In some people's eyes, Yuan Longping seems to be rich, but he is a scientist who is paid by the state. His total monthly income, including salary and allowance, amounts to more than 4000 yuan. He said cheerfully that the income was not too low for me to spend, so he donated almost all international awards to the Agricultural Science and Technology Award Foundation named after him to commend and support those who made contributions to agricultural scientific research. Besides, he also contributed to education.

His views on money are, first, not stingy, and second, not extravagant. In Yuan Longping's view, the amount of money is nothing more than a number. He said, "Money is a must. We need to live and survive. Without money, we can't live without food. " But money is enough for ordinary daily expenses and savings are enough. You can't take money too seriously. If you value money too much and are blinded by it, you will easily lose yourself and become a selfish person who is indifferent to society and others. What's the point of living if people become slaves of money?

Yuan Longping has a thorough understanding of life, money, status and even family. He has always been mean to himself, but he is warm-hearted and chivalrous to others. He will try his best to help others whenever possible. He is a doctoral supervisor and has brought many doctoral students, one of whom is from the countryside, so family life is difficult. Once, a student called him and said that his father was seriously ill in hospital and needed money badly. He was very sympathetic to the student and gave him two thousand dollars from his salary.

Reply to a blind child.

As a famous scientist at home and abroad, Yuan Longping naturally becomes the idol of people, especially young people, and receives many letters every year. Once, he received a letter from a blind child in Shanghai, which not only expressed his respect, but also revealed the child's confusion and confusion about the future. Looking at the children's sincere letters, Yuan Longping was deeply moved, immediately spread out the paper, picked up a pen and wrote emotionally:

Life is beautiful, our world is beautiful, and it will get better and better. Although I can't see it, I can feel it in my heart. Grandpa, all the uncles around you care about you and help you. You are an ambitious and ideal child. Study hard and you will have a brighter future than others when you grow up. I wonder if you have heard the story of this great musician. Although he is blind, this great composer has worked hard since he was a child, creating beautiful movements on the keyboard of the piano, and making music accompany mankind to an epic infatuation. Work hard, son. Although you are blind, you have a bright future.

It can be seen that Yuan Longping's reply to this letter is full of true feelings. Yuan Longping was able to take a distant letter he had never met seriously and wrote a letter emotionally and sincerely. From this, we can easily understand how kind the scientist's heart is, how strong his sense of social responsibility is, and how beautiful his sentiment and personality are.

Tabloid consultant

On the afternoon of 2001August 2 1, a reporter from Get Rich Express walked into Yuan Longping's office. Yuan Longping warmly greeted the reporter to sit on the sofa and asked the secretary to make tea and pass cigarettes to the visitors. He knew that the visitor was from Jiangxi, and he was a reporter of a practical newspaper serving agriculture, rural areas and farmers. He spread the party's policy of benefiting farmers to farmers and provided them with information and operable technology. The direction is right, and farmers like it. Newspapers can only have vitality if they persist for a long time.

He said: at present, the life of farmers' friends is not very rich. A considerable number of farmers are eager to get rid of poverty and become rich, but they can't find a way for the time being. Your senior staff has a heavy burden. It is said that getting rich by express is less than one year in 50 yuan, and less than a pack of beautiful birds and cigarettes a day. I think farmers can afford it. Your newspaper is for the poor and the disadvantaged, so you are destined to be poor. It is also a vulnerable group in the media. At this stage, this is normal, but not very normal. In my opinion, we should not underestimate the poor. Chairman Mao famously said: Modest people are the cleverest, because the rich and urban residents are supported by hundreds of millions of poor people.

When he realized that the reporter had come all the way on behalf of the newspaper in hot weather to ask him to be a newspaper consultant and ask him to write an inscription, he readily agreed: OK. Anyway, I have more than 60 titles, and it doesn't hurt to have one more. But there are too many titles, and fatigue becomes a burden. But your newspaper is for farmer friends. I am willing to be a consultant, and I have no rank.

Then, he squatted on the table and carefully wrote two words on the white paper: I wish farmers and friends an early prosperity and a better tomorrow.

Later, at the reporter's request, Yuan Longping and the visitors took a group photo on the steps in front of the office building.

A famous scientist at home and abroad resigned many times and lost many famous titles, but he was happy to serve as a consultant for an unknown tabloid. The story soon spread as a beautiful conversation.

The richest and poorest people in China.

People close to Yuan Longping said that Yuan Longping dressed casually and didn't pay attention.

For a time, he had a strong desire to shop. Every Friday afternoon, he goes shopping in the shopping center. But he has a quirk. He only buys cheap things and is not interested in expensive things. One day, he and his wife, Deng Zhe, went shopping and saw a discount 10 yuan shirt in the container. He said it was too cheap. Add 2 yuan, 12 yuan each. The salesman said with a smile, you are a strange comrade. When people bargain, you increase the price, which is unreasonable and unreasonable. He answered with a smile and bought more than 10 in one breath. This shirt is very good, so it's easy to wear when you go to the fields. Don't worry about getting dirty. Smiled and said to his wife. Deng Zhe, who knows his living habits like the back of his hand, didn't say much, just smiled.

The most expensive suit he wears will not exceed that of 800 yuan; He can't afford shoes above 200 yuan. He is uncomfortable with these expensive luxuries, such as Italian old man's head and crocodile brand. However, an authoritative appraisal agency in China reported that Yuan Longping was worth more than 654.38 billion yuan. Therefore, in terms of personal material wealth, Yuan Longping is indeed the richest and poorest person in China, except for the wisdom and knowledge in his head.

The richest and poorest people are indifferent to themselves, but they are extremely generous to society and have a great sense of hardship. So far, he has donated $6.5438+0.25 million of the World Food Prize to the Science and Technology Award Foundation he initiated to help newcomers.

Decoration costs money, so why waste it?

Due to the need of work, the college decided to give Mr. Yuan a bigger office, which was renovated several times, but Mr. Yuan disagreed and said that the office was quite good. If you get used to it, you will have feelings. Besides, decoration costs money, so why waste it? We can't beat him, so we have to forget it. He is the director of the National Hybrid Rice Engineering and Technology Research Center in Yuan Longping, holding tens of millions every year. It stands to reason that getting a bigger and more decorated office, whether for public or private, is reasonable, but he just doesn't agree, which makes people suddenly realize after they don't understand at first. This is the true nature of Yuan Longping. Plum blossoms are noble, fragrant and bitter.

Ride a motorcycle to the experimental field

Yuan Longping has tens of millions of dollars for scientific research, but his life is extremely simple.

Long-term habit, he likes to go to the ridge. Whenever he has time, he goes to the experimental field to observe and breathe the breath of the field. If the success of his career has brought any change to his life, it is that since the 1980s, his means of transportation to the experimental field has changed from the initial bicycle to a motorcycle. He thinks it's light and fast. Unexpectedly, playing motorcycles and racing cars has become a great pleasure in his life.

The seedlings in the field are withering, heading, flowering and bearing fruit. He got on his motorcycle, rushed into the road, turned into the path and slipped up the ridge. His lithe figure flashed in the green or golden rice fields. For more than ten years, he has changed eight or nine motorcycles of different brands. Now, although he is over 70 years old, he still often rides a motorcycle around the fields.

At the end of 200 1, Yuan Longping bought a Sail family car under the persuasion of a friend. A friend told him that riding a motorcycle is wrapped in iron, driving is wrapped in iron, or driving is safer. He is eager to learn to drive and feels good. Sometimes, he drives his car to the edge of the field. He also said with a smile that he was going to take a driver's license test.

A person who is good at discussing money.

One day in early February, 20065438+0/KLOC-0, Yuan Longping just finished his invited visit to Venezuela and flew to Hong Kong to attend the ceremony of awarding the honorary doctor of science by the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Usually, he doesn't wear a tie at all. In order to attend formal occasions, he went shopping with his peers to buy ties. His companions all suggested that he buy a Goldlion tie. He refused to buy it because it was too expensive. He took his companion to the stall and bought a tie at 100 yuan. He took the tie, tried it on his chest and said with a smile:

It looks good. How's it going? Full of energy. This is called good quality and low price. Not much worse than famous brands. Come on, buy it.

No, no, Mr. Yuan, of course? Identity is different, even if the worst things you wear are famous brands, we can't do it, and we have to rely on famous brands to support the scene.

Seeing that his companion didn't want to buy it, he had to buy some himself. He quipped, oh, so that's it. If you don't buy, you won't pay. I am generous old Yuan. How about giving someone a free one?

At that time, Yuan Longping's three sons and three daughters-in-law were studying at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. After hearing about this, they bought a Goldlion tie in the street and tied it for dad in the hotel where he stayed at night. They asked dad to buy this when he attended the ceremony tomorrow, but the next day he tied up the one he bought at the stall and went to the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Afterwards, he left his wife's tie to his son.

Some people may say that it hurts to spend your own money, but spending public money is different. This statement is poor! It should be said that he is more stingy with public money than with his own. He is a member of the Standing Committee of China People's Political Consultative Conference. On February 25, 2006, he flew to Beijing, and Beijing opened the annual two sessions on March 3. Before he left, his face fell and he told the ticket buyer:

Don't buy first class, just buy economy class. Even if you buy first class, you have to return it.

It turned out that there was a comrade who bought a plane ticket. In order to rest comfortably on the plane, he thought about working for several days and bought first class. Before boarding the plane, he found that it was first class, so he forced his secretary to retire from first class and change to economy class. After boarding, there is an empty seat in the first class. The stewardess knows him very well and respects him very much, so she invited him to first class several times. He went because he didn't spend a penny. Afterwards, colleagues around him laughed at him for flying free first class. He said it was a pity to waste resources when he had time.

Yuan Longping, director of the center, is stingy when spending money by plane, and the examination and approval fee is even more stingy. When the center decorated and laid floor tiles for the molecular experimental building, the manager submitted him a shopping list. He saw that the unit price of a 600x600 floor tile was 50 yuan, which was too expensive, so he asked carefully what was going on. The manager replied that chemical solutions are often used in experiments in the molecular laboratory building. This kind of floor tile is acid-resistant, alkali-resistant, corrosion-resistant and anti-slip, so it is expensive. Yuan Longping agreed to buy.

Farmer rice bodhisattva

Cao, 1960, a farmer from Tashui Village, Huatang Town, Beihu District, Chenzhou City, Hunan Province. He suffered a lot when he was a child, because he was born in the era of food famine. The warmth of reform and opening up has warmed the earth, and Cao, who has a flexible mind, took the lead in planting hybrid rice in the village. The grain output of his family's responsible field is bumper every year. In addition, his vegetables and fruits are better than others, and he has cultivated a new variety of seedless bitter gourd. After 90, he handed over the work in the field to his wife and switched to beekeeping, and his pocket gradually bulged. Soon, he was praised by Chenzhou prefectural party Committee as a typical example of getting rich through science and technology.

With gratitude and respect for Yuan Longping, he came up with the idea of carving a white marble statue for Yuan Longping at his own expense. In order to get a picture of Yuan Longping, he wrote a letter to Yuan Longping. After receiving a personal letter from Cao, Yuan Longping asked his colleague to write back. Yuan Longping said in his reply that, in my opinion, your wishes and the wishes of farmers are more glorious than the Nobel Prize. I appreciate your kindness, but I should make some contributions to the people and the country. Therefore, please don't waste your money to carve any stone statues for me. I really can't stand your love. Please respect my opinion and forgive me for not sending you photos.

Later, in order to show respect for Buddha Mi, Cao took out his 50,000 yuan savings and asked Yuan Longping to carve a life-size white marble statue. When the project was completed, the villagers set off firecrackers, danced yangko and presented peaches symbolizing longevity and blessings in front of the statue. In the eyes of villagers, Yuan Longping is the rice bodhisattva in Enze Village. Yuan Longping was very unhappy after hearing this. But later I heard that the Cao family was in trouble because of natural disasters, so Yuan Longping hurriedly sent him twenty thousand yuan. Because of the sun and rain, Cao was unable to maintain the statue, so the honest farmer had to come to Changsha again, hoping that Yuan Longping could give it some support, but this time he hit a wall. When Yuan Longping heard that he wanted money to maintain the statue, he refused to pay a penny.

Honor does not belong to me personally, but to the whole of China.

After Yuan Longping came back with many awards, a media reporter asked him: What do you think of your contribution?

He said quietly: This is not my personal honor, but the honor of China. I am just a leader and a representative of a discipline. Tell you a story:1In August, 1997, I went to Mexico to attend the international symposium on crop genetics and heterosis utilization, and was awarded the honorary title of pioneer scientist. More than 600 scientists from more than 60 countries attended the meeting, including 12 from China. Because of my visa, I arrived two days late and arrived on the afternoon of the first day of the ceremony. When I arrived, China 12 people were ecstatic and said, Miss Yuan, you finally came. We are anxious. Since you came, our position has improved. Because of the five people who were awarded the title of pioneer scientist, the remaining four were all Americans. At that moment, I deeply realized that honor belongs not to me personally, but to the whole of China.

An outspoken scientist.

On the afternoon of June 5th, 2004+10/October 38th, Yuan Longping was invited to give a lecture to the teachers and students of the University of Iowa.

An international student from China asked, "Although we are abroad, we always pay attention to domestic news. We have long heard that you have made outstanding contributions to our country, and we also know some of your background materials. " We want to know, did you like agriculture since you were a child?

Yuan Longping replied cheerfully: I was very playful and had many hobbies when I was a child. I study, listen carefully to the courses I am interested in and get high marks in the exam; If you are not interested in the course, you only need three good points and pass. When I graduated from college, my classmates gave me an evaluation-hobby: freedom; Specialty: slow. Take a walk, I'm alone. As for learning agriculture, it started with an accidental opportunity. In the first grade of primary school, on an outing, the teacher took us to visit a private gardening field. I see the peaches on the tree are red, the grapes are in clusters, and the flowers are beautiful. I am watching Chaplin's film Modern Times, which is on. There is a scene in the film where there are grapes outside the window, and the impressions of the two are superimposed. It feels really idyllic. I want to study agriculture when I grow up. If the teacher had taken us to the real countryside, which was bitter, poor and dirty, then I would definitely not have studied agriculture.

The audience burst into laughter and applauded the frankness and frankness of this great scientist. He made no secret of his personality, which made Chinese and foreign college students feel more respectable and amiable, and completely and truly demonstrated the perfect unity of greatness and ordinary scientists.

In this way, his academic report ended in a relaxed and warm atmosphere.