June8th

DearHaiqing,

Ihearyouareveryunhappythesedaysbecauseyourparentscan’taffordtobuyyousomebrand-nameshoesandgarmentsyoulikeverymuch.AndIwriteyouthislettertosharewithyouwhatIthinkaboutthismatter.

Tobeginwith,beautyisjustskindeep.Don’tyouthinkitsillytopaysomuchattentiontoyourappearance?Heisashallowpersonwhojudgesothersbytheirappearance;inthesamesense,heisashallowpersonwhothinksthatabrand-namegarmentcanaddtohisglamour.Soplease,justforgetaboutthosebrand-namethings.Whatreallymattersisnotwhetheryouwearbrand-nameshoesorgarmentsbutwhetheryourclothesfityou.Asastudent,youhavetoweartheschooluniformontheweekdaysandtobehonest,youlookverysmartinit.Thenwhydoyouhavetobothertobuytheexpensivebrand-namethings?

Secondly,Iknowyourparentsarebothaverageworkers.Hardastheywork,theydon’tearnmuch.Despitethis,theydotheirbesttogiveyoualotofthingsondemand.Lookatthecallusontheirhandsandwrinklesontheirfaces,howcanyouhavethehearttoaskformorethantheycanafford,whichwillsurelybreaktheirhearts?Remember,parentsdon’toweusexpensivesummercamps;theydon’toweusSonyWalkman;nordotheyoweusNikeshoes,Ifyoureallywantthosefancythings,youshouldtakeapart-timejobtocontributetotheirpurchaseratherthanaskyourparentsformoneytoaddtotheiralreadyheavyburden.Don’tyouthinkso?

Thirdly,wehavesuchawidevarietyofthingsavailablethesedayswhicharebothniceandinexpensive.What’sthepointofpayingmuchmoreforthosebrand-namethingsthatarenotmuchbetter?Myfriend,takemyadvice,andyou’llbeawiserconsumeraswellasamoreconsideratechildtoyourparents.

Poverty,sometimes,isagoodthing.Itcantestaperson’scharacteranditmakesamanoutofaboyfasterthananythingelse.Keepworkinghard,andyouareboundtobeabletoaffordthosethingsinthenearfuture.Nowyoumayaswellfocusonyourstudy.Anyway,wouldn’titbefunnyforawould-beachievertobesopreoccupiedwithbrand-namethingsalldaylong?

Keepintouch.

Yours

Huangping