Mom doesn't have any money to buy you a satchel.

When you grow up and earn money, you can buy whatever you want, okay?

I was born to a poor rural family,

and ever since I was young, I was looked down upon by others.

Because my family was poor,

I didn't know where my next meal was coming from.

And from a young age, I always wore my sister's hand-me-downs;

the clothes swam on me.

My classmates all made fun of me

and didn't even want to be associated with me.

My childhood was really painful.

With a worn-out satchel on her back.

Don't you think she's funny?

Yeah, she is so poor.

Look how poor she is. Let's go.

From that moment on, I resolved to myself:

When I'm grown up, I'm definitely going to earn lots of money,

I'll have good times, and no one will look down on me again.

Because my family was poor,

before graduating from junior high school I was forced to give up my studies

to go to do temporary work in the county pharmaceutical factory.

To earn even more money,

I would often do an additional shift until ten in the evening.

Later, I heard that my older sister could earn what I earned in a month,

selling vegetables in just five days!

I immediately quit my job at the pharmaceutical factory to sell vegetables.

After a while, I realized it was easier to make money selling fruit,

so I went into the fruit business.

After I got married, my husband and I opened a restaurant.

I thought to myself:

I'll make even more money running a restaurant!

Once I have money, I'll be able to live a grand and dignified life.

I'll finally be the envy of others, and they'll think highly of me.

But after managing the business for a while,

I found that we couldn't make much money running a restaurant.

I started to worry:

When will I finally live the life of a rich person?

In 2008, a random opportunity came up.

I heard a friend say that in Japan what you earn in one day

is roughly equal to ten days' wages in China.

When I learned this, I was overjoyed.

I thought that finally I had found a good opportunity to make money.

Although the agent's fees to go to Japan was expensive,

I thought to myself: No pain, no gain.

As long as we had jobs in Japan,

we'd be able to make the money back quickly.

No pain, no gain. Let's have a try.

And so, my husband and I decided then and there to go to Japan.

Once we arrived in Japan, I threw myself into my work.

Every day, my husband and I worked at least thirteen or fourteen hours.

The pressure at work was intense, and I was exhausted all day.

When the workday was over, all I wanted to do was to lie down and rest.

I didn't even give a thought to my eating.

My health couldn't stand up to the quick tempo of my life,

but then, I thought about the fact

that if I gave it all I had, after a few years I'd finally be well off.

I encouraged myself:

Although the work is hard now, later on, life will be beautiful,

I have to stick with it.

This is how I summoned all my strength every day.

I was like a money-making machine, going all out in my work.

Unexpectedly,

in 2015, I collapsed with exhaustion from the strain of the work.

I'm sorry to tell you, Ma'am,

you have a slipped disc in the lumbar vertebra,

which is pressing down on a nerve.

And if you continue to work, it could lead to paralysis,

after which you won't be able to look after yourself.

The doctor's words hit me like a lightning bolt right out of the blue,

and after listening to him I felt weak all over all at once.

My life had just been getting brighter as I grew closer to my dream.

I never thought that I would get sick like this.

I wouldn't accept it,

and I thought to myself: I'm still young.

If I just grit my teeth, I'll be able to put up with being just a little bit unwell.

If I don't earn enough money now and I go back to China with so little,

won't I be embarrassed?

And so, I gritted my teeth and dragged my sick body to work,

to keep making money.

But only a few days later,

I was so unwell, I couldn't even crawl out of bed.

While I was lying in my sick bed,

how I wished that I had someone by my side to keep me company,

but my husband had to go to work,

and our son had to go to school,

so I had to face this on my own.

Looking around the sick ward at all of the patients,

each struggling with their own pain,

I felt forlorn.

How could I have found myself in such a terrible situation?

Could it really be true that I was going to be paralyzed and bedridden?

There was a feeling in my heart that I just couldn't express,

and I couldn't help pondering:

What does man live for after all?

Could it be just to make money and live well?

Can you really be happy if you have money?

Is it worth it to wear yourself out to make money?

After nearly thirty years of pushing myself to the limit,

what did I have to show for it?

I had worked in a pharmaceutical factory, sold fruit, run a restaurant,

and even come to Japan to work.

Along the way, although I had made some money,

yet it came with so much bitterness that I had no way to express.

I had thought

that by coming to Japan to work, my beautiful dream could be realized,

that I would quickly become a wealthy person,

and live a life that others would envy,

but now I was lying in a sick bed,

and facing spending the rest of my life in a painful existence confined to a wheelchair …

When I thought about this,

I truly regretted the fact

that in order to make money and to be a cut above the rest,

I had ruined my health through overwork.

As I thought it over,

aggrieved, painful, bitter tears gushed from my eyes,

and I couldn't help calling out:

Oh, God! Save me!

Why is my life so tiring, so hard?

And it was right then, when I was helpless and in pain,

that God's salvation of the last days came down to me.

After I left the hospital,

by chance I came to know two sisters who believed in God.

Through reading God's words together with them

and having fellowship in the truth,

I understood that nothing in the world is naturally formed,

but created by God,

that God is the Master of the entire universe,

that man's destiny is also in God's hands,

that God has guided mankind all along,

supplied mankind, and constantly looks after and protects mankind.

But I was puzzled and sought their help.

If God is the Master who controls our destiny,

and we ought to be happy and joyful,

then why do we still suffer illness and pain?

Why is life so hard?

So where then does life's pain come from?

Can you explain that to me?

Of course.

Du Juan,

this question that you've raised,

I used to mull over this before I believed in God: (Yes.)

Why is there illness and pain in our lives?

Why is life so hard and so tiring?

Regardless of whether a person for the whole of his life is rich or poor,

ordinary or eminent,

how is it that he cannot escape being born, growing old, getting sick, and dying?

I could never find the answer.

It was only when I read the word of God that I found the source of the problem.

Has God told us the reason for man's pain?

Then tell me, please! (Sure. Fine!)

After we've read the word of God, you will understand.

These words put it really well.

This is the first time I heard it like that.

All our pain in life was brought to man by Satan;

only after Satan corrupted man did it come about.

So how did Satan corrupt man?

I don't quite understand that part.

Can you tell me more about that?

Okay.

At the beginning, when God created man,

man listened to God and submitted to God, (Right.)

God was with him, and He protected him.

At that time there was no illness or death,

nothing for man to worry about.

Man lived free of anxiety in the Garden of Eden,

enjoying everything that had been bestowed by God,

mankind lived happily and joyfully under God's guidance.

But ever since man was enticed and corrupted by Satan,

mankind betrayed God,

no longer obeying Him but instead heeding Satan,

and for this reason, mankind lost the care and protection and blessing of God,

and fell under the domain of Satan.

For thousands of years,

Satan has used heresies, like materialism and atheism, even evolution,

as well as absurdities and lies from demons and famous men,

to deceive people and harm them.

They say "There's no God in the world,"

even that "There's never been a Savior."

"One's destiny is in his own hand."

"Be a cut above the rest, and bring glory to your ancestors."

"Man will do anything to get rich."

"Money makes the world go round." And so on.

After mankind accepted these absurdities and heresies,

they denied the existence of God, denied God's sovereignty,

and they betrayed God,

and man's disposition became arrogant and conceited,

more and more selfish, crafty, and evil.

People amongst themselves schemed and competed against each other

for fame, position, and wealth,

cheating each other, fighting each other,

growing increasingly anxious.

Ailments followed, pain came,

and then emptiness, emptiness of the heart came as well.

These pains and anxieties made us feel that

man's life in this world was too hard and tiring, too difficult.

This all came about after Satan had corrupted man,

it was Satan harming us,

and it was also the bitter fruit of mankind denying God,

distancing itself from God, and betraying God.

With regard to how Satan has corrupted mankind,

let's have a look at a video of the word of God,

and you'll understand.

Oh, good!

Having heard the word of God,

the sisters then told me the facts

and explained the truth of Satan's use of fame and gain to corrupt men.

I then understood,

after thousands of years,

Satan's use of atheism, materialism, and evolution to deceive and corrupt mankind

has reached a peak,

and led mankind to be distanced from God and to betray God.

It was only then that I felt

that books I had read in the past were all filled with Satan's poison,

Satan's philosophy, and Satan's logic.

If it were not for the word of God

revealing how Satan and its demons had corrupted mankind,

I would still be deceived and controlled by Satan,

desperately struggling in darkness.

Man has ideals and aspirations, that's correct,

but in the process of man trying to satisfy his own ideals,

Satan uses all kinds of methods

to imbue men with its mode of existence and rules for existence,

to entice men to live only for fame and gain.

As soon as men are mired in fame and gain,

they no longer search for the light and for the things that are of goodness,

because the allure of fame and gain is too great for us,

and we are so bogged down with it that we have no way of extricating ourselves.

This is Satan's shackle worn on our bodies,

and it is Satan's ruse for corrupting men.

In order to be a cut above the rest,