King Time

Life as death

The sun slowly rises in Guangdong province of China.

In an abandoned apartment complex that was dismantled for demolition, an alarm went off at 6:00 a.m.

The sound came from an apartment that was almost broken, a door that you could not close properly no matter how hard you pushed it, with a seat in the back with a 45 degree angle that works as a door lock.

The apartment was of medium size, about 80 cm but inside it was almost empty. The bed mattress is in the middle of the living room along with a small sized table with a alarm clock on it. On the side of the room were 10 large water bottles along with a few packs of instant noodles.

A figure of the body moved under the blanket seen on the mattress, grabbing the alarm clock on the table.

''Ugh'' the man groaned after he knocked on the alarm clock once.

A malnourished body satisfies itself from under the blanket as it slowly rises from the bed.

A young man aged around 16-17 years old got up from his bed as he walked towards the bathroom. The air was cut off since the apartment was abandoned so that the youth could not even bathe in the morning. He took half an empty water bottle from the alarm clock table on it, and used it along with his toothbrush to wash his teeth and when he finished, then gulped down the remaining water from the bottle. Then she took the clothes off the table and put them on as she left the apartment.

It was about a 20-minute walk from the complex apartment to reach a large construction site with many warning signs: ''Danger'' and ''Work is ongoing''.

As soon as he walked towards the half-finished 8-story building, the young man heard a voice from behind shouting ''ay Rock''. The voice belonged to a 45-year-old man.

''Good morning uncle'' said Rock.

Of course Rock is not his real name, but a nickname given to him by the people who work on construction sites with him because he doesn't like to talk much. Rock has no real name from his parents, he is an orphan, and he grew up in a government-owned home complex for orphans. The government sends food to those homes once a week but that is not enough for the children there to eat on their own. All the orphanages are full and that's why the government made these houses send food to the children, but of those who still died of many or were sick because no one cared for them even when they were sick.Rock stayed there until he was 12 years old. He could fight other children to get food, but even that was not enough to feed himself so decided to leave.

Usually people on construction sites do not allow children to work, given that it is illegal but due to low wages, some people go on such construction sites, the report said, and because the lower workforce equals working with the slow, the manager accepts even a small child.like Rock with skinny arms and legs, and allows him to work there, the, of course with the amount of money provided as his wages. Rock was not satisfied, as he ended up having enough money each month to feed himself at least.

This situation occurred until Rock graduated from high school but he never stopped working on construction sites because it was his only way of earning.

It's a lie to say that he doesn't feel wronged. Even working for the site without proper security measures is considered normal at this point, but hope deep down today will change one day and her life will change for the better.

During the last half year Rock worked at this construction site, this "uncle" has taken care of him a lot, either by sharing food or drinks, or helping him during work when needed .

It goes without saying that rock feels very grateful to this man and he also helps him during work whenever possible as well.

''I know you won't bring breakfast again. My wife gave me extra again today so let's share it together.'' once she finishes her sentence, he took out a plastic bag and took out 2 large water bottles along with 2 sandwiches and 4 rice balls. He divided it into 2 parts and gave one to Rock.

The man knew Rock wasn't a charitable person, so he said, "Hey son, we have to eat to get to work, you still have to take care of me because this job is so dangerous, so eat it."

Rock still did not reply, until the man spoke again and said: You will treat me to drink again when you get your wages OK? Let's eat!'' then without seeing Rock again, the man started eating his food.

Rock did not say anything but he also started eating, keeping this man's attitude deep in his heart. This middle-aged man was the only one who had ever shown concern for them, in his 20 years of life and Rock would never manage to forget this.

After they finish eating, they begin their daily work but little do they know that this will be the last day of Rock's life