The Golden Cage

"Gold, it's gone up again today!"

Old Wang muttered to himself, holding his thermos mug, staring at the glaring numbers on the computer screen. He worked at "Gleaming Gold" company, whose main business was gold jewelry. But Old Wang wasn't a designer, nor a salesperson; he was just an ordinary clerk in charge of data entry. His daily task was to input the real-time gold prices and inventory data of various jewelry items into the company's internal network system.

Lately, gold prices had been rocketing upwards like a rocket. Old Wang, staring at the constantly fluctuating numbers every day, felt like he was being melted down himself. Everyone in the company, from top to bottom, was acting as if they were on drugs, wishing they could eat gold for meals.

The company had launched a new "incentive program": as long as employees completed their data entry on time and ensured the accuracy of the data, they would earn "gold points". These points could be redeemed for gold jewelry within the company.

Old Wang was initially quite happy, thinking he finally had the chance to fulfill his dream of "getting rich". But soon, he found things weren't that simple.

To ensure "absolute accuracy" of the data, the company introduced a new "Golden Eye" system. This system claimed to automatically detect data errors and "punish" those who made mistakes. And the so-called "punishment" was the deduction of a large number of "gold points."

On the first day the "Golden Eye" system went live, Old Wang was dumbfounded. The data he entered was clearly correct, yet the system judged him "wrong", directly deducting half of his points. He took the report to the manager to reason with them. The manager glanced at it and said expressionlessly, "The system doesn't make mistakes, you must have had an issue with your operation."

Old Wang was stunned. He started operating meticulously, afraid of making another mistake. But he found that no matter how careful he was, the system could always find an "error." Sometimes, it was an extra decimal point, sometimes, the order of the numbers was reversed, sometimes, he didn't even know where the mistake was.

His colleagues were facing the same problems. Everyone was starting to get on edge. Going to work every day felt like going to the execution ground. Everyone was holding a magnifying glass, staring at the numbers on the screen, afraid that they might be swallowed by the "Golden Eye" if they weren't careful.

A strange atmosphere permeated the company. No one talked anymore, no one joked anymore, everyone was like a cold machine, numbly repeating their daily work. Only the constantly rising gold price and the mechanical sound of the "Golden Eye" system kept reminding them that this was a world about gold.

Old Wang became silent and reticent. He no longer harbored any illusions about the "gold points." He just hoped that he could get through each day smoothly. He felt like a canary trapped in a cage, singing a monotonous song every day, looking at the gold outside the cage, but never being able to reach it.

One day, Old Wang accidentally discovered that some of the source code for the "Golden Eye" system was actually publicly available. He turned on his computer and carefully studied the code. Suddenly, he laughed. He found that the so-called "errors" were not because he had actually entered them wrong, but because the system itself contained a large number of random errors! In other words, the system would randomly select employees for "punishment".

Old Wang felt a wave of absurdity. He thought of his colleagues who were on edge for the sake of the "gold points," and the dejected expressions after their points were deducted. He suddenly understood that the so-called "incentive program" was nothing but a giant lie. What the company really wanted was not the employees' efforts, but to use this method to make employees suspect and compete with each other, and thus be more obedient to management.

Old Wang began a secret plan. Using his understanding of the code, he modified a part of the logic of the "Golden Eye" system, making it no longer randomly "punish" employees, but instead, give corresponding "rewards" based on their workload.

The next day, when his colleagues came to the company again and turned on their computers, they discovered that their points had actually increased!

"What... what's going on?" someone exclaimed.

Old Wang smiled. He didn't explain, but just quietly watched his colleagues, slowly waking up from their numbness.

The price of gold was still rising, but Old Wang knew that some things were more important than gold.

At the end of the month, Old Wang redeemed his meager "gold points" for a small gold ring. He didn't wear it on his finger but placed it on his desk as a memento. A memento of the "golden cage" he was once trapped in.

Near the end of work, Old Wang received a text message containing only a string of numbers: 846. That was today's gold price. He stared at the number and suddenly laughed. He knew that tomorrow would be another new day. But perhaps, this would no longer be a world about gold. He closed his computer, turned, and left the company, leaving that golden ring, quietly lying on the desk, shining with a faint light.