There was an old saying in the Flower-Growing Land: you didn't know the price of firewood and rice until you ran the household. Proven by generation after generation over thousands of years, it had become one of the longest-standing and most deeply felt proverbs.
The reason this saying struck people so deeply was that everyone who had never run a household would eventually find themselves in charge of one, experiencing the memories and grievances they had once been unwilling to accept.
When Li Ye was little, whenever his birthday drew near, he would ask his father to buy him a birthday cake. His father would either casually agree with a string of "Mm-hm, mm-hm, mm-hm," or crush all of Li Ye's delight with, "What does a boy need a birthday cake for? I never had one."
Back then, Li Ye truly wondered, Wasn't it just a birthday cake? It only cost a dozen yuan or so. His parents earned seventy or eighty yuan a month—why couldn't they buy him one birthday cake?
There were many similar things. For example, when athletic shoes had just come onto the market, they cost more than a hundred yuan a pair. His parents' salaries had risen to one or two hundred yuan, and all the other students had them. Yet no matter how many times he asked, his wish was never granted.
Back then, Li Ye had been deeply unwilling to accept it. The family clearly had money, so why couldn't such a small request of his be satisfied?
Twenty years later, Li Ye understood. He felt ashamed of all those grievances he had once harbored.
When he earned four or five thousand yuan a month and his son wanted a toy costing two or three hundred, Li Ye would snap without a second