Some Chu people sold their pearls to/Zheng, that is, Mulan's cabinet, smoked with/cinnamon pepper, decorated with/pearl jade, decorated with/rose and decorated with/feather jade. Zheng people buy rafters and return pearls. This can be described as/good at selling bamboo slips, not/good at selling pearls.

Translation:

There was a man in Chu who sold pearls to Zheng. They are packed in Mulan's box, smoked with cinnamon peppers, decorated with pearls and emeralds, decorated with roses and woven with green feathers. Zheng Guoren bought his box and gave it back to pearls. This can be said to be good at selling boxes, not pearls.

Extended data:

Buying bamboo slips and returning pearls is an idiom, which comes from Han Fei's "Han Fei Zi Wai Chu Zuo Shang" in the Warring States Period.

Idiom moral:

Zheng people only stared at the exquisite wooden cases and gave up precious jewels. Things must be clearly defined, and we can't just pay attention to the appearance of things without seeing the essence of things, like people who buy gifts and return pearls. Only by seeing the essence of things clearly and prioritizing can we make appropriate choices. The idiom originally meant to put back the wooden box bought to hold pearls; The metaphor is improper choice, and the secondary things are better than the main ones.