There was once a farming family, consisting of an old couple and their son. The old man was hardworking, spending his days in the fields, going out early and coming back late, carefully tending to their few acres of farmland, which yielded abundant harvests every year. The old woman was thrifty, maintaining a well-organized garden with a shade-providing trellis and vegetables covering the yard. She managed daily meals frugally, so even though they were not wealthy, they never lacked food or clothing throughout the seasons. Not only were the old couple industrious and thrifty, but they also had kind hearts. Whenever someone struggled to make ends meet, they often gave them rice and grain to help them through tough times.
Time flies, and soon their son was seventeen or eighteen years old. Although he was tall and strong, unlike his father and mother, he was extremely lazy. This was because he had been spoiled since childhood, always having food brought to his mouth and clothes handed to him. Even after growing up, he continued to eat carelessly, sleep all day, and do nothing at all.
One day, the old man stroked his white beard, feeling that he was getting old, and said to his son, "We can raise you as a child, but we cannot support you when you grow old. To have food, you must work hard. From now on, learn how to farm and live a proper life." The son responded with a few grunts, listening with one ear and forgetting with the other, continuing to wander around and sleep all day.
Not long after, the old couple arranged for their son to marry. They hoped that now that he had a family, the young couple would start thinking about working and living properly. However, this daughter-in-law was just like her husband, also lazy and unwilling to do any work. She would sleep until the sun rose high, never touched a needle or thread, nor entered the kitchen, and even if an oil bottle fell over, she wouldn't bother to pick it up.
One day, the old woman, with her hair full of white strands, realized that her time was running out, and told her daughter-in-law, "Diligence is the money tree, and thrift is the treasure chest. If you want a good life, diligence and thrift are essential." The daughter-in-law, however, treated these words as wind in her ears, paying no attention to them at all.
After several years, the old couple fell seriously ill and could not get out of bed. They called their son and daughter-in-law to their bedside and repeatedly instructed them, "If you want to live richly, get up when the rooster crows. Men should work hard, and women should weave cloth..." Before they could finish speaking, both old people passed away together.
The young couple buried their parents with the help of their neighbors. When they looked into the granary and the rice jar, and into the wardrobe where the cotton clothes were stored, the man said, "We have enough to eat and drink, why go out to work under the sun?" The woman replied, "In summer we have light clothes, and in winter we have warm ones. Why should we weave cloth until the sun sets?" The couple echoed each other's words, completely forgetting the last wishes of their parents.
Year after year passed, and the few acres of farmland turned into a wild grass field. At home,柴米油盐 (firewood, rice, oil, salt), clothes, shoes, and socks gradually decreased day by day. But the couple still didn't worry. As long as there was something to eat, they were too lazy to move. Again, flowers bloomed and fell, autumn passed into winter. There was no harvest from the fields, and the house was out of food and clothing. The young couple ran out of food, and neighbors, out of respect for the deceased parents, gave them a piece of bread here and a bowl of soup there. Still, the couple thought, "Even begging can get us through the day."
As the month of December approached, the weather became colder and colder. On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, it was freezing cold, with water turning to ice. It is said, "On the seventh and eighth days of the twelfth lunar month, even beggars freeze to death." The young couple had no fire in their house, wore thin clothes, and had no food in their stomachs. They curled up on a cold bed, shivering. Yet, their eyes searched the room. Suddenly, they noticed a few grains of rice and beans in the cracks of the bed. They took them out one by one, then found more rice grains in the floor cracks and dug them out. These were lifelines, so they collected them together and put them into the pot. They used the straw from the bed as fuel in the stove and cooked a pot of mixed porridge with millet, corn, yellow beans, small beans, sorghum, and dried vegetable leaves—anything that could fill their stomachs. After cooking, they each had a bowl and ate sorrowfully. At that moment, they remembered their parents' teachings, regretting they hadn't listened earlier. It was already too late.
