The rich man asked the scholar to write couplets for the hotel, only to know that he had been teased the next day.

A rich man in Zhang Qiao Town opened a hotel. On the eve of opening, he invited a scholar in the town to write couplets for him. His request to write in an auspicious way conforms to his own wishes: first, the population is prosperous; Second, make a fortune by making wine; Third, there are no mice in the shop; Fourth, pigs are less sick. After writing the contents of the couplets, give the scholar twelve taels of silver first, and promise him eight taels of silver if he writes them.

The scholar knows the rich man very well and wants to take this opportunity to Doby him. He wrote with a pen:

Part I: Brewing jar is a good vinegar jar.

Bottom line: pigs are as big as mountains, and mice die.

Horizontal criticism: many people are ill and less wealth.

Couplets have no punctuation, mainly by breaking sentences when reading. After writing, the scholar read it to the rich man and read it out sentence by sentence:

The first part: the wine jar is good, but the vinegar jar is sour.

Bottom line: Raising pigs is like a mountain, but the head of the mouse dies.

Many people, few diseases, and wealth.

The rich man was very satisfied and asked people to put couplets on the door quickly. But he didn't want to mention the eight taels of silver he promised. The scholar didn't laugh at him and left.

The next day, the hotel opened its doors to welcome customers, and the old rich man was as busy as a bee. People saw the couplets on the door, some laughed, some shook their heads while covering their mouths. The old rich man was surprised and quickly came out to have a look, dumbfounded. The original scholar added some broken sentences to the couplets, and changed them to:

The first part: the wine-making jar is good in vinegar, but sour in jar.

Bottom line: pigs are as big as mountain rats, and their heads are dead.

Horizontal criticism: more people are sick and less wealth.