笑口常开喜盈门Ever Smiling, Joy Fills the House

A pomegranate branch slants in from the upper left, its bough pale ochre spotted with ink moss, its leaves washed in pale green and yellow ochre with a few in dark ink. A pair of magpies perches on it, black-backed and white-bellied with long tails: one looks down, the other lifts its head and opens its beak, as if the two were talking. Five pomegranates hang around them, one at the left and three clustered at the lower right, their red-brown skins glowing yellow and flecked with deeper red; where they have split, glistening seeds are dotted in rouge. One more at the top has not yet opened.

The inscription at the left is dated 2024. A split pomegranate looks like a laughing mouth and its seeds promise many children, and the magpie brings good news: together they wish a household laughter and joy at the door.

石榴一枝自左上横斜而出，枝干淡赭，墨点苔痕，叶以淡绿、赭黄没骨写出，间缀浓墨数叶。枝上喜鹊一双，墨羽白腹，长尾垂落：一只俯首下视，一只仰首张喙，似相对而语。榴果五枚，左侧一枚、右下三枚相聚，果皮赭红泛黄，缀以深红斑点，裂口处籽粒晶莹，以胭脂点出；顶端一枚尚未开裂。

左侧题款两行，纪年甲辰。石榴裂口如笑，又寓多子多福；喜鹊报喜，合为笑口常开、喜气盈门之祝。