Kuang Heng said, “Mr. Wang, let’s make a deal! I’ll help you chop wood and carry water, and in return, you lend me your books to read.” Mr. Wang asked curiously, “Are you sure about this? Don’t you think you’re getting the short end of the stick?” “Mr. Wang, books are expensive, and I can’t afford to buy them. It's not easy to borrow them either. If you’re willing to lend me your books in return for my work, I will be most grateful!”

Even though Kuang Heng managed to borrow the books, he found that he still had another tough problem to solve. He scratched his head and sighed, “I have to work in the day, and only have time to read at night. But oil for the lamp is so expensive, I can’t afford it.” Kuang Heng had no choice but to use his lunch break to read a bit, and at night, he would memorize what he read during the day. So, it often took him ten days or even two weeks to finish a book. But when borrowing someone else’s books, one has to return them, and  they can’t be kept for a long time. Kuang Heng felt anxious, but he didn’t know what to do.

One night, as Kuang Heng was busy memorizing what he read, he suddenly saw a beam of light on the wall. He went closer and realized that it was light coming from his neighbor’s house. This gave Kuang Heng an idea. He took a small knife and widened the gap in the wall, making the light even brighter. And so, he began to read his books using the light from next door, he continued reading until the neighbor put out the light. Only then did Kuang Heng think about resting. 

And so, Kuang Heng continued to study hard like this every night. Eventually, he became a very knowledgeable man.

匡衡說：「王大爺，我們就這樣說定了！我幫您砍柴挑水，您就把您的書借給我看。」王大爺好奇地問：「一言為定，匡衡，你不覺得吃虧嗎？」「王大爺，書很貴的，我買不起；要借的話，也不容易借得到。您願意借書給我，只要我幫您做工，我就已經很感激您了！」

雖然匡衡借到了書，但還是有很難解決的問題。匡衡抓了抓頭，嘆了一口氣：「白天要工作，只有晚上才有空念書，可是……燈油這麼貴，根本買不起。」匡衡沒辦法，只好利用中午休息的時間看一點書，晚上就默背白天讀的內容，所以一本書常常需要十天半個月才能夠讀完。但是借別人的書來看，總得要還，可不能長時間地借來看吧，匡衡心裡很著急，卻不知道該怎麼辦才好。

有一天晚上，匡衡正專心背著書的時候，忽然看到牆上露出了一道光線，他走近一看，原來是隔壁透過來的燈光。這帶給匡衡一個靈感，他拿了一把小刀，把縫隙挖得大一點，燈光也就更亮了，他就借著隔壁的燈光，讀起書來，一直讀到鄰居熄燈，匡衡才想到要休息。

就這樣，匡衡天天努力念書，終於成為一位很有學問的人。