How much does poverty affect a person?

Let's take the example of the poor. Yan Hui is Confucius's favorite disciple, Yan Hui's living conditions are very difficult and poor, but Confucius once praised him: "A spoonful of food, a scoop of drink, in the alleys, people are unbearable, and Hui will not change his pleasure." This is what Confucius praised as "the way of peace and happiness".

But what about real life? What kind of effect does poverty have on a person? How much difference is there between a person who has been poor all his life and who has been poor?

I've told you the story of the very poor people before, and now I'm going to talk about the other people in the story.

In my class, there is such a classmate named Xiaofeng.

Xiaofeng is an applicant for a subsidy for students living in extreme poverty.

My classmates and I used to think that Xiaofeng should be the kind of child whose family is so poor that it is difficult to support the tuition and living expenses of a college student for a whole year. For Xiaofeng, we have always taken care of it, a lot of expenses, if we can not let her out, then we will not let her out.

But later, I found out that Xiaofeng's family was not as poor as we imagined.

Xiaofeng is a child born in the countryside, and like most children born in the countryside, there are many children in the family, and the family does not have much money. Xiaofeng is the youngest child in the family, what can be said is that when Xiaofeng goes to school, basically, the family's savings are only enough to pay Xiaofeng's tuition, and other expenses can no longer be paid. Because that's what Xiaofeng wrote in his application.

But after we got acquainted with Xiaofeng, we learned that this fact was not what was written in the application.

Xiaofeng was indeed not born in the city, but it is not a rural area, but a small county town along the coast that does not know how many lines. Although there are many children in the family, they have not reached the point where they can only afford the tuition fees after spending everything they have. Not to mention receiving a subsidy for this extremely poor student, there is no need at all, this Xiaofeng's family bears the tuition fees and those various expenses, and can also give Xiaofeng the same amount of pocket money as a girl from a normal family.

So we think that Xiaofeng is a greedy person.

It wasn't until one time, when I accidentally went to Xiaofeng's house, that I knew that Xiaofeng's life was indeed full of helplessness.

The first time I went to Xiaofeng's house, I didn't think about eating at Xiaofeng's house or anything, I just went to deliver things, and left after delivery. But when Xiaofeng's parents saw me coming, they surrounded me directly and began to ask me about my family situation, my parents' jobs, my family's real estate and savings.

When Xiaofeng's parents learned that I was just an ordinary child, they began to ignore me, and deliberately said loudly to Xiaofeng that their family was poor, so don't bring poor friends if you have nothing to do.

I was very surprised by this, because in my opinion, although Xiaofeng applied for a subsidy for extremely poor students, but in the usual way, Xiaofeng is not a snob who dislikes the poor and loves the rich, not to mention, ordinary families, compared to their families, are not poor friends. Besides, I didn't think about eating and getting something at Xiaofeng's house, so I don't need to say that, right?

Xiaofeng didn't respond to her parents' words, but quickly picked up my things, put them away, and pulled me out. We found a coffee house and talked about Xiaofeng's life for so many years.

In shock, I heard Xiaofeng's statement: "When I was born, my parents told me that my family was very poor, so we couldn't afford to buy many things, such as other friends' toys, snacks, and drinks, and we couldn't afford them. ”

"The first time I wanted new clothes, my mother would say, 'Feng, our family is very poor and we don't have money to buy new clothes. Look, this is the coat your cousin wore last year, it's still very new, so let's wear it, it looks good. I realized that all the clothes I wore before that looked old were unworn or unwanted by others, and I thought our family was really poor. ”

"When I went to kindergarten, I was very envious when I saw other children with new clothes, snacks, drinks, and small toys that they brought to the kindergarten one by one, but I thought of what my mother said, our family is very poor and can't buy these."

"The first time I was taken to my cousin's house by my mother to play, I saw that my cousin's family eats meat every day, eats a lot of meat, and there are a lot of dishes on the table, unlike our family, there are two dishes in one meal, and they are all leftovers, and there are many leftovers, and they are repeatedly heated until they are too salty, so they are eaten as pickles, and only when they are eaten bad, will their mother throw them away. I asked my mother why my cousin's family could eat meat every day, and she said that because our family was poor and couldn't afford to eat meat. ”

"I saw with my own eyes that my mother asked my aunt for old clothes that my cousin didn't wear, and she was happy to put them on me. I don't want to wear it, my mom still says I. At this time, my aunt said, didn't your mother buy you new clothes? I have to come and ask for it every time. ”

"I said, my mother said that our family was poor and couldn't afford to buy new clothes."

"Auntie said, your family is not poor, but your mother is poor in her heart."

I didn't understand, but my mother didn't let me ask, so she took me and a bunch of old clothes and rushed home. In the evening, I found out that my mother had asked for other people's leftovers at my aunt's house, and we ate meat for the first time in the evening. The meat is so delicious. ”

"When I was in elementary school, although it was compulsory and there was no tuition, I still had to pay for books and exercises. I asked my mother for it, and my mother said that I would tell the teacher that our family was poor and had no money to pay. ”

I thought I would get the book after saying that, so I rushed to talk to the teacher the next day. As a result, I not only got the book, but also a bunch of rolls. ”

"Since then, in the six years of primary school, I have not paid for books, nor have I paid for practice, nor have I ever received normal attention from teachers."

"I was a little kid at school wearing clothes that my cousin didn't wear, clothes my mom didn't wear, clothes my aunt didn't wear, and living like a little adult."

"Every time I buy shoes, I have to buy shoes that are two sizes larger, from every time my shoes are kicked out in PE class, to when my toes are red and swollen every day when I walk, I can buy new ones. However, the new shoes are just ten or twenty yuan of small white shoes on the stall. And because of this shoe, I have been called "holding shoes and flying" for more than ten years. ”

"When I arrived at school, I realized that everyone took a shower every day, not once a week like our family. It turns out that everyone's underwear is changed every day, not once a week. It turns out that everyone's underwear is cotton, which is very comfortable to wear, unlike mine, which is made of chemical fiber, and the skin is red. ”

"But when I wanted to take a bath once a day like everyone else, my mother began to scold me, saying that I didn't know how to save, our family was poor, where could I take a bath every day?"

"I don't understand, can you be poor, you can take a bath once every seven days without paying attention to hygiene?"

"When I got to junior high school, all the girls started to develop, and I was the only girl in the class, and I was wearing an adult's bra because it was my mother's. Mom thinks that girls **** develop very quickly, and they will soon be unable to wear small vests, so they simply start wearing bras, which will save trouble. ”

"That's why I didn't dare to walk with my head up and chest high throughout junior high school, and I could only do everything with my head down and my chest in my mouth, like an old man."

"When the eldest aunt came, I panicked, and I asked my mother what to do? Why am I bleeding? Mom said it was okay, just put paper on it, and gave me a roll of toilet paper to put in my pants. However, the paper is not well absorbed, and it quickly soaks through, so many times, in the middle of class, I have to go to the toilet to change it, otherwise my pants will be full of blood. At that time, I wondered why no one else had gone to class to change the paper. Later, when I went to the toilet, I learned that everyone used sanitary napkins. ”

"When I got to high school, my mother knew that she had passed compulsory education and needed to pay tuition. At this time, I began to apply for a subsidy for students living in extreme poverty. At that time, although the list of subsidies was not announced, I was the only one who did not have the small receipt of teaching fees, and everyone knew that I was the extremely poor student. ”

"At that time, everyone was already quite young, and they all had self-esteem, so I asked my mother, why did I apply for the subsidy for extremely poor students? My mother said that because our family was poor, we couldn't afford to pay the school fees. ”

"At that time, it was because everyone's minds were between mature and immature, and everyone was quite mindful of my status as a particularly poor student. Usually, everyone will stay away from me, and sometimes, when my book is dropped, no one dares to pick it up for me. I wondered, I don't have the plague, why are you avoiding me like this? ”

"Later, I learned that everyone knew that I was a very poor student, and they were afraid that they would play tricks with me and break my things, and I had no money to buy them. Knowing I don't have any money, I can't afford to joke. Because of this, the teacher specially asked the class committee to take care of me more, so everyone didn't dare to interact with me anymore, for fear that they would hurt me between words. ”

"At that time, in order to encourage everyone to participate more, the school gave a bonus to students who broke records and had special events. My mother found out and insisted that I apply for the project, and after knowing that there were many people in other events, she forced me to sign up for a 1500-meter run, because no one reported this project. ”

"I couldn't resist my mother, so I signed up for the project. When I reported it, I learned that the 1500m is a special event, and as long as you win the award, you can get a bonus. When everyone saw that I had reported it, they all had expressions that were as they should have been. ”

"But on the day of the competition, something happened, and I had a period the day before the competition. I asked my mom if I could not participate. Mom said, run, there are few people, and you will get the money when you run to the finish line. Put a few more sheets of paper and you'll be fine. ”

"So when it came to the day, it was just me, the crotch was bulging, and when I was running, the inferior paper was grinding on my body, how uncomfortable it was. It was even more uncomfortable to come, because of the vigorous exercise, the flow increased, the paper gradually became soaked, and blood began to appear on the back of my buttocks, and I heard an exclamation from the stands, and I thought it was strange that I didn't run very fast. ”

"Then I ran and ran, and my stomach hurt more and more, and I fainted. When I woke up, I saw the school doctor's disdainful eyes and asked me disdainfully, can't the extremely poor students even afford sanitary napkins? ”

"I didn't know what to do, so I got up and prepared to say goodbye. Because my back was soaked, I had to take off my coat and tie it around my waist to cover the blood stains on my pants. ”

"But I never imagined that this incident made me famous in school, and everyone knows that I am the extremely poor student who has no money to buy sanitary napkins, and for the little prize money of the competition, regardless of the period, I forcibly went into battle, and I fainted."

"Because of this, the school women's federation also specially brought me a lot of free sanitary napkins left over from the popularization of school health knowledge."

"At that time, I used sanitary napkins for the first time, and when I looked at the packaging and laid out the sanitary napkins, I realized that this is really a good thing, and I don't have to run to the toilet all the time in the future."

"When I went to college, my mother didn't bring me a lot of money or anything else, but told me to take everything that I used at home, so that I didn't need to buy new ones. So when I got on the train, I was the only one with buckets, basins, toothbrushes, tooth cups, towels and bedding. And even bigger than these was the box of old clothes, which contained my mother's, my aunt's, my sisters', and even my cousin's. In addition to these, my mother only gave me 500 yuan and told me that I could go to the school immediately to handle the special poverty students, and I could reduce the tuition fee. ”

"When I arrived at the school, I learned that the school's extremely poor students were not exempted from tuition, but a living allowance of more than 1,000 yuan a year."

"My mother was very angry when she knew about this, but she still helped me make up the rest of the tuition fees, but my mother didn't give me the living expenses."

"So I had to start working in various places to make ends meet."

"I said that all the money from my part-time job was given by my parents, just to let everyone not look down on me like they did in high school."

I listened to Xiaofeng's words, and watched Xiaofeng recall such a sad thing, his face was still expressionless, and his heart was full of doubts. Listening to Xiaofeng's statement, Xiaofeng's home should be quite poor, but the house where Xiaofeng lives is not very compatible with the decoration of the home and the situation that Xiaofeng said, so I asked Xiaofeng: "But I look at your home, it's not so ......."

"It's not that poor, is it? In fact, our family is not poor at all. It can be said that our family still has a little money. When Xiaofeng heard this, she said to me nonchalantly: "My mother used our family's money to buy a lot of gold when the price was low." ”

"That ......"

"My aunt is right, our family is not poor at all, but poor in heart." Xiaofeng looked at the light above her head and asked me, "Xiaoda, do you turn on the lights at night?" ”

"Of course the lights were on that night...... How can there be no lights at night? ”

"Our house is not open, from the time I remember, our house is dark at night, the whole family gathers around to watch TV, and then I rely on the dim light of the TV to do my homework." Xiaofeng sneered, completely ignoring my surprised face, and continued: "My mother is just poor and afraid, she is reluctant to spend anything, she only knows how to save, and she will not spend the money if she can, let alone to me, even she is like this to herself." ”

Xiaofeng looked into my eyes and continued: "So my mother sometimes says to me, Feng, make friends here, don't teach poor friends, our family is poor, don't let people take advantage of them." I said, Mom, no one wants to take advantage. ”

After Xiaofeng finished speaking, he said goodbye to me, saying that he was going home, otherwise he would have to watch the information I sent on the TV when it was too late. I didn't even have time to say goodbye to Xiaofeng.

With a wry smile, I called the waiter to settle the bill, turned and left the café.

It seems that psychological poverty is really much more terrible than physical poverty.

(To be continued.) )