There was a businessman from the State of Chu who sold pearls in Zheng. He made a small box out of Mulan's precious wood, scented it with spices, and decorated it with jewels, roses and emeralds. From Han Fei in the Warring States Period, Han Fei's "Han Feizi's Foreign Reserve Says Left Upper".

Zheng people only pay attention to appearance and ignore essence, which makes him make improper choices. The "over-packaging" of the Chu people is also somewhat ridiculous. People's eyes only stare at the beautiful box, but they lose the really valuable orb. It can be seen that everything must have priorities, otherwise it will be like the Zheng people who "buy gifts and return pearls" to make stupid things such as giving up the basics and making improper choices.

Allusions to "Buying Bamboo Slips and Returning Pearls"

Merchants in Chu smoked boxes with cinnamon spice, decorated them with jade beads and pieces, decorated them with precious rubies, and filled them with kingfisher feathers. They looked exquisite. Chu people put pearls in boxes and took them to the market for sale. A Zheng people hold the box in their hands and can't put it down for a long time. He bought it at a high price.

But he came back after a few steps. He took the pearl out of the box and gave it to the Chu people. He said, "Sir, you left a pearl in the box. I came back specially to return the pearls. " The Chu people were embarrassed, but they didn't expect the pearl to be "robbed of its owner" by the exquisite outer packaging. This is the origin of the story of buying pearls and returning them.