吕洞宾买药，难住老的难不住小的呂洞賓買藥，難住老的難不住小的呂洞賓買藥，難住老的難不住小的

Lü Dongbin buys medicine: it stumps the old man but not the young girl

Saying俗语俗語

Two-part saying歇后语歇後語 · Rarely used now

Meaning: The young may surpass their elders.
Wordplay: The herbs' names are puns: 茴香 (huíxiāng) sounds like 回乡 'return home'; 黄连 (huánglián) is bitter, standing for a motherless child.

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Simplified: 吕洞宾买药，难住老的难不住小的
Traditional (Taiwan): 呂洞賓買藥，難住老的難不住小的
Pinyin: Lǚ Dòngbīn mǎi yào, nánzhù lǎo de nán búzhù xiǎo de
Bopomofo: ㄌㄩˇ ㄉㄨㄥˋ ㄅㄧㄣㄇㄞˇ ㄧㄠˋ，ㄋㄢˊ ㄓㄨˋ ㄌㄠˇ ˙ㄉㄜㄋㄢˊ ㄅㄨˊ ㄓㄨˋ ㄒㄧㄠˇ ˙ㄉㄜ

Written with HSK 3 vocabulary, at CEFR level A2.

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