Every winter, the farmers in Guanzhong like to tighten a belt. This belt is made of white cloth and is often tightly attached to the outside of the cotton garment.
Legend has it that once upon a time there was an old man who raised three girls. The eldest daughter married a blacksmith;The second daughter married a carpenter;The third daughter married a farmer.
One year, after planting wheat, the old man called his three sons-in-law and asked them to borrow the farm to go out to do some chores and earn some money to come back for a prosperous year. When the three sons-in-law heard that this was a good thing, they discussed going out together the next morning, working together, and sharing the wages equally.
The next day, the third son-in-law went to call the second son-in-law as agreed. But as soon as he asked, the second son-in-law left before dawn. The third son-in-law went to find the eldest son-in-law again, and the eldest son-in-law also left alone early. The third son-in-law thought to himself: The two brothers have skills, and I am afraid that they will suffer a loss by helping themselves, so they have to find a way by themselves.
The eldest son-in-law went out to make iron for the family, and once the fire tongs did not clamp the red-hot iron, and fell on the surface of the foot, and the foot was burned and could not move. When he came home in the month of Layue, he didn't make any money, but fortunately, the owner was soft-hearted and saw that he was pitiful, so he gave some money and sent home for the New Year.
The second son-in-law was doing carpentry work, and in a moment of carelessness, he sawed off the hinge of the door. The owner had no choice but to ask him to change it to a table surface. At the end of the year, I only got a little money.
The third son-in-law carried bags for a freight yard. Others carry one bag at a time, and he carries two bags at a time. The master was pleased, and gave him a double salary, and when he came home, he carried a blanket of money.
When the third son-in-law returned home, he was tired of walking, so he rested on the riverbank. As soon as I sat down, I saw the eldest son-in-law limping over. The third son-in-law saw that the eldest brother was busy taking out the delicious food and asked him to eat enough.
The two of them ate and talked, and the third son-in-law told him how he made money. The eldest son-in-law felt that he was a craftsman, and he didn't earn as much money as him, so he had evil thoughts in his heart for a while. While the third son-in-law was holding the money bag behind his back, he pulled out a knife and stabbed the third son-in-law in the waist, and the third son-in-law fainted in pain. The eldest son-in-law was afraid that the body would be discovered, so he kicked the third son-in-law into the river.
The third son-in-law was lucky, the river was agitated, and he woke up. When he saw that he was wounded in the lower back, he took out a cloth hand towel, wrung out the water and pressed it on the wound, and walked back. When the third son-in-law returned home, his wife saw that he was injured and hurriedly took a plaster and put it on. When asked why he was injured, he only said that he went out to earn a lot of money, and when he came back, he met a robber, and thanks to the thick cotton clothes, the injury was not too serious. His wife was afraid that the wound would be frozen, so she pulled a white cloth for him and put it tightly around his waist. One is to protect against the cold and keep warm, and the other is to protect the waist pole. In this way, I didn't realize that I survived until the New Year.
The second day of the first lunar month is the day when the old father-in-law entertains guests. Early in the morning, the eldest son-in-law was the first to go to the New Year with a generous gift;Although the second son-in-law did not earn any money, the etiquette was not thin. The eldest son-in-law talked about how he made a lot of money by traveling south and north. When he was talking proudly, two people came in from outside the door, one was the third daughter and the other was the third son-in-law. The third son-in-law and his wife greeted the old man and sat down with the guests.
The old father-in-law saw that the third son-in-law had a white cloth belt tightened around his waist, so he asked, "The virtuous son-in-law is paying New Year's greetings today, why is he dressed like this?"When the third son-in-law asked, he told him the origin of this white cloth belt. When the father-in-law heard the truth, he was so angry that he picked up his crutches and hit the eldest son-in-law. The third son-in-law hurriedly dissuaded him, saying that he could change it in the future.
Later, word spread. People respected the third son-in-law very much, so they modeled his "white cloth belt" as a belt, and regarded it as a sign of diligence.
Since then, whenever winter comes, farmers always like to tighten their belts, one picture is warm, and the other picture is hard to tie the waist pole, and work hard. This custom is still prevalent among the peasants of Guanzhong.