作者 仓之毅

　　Part 1

　　People hate thieves, because they gain things without pay.

　　To my shame, I was once a "thief" when very young. I was five years old when I got to know the use of money. At that time, my little friends often spent several coins buying sweets from a sweet shop near my house. As a little boy, I was quite greedy and always wanted sweets. But my father was such a strict man that he seldom gave me pocket money. However, I knew the drawerswheresmy parents put money in. Having a strong desire of buying sweets, I secretly took a couple of coins from that drawer when my parents were out. On the point of going out of the room, unluckily, my father saw me.

　　"What did you do just now?"

　　"I did...nothing.." I replied stutteringly. As I was in a hurry and was a little scared, I unconsciously grasped the coins in my hand tightly. It was this strange behavior that made my father suspect me.

　　"What's in your hand? Show me your hand!" I could do nothing but stretch out my hand.

　　"Where did you take the money?" From...the drawer in your bedroom." What do you use the money for?" Buying sweets..." knowing that I would be punished strictly, I was extremely scared and I even didn't know what I was saying.

　　"Why didn't you tell me? Don't you know you are like a thief? It's the behavior of stealing! Kneel down!"...That evening, I wasn't allowed to have dinner. My father rarely punished me and that was the most impressive one for me. From then on, I have known that no matter how you lack money, you mustn't steal.

　　At that moment, a concept formed in my mind: it's wrong to gain money that doesn't belong to you in improper way. Stealing is disgraceful.

　　Part 2

　　After the incident of my "stealing" my parents changed their way of education. They let me do some housework, in return, they gave me some pocket money which I could use freely. They also made an agreement with me, for example, 2 jiao for washing the dishes; 5 jiao for cleaning the windows. Insgroupsto earn money, I began to learn how to do housework well. Soon I became skilled in it.

　　Now I know that my parents helped me form a habit of doing housework. So I am grateful to my parents. because now I can not only do basic housework, but also cook and bicycle-repair. It was my parents who made me understand "Working is glorious". At that moment, another concept formed in my mind: fortune can be made by working. The more you do, the more fortune you can gain.

　　Part 3

　　Many years later, I was already a high school student and I wasn't satisfied with earning money from my parents. I wanted to earn "real money" and know my ability.

　　I found a part-time job in the KFC as a waiter during my summer holidays. My job was cleaning the table and sweeping the floor. It was indeed a hard job at the very beginning, but I soon got used to it.

　　As a waiter, I must keep smiling and try to satisfy customers. I met a lot of people, young and old, men and women. In this way, I have learnt how to get along with others. Because of my hard working and thoughtfulness, I was elected "the Most Welcomed Waiter" that month.

　　I finished working in the KFC at the end of the holiday and earned several hundred yuan. Holding the money I earned myself, I got an unusual feeling. I treasured it so much that I was even grudged to spend it. After working in the KFC, I knew it wasn't easy to make money. I just saved what I earned because I had learnt the value of money. I was very glad that I had got some working and social experience as a waiter in the KFC. Not only did I earn money, but also I gained a rare wealth: precious life experience. Not only did I enjoy the pleasure of earning money, but also I tasted the joy of working, tasted the joy of devoting to the society.

　　At that moment, the third concept formed in my mind: working is not only for wealth, but also for life and society.

　　As time goes by, my attitude towards money is being modified continually, and my view of the world is being enlarged. Now I have completely understood that money must be earned by hand; wealth must be gained by working; and the feeling of happiness must be based on rational and positive life.