早些年那地方的农民就算一年到头辛苦种田，也还是过着非常穷苦的生活。虽然成功偷渡的人在海外的工资也很微薄，但是换算成人民币就很可观了，他们省吃俭用把赚的外汇寄回老家，让家人过上比较好的物质生活。
zǎo xiē nián nà dìfang de nóngmín jiùsuàn yī nián dào tóu xīnkǔ zhòngtián ，yě háishì guò zhe fēicháng qióngkǔ de shēnghuó 。suīrán chénggōng tōudù de rén zài hǎiwài de gōngzī yě hěn wēibó ，dànshì huànsuàn chéng rénmínbì jiù hěn kěguān le ，tāmen shěngchījiǎnyòng bǎ zhuàn de wàihuì jì huí lǎojiā ，ràng jiārén guòshang bǐjiào hǎo de wùzhì shēnghuó 。
Before, even though peasants in the village worked hard on the land the year through, they still lived incredibly impoverished lives. Although the wages of those who were successfully smuggled abroad were meager, they were equivalent to quite a considerable sum in renminbi, and they often lived frugally, saving up money to send back home, allowing their families to enjoy a better quality of life.