Shen Feng's family is not rich but they are known to be educated people, if they would be compared to an ancient family they would be family of scholars.
Though their living conditions are not as good as that of overly rich people, they could still be considered as a family above average. They could eat well and have enough to buy a little bit of their luxuries so they are not poor.
When he was young, Shen Feng really didn't bother with this obvious division in the society but then again as if the world is playing with him, he fell in love with a daughter of a rich family. That was a situation he never imagined himself into.
To cut the long story short, he eventually fell in love with Xi Wei who was an heiress of one of the Nine Noble Families in the country and obviously, she is beyond his reach.