Your “Qiang“ is Back
Old Wang had been feeling like something was off recently. Every morning, he would wake up at exactly 7:30 am, mechanically put on his work uniform, squeeze onto the subway, and then in the office, like a finely tuned machine, he would tap away at his keyboard, processing all sorts of forms and reports. Ever since the company implemented "Qiang Culture," everything had changed.
This so-called "Qiang Culture" was initially just a slogan, plastered in the most visible spot of the company corridor: Your "Qiang" is the company's "Qiang"! Every morning meeting, the leader would repeat this phrase with great passion, as if it could inject everyone with a shot of chicken blood, making them forget about overtime, performance reviews, and that they were still living human beings.
Old Wang felt as if he were trapped in a giant cage, repeating the same actions every day. He couldn't figure out what his "Qiang" actually was. Was it typing a few more lines of code each day, or completing a few more reports? He tried to slow down his pace, but his colleagues around him seemed to be on stimulants, each one brimming with "Qiang" energy.
One day, Old Wang discovered a mysterious post on the company's internal forum. The post's title consisted of only one character: "Qiang". There was no content below it, only some incomprehensible replies: "Your 'Qiang' is back!" "My 'Qiang' is awakening!" "Qiang! Qiang! Qiang!"
Old Wang became obsessed, and began to pay attention to the post. He noticed that whenever he felt tired or confused, the post would be bumped to the top. He began to wonder, could his "Qiang" really be found again?
He started trying to understand the meaning of this "Qiang" character. He looked through dictionaries, searched the internet, even consulted ancient texts, trying to interpret the character from its etymology. However, he found that the character was like a maze; no matter which way he went, he couldn't find an exit.
In order to find his "Qiang", Old Wang started to try some crazy things. He refused the overtime assigned by his boss, and started practicing Tai Chi in the office; he turned his workstation into a tropical rainforest, and wore sunglasses to work every day; he even organized an "anti-Qiang Culture" group, and they would sing dissenting songs during lunch breaks.
However, his behavior was not understood by anyone. His colleagues thought he was crazy. The boss talked to him, warning him not to do such nonsense again, or else he would be fired.
Old Wang wasn't afraid, he felt even more excited. He felt he was getting closer to the truth. "Qiang" wasn't a mechanical repetition, but an internal awakening.
One stormy night, Old Wang was working overtime alone. The office was empty, with only the faint sound of keys being typed. At this time, he opened the company forum again. The mysterious post was still at the top, and the replies below were still those repeating words.
Suddenly, he saw a new reply under the post: "Your 'Qiang' is waiting for your call."
Old Wang stared at this reply for a long time. He felt something within him had been awakened. He slowly stood up, walked to the office window, and looked out at the dark night sky. A mysterious smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
The next morning, when his colleagues arrived at the office, they found Old Wang was gone. His workstation was empty, with only a pair of sunglasses lying quietly on the desk, and a leave slip, with his familiar handwriting: "My 'Qiang' has returned."
The colleagues looked at each other, not knowing where Old Wang had gone. Some guessed he might have resigned, others guessed he might be sick. Only that mysterious post remained at the top of the company forum, with some new replies below:
"Your 'Qiang' has really returned?" "My 'Qiang' will return soon too." "Qiang! Qiang! Qiang!" And Old Wang, nobody knew, had put on his favorite work uniform, with his sunglasses, and had boarded the bus to another company. The slogan at the entrance of that company read, in big characters:
"The New Era of 'Qiang Culture'."