You have 100 steamed buns, 99 of which are packed in snake-skin bags, and you hold one in your hand, opening your mouth to take a bite. I say I haven't eaten a grain of rice in three days, can you spare half? If you give me the whole thing, I will be grateful because I don’t know your bag is full of steamed buns.

Another situation: 100 steamed buns all packed in transparent plastic bags. I want one, eat it, then smack my lips and ask for another. If you get annoyed and say I’m being greedy, I curse and walk away, and behind my back, people gossip that you have no compassion.
Both involve giving away one steamed bun, but the results are completely different.
In the first case, your act of charity is a gift to me; I see you risking your own hunger to help me, a great person. In the second, I see how many you have in total, and I think that asking for one more is just a tiny fraction under a huge denominator. That’s why I’m greedy.
You show minor losses outwardly, but the other person doesn’t appreciate the kindness. You think, “Your family is so big, just giving a little,” and next time they’ll come back for more. Not giving is like a grandson Glandale.
To avoid being drained continuously, you need to learn to “treat the light as heavy.” Handle small matters as if they were big. When a colleague asks you to fix a photo, even if it takes three seconds, if the relationship isn’t close enough, tell them it’s troublesome and to come after work. Spend small money as if it were big. With a savings account of 8 million, pinch out 8 bucks to buy a soda. Someone borrows five bucks, tell them those 8 bucks are your monthly pocket money, and since they’re your buddy, you lend it.
Treat small virtues as great virtues. When giving a homeless person a 20-dollar burger, tell your colleagues it’s to improve their diet, and you go hungry for a meal. Without saying this, colleagues might think you’re just after money, and in the future, they’ll always ask you to treat.
The most disadvantaged in a crowd are the fools who go against the grain—learn to treat heavy as light perfectly. Handle big issues as if they were small. To establish authority among the crowd, help others and then stubbornly claim it’s just a small effort. Fine, “a small effort,” right? Soon everyone will keep asking you to do it, and eventually, they’ll stop asking you at all. Refuse once, and your reputation collapses.
Desires are unlimited; they are satisfied only through comparison. The same 200 yuan donation, if the other person knows your family’s net worth is 20 billion, they’ll curse you. But if they know that your 200 yuan was begged from your wife after half a night of pleading, they’ll admire you immensely.
The best way to make the accepting party grateful is to let them know your cost. Think about asking a leader for a favor—knowing it’s just a one-sentence matter, they hesitate for a long time, consider carefully, and delay a few days before agreeing, saying it’s very difficult and involves many connections, and it’s a one-time exception. But really, it’s just one sentence. They act this way to show they understand “treat the light as heavy,” not to appear dismissive and then be asked every day.
The level of gratitude is not proportional to the level of giving, but to the level of sacrifice. Small acts of kindness involve big sacrifices; only then will others consider whether to come back. Learn to perform sacrifice well, vividly, and heroically, so you can avoid surprises, suffering, and daily discomfort.