Original post as follows:
My wife and I met in university. During the summer of our sophomore year, we were in the same college. The story is rather ordinary: I helped a friend move into a rented house, and my wife, who was a friend of that friend, also came to help. That's how I met her.
University life went by quickly. I was poor; my parents, former factory workers who had since been laid off and were working odd jobs elsewhere, couldn't support me. Despite our poverty, life was happy, and so was my relationship with my wife-to-be. What moved her most was in 2003 when I saved up enough money to buy her a pair of Nike shoes she really liked. She was very touched, and at that moment, I felt truly happy.
Her family background was also average. She said she wanted to become a civil servant, while I, during my senior year, took a part-time job as a clerk in a real estate company for 1500 yuan a month. Everything seemed fine. I am from Chengdu, and my wife is from Chongqing. Since I attended university in Chongqing, I naturally looked for work there after graduation. My company was located in Lianglou, and at that time, my wife and I were planning our future lives together.
However, things changed suddenly in the second semester of our senior year, just as graduation approached. We participated in an exchange program with China Agricultural University. It was during this event that she met a senior-year student from Shanghai. I also attended that event and saw this Shanghai guy; he wore glasses and clearly came from a wealthy background. Two days later, my wife moved out of our rented apartment. She only left a hurried phone call and a letter, the general gist being an apology to me, encouragement for me to work hard, and wishes for a bright future.
At that moment, my mind went blank. I didn't feel sadness, just emptiness. Later, one of her friends told me that this Shanghai guy was rich, owning a car, a house, and even a boat. On the day they went on a trip together, because the road leading to Ciqikou was in bad condition, the Shanghai guy spent money hiring several migrant workers to repair the road. This single act completely won over my wife.
In my eyes, this was merely a trivial display of wealth, but it didn't matter to her. By the time of our graduation ceremony, she was already chatting happily with the Shanghai guy. I felt like a failure. That night, sitting on a bus heading to Liberation Monument, I finally broke down in tears on the last row.
Looking back, I don't blame her. Everyone has the right to pursue happiness. But as a man, the only way forward is to improve oneself. Sometimes, I laugh at myself for being like a frog at the bottom of a well. How many years would it take for someone earning 1500 yuan a month to afford a car or a house? Without money, where is the romance? Who would willingly endure poverty with you? If rich people from Shanghai marry beautiful women, isn't that just following the natural direction of productivity growth? And how could society be harmonious if poor guys like me married beautiful women, thus hindering societal progress? Whenever someone mentions her, these are the thoughts that cross my mind.
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Below are some replies from other netizens comforting the original poster:
One netizen replied:
I'm from Shanghai, and my experience is similar to the OP's. Last month, my girlfriend of six months ran off with a Hong Kong guy. I wasn't doing too badly — I owned a house and a car — but this HK guy not only had a house but also a Mitsubishi sports car and earned around 70-80,000 yuan per month, which is half a year's salary for me. What annoyed me most was that I'm 1.86 meters tall, my ex-girlfriend is 1.70 meters, and that shorty from Hong Kong is only 1.60 meters. After reflecting, I don't blame her. Everyone has the right to pursue happiness. As men, we should focus on improving ourselves instead of feeling sorry for ourselves. I hope the OP and I can both learn from this.
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Another netizen replied:
I'm from Hong Kong, and my experience is the same as the OP's. Last week, my girlfriend of half a month ran off with a Japanese guy. I wasn't doing too badly — I owned a house and a Mitsubishi sports car and earned around 70-80,000 yuan per month, which is several years' salary for the OP. What annoyed me most was that I'm 1.60 meters tall, and that Japanese guy is only 1.55 meters. After reflecting, I don't blame her. Everyone has the right to pursue happiness. As men, we should focus on improving ourselves instead of feeling sorry for ourselves. I hope the OP and I can both learn from this.
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Another netizen replied:
I'm from Mars, and my experience is the same as the OP's. Last week, my girlfriend of half a month ran off with someone from Halley's Comet. I wasn't doing too badly — I owned a house, a car, a spaceship, and a space station, and earned several trillion yuan per month. However, that guy from Halley's Comet had laser beams! What annoyed me most was that I'm 0.55 meters tall, and that guy from Halley's Comet is only 0.5 meters. After reflecting, I don't blame her. Everyone has the right to pursue happiness. As men, we should focus on improving ourselves instead of feeling sorry for ourselves. I hope the OP and I can both learn from this.
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Another netizen replied:
I'm from Halley's Comet, and my experience is the same as the OP's. Last week, my girlfriend of half a month ran off with someone from Saturn. I wasn't doing too badly — I owned a house, a car, a spaceship, and laser beams, and earned several billion trillion yuan per month. However, that guy from Saturn had Saturn rings! What annoyed me most was that I'm 0.5 meters tall, and that guy from Saturn is only 0.05 meters. After reflecting, I don't blame her. Everyone has the right to pursue happiness. As men, we should focus on improving ourselves instead of feeling sorry for ourselves. I hope the OP and I can both learn from this.
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Another netizen replied:
I'm from Saturn, and my experience is the same as the OP's. Last week, my girlfriend of half a month ran off with Ultraman from the M78 Nebula. I wasn't doing too badly — I owned a house, a car, a spaceship, laser beams, and used Saturn rings as transportation, and earned several trillion quadrillion yuan per month. However, that Ultraman from the M78 Nebula could fly without any vehicle! What annoyed me most was that I'm 0.05 meters tall, and that Ultraman is over 400 meters tall. After reflecting, I don't blame her. Everyone has the right to pursue happiness. As men, we should focus on improving ourselves instead of feeling sorry for ourselves. I hope the OP and I can both learn from this.
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Another netizen replied:
I'm Ultraman, and my experience is the same as the OP's. Last week, my girlfriend of half a month ran off with someone from Chongqing. I wasn't doing too badly — I owned a house, a car, and a planet, could fly without any vehicle, and could travel hundreds of thousands of miles with a single flip. I even printed my own money. No way, my girlfriend said I wasn't human.