《The Last New Year Goods》
Liu Qiang tightened his down jacket and rubbed his hands, which were red with cold. The glass curtain wall of the company building reflected the city's neon lights, like a cold mirror, showing his tired face. Today is the last day of the New Year shopping festival. At eight o'clock tonight, JD.com will release the last wave of discounts. For him, this is not just about grabbing New Year goods, but a battle concerning his dignity.
"Liu Qiang, what are you staring at the screen for? Your performance hasn't met the target today, and you're still in the mood to browse Taobao?" Supervisor Zhang Jie's voice was like an ice pick, chilling his back.
Liu Qiang gave an awkward smile, quickly switching back to the work interface, "No, no, I'm analyzing data, analyzing, uh, the impact of the New Year's promotion on performance."
Zhang Jie snorted coldly, "You better be. It's the end of the year, no one should think about slacking off."
Liu Qiang sighed inwardly, he knew that his performance evaluation for this month would probably be at the bottom again. The Internet company he worked for took "efficiency first" as its motto. Everyone was spinning like a top, and once they slowed down, they would be ruthlessly eliminated.
The clock pointed to 7:55 PM, Liu Qiang secretly opened his phone and added the items to his shopping cart in advance. What he wanted was the latest model of a robotic vacuum cleaner. The elderly in his family were getting older, and sweeping the floor was too strenuous for them. He figured that if he could grab this robot, the New Year would have some meaning.
At 8:00 PM sharp, a large amount of traffic flooded the page, and Liu Qiang's phone began to lag. He anxiously refreshed, his fingers dancing on the screen like playing a silent concerto. A few seconds later, he finally saw the "grab" button and clicked it without hesitation.
"Your account is locked, please contact customer service." A line of red text popped up on the screen, like a heavy hammer, smashing hard on his head.
Liu Qiang was dumbfounded, how could his account be locked? He hadn't done anything wrong. He quickly contacted customer service. The customer service replied that he had been judged by the system as a malicious buyer due to frequent clicks and needed to submit personal information and proof of employment to unlock the account.
This was a real problem for Liu Qiang. Where would he find the time to submit these documents? Time ticked by, and the number of items on the purchase page decreased rapidly. He felt an unprecedented anxiety.
He began to try various methods, changing phones, changing networks, and even borrowing colleagues' accounts, but to no avail. His efforts seemed so small and powerless in the face of the cold system.
At 9:00 PM, the grab activity ended, and Liu Qiang didn't get anything. He slumped back in his chair, feeling as if his body had been hollowed out, like a fish drained of water, desperately struggling on the dry ground.
He looked up at the window, the city lights were still shining brightly, but they had nothing to do with him. He suddenly realized that he was like those goods on the shelves, ruthlessly crushed by the wheels of capital.
The next day, Liu Qiang dragged his tired body to the company. As soon as he entered the office, he was stopped by Zhang Jie.
"Liu Qiang, come here for a moment." Zhang Jie's tone was calm, without any emotion.
Liu Qiang's heart thumped, he knew it was nothing good.
"Liu Qiang, your performance this month is still below target, and there was a grabbing incident last night. According to the company's regulations, you have been listed as an 'employee to be optimized' and need to undergo further evaluation."
"Employee to be optimized? Evaluation?" Liu Qiang was somewhat confused.
"Yes, the company will put you in the 'New Year's Promotion Experience Area' for a three-day promotional experience. If you can meet the performance requirements within three days, you can be reinstated." Zhang Jie said expressionlessly.
"New Year's Promotion Experience Area? What do you mean?"
Zhang Jie pointed to a small room at the office entrance. The room was filled with various New Year's gifts and a huge display screen that was scrolling through promotional advertisements.
"Starting today, you are the 'experience employee' here. You need to stand there and promote New Year goods to visiting customers. If you can successfully promote sales, it will be considered that you have completed your performance evaluation."
Liu Qiang was stunned. He looked at the mountains of New Year's goods and felt that he had also become a commodity, waiting to be selected and purchased. He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but found that he couldn't say anything.
He walked into the "experience area" and stood in front of the display stand. He was wearing a red promotional suit issued by the company, with a stiff smile on his face, like a puppet being controlled by strings.
He began mechanically introducing the characteristics of the New Year's goods. He tried to make himself sound more passionate, but his voice was still so weak.
Suddenly, a customer pointed at the promotional suit he was wearing and said, "How much is this?"
Liu Qiang was stunned for a moment. He instinctively replied, "Not for sale, this is the company's."
But the customer insisted on buying, "I just like this dress, I'll buy it no matter how much it costs."
Liu Qiang looked at Zhang Jie, bewildered. Zhang Jie walked over and patted his shoulder, "It's okay, sell it. Since the customer likes it, it shows that our promotion is effective."
Liu Qiang was stunned again. He looked at the bright red promotional suit on his body and then at the customer's expectant eyes. He suddenly understood something. He gave a bitter smile, picked up the "promoter" badge hanging on his chest, and handed it to the customer, "This is also for you, buy one get one free."
He was deprived of the qualification to grab New Year goods, but in the end, he himself became a New Year good. Perhaps this was the world he was in, an absurd and real world.