A grain of rice is a bundle of wages
It is a Chinese idiom, Pinyin is l ì m ǐ sh ù x ī n, meaning that there is little food and firewood. It's from the second moment of surprise.
The idiom comes from Ling Mengchu of Ming Dynasty, Volume 24 of "two moment clapping a case in amazement": "a grain of rice is not enough for a salary, and the family is unprepared, but the wife is just complaining and crying."
A grain of rice is a bundle of wages
Differentiation of the classics - lí jīng biàn zhì
between the sexes there should be a prudent reserve - nán nǚ yǒu bié
lamps and candles of a myriad families - wàn jiā dēng huǒ