Fiction: Group 4
green paint was peeling off and tinted with a bit of yellow. The cheap wooden door looked beaten up, the
only thing that looked new in the room were the bars on the window and the large shiny lock on the door.
I walked towards the door and tried opening it, but it wouldn’t budge at all. Suddenly, I remembered the
technique that my father had taught me long ago when I was a child. He did something like a twist and a
pull and a little twirl on the lock. And I unlocked it! I peeked out and saw a long cement corridor, the same
color as the floor inside. I walked tiptoed out the room and prayed to every God there was to protect me.
Suddenly, I felt a strong grip on my shoulder. Without thinking twice, I swung my fist so hard that I was
sure I could have broken a wall and made my father proud. But my happiness was short lived because my
fist didn’t hit anyone at all. Instead, I found my fist being caught by a tall, large man whose head shone from
the flickering lights above us. He was dressed in a green uniform with a familiar logo stapled on the front
pocket of his shirt. “Follow me,” he grunted.
As he led me down the corridor with his hand around my wrist, we passed by an elevator. Although I didn’t
know where that elevator could have led me, a flicker of hope was lit inside me once again. The man must
have noticed because he yanked me harder and led me to the most polished door at the end of the corridor.
There, he stopped, straightened his shirt and stood up straighter. He looked down at me without expression,
and I immediately started fixing my clothes as well without knowing why. I gulped, fearing of what lies
behind the closed door.
He opened the door and a rush of cool air hit my face. The room was furnished in a Western style but the
man who sat behind the beautifully crafted wooden table was indeed a Chinese man. He was smiling
warmly yet I had a strange feeling being in the same room as he. He raised his eyebrow and without a
word, he motioned me to sit on the cushioned pale chairs in front of him.
We kept eye contact for a good few minutes when my curiosity was screaming to be answered. But instead,
I asked, “Do you have any food?” The man laughed loudly, and then answered in his deep, throaty voice,
“Of course!” He then motioned the man who brought me here and within a minute, I was greeted with a
plate of mouthwatering food. I dug in. The felt the two men staring at me while I ate. Suddenly, the man
behind the table spoke. “I’m Mr. K… and you’re in our debt now.” My head shot up from the plate of
goodies, “Is it because of the food? I could pay you back-“He shook his head and said, “No, you cannot
pay us back with your money. It does not have any meaning to us.” I stared at him, not comprehending
what he just said. He continued, “You must stay here and work as a worker to pay back the debt. After all,
we did save you from drowning and we just gave you a full meal.”
I stared back at the plate of food and suddenly it wasn’t as appetizing as it as anymore. Not distracted by my
hunger anymore, it was only then when I realized all the food on the plate were dim sum. “Where am I?” I
asked Mr. K. “Guangzhou,” he replied, all niceness seemed to have wiped off of face. He looked behind me
and said, “Ray, would you please show this gentleman to our factory now?” The strong arms once again
held my wrist and dragged me up from my seat in response.
I had heard about these factories. They took in homeless and lost people. I knew that by trying to fight, I
would probably be beaten up and left for dead. If I kept my head down I could maybe find a way out before
the end of the week.
He walked fast, pulling me behind and took me to the elevator that I was staring at not long ago. Soon, we
were whisked into a large, gray area, with many people in the same green uniform standing side by side
doing the same action over and over again. “What-“ but my question was not even heard and the same
green uniform was thrown into my hands. And Ray left.
I changed into the uniform and stepped into the line of workers who seemed to be putting two parts of a
phone together before they threw it into the machine again. As I stepped into the line, no one even
bothered looking up to see what was going on. That night, I was put into the same room and bed as I
woke up at. But this time, the other three beds were not empty.
“Hey!” I tried greeting the guy on the bunk above me. “Stop bothering me, I have a long day of work
ahead of me tomorrow- and so do you, so you better go to sleep now.” Defeated, I saw that the other two
roommates had gotten into bed already. “Alright…” I trailed off, not noticing that the guy was still talking
“…like the guy before you,” I frowned in confusion, “Sorry? What did you say?” In the darkness, the voice
above me sighed and said, “ I said, you wouldn’t want to be like the guy before you.” Right after that, the
guy started snoring before I could even ask more.
And life continued like that for several weeks. There was no escape, and no matter what objections I made,
I was ignored. Over time, I made friends with the three men in my room, ShuiYi, XiaoPi and LiRen. But
one day, ShuiYi, my bunk mate wouldn’t leave his bed in the morning. In the afternoon, he was sent to the
