Depending upon his uncle, Ah Kun did not receive any salary but merely got his room and board. He was often beaten and scolded by his aunt, and he had nothing to eat except rice and dried turnip. It was a harsh three years before he was able to transfer to a rice-husking mill as a clerk.
寄人籬下，阿坤沒拿工錢只賺飯吃，被舅媽打罵是家常便飯，飯裡常拌的是鹹菜、蘿蔔乾，好不容易熬了三年，才轉到一家碾米廠當夥計。