Quick answer
He skips the cold work and shows up for the payday. The verse is about timing, and about a season that cannot be recovered.
Read both lines
Plowing in that agricultural year happened in the wet, cold months, which is exactly why the excuse is available and exactly why it does not work: the unpleasant season is the productive one. That is the observation the verse is making, and it generalizes well beyond farming. The second line then puts him at harvest, among people with full arms, asking. What lands hardest is the last word. He does not get a reduced share; he has nothing, because the thing he needed was not generosity in autumn but discomfort in January. Notice too that the verse gives him a reason rather than calling him a liar. The winter was genuinely cold. The excuse was true and it was still an excuse, which is the more uncomfortable observation.
Related: Proverbs 10:5 · Proverbs 6:6–8 · Proverbs 20:13
New King James Version®, Copyright © 1982, Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. Full copyright information. Scripture provided by API.Bible.
Go Deeper
If this verse has been used to put weight on you that it was never carrying, ask about it directly.