17 posts tagged with "Social Satire"

Old Chen is the captain of the drone maintenance team, a middle-aged man whose hairline is receding year by year. His daily job is to inspect, repair, and record those things that fall from the sky. This time is a bit special, it’s not just one or two that fell, but a whole batch, and all of them are high-tech gadgets imported from South Korea.

"This thing is like a rock with wings," Old Chen muttered, kicking a piece of debris. He hasn't been home for three consecutive days, and his eye bags are as dark as two lumps of coal. The maintenance shed was filled with shattered fuselage, like the aftermath of a fierce air battle.

Old Li had graduated from medical school five years ago. He always fiddled with his small school emblem – a snake coiled around a staff, cold and smooth. Other classmates treated it as a decoration, but Old Li felt that it hid some secrets.

The emblem's design was almost the same as all medical schools. Old Li once asked his teacher what the serpent staff represented. The teacher would always smile and say it was “a symbol of medicine,” “healing the sick and saving the dying.” But Old Li always felt something was wrong. Why was a symbol of healing so cold and devoid of warmth?

Lao Wang, carrying two bags of snacks, struggled through the crowded cinema. It was the first day of the Lunar New Year, and tickets for the Spring Festival movie season were incredibly hard to come by. He had managed to snag tickets two weeks in advance, and today he could finally enjoy the festivities with his wife.

"Oh, look, look! This 'Jilin Changbai Mountain' outfit is so grand!"

Old Wang was a complete “snake-obsessed” person, though not in the literal sense. Born in the year of the snake, he held an almost obsessive pride in his zodiac sign. He firmly believed that people born in the year of the snake were inherently intelligent, calm, and strategic, and he had always strived to live up to this image.

In the office, Old Wang was renowned as a "human calculator." He could find discrepancies of even a few cents in any report that landed on his desk. Colleagues secretly called him "Old Snake," but they all knew it was a title tinged with respect.

The lights in the operating room were pale and glaring, like a pair of indifferent eyes. Anesthesiologist Lao Li was skillfully preparing the anesthesia. He had been in this position for almost twenty years, what hadn't he seen? From crying children to ashen-faced elders, all had calmed down under his needles.

Today’s surgery was a small appendectomy. The patient was a young delivery guy named Xiao Wang. Lying on the operating table, Xiao Wang seemed a bit nervous, but still managed a smile at Lao Li: “Dr. Li, thank you for your trouble.”

Old Wang was a cleaner at the Go academy, a quiet, gray-haired old man. His daily job was to sweep the playing rooms, wipe the Go boards, and pick up the scattered stones from the Go bowls and put them back in place. He had witnessed countless battles and heard countless sighs, but none of that concerned him. He only cared about the black and white stones, especially those that had been deemed "dead stones."

According to the rules, dead stones are removed from the board and placed in a special small box. But Old Wang always felt that these dead stones were unwilling to accept their fate. They were abandoned by their former owners, ruthlessly defined as "worthless" by the rules, and then thrown into the box, waiting to be used again, and abandoned again. Old Wang felt they should have some value, at least they shouldn't be treated like this.

Old Li is a Go enthusiast. Although his skills aren't that great, only around amateur 3-dan, his passion is undeniable. He always likes to apply Go principles to life, often using terms like "honte" (the proper move), "myoshu" (the brilliant move), and "zokusyu" (the vulgar move). In his department, a new leader recently arrived, surnamed Zhao, nicknamed "Zhao Honte."

"Dear passengers, welcome aboard this smart train provided by Voyah Chasing Light. The final destination of this train is: Hometown.”

The sweet female voice in the broadcast was like honey, making people feel warm inside. Li Ming took off his headphones, rubbed his tired eyes. Outside the train window, the scenery was receding rapidly, as if someone had pressed the fast-forward button. He glanced at his phone, the signal was full, but there were no new messages.