Looking at Plums to Quench Thirst in Romance of the Three Kingdoms

The idiom "Looking at Plums to Quench Thirst" originated from Liu Yiqing's Shi Shuo Xin Yu Fake Money in the Southern Song Dynasty.

"Wei Wu lost his way in the battle, and all the three armies were thirsty, so he said," There was a great Meilin before, please forgive me, but it is sweet and sour to quench your thirst. "When the foot soldiers smell it, they can get the source with their mouths full of water."

Translation:

During the Three Kingdoms period, when Cao Cao led troops to attack Zhang Xiu in Wancheng (now Nanyang, Henan), he passed a place called Meilinpu in Fangcheng County. It was noon, sunny and hot. Cao Cao sent people to look for water everywhere and ordered soldiers to dig wells on the spot, but there was never a drop of water.

The soldiers and the whole army are thirsty. In order not to delay the March, Cao Cao had a brainwave, stood on a high place, pointed to a hill in front and said, "There is a large piece of Meilin in front, bearing many plums, which are sweet and sour, and can quench your thirst." Hearing this, the soldiers drooled for a while and stopped thirsty. They all recovered their spirits, accelerated their March, and finally reached the place where there was water in front.