By WANG LIZHEN

Both my husband and I have decent jobs. As public servants, we work from 8 am to 6 pm for a salary that supports a decent but frugal life. As a reward for our hard work, I got a promotion, and my husband was transferred to a better department, but there is little improvement in our daily living conditions. The basic reason is our rural background.

We come from the countryside, and upon graduation from university, we settled in the city. It is not practical for us to buy a house and car like our colleagues from the cities, who have family support. We have nobody to depend on but ourselves.

Looking back two years, as newlyweds we owned nearly nothing. After making the first payment on our house, our son was born. Monthly installments and various expenditures left us with almost nothing. Not only that, as his family paid my husband's tuition fees, they are heavily in debt, and it is our duty to repay them. It is also a headache visiting our families when they live so far away.

We long to travel in China, but this has never been possible, long before the holidays, our parents anxiously await our return, so both Labor Day Holiday and National Day Holiday have been spent at either his home or mine.

China is an agricultural country and many urban dwellers come from the countryside. There are large numbers of people like us. Hard work brought us the chance to study and live in the city, but on holidays we shuttle back and forth between city and the countryside. A few days ago, I brought up this topic at a party, and all of my friends poured out their feelings.

"My parents toiled year round to support my studies, and they are happy to see me settled in the city," said a friend from rural Henan. "But when my mother was ill, I could not ask for leave to return home and take care of her. I want very much to repay them, but my salary does not permit me. I don't know when things will become better."

"After years of a wandering life, I bought my own apartment and brought my parents here," said Xiao Wang from rural Shanxi. "Having lived in a spacious courtyard for so many years, they could not get used to my small apartment, so they went back. Now I shuttle back and forth between the city and my hometown, just like a pendulum."

"My father used to be my idol," said a friend from Sichuan Province. "When he came to the capital on business a few days ago, we went out together, and he asked my opinions on various matters. I wanted to buy decent clothes for him, but he rejected the idea. 'I am old, and have no opportunity to wear such clothes. You should save the money to buy things for yourself.' I could barely restrain my tears."

I was dejected at hearing these stories. There are many people like us, who, born in the countryside after ten years of hard work, passed the college entrance examination and upon graduation, settled in the city. Our high expectations were soon dispelled by harsh reality. We live on a fixed salary. During festivals, trains and public buses are filled with people like us carrying heavy luggage. In addition to daily expenditures, we have to give financial help to our family in the country; life is difficult.

I once told my husband my dream of owning a big two-storied house. In my dream, I work four days a week, enjoy a long paid annual holiday, and live a free and easy life; I own a car, and drive along the country roads in spring, watch the sunset, and breath fresh air permeated with the smell of grass.

My husband stared at me, hugged me and whispered, "When we were children, we never thought of going to college, but entered a key university. When we were studying at university, we never thought of working in the provincial capital, but most of us entered government organizations, a decent job in most people's eyes. We never thought of promotion, but it came to us rapidly. All this is the result of effort. We have neither money nor family financial support. What we can do is to work hard and bring our talent into full realization. I firmly believe that as long as we have a dream, and are willing to work hard, we can divide a big goal into small parts, and realize it little by little. Believe in me, and in yourself, ok?"