mother celebrated her 70th birthday. The rich man, who thought he was quite talented in literature, felt itchy and planned to write a couplet to celebrate his mother’s birthday. Then he ordered his servants to prepare pens, inks, paper and inkstones, and he thought alone in the room. The embarrassing thing is that the rich man, who didn't have any ink in his stomach, couldn't think of a suitable couplet after several hours.

The accountant saw the rich man thinking hard about something in his room, so he went to ask the rich man: Why is his face so sad on this happy day? The rich man replied: My mother is celebrating her birthday. I want to write a couplet to celebrate her birthday, but I have no inspiration at the moment. The accountant knew that the rich man was good at writing couplets. In order not to embarrass the rich man, he said: Boss, we have ready-made birthday couplets, so you don’t need to bother.

When the rich man thought about it, he couldn't think of it for a while, so he just made do with it and asked the accountant to get the couplet. Then the accountant brought a piece of paper with such a couplet written on it.

This is an excellent birthday couplet, which not only expresses blessings to mother, but also expresses longing for a better life. However, the rich man always felt that something was missing. Thinking about it again, this is a birthday celebration for my mother, so of course I have to write her in it. So he wanted to change the couplet, and the rich man changed the first couplet to:

After changing the first couplet, the rich man was very satisfied and felt that this was the real longevity couplet. However, if the first couplet is changed, the second couplet must also be changed, otherwise it will not be neat. Then he thought he had come up with a brilliant idea and changed the second couplet to:

When the accountant heard the rich man changing the couplet like this, he said politely: Boss, it’s not good for you to change it like this.

But the rich man said: Do you know how "father" and "mother" are opposite each other? Isn't it very neat? Stop talking, write this couplet quickly and hang it at the gate! Mr. Accountant had no choice but to do so.

This rich man has no talent, but he often shows off his "literary talent." It is really ridiculous to blindly pursue the neatness of the couplets but ignore the meaning of the couplets themselves. I wonder what the rich man’s mother would think when she saw this couplet. Would she faint from anger? Ha ha.