Stove God Observation Report

Old Wang, the Stove God, has been very bothered lately. The Jade Emperor approved his descent to investigate public sentiment, euphemistically calling it "experiencing the human touch." He was overjoyed, thinking he'd see wisps of smoke rising from chimneys and hear cheerful laughter. But what did he find? On his first day, he was almost run over by a food delivery guy.

He transformed into a middle-aged programmer named Wang Ming, who was woken up by his alarm clock at 7:30 AM every morning. He'd hastily shove a few bites of bread into his mouth, then squeeze onto the subway to begin his daily "cultivation." Wang Ming’s "workstation" was in a transparent glass cubicle. He could see everyone in the cubicles across from him buried in their work, with only the clatter of keyboards rising and falling.

At lunchtime, the company’s boxed lunch was greasy and bland. Wang Ming held his tray, mechanically waiting in line. He tried to chat with the colleague next to him, but the colleague didn't even look up, instead stuffing food into their mouth while scrolling through their phone. "Project launch is imminent, no time to chat," the colleague coldly tossed out.

After working overtime until ten o'clock, Wang Ming finally dragged his exhausted body back to his rental apartment. Opening the refrigerator, he found it empty, with only a few expired drinks inside. He sighed, ordered a spicy hot pot from a food delivery app, and then continued to stare at the dense code on his computer screen.

“What kind of human touch is this?” Old Wang mumbled to himself, completely baffled. He remembered how, in the Heavenly Court, the air was always filled with the aroma of all kinds of delicious food, and the gods gathered together, talking and laughing, having a great time. But now, people locked themselves inside concrete and steel boxes, interacting with cold machines. They were busy, yet seemed to have lost their joy.

What shocked Old Wang even more was that the so-called "welcoming the Stove God" was merely a cheap "Welcoming the Stove God" display board at the entrance of his neighborhood. It read "New year, good luck all year!" and was adorned with a bunch of garish plastic decorations. He couldn't help but walk closer. He saw several middle-aged women taking pictures of the display board with their phones and then posting them on their social media, with the caption "Welcoming good luck!"

Old Wang’s heart sank. He thought, have people all become like this? They don't revere the gods, only care about the number of likes on their social media?

In the following days, Old Wang saw various things that he found hard to understand. Piles of New Year's goods in supermarkets that would soon become trash; in restaurants, waiters greeted customers with formulaic smiles, their eyes empty; and those strangers who were keen on attacking each other online, seemingly delighted to unleash their malice on keyboards.

"Why aren't they happy?" Old Wang finally couldn't help but ask a young person who was playing on their phone.

The young person didn't even look up and said, "Happy? Can that stuff fill your stomach?"

Old Wang was silent. He remembered his duty as the Stove God: to observe the human world and record good and evil. He had originally thought that descending to the mortal world was to understand people's needs and then help them. Now it seemed that the problems he needed to solve were far more complicated than he had imagined.

He stopped rushing to make judgments and instead began to observe carefully. He found that although people appeared to be very busy on the surface, they longed to be understood and cared for in their hearts. They expressed their emotions in various ways, but the ways were somewhat distorted. They seemed cold, but deep down, they still yearned for a better life.

On New Year's Eve, Wang Ming returned home from work, and saw a small "Fu" character posted on the door of his rental apartment. He opened the door and discovered that his roommate had actually returned early and had prepared a simple meal. They didn't drink, just ate quietly, then together turned on the TV to watch the Spring Festival Gala.

"I feel like I've come home too," his roommate suddenly said.

Wang Ming smiled without speaking. He knew that the so-called "human touch" was perhaps not in those magnificent scenes, but hidden in the subtle details of daily life. They could be a simple greeting, a warm smile, or an ordinary dinner.

Old Wang decided that he would write a special observation report for the Jade Emperor. In the report, he would not only write about people's complaints and dissatisfactions, but also about people's resilience and hope. He would not only write about the dark side of society, but also about those faint but shining lights. He wanted the Jade Emperor to know that although the human world was not perfect, it was still full of life and vitality.

At the end of the report, he wrote a sentence in neat font: "Human touch is not about the stove, but about the heart."

The next day, Wang Ming woke up and found himself back in the Heavenly Court. He was about to hand the report to the Jade Emperor, but found that the Jade Emperor was holding his phone, scrolling through social media, and clicking "like" on a picture of the "Welcoming the Stove God" display board. "Hmm, this year's display board is not bad," the Jade Emperor said with satisfaction.

Old Wang was stunned. He looked at himself and then at the Jade Emperor. He seemed to understand something. He silently put the report back into his sleeve. Perhaps some things cannot be changed with just one report. What he needed to do was perhaps to continue being a good Stove God in this absurd world.