A friendship between gentlemen is as light as water, but a friendship between villains is as sweet as cucumber. Pronunciation: jūn zūn zǐzhēJiāo dàn rúShuǐ, xi m duo ré n zh and ji ā o g ā n ruò l ǐ.

From The Legend of Zhuangzi by Zhuang Zhou during the Warring States Period.

It means: a friendship between gentlemen is as light as water, and a friendship between villains is as sweet as sweet wine.

The friendship between gentlemen is not driven by interests, but the communication between villains is driven by interests. After the benefits, people are like passing clouds. Gentlemen don't care about each other because they have no interests, while villains collude with each other because of interests.

Extended data:

A friendship between gentlemen is as light as water, but a friendship between villains is as sweet as cucumber. There are allusions to this sentence. When Xue was underdeveloped in the Tang Dynasty, he and his wife suffered from hunger and cold. Thanks to their good friend Wang and his wife, they survived. Later, Xue made a fortune and became a king. People came to give gifts in an endless stream, but they were all declined by Xue. He only accepted two jars of wine from his old friend Wang.

When those people opened it, it was all clear water, and they immediately became furious. Xue said, "Without the help of my friends, I wouldn't be where I am today. The affection between me and Wang is as clear as water. This is really a friendship between gentlemen as light as water. " In this way, "a friendship between gentlemen is as light as water" spread.