Eat hard, not soft
To eat hard but not soft means to bully the soft and fear the hard.
Interpretation
If you don't listen to good words, you will yield to them with a tough attitude. It is used to describe a person who is strong outside but weak in the middle.
Origin
In the 17th chapter of Li Baojia's Officialdom appearance in Qing Dynasty, "Dai Dali asked him to say that the man under Hu's command should be hard rather than soft."
Eat hard, not soft
spread a net for sparrows and dig for rats - luó què jué shǔ
Chicken's voice and goose's fight - jī shēng é dòu
punish the wicked in order to exhort others to goodness - chéng è quàn shàn