The tough life of those born in the 1980s with an annual income of 200,000 (shared)

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A few days ago, on my way to work, I listened to the morning news on Hangzhou Radio. The host said that in China, an annual salary of around 200,000 yuan is considered a standard level for elites. Yet why do so many people still feel great pressure to make ends meet and complain to others? It seems like an act of pretension in such cases. Actually, I don’t think so at all; I’m a living example. Coming from a remote rural area, I came to Hangzhou to work as soon as I graduated from university in 2003. Without any family connections or parents who were wealthy or influential, I had to rely on myself. My salary started at 800 yuan per month; at my poorest times, I would only have 20 yuan in my pocket, which was enough to get me through a week. To save money, I have bought second-hand leather shoes that someone else had worn from street stalls, as well as second-hand computer parts to build my own computers. I taught someone how to use a computer and earned 200 yuan; it was my first part-time income. During the Spring Festival in 2003, I went home and gave my mother 2,000 yuan; she was very happy that her son could now earn money. In 2004, things started to improve at work as well; my salary gradually increased, from 800 to 1200, then to 1600, and by the end of the year it was 2500. There was an incident at that time: my cousin who was in college came to Hangzhou for a visit and asked me what my salary was. I said it was 1600. She looked at me with admiration and said, \"That’s such a high salary! How can you spend it all in one month?\" I felt so thrilled that, in my excitement, I invited her to McDonald’s for a big meal. I gradually got myself another used computer with better performance, sold the old one I had, and not long after that, acquired a new laptop. At the end of the year, the boss gave me a red envelope with 5,000 yuan in it; it seemed like a lot of money at the time, and I gave it all to my mother. During the winter of 2005, my direct supervisor left the position. Due to my good performance, I was temporarily appointed as the head of the department; my salary was increased from 2500 to 3600. At the end of the year, I received a bonus of 8000, which, when added up, totaled 10,000, and I gave that amount to my mother. At the beginning of 2006, I met my current wife, and we started dating not long after. At that time, her salary was around 2,000. Around mid-year, her mother borrowed 10,000 yuan from us for business purposes. I particularly remember that summer; it was very hot. We were living in a rented apartment without air conditioning, so we tried various ways to stay cool. We even bought frozen pops for 50 cents each and hung them in front of the table fan, hoping that it would generate some cool air, but it didn’t work very well. To save money at the time, I bit the bullet and spent 1,100 on a used air conditioner; its cooling performance wasn’t great, but it worked fine for two or three years. As for other major purchases, I bought a MOTO phone and a digital camera. At the end of the year, I received a red envelope worth 8,000; together with some of my own savings, I gave 10,000 to my mother. My wife also gave 3,000 to her mother as a show of filial piety. I didn’t have any savings at that time.....