The national hero Lin Zexu was smart and eager to learn since he was a child.

When Lin Zexu was eight years old, on the Lantern Festival, the little friends in the neighborhood all went to see the lanterns in groups, but Lin Zexu didn't go. It turned out that he had been a bit playful these days, and his father deliberately didn't let him go out for fear of delaying his studies. As it was getting dark, Lin Zexu was anxious. He ran to his father and said, "Dad, Uncle from the neighborhood said that the lantern show tonight is really wonderful. Can you take me there?" Lin Zexu's father said, "It's a good thing that you like watching lanterns and want to go out to broaden your horizons. But you've been too playful these days and have delayed your studies." "No, I've studied very well." Lin Zexu said hastily. "Well, then I'll test you. If you can match the couplet I give, I'll take you there." Lin Zexu was eager to see the lanterns and agreed at once, "Dad, please tell me the couplet."

His father looked up and thought for a moment. Just then, he saw that Lin Zexu's grandmother and mother were combing their hair and getting ready to go and see the lanterns. So he came up with the first line of the couplet: "The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law both have hair buns in the prime of their lives." After hearing his father's first line of the couplet, Lin Zexu carefully observed his surroundings. When he saw that his grandfather was holding his little brother, he had a flash of inspiration and immediately replied: "The grandfather and grandson, the old and the young, both have no teeth."

His father nodded. Then his eyes fell on the birdcage beside the yard, and he gave Lin Zexu another couplet: "In the birdcage, grain is scattered to feed the birds." Lin Zexu walked into the yard, looked at the flowers, and asked his father, "Dad, did you water the flowers today?" "Yes. Why do you ask this instead of answering the couplet?" his father asked. "Dad, I've got it. How about this?" Then Lin Zexu came up with the second line of the couplet: "In the flower pot, mud is filled to plant the flowers." When his father heard that Lin Zexu's couplet was clever and neatly matched, he had nothing more to say and took him to see the lanterns.