三旬九食

san1 xun2 jiu3 shi2

in thirty days only nine meals (idiom); family on the brink of starvation, in dire straights

* * *

三旬九食

sān xún jiǔ shí

nine meals in thirty days -- to live in dire poverty

* * *

三旬九食|三旬九食 [sān xún jiǔ shí] ► lit. to have only nine meals in thirty days (idiom) ► fig. (of a family) on the brink of starvation ► in dire straits