Today we are going to tell a funny little story called “There is no silver here“. Although this story is a bit funny, it also tells us some truths about being human.

I. It’s not easy for Zhang San to save money.

Once upon a time, there was a man named Zhang San. He wasn’t very rich, but he worked hard. He was usually frugal, and he ended up saving three hundred taels of silver. This was a lot of money for him, so he was very happy.

It didn’t last long, but Zhang San started to worry: “It’s not safe to keep this money at home, what if thieves steal it? So he began to think, after all, where to hide this money is good?

Zhang San thought of a “smart” way.

At first, he planned to put the silver in a small wooden box and put two locks on it. But on second thought, he felt that this is not too safe – if the thief directly move the box, how to do?

He thought of many other places: under the bed? No, easy to find. In the closet? Also not very safe. In the end, he decided it would be better to bury the silver at the back of the house, under the corner!

One night, when no one noticed, Zhang San quietly dug a hole in the wall, put three hundred taels of silver in it, and then covered the soil so that it looked like there was no trace.

But he was still uneasy, afraid that others would suspect that there was something there. He thought about it and suddenly had an idea, took out a piece of paper and wrote seven big words on it: “There is no silver here”. It meant, “There’s nothing here, don’t think too much.

After writing, he put the piece of paper on the wall, and his heart also thought beautifully: “Now no one will suspect anything.”

III. Wang Er next door saw it all.

In fact, Zhang San’s every move was seen by his neighbor Wang Er. Wang Er is a brainiac, but he is also quite greedy. When he saw Zhang San secretly digging a pit by the wall in the middle of the night, he thought there must be a secret inside.

After Zhang San fell asleep, Wang Er quietly went to the wall and dug out all 300 taels of silver.

After getting the silver, Wang Er started to worry again: Will Zhang San suspect it was me? To prevent others from suspecting him, he also followed Zhang San’s example, took a piece of paper, and wrote seven words on it: “Next door Wang Er never stole,” and stuck it on the wall.

IV. The End of the Two Wise Men

The next morning, Zhang San woke up and went to look for his silver, only to find that it had disappeared, leaving behind a piece of paper that said, “The king next door never stole. He immediately realized that it must be Wang Er!

Wang Er thought he was being clever, but he was actually exposing himself. Both of them tried to hide the truth by being clever, but in the end they made things more obvious.

V. What Can We Learn?

This story tells us one thing: If you do something bad and always try to avoid responsibility by covering it up, it will only make it easier for people to find out. Just like Zhang San and Wang Er, they thought they were smart, but they ended up making a joke.

So be honest and upright, and don’t always think of solving problems with crooked ideas. Instead of being sneaky, you should live openly and honestly.

Summary: Don’t be clever, be honest!

• Zhang is afraid that his silver will be stolen, so he comes up with a “clever” way to do it, but he ends up being exposed instead.
• Wang Er tried to cover up the theft of the silver, but he was also exposed.
• The most important thing is to be honest, not to protect yourself with lies and disguises.

I hope that after listening to this story, children will be honest and upright people, and not like Zhang San and Wang Er, who made themselves smart and hurt themselves instead.