The family was poor, but the two brothers had great ambition.
Tips
usage
Strongly collocates with 出身 (family origins) and 家境 (household circumstances). 贫寒 specifically evokes a cold, scant household - it carries more literary weight than plain 穷.
memory
Both characters mean a kind of lack: 贫 = poor in money, 寒 = cold (no fuel, no warm clothes). Doubled-up poverty.
