Why are you still poor
I accidentally found a very interesting website online. This website has a test called "Peach Blossom Luck". You just need to input how much money you earn each year, and it can calculate your ranking among the 6 billion people in the world within two seconds. It will also tell you how many people are poorer than you and how many are richer. I tried it, and the computer quickly gave me the answer: There are 5236636481 people in this world who are poorer than you. My goodness, I actually have more money than 5.2 billion people. I always thought I was poor, but I didn't realize that I had unconsciously become one of the richest 700 million people in the world. Thinking about the two-thirds of the hardworking masses still suffering around the world, I already eat meat every day and go to dinner parties every few days. I've long been out of poverty and on my way to a well-off life. What else do I have to complain about?
However, as soon as this thought arose, I immediately thought of another wealth ranking list, which is Forbes. For example, in Forbes' China Celebrity Ranking List, even the person ranked at the bottom earns an annual income of over 1 million yuan. Even more disheartening is that a guy named Guo Jingming made 1.6 million yuan last year. He's only in his twenties, and like me, he's from the same county. But how can I compare with him?
There was once a boss whose assets exceeded 100 million yuan. After a drinking session, he said to me, "Damn, all we have left is money." It seemed like he was sighing, but upon closer inspection, he was actually boasting. If it was a complaint, it was a pleasant one. A very popular book came out earlier, titled "Why Are You Still Poor?" The title made poor people feel somewhat ashamed. Indeed, why am I still poor? I may have 100 reasons for being poor, but they don't listen to my explanations. They only focus on one point: Why are you still poor? This is like a first-time thief being caught by the police, and the police officer sternly asks, "Why did you steal?"
Ancient Chinese books often criticized those who loved wealth and despised poverty, but in reality, there aren't many people on earth who don't love wealth. Who could be enemies with wealth? Even the gentleman who is "poor" with only money continues to work hard in business every day, isn't it just for making more money? It's said that if a person earns 100 million yuan, then the money beyond that is just a number for them. The living standards between a boss with 100 million yuan and a boss with 1 billion yuan probably won't differ much. However, what's perplexing is, why do these successful individuals, these billionaires, continue to earn money so diligently? My confusion about this question is similar to how rich people might question us, "Why are you still poor?" It seems that for the rich and the poor to understand each other is truly more difficult than threading a camel through the eye of a needle.
On that interesting website mentioned earlier, I tried filling in $90 for the annual income section. This standard represents the per capita income level for farmers in most of China's impoverished areas. Guess what happened? The computer actually popped up with these words: "We regret to inform you that your annual income is below $90. We apologize, but for your health considerations, we will not disclose your ranking. Thank you for using our service." Its subtext, I guess, is: You only make this much money a year, do you still have the face to live in this world and waste limited resources?
I still remember when I was in elementary school, classmates used to use playing cards to predict fortunes. An important conclusion drawn for me at the time was: You will always worry about money throughout your life. Back then, I didn't know how important money was, instead thinking that being poor was a kind of grace. Haven't you seen Shakespeare and Du Fu? They were all famous poor people! On the contrary, the classmate who was predicted to become a billionaire looked quite dejected, as if being rich automatically meant having no culture. Now we know that since poverty is not socialism, money is not the root of all evil either. But the question of "Why are you still poor" always makes people uneasy. We can only smile apologetically to the rich and explain: "It's impossible to get rich in a short time. Life's hardships give you the great gift of wisdom. All we can do is grit our teeth and remain poor."
The results of an experiment say that the happiest people in contemporary China are neither the poor nor the rich, but rather the middle-class salaried workers earning around 1500 yuan a month. Upon reflection, this makes sense. Poor people always think about their poverty, how could they be happy? And rich people always want to become even richer, so they probably rarely experience the joys of life. On the contrary, those who have just reached a moderately prosperous level are full of happiness. They laugh easily, scattering the sunlight in the air.
At first, I started writing, but failed to pass the exam for three years. Then I turned to martial arts, shot an arrow on the training field, and hit a drummer, so I was expelled. Later, I studied medicine and achieved some success. I wrote a good prescription myself, took it, and died.
