A young scholar was taking the imperial exam in the capital for the third time and was staying at a inn.

Before the exam, he had three dreams: the first was dreaming of planting cabbage on a wall,
the second was dreaming of rain, wearing a straw hat and holding an umbrella,
the third was dreaming of lying with his beloved cousin, but back to back.
These three dreams seemed to have deep meaning, so the next day the young scholar hurried to find a fortune-teller to interpret the dreams.
The fortune-teller listened and patted his thigh, saying: "You should go home. Think about it,
planting vegetables on a high wall is a waste of effort, isn’t it? Wearing a straw hat and holding an umbrella in the rain is unnecessary, isn’t it?
Lying on the same bed with your cousin but back to back, isn’t that a sign of no hope?"
Hearing this, the young scholar felt discouraged and returned to the inn to pack his bags, preparing to go home.
The innkeeper was very surprised and asked, "Isn’t your exam tomorrow? Why are you going back today?"
The young scholar explained all this, and the innkeeper chuckled: "Oh, I can also interpret dreams.
I think you should stay. Think about it, planting vegetables on a wall means you’re aiming high, right?
Wearing a straw hat and holding an umbrella in the rain shows you’re well-prepared this time, right?
Lying back to back with your cousin on the bed means your turn to succeed is coming, right?"
Hearing this, the young scholar found it more reasonable, and with renewed spirit, he took the exam and surprisingly became a top scholar.