3 posts tagged with "O. Henry Style"

Manhattan wasn't awake yet, but a side street off Fifth Avenue already was, and running a fever. Three in the morning. The cold air was like a damp cloth, wiping over the bare trees and the hurried night-returners. Yet, here gathered a long dragon—a dragon composed of down jackets, coffee cups, yawns, and whispers—snaking for a full two blocks. They were all waiting, waiting for an electronics store, not yet open, with a decor so minimalist it bordered on cold. The target? A camera from China, called "Phoenix Eye."

The lights at the annual meeting flickered, a little too dazzling, mirroring Wang Wei's current mood. She clutched the thin piece of paper in her hand, which displayed her newly "won" grand prize – an extra ten days of paid annual leave. Below the stage, her colleagues were clapping, their eyes filled with envy and bewilderment. After all, who would consider valuable annual leave a prize?

"Wang Wei, congratulations!" Old Li from HR approached her, patting her shoulder with a beaming smile. "The company's really thinking outside the box this year, using annual leave as a prize. You're the first one!"

Zhang Qiang was a standard office worker. He got up at seven o'clock every morning, squeezed into the subway, clocked in, and started his repetitive and tedious day. His life was like the black down jacket he had worn for three years: ordinary, practical, but unremarkable.