in straitened circumstances
In Chinese, R ì m ù D à oyu ǎ n is a Chinese idiom. It means that the situation is very difficult, and it is the end of the day. It also describes the extreme poverty. It's the same as "a long way to go". It comes from Wu Zi Zhi Bing.
The origin of Idioms
"Wu Zi Zhi Bing" says: "the way is far away, you must count up and down; you'd better work for others, and be careful with horses without work."
Idiom usage
Feng Menglong's Yu Shi Ming Yan, Vol. 13: "when the sun is far away, what will the two gongs do?"
in straitened circumstances
a remarkable place produces outstanding people - dì líng rén jié
A cup to the bow and a tiger to the market - bēi gōng shì hǔ
Stop the boiling and increase the salary - zhǐ fèi yì xīn