The Art of Reconciling Accounts

Old Wang, wearing his somewhat dated baseball cap, squinted at the computer screen under the dim yellow lamp. In front of him, densely packed numbers filled the screen, lines of posts from online forums, arranged as if silently summoning something.

These past few days, a peculiar wave had swept through the internet—Chinese and American netizens were reconciling accounts online. It all started when someone accidentally discovered some "peculiar" differences in prices between the two countries. So someone proposed that everyone conduct an online reconciliation to see who was “fleecing” whom. At first, Old Wang was disdainful, finding it utterly boring, but when he saw the comparisons of “one jin of pork” and “one gallon of gasoline” in the posts, he suddenly felt like he should do something too.

Old Wang was an accountant at a factory before he retired, with a natural sensitivity to numbers. He felt that this wasn’t just about reconciling accounts; it was an intellectual game, a meticulous observation of life. He began to diligently record, compare, and calculate, as if he had returned to the days when he meticulously checked accounts at the factory. The difference was that this time, the "ledgers" weren't dry financial statements but vivid commodities filled with the breath of life.

He would sometimes frown deeply, and other times exclaim with a “tsk-tsk,” he saw that the price of eggs in China was higher than in the US, but milk in the US was more expensive than in China. It was like a complex chess game, where every number hid an invisible contest. Old Wang was happy to do this, he even felt like he was back in his youth, full of fighting spirit.

He started to speak on the forum, sharing his discoveries, his shrewd calculations, his “exclusive tips.” With his somewhat aged voice, he typed out combinations of numbers on the keyboard, as if he were writing an epic poem of an old accountant. His comments attracted many onlookers. Some thought he was too serious, some found him interesting, and others even started to reconcile accounts along with him.

“A jin of cabbage is actually half the price over there!” Old Wang wrote in a post, adding a funny smiley face at the end.

“Yes, but their beef is cheaper!” replied a netizen with the ID "CowboyIsBusy."

And so, Old Wang and the netizens went back and forth online, and the team of reconcilers grew larger and larger. They compared the prices of all kinds of commodities, from food and clothing to household items, and even the cost of housing and healthcare. They discussed the reasons behind each number, and analyzed the impact of various economic policies. They were no longer just netizens but like a group of neighbors who were living earnestly in a virtual space.

Old Wang would sit in front of the computer for several hours every day; he felt that this "career" was very meaningful. He no longer felt lonely, and it seemed that he had found his value in life after retirement. Moreover, he started to think that this was not just about reconciling accounts, but about interpreting the world with numbers, resisting the passage of time in an absurd way.

One day, Old Wang opened his computer as usual, but found that all the forum posts had been deleted. He hurried to find the administrator but was told that "the topic is over, please do not discuss it any further." Old Wang was somewhat disappointed, feeling like he had been kicked out of this game. Those carefully calculated numbers had all turned into air overnight.

He turned off the computer and looked at the gray sky outside the window. He suddenly realized that perhaps the reconciliation itself was an absurd farce. Those numbers, no matter how they were compared, couldn't really change anything. It was like a meaningless ritual. Everyone tried hard to prove something, but in the end, they proved nothing.

Old Wang sighed and poured himself a cup of tea. He walked onto the balcony and watched the bustling crowd below. They looked so busy, so real. Maybe this was life. He picked up his phone and opened a shopping app, starting to browse for today's special offers. A faint smile appeared on his lips; he knew that life’s reconciliation would never stop. However, this time, the ledger had returned to his own life. He clicked on a vegetable package that looked very affordable and gently added it to his shopping cart.