In the fifth year of Guangxu reign in Qing dynasty (1879), the little Judas high school was a juren, and the capital took part in the imperial examination and took a boat from Changsha to the north of Xiangjiang River. One evening, Xiao came to a small town called Cao Weiji near Dongting Lake. Because it was too late to sail, little Judas got on the boat and stayed on the shore.
In Cao Weiji, there is a pub owner and an umbrella shop owner, both of whom are from Tian Niu. After learning that Xiao went to Beijing to take the exam and stayed in school, they came to visit together and donated money for Xiao Zuo's travel expenses. When three villagers meet in Tian Niu, it is inevitable to talk about their feelings. When talking about sadness, the two shopkeepers lamented that life was hard, there were few acquaintances in opening a shop in a foreign land, and business was poor.
Little Judas was harassed by two fellow villagers. Seeing that they were so sad, he wanted to help them in return for their financial support. When I learned that the two stores were all close together and shared a facade to do business. Little Judas asked the shop assistant to find a pen and paper, immediately wrote down a pair of couplets and gave them to two villagers, saying:
Ask how the business is, whether it can be opened or closed;
Look at the world, fewer people wake up and more people get drunk.
Everyone in the village knows that Xiao is a gifted scholar and famous. His couplets must have a certain effect. The couple took the couplets back and put them on the door, which attracted many pedestrians to stop and watch the wine tasting the next day. Gradually, there are more customers and business is booming.
After leaving Caoweiji, Little Judas continued to go north by boat and came to Wuhan to transfer to a bus. In hankou wharf, my friend Li He has been waiting here for a long time. Li He let little Judas stay on the shore for a day as a gesture of friendship. After lunch that day, Li He accompanied Xiao Xiao to the market opposite the accommodation for a walk. When two people passed by, they were attracted by two small advertisements posted by two neighboring wreath shops and chamber pot shop.
The wreath shop reads: Zhangjia wreath, with a long history and enduring.
Chamber pot store wrote: Li chamber pot, developed by a secret recipe handed down from family, is beautiful and generous, and has a wide range of uses.
They couldn't help laughing when they saw these two strange advertisements. Li Ke, the owner of chamber pot, knows Li He very well and pulls them to chamber pot's shop to chat. Li He asked the boss how business was going. Li Ke smiled bitterly and confided that the store would close soon. Zhang Qing, the owner of the wreath shop next door, saw that business was slow, and he also came to talk.
When talking about the reasons for the slow business, Li He told the two bosses that their products were not bad, but the advertisements were not well done, especially the advertisements were flashy and had no connotation at first glance. Customers feel fake at first sight and naturally won't come to the door. Later, Li He strongly recommended "the first talented person in Jiangnan" to rewrite the advertisement for them.
The two shopkeepers were very happy, so they hurried to kowtow and asked little Judas for help. Little Judas is not familiar with the two shopkeepers, but it is hard to refuse because of his friend Li He's face. Thought for a long time, I wrote a pair of couplets and said:
Paper paste, no wind and no rain, ghosts think;
You can't cook, simmer soup or fart in the kiln.
After seeing it, the two shopkeepers felt very strange at first, and then they suddenly realized that they posted it on the door as a new advertisement. As a result, after the new couplet was revised, it immediately attracted a bunch of people to watch and comment. More and more people are watching, more and more people are buying things, and business is getting better. Since then, the business of the two small shops has been booming, changing the cold and cheerless appearance of the past.
Little Judas was very witty and famous during Guangxu period. After Xiao went north, he was admitted to Jinshi and later took charge of the Ministry of War. He returned to his hometown in his later years and gave lectures in Bailudong Academy, Liling Lujiang Academy and Shui Yuan School. Many people who are not familiar with Qing history don't know Xiao's name, but many of his disciples are important figures in modern history, such as Tan, Cheng Qian and Chen Mingren.
Xiao Lianglian saved four stores, which shows that his reputation as a talented person is well deserved. This story that has been handed down to this day has become a classic story handed down by people.