Stick #4: Name on the Golden Roll (Supreme Fortune)
十年寒窗苦读书，一朝金榜题名时。功名利禄皆在手，光宗耀祖显门楣。
Plain reading
This lot says long effort at last finds reward — like ten cold years at the desk, then one morning your name upon the golden roll. Rank, merit, and salary lie within reach; glory for the clan and light upon the lintel draw near. Act while fortune favors you.
Interpretation
"Name on the Golden Roll" is a stick of supreme fortune. Ten years of cold study end in sudden fame. The poem shows merit and office within your grasp, and the gate of the clan already opening to honor.
Advice
Before exams or interviews, prepare in stillness. Meet the world with real learning — the name will match the deed.
Drawn from Meng Jiao's "After Passing the Examination": "My brisk horse's hooves in the spring wind — in one day I saw all the flowers of Chang'an," symbolizing bitter study rewarded and the house illuminated.