滥竽充数

齐宣王使人吹竽，必三百人。南郭处士请为王吹竽。宣王悦之，廪食以数百人。宣王死，湣王立。好一一听之。处士逃。

Once upon a time, King Xuan of the Qi dynasty enjoyed listening to Yu music, he hired a band of 300 musicians to play for him everyday.

A guy named Nan Guo saw it as a good opportunity. Although he didn’t know how to play Yu, he bragged about how good he was. King Xuan was delighted to hear it and took him in. He got good pay for working for the king and was severed with nice food everyday. Playing with the group of musicians, it was easy enough for Nan Guo to fake it.

Good thing won’t last. Before long, King Xuan passed away. King Min came into power. King Min also liked Yu music, but instead of listening to the band, he ordered every musician to prepare for a solo. Nan Guo knew his time was over, he run away the night before the show.

The moral of this story: without polished skill, you can't last. You can fake it for one day, but can’t fake it for you whole life.