Once, there lived a young farmer named XieA Duan all alone. He was very hard-working. One evening, when he was coming back from the rice fields, he saw a big snail lying on the road side. He picked it up and took it home, and put it into a vat with water. The next night, when XieA Duan returned home, he was surprised to see his house neat and clean.
A hot meal awaited him on his table! When he asked his neighbours, no one knew about it. It continued for days. One afternoon, XieA Duan came back home especially early. He peeped through the window, and saw a pretty girl cooking at the stove. He rushed to the vat and noticed that the snail was missing. The girl told him she was the snail he saved. Soon, XieA Duan married the girl and lived happily ever after.