Where does the word "salted fish turn over" come from?

It is said that in the past, poor families were too poor to entertain guests. We can only get one salted fish. After the guests arrive, we cook the batter and fry it to entertain the guests! And the guests also know the rules: only eat batter, not salted fish, because the next time the guests come, they have to fry the batter again and continue to entertain the guests!

So it takes more than a year to use a salted fish! I can't help it. )

But there are always some guests who don't obey the rules or don't know the rules, so they should eat a little. Or if the host wants to make way for the guests, the guests feel embarrassed and always eat a little, so there are fewer and fewer salted fish! When the salted fish is half eaten, it must be turned upside down!

This also indicates that the salted fish has been eaten half, almost finished, and it will be more difficult to buy another salted fish after eating!

Therefore, "turning over the salted fish" means that life will be more difficult, not a major turnaround. Later, borrowing the superficial meaning of idioms, this word was used to describe a person who suddenly turned around in a difficult situation. Or are there two different explanations, just like polysemy?

There is another joke that everyone should have heard, right?

There are several people in a family who are poor and have no food. The salted fish "treasured" at home is reluctant to eat, so we can only hang it on the beam with a rope, watch the salted fish and have a bite of rice.

The son suddenly noticed that his mother looked up for a long time and said, "be careful of salty death!" 」