The Feather of the Golden Crane

Old Wang, once a veteran shoemaker at “Guirenniao,” is now a chicken farmer at “Golden Crane Agriculture.” The transition was so rapid that it left him a little dazed.

He still goes to work in his creaking old leather shoes every day, but instead of heading to the production line, he goes to the chicken coop. The only thing that hasn’t changed is his faded work uniform, except now, instead of a bird spreading its wings, it features a chubby Golden Crane against a backdrop of golden rice ears. He had the uniform altered himself by a tailor; it used to be a one-piece jumpsuit that looked like a duvet cover. Now, it’s been changed into a short jacket, which is much cooler to wear.

Old Wang thinks the world is simply too absurd. A once-famous sporting goods brand is now raising chickens. He sometimes stares blankly at the clucking hens, which probably have no idea that their coop used to be where running shoes were made.

"Old Wang, daydreaming again? Hurry up and fill the feeders!" yelled team leader Xiao Li, his voice strained. He wears an electronic pedometer around his neck, which he says is to record his daily exercise. Previously, Xiao Li’s dream was to become a top sports shoe designer. Now, his daily KPI is to make sure every chicken gets enough feed.

Even more absurd is that they have to recite the "Golden Crane Agriculture Corporate Culture" every day, the core tenet of which is: "Be down-to-earth, start from 'zero'." Old Wang thinks the word "zero" is used wonderfully, it's as if it was tailor-made for their current situation.

Four o'clock every afternoon is the time they look forward to the most—the feather collection contest. The company stipulates that everyone must collect a certain amount of chicken feathers each day, supposedly to develop new agricultural products, such as feather dusters and feather fertilizers. Old Wang always collects them quietly; he has found that the feathers seem to possess a strange magic that allows him to reminisce about the old days. He can always vaguely recognize the patterns of the old shoe soles in the feathers.

One day, the company suddenly issued a batch of new work uniforms. This time, it wasn’t a Golden Crane, but a strutting rooster against a backdrop of lush green wheat fields. Xiao Li excitedly told everyone that this was the company’s new strategy to develop organic agricultural products. "We must be as full of fighting spirit as a rooster!"

Old Wang looked at the strutting rooster and suddenly felt like he had seen it somewhere before. The pose looked exactly like the one used in the sports shoe advertisements he used to design. He pulled out his phone and found an old commercial the company had made for running shoes. The model in the commercial was striking the exact same pose as the rooster—bold and confident.

He showed the photo to Xiao Li, who scratched his head, looking bewildered. "Old Wang, what's so strange about that? Don’t all roosters pose like that?"

Old Wang chuckled, suddenly understanding something. The company might not have changed at all; only the name and business had changed. They were still pursuing the ultimate "movement", but the method had changed from shoes to chickens, from athletic fields to chicken farms.

The next day, Old Wang went to work without wearing the rooster uniform. Instead, he put on his altered Golden Crane short jacket. He carefully placed the collected chicken feathers in a clear plastic bag and walked into the company’s gate.

He saw that the company’s sign had been replaced by a huge LED screen, on which a line of text was scrolling: "Golden Crane Agriculture, leading the new trend in agriculture! Every one of our feathers is a path to success!" The background music on the screen was the same music they used to play in the commercials for running shoes, but the tempo had slowed down a lot, and it sounded like a lament.

Old Wang took a deep breath, as if inhaling the strong smell of the chicken coop, and then he raised the bag of chicken feathers in his hand towards the security camera at the gate, as if presenting a beautiful work of art.

In the monitoring room, the security guard rubbed his eyes; he felt that Old Wang was a little different today, but he couldn't quite put his finger on how. He just felt that the old man in the Golden Crane short jacket looked a bit like a lonely bird, waiting to take flight.

That day, Old Wang did not go to work as usual. Instead, he went to the job market, carrying the bag of chicken feathers and saying to anyone he met: "I can make the best shoes with chicken feathers!" Nobody paid him any attention, everyone thought he was crazy.

Only an old tailor had a glint in his eye: "Young man, these chicken feathers are truly good material!"

Later, Old Wang and the old tailor opened a small workshop and used chicken feathers to make insoles. It is said that their insoles were very breathable and made the soles of the feet feel slightly warm. Old Wang’s insoles became the hottest commodity in the city. People said that when they wore Old Wang's insoles, they felt like they had wings on their feet.

Years later, a reporter interviewed Old Wang and asked him what the secret to his success was. Old Wang pointed to the faded Golden Crane short jacket hanging on the wall and said with a smile: "To do anything, you have to be down-to-earth and start from 'zero'."

The "zero" he was referring to was chicken feathers.