When I was a child, my family was very poor and my parents had little financial resources. The family of five relied on my father to work hard in his spare time in exchange for a few dollars. But this kind of income is not enough to meet the living needs of a family, even though our living standard is already very low.

Even so, my father’s income from working as a coolie was very unstable. It was common for his boss to delay payment of wages. It often took a month or two for him to get paid after ten days of work. The place where my father worked as a coolie and logged wood was in the mountains. Once in the mountains, he spent a month or two, and the money he brought back was not enough to pay off the family's debts.

We had no money to buy meat. When my mother saw us three obviously malnourished children, she would always cry while working. Sometimes she would scold us if we were disobedient, but after a few words she would think of the children again. Poor, I started to cry again. While crying, I said to me (I am the eldest): Haiwen! You are the elder brother. You have to listen to what Hong has to say. No matter what you do, you have to be more respectful to your younger brothers and sisters. They are still young. Do you want to help your mother watch your younger brothers and sisters not to play in the water? The current difficulties are temporary and don’t worry. You just have to study hard. When you are successful in your studies in the future, you can get rid of the hoe and eat the national food, so you don’t have to suffer anymore. ?

I didn’t really understand what my mother said at the time, but I would nod sensibly and play with my brothers and sisters in the mud, catch locusts, and sometimes help my mother fertilize. , weeding and other things within our ability.

At that time, we ate vegetables, sauerkraut, pumpkins and winter melons almost every day. It was rare to see meat on the table. Only when my father came back or finally had some money to go to the market could I eat a meal of meat. When relatives come, they will kill a chicken or duck that they would normally be reluctant to eat so that they can have a meal of meat. Sometimes the mother really sees that the children are pitiful, so she spends 50 cents to buy a piece of tofu, cut it into pieces and fry it till brown (the oil is not enough to fry it often enough), add a lot of green chili and stir-fry it into a big bowl. This is considered a good dish, and it is worth one person. One piece of rice per bowl, don’t add too much, otherwise there won’t be enough to share among the crowd. How many pieces can half a palm-sized tofu be cut into?

Several times, when my mother was cooking for us, she discovered that there was no oil. Now, she always urges me to go to my sister-in-law’s house to borrow gas. I also complained to her, saying why she didn't borrow it but asked me to borrow it? My mother scolded me and said that if you want to borrow it, just go! Why do children talk so much nonsense! I dare not not go, but I don't do much. Dare to go, I didn’t want to go at all. It was probably around 1990. I was eight or nine years old, and I already knew that borrowing things was an embarrassing thing.

I had no choice but to reluctantly go to my sister-in-law’s house to borrow oil with my oil bottle in hand. My sister-in-law’s house was not far away. After walking three houses, I reached the next stone staircase.

I always walk slowly. Every time I go to my sister-in-law’s house to borrow oil, before I even get to the door, my sister-in-law sees me from afar, looks at the empty oil bottle in my hand, and says, Haiwen, your house is out of oil again? Every time I hear this I would stand there, fiddling with the rope of the oil bottle with my fingers, not daring to express my anger, as if I had been caught doing something bad, my face would be red to the base of my neck, and I would not dare to answer. Originally, I was still thinking about how to speak. Talk about borrowing oil.

It wasn’t until my sister-in-law waved to me vigorously and told me to come down that I reluctantly moved my steps and walked down cautiously, my little heart pounding non-stop.

Every time my sister-in-law pours oil for me, I see that they don’t have much oil at home, but she always fills my small oil bottle. Can you pack one pound or two taels for me?

I am deeply grateful to my sister-in-law and her family for helping us when our family was in the most difficult and poorest time. Not only did they lend us oil, but they also lent us money and rice? At that time, our family had no money. What can I do to repay them? I just occasionally harvest some vegetables, beans and other crops, so I will give them some. When the chickens and ducks I raise are big, I will also give them one and a half chickens. I am very happy to give them things. I am willing to go, but I often go there on the run. I don’t even listen to other people’s words like thank you and don’t want to go, so I just put it in their hands and run home.

During this asymmetrical interaction, the two families formed a closer relationship, which also left a deep impression on me.

Now, with the progress of society, the lives of both families are getting better and better. Compared with before, they can be said to be living a "rich" life with "good clothes and good food". But I will never forget the hard days and the days of borrowing money when I was a child. It inspired me to study hard when I was a child, and it still inspires me to live hard now.

I am not grateful for the hardships I have experienced. No one wants to live in poverty. But I am glad that I was born in a family that is not afraid of hardships, and I am also glad that I have so many relatives and friends who help us.

My parents’ hard work, kindness, responsibility, and optimism, the back figures of them sweating while working under the scorching sun, the figure who accompanies me to do my homework while working under the firelight, the actions of relatives and neighbors helping each other? It’s me The inexhaustible motivation to move forward in this life!