Feng Ping, University of Warsaw

When people walk far away from home, they easily forget who they are and where they come from. There are so many temptations in this world. In many cases, when we were children, we lived in a world full of wonderful dreams of white clouds in the sky and strange places full of sunshine.

But later, this world suddenly becomes the same as others’. In this world, everyone has only one thing they want to pursue — money. People boil the oil from morning till the evening, greedily pursuing luxury products, the best houses, the best cars and other material objects. Our world is narrowed down to one box, which is full of the smell of money. In the end, everyone becomes money-making machines.

There is another symptom of illness that people easily get: That is laziness. In this case, we have a small box in our hand, but our desire is large. We are dreaming about a pie in the sky every day and night.

One day, I suddenly found myself full of these two symptoms of illness. It was so paradoxical. On the one hand, I had a big dream. However, I was too lazy to pursue it. On the other hand, I had so many burdens in life. I wanted more than I could get. I am crazy for desires that are burning in my mind. A cure is needed desperately.

Last week, I went to a village to visit my relatives. I stayed there for three days. After years of staying abroad, suddenly going back to the village was like a new experience for me. I was a little unaccustomed to it at first.

My relatives live in the north of Shanxi Province. They have been honest farmers since I first had memories. The living conditions in the village were tough. In order to make money, they had to toil on the field as every farmer did, regardless of the weather. No matter whether it was hot or freezing, they had to work with the earth. To them, the soil is their strength. The skin peeled from their face because of exposure to the sun for a long time.

But they never complained, because they had two children to raise. One of them has luckily gone to university. As my relative said, “I wish both children will be free from farming.”

I went to play with my sisters for some days. I conscientiously noticed the tough living conditions of villagers such as lack of toilets and other hygiene problems. Suddenly, I felt myself very lucky.

I was different from my relatives. I didn’t need to suffer under tough living conditions like them. My parents carefully protected me from the pains of life. I also got a chance to get a PhD abroad.