This sentence comes from Shi Shuo Xin Yu written by Liu Yiqing in Song Dynasty.
Wang Rong is seven years old. He tries to travel with other children. Look at the many branches of Li Shu on the roadside. Children will scramble to get them, but they won't move. People asked him and replied, "There are trees by the road, but there are many seeds, which will make plums bitter." Take it for granted
Translation:
When Wang Rong was seven years old, she often played with children. I saw a plum tree bearing many plums by the roadside, and all its branches were crushed. All the children went to pick plums except Wang Rong.
Someone asked him why he didn't pick plums. Wang Rong replied, "This tree grows by the roadside and has many plums. It must be bitter plums. " Pick it up and taste it. It's true.
Wang Rong smiled and replied, "The plums on that tree must be bitter. You can't eat them when you pick them. Look, this plum tree grows on the roadside. There are so many plums on it, but no one picks them. If it weren't for bitterness, would it be like this? "
Extended data
Wang Rong was born in Wei and Jin Dynasties, and his grandfather Wang Xiong was the secretariat of Cao Weiguan's visit to Youzhou. Father Wang Hun, official to Liangzhou secretariat, named Lingzhen Hou Ting.
Wang Rong was smart and beautiful from an early age. It is said that you can look directly at the sun without being dazzled. Pei Kai praised him and said, "Rong's eyes are rotten, like electricity under a rock." When Wang Rong was six or seven years old, he was watching a performance in Xuanwu. At that time, there was a wild animal roaring in the threshold, and everyone was scared away. Only Wang Rong stood still and looked free. Cao Cao of Wei Mingdi saw it on the pavilion and praised Wang Rong as a child prodigy.
Once, Wang Rong and his friends were playing by the roadside and saw a plum tree covered with plums. Everyone else ran to pick it up, but only Wang Rong kept calm. When someone asked him why he did this, he replied, "The trees are beside the road, and there are many fruits. The fruits must be bitter." After verification, it is.