83 posts tagged with "Irony"

Xiaofang recently felt that something was a little off.

Ao Bing looked at the words "Dragon Palace" on the stick and fell into deep thought. It was an ordinary wooden stick painted with cheap red paint, originally used to support the Dragon Palace's crumbling coral reef walls. Now, it was casually discarded in the corner of the Dragon Palace Property Management office, covered in the fishy smell of seaweed and the dust of time.

He had to face a reality: he was likely to inherit his family's property management company.

Old Liu's grocery store was located in the east end of town and had been open for decades. It wasn't a big store, selling things like needles and thread, soy sauce and vinegar, and also collecting utility bills. His most prominent trait was being stingy; he wouldn't turn on the lights if he could avoid it, saying he could save a little money.

Lao Liu's grandson, Xiaobao, received a thick stack of red envelope money this year. On the eighth day of the Lunar New Year, Xiaobao insisted on going to the bank to deposit it. Lao Liu couldn't dissuade him, so he took him.

The advertising screen in the elevator was once again replaying the promotional video for the "Worry-Free Office" app. Zhang Qiang stared at the stiffly smiling office elite on the screen, feeling a wave of nausea. He had to use this app every day to clock in, submit expenses, apply for leave, and even book a toilet stall.

Zhang Qiang was an ordinary technician, functioning like a cog set in a fixed orbit within the vast corporate machine. He disliked the "continuous monthly subscription" services on various apps on his phone the most, always feeling it was a disguised form of exploitation. A few days ago, he had seen news that a celebrity had also immediately canceled a continuous monthly subscription on an app, and he had felt quite relieved about it.

Old Wu, a young man drifting in the city, has recently become obsessed with "Spring Festival Gala-themed tourism." It's not because he particularly loves watching the Spring Festival Gala, but because of a "year-end check-in" task assigned by his company—he must visit four cities "brought to fame" by the Gala, take photos in front of designated landmarks, and post them on WeChat Moments, collecting four "likes" to receive his full year-end bonus.

There's no way to argue with these rules. Old Wu shouldered his bag, like a clockwork puppet wound tight, and began his "performance."

Old Liu has been working at his company for almost ten years. He hasn't been promoted, nor has he gotten a raise, but he has developed a "highway" on his hairline. He feels like a screw, fastened in some corner of a huge machine, humming monotonously day after day. Recently, the company launched a "skills certification," ostensibly to "improve the comprehensive quality of employees," but in reality, it was preparing for "downsizing and elimination."

Old Liu isn't worried. He's a Tsinghua master's graduate, a top scorer in the college entrance exam back in the day. He's confident that this certification will impress the leaders. However, the subjects of the certification are baffling: excavator operation, car repair, and cooking skills. Old Liu is dumbfounded. He majored in computer science, so he's good at coding, but wielding a wrench is beyond him.

　 The alarm went off.

Old Wang felt like he had become a "trendsetter" for the first time. It wasn't because he bought some trendy new electronic product, or learned some high-tech skill, but because of the small plastic stool he was carrying.

The cinema entrance was crowded with people, all carrying various types of stools – wooden, plastic, tall, short – a motley collection resembling a market. Old Wang looked at his slightly worn-out blue stool he’d fished out from home and suddenly felt a little embarrassed.

Old Wang clutched a crumpled movie ticket, on which the words "Bench Ticket" were clearly printed. He looked around; the cinema lobby was bustling with people, each carrying a variety of benches. There were small plastic stools, bulky wooden benches, and even someone lugging a foldable lounge chair.

"These days, you even have to bring your own equipment to watch a movie," Old Wang muttered. In his hand was an old wooden plank he had found at home, looking rather shabby.