Raising a family of six on a teaching salary is a tough row to hoe under the best of circumstances, and his youngest daughter's frequent asthma made it all the more difficult. If he was going to pay her medical expenses and keep food on the table, he had little choice but to moonlight.
然而他勤於筆耕的主因卻是「煮字療飢」：高中教員的薪資，養活一家 6 口原已捉襟見肘，偏偏小女兒患有氣喘，為了籌措醫藥費只好挑燈夜戰。