細個嗰陣，大概中學二三年級，屋企忽然好窮。我記得老竇有晚打電話問人借1000蚊，因為佢連第二日返工車錢都無。
When I was a teenager, perhaps in Form Two or Three, my family fell into sudden financial hardship. I remember my father making a phone call one evening, asking to borrow a thousand Hong Kong dollars, which was about a hundred quid, because he didn't even have the bus fare for work the next day.
我記得有一輪早餐晚餐，都係白飯加蕃薯、豆腐或者蛋；食到好驚，但又不能不吃，因為別無選擇。
There was a time when breakfast and dinner consisted simply of plain rice with sweet potatoes, tofu, or egg. The monotony became almost frightening, yet we had no choice but to eat.
終於忍到16歲生日正日，2006年6月23日，對我而言至今最難忘一日，中四期末試剛好最後一日。日頭考完試，晚上我就開始返第一份兼職，做間餐廳，時薪15蚊，包一餐飯。
Finally, on my 16th birthday, 23rd June 2006, a day still unforgettable to me, my end-of-year exams had just concluded. I began my first part-time job that evening, at a restaurant for fifteen Hong Kong dollars an hour, equivalent to about £1.50, and one meal included.
餐廳經理叫Wendy，副經理叫阿Cash，水吧叫阿蚊，知客唔記得咗。有個人教我一隻手拎四隻碟，叫阿賢；有個好好笑嘅同事叫阿權；廚房大佬閪到不值一哂，但係二佬非常錫我叫阿坤。
The manager was Wendy; the assistant manager, Cash; the bar girl, Ah Man. I've forgotten the hostess's name. A colleague named Ah Yin taught me to carry four plates with one hand. Another, Ah Kuen, was wonderfully funny. The head chef was unbearably harsh, but the sous chef, Ah Kwan, was very kind to me.
我最記得係，返工第一日，用托盤送第一碗湯畀個客，手騰騰成碗倒落個客度。我驚到去咗pantry喊，經理走嚟無鬧，淨係講「定啲嚟」。更加記得當日收工，我福食鋸到人生中第一塊牛扒。
What I remember most clearly was my first day at work. Carrying a bowl of soup on a tray to a customer, my hands trembled so badly that I spilled the whole bowl over him. I ran into the pantry in tears. The manager came over, didn't scold me, but only said "Calm down." That night, after my shift, I had my staff meal and cut into the first steak of my life.
後來先知道，所謂福食，其實食材通常就快過期，但總教我知道，黑椒汁加厚厚一塊肉，真係可以好食到黐線。
I later learned that the staff meals often used ingredients close to expiry, yet they taught me that a thick cut of meat with black pepper sauce could taste unbelievably good.
到月尾30號，有返工其實只係兩三日，出糧幾百蚊，我就撳晒出嚟，收工放喺屋企飯枱。
At the end of the month, the 30th, though I had only worked two or three days, I withdrew the few hundred dollars I had earned, a few dozen pounds or so, and placed the cash on the dining table before going to bed.
第二朝五點令鐘，老竇嘈醒我問啲錢邊度嚟。我解釋完，兩仔爺喊咗好耐好耐好耐。
At around five o'clock the next morning, my dad woke me up and asked where the money had come from. When I told him, the two of us cried for a long, long time.
之後我同老竇落樓食麥記早餐。
Afterwards, we went downstairs for a McDonald's breakfast.
飽到不得了。
My stomach had never been this full.