I turned a cave into my tiny home to save money on rent – I won’t tell my family the truth for heartbreaking reason
A dad revealed how he turned a den into his home to save money for rent – but he hasn’t told his family for a heartbreaking reason.
Shi Zhiyong from Hebei, China calls a narrow cave in a lonely mountain home.
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The transport worker’s tiny cave house is in Jinan – where he stumbled upon one day while hiking.
It is about 10 meters long and Shi has only a radio, a quilt, a water bottle and some clothes in his apartment.
The father then packs up all of these items each morning and carries them to work after noticing that other villagers have entered his “house” and gone through his belongings.
“Often when I come back from work at night, the cave had been explored from top to bottom by others,” he told local media.
Photos of the cave show how its mouth opens into a cavity with large protruding rocks overhead.
Shi reportedly lived in the cave full-time six months ago so he could save money for rent to send back to his family in Handan, Hebei.
“I have two children aged 11 and six. I have to save money and support the family,” he told China News Service.
So instead of paying up to 200 yuan (£25) a month in rent – which was most of his earnings – the father decided to save every possible penny from his 3,000 yuan (£325) monthly salary to send him home.
Thanks to the lack of rent payments, Shi is able to pay almost all of his income back to his wife and children.
But they don’t suspect that he lives in a cave because he doesn’t dare to tell them.
“I told my family I was staying at the company dorm,” he said.
The 35-year-old sleeps on bedding laid out on the rocky ground and lights fires to keep warm.
During his shift, he also likes to eat at the cafeteria at his workplace, and when he’s not working, Shi subsists on sesame cakes.
The cave dweller reportedly only showers once a month in a local public toilet as there is no running water in his new home.
This comes after an avid nature lover who lives in caves and sleeps on haystacks revealed the very dangerous risks he faces.
Another hermit told how he left home at the age of 14 to move to a cave in the remote mountains of Argentina.
And one guy shared how he decided to live in a cave and not spend a dime after getting fed up with the rent.
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