The Weight of Yogurt

Old Wang had worked at the courier station for five years and had seen all sorts of strange packages. But today's delivery truly opened his eyes. Two boxes of yogurt were sent by a girl named "Xiao Fang" to her online friend, "A Qiang." This was normal enough, but the "special packaging" sent shivers down his spine.

The packages were filled with dense layers of foam, wrapped like dumplings, with hand-written labels saying “Handle with Care” and “Fragile.” But what struck him as odd was that the shipping fee was a staggering 12,500 yuan.

"Hey, Old Wang, this girl must be out of her mind, right?" said his colleague Lao Li, with a cigarette dangling from his mouth and a mocking tone in his voice.

Old Wang didn't reply; he was thinking to himself: this isn't yogurt, it's a gold nugget! He scanned the QR code on the waybill, and the screen displayed a complex list of compensation clauses. The last line, in blood-red font, read: "Minimum declared value for fragile items: 10,000 yuan, maximum compensation not exceeding 100,000 yuan.”

Old Wang was in a dilemma. The courier station had a policy that high-value packages had to be monitored throughout the process. Any damage would be the responsibility of the person in charge of the delivery. This meant that he had to take care of these two boxes of yogurt as if they were his ancestors.

He carefully loaded the yogurt onto his tricycle, as if handling two ticking time bombs. Along the way, he had to avoid potholes and watch out for reckless electric bikes. He felt less like a deliveryman and more like a knight guarding precious treasure.

By the time he arrived at A Qiang's community, it was already 3:00 PM. A Qiang was a young man in his early twenties, wearing a loose T-shirt, his hair tousled. He was startled to see these two boxes of “priceless” yogurt, then a strange smile appeared on his face.

“This… this is what she sent?” A Qiang pointed at the yogurt, a hint of uncertainty in his voice.

Old Wang nodded, asking A Qiang to sign for the package while also asking: “This yogurt is pretty expensive, isn't it?”

A Qiang scratched his head, his smile even more peculiar. “Expensive? I didn’t pay a dime for it.” He signed and took the yogurt inside the building.

Old Wang didn't think much of it and hopped back on his tricycle to return to the station. But something felt amiss, he felt uneasy. He pulled out his phone and scanned the waybill again. This time, he noticed a small line at the very bottom: “Insured shipping fee: 12,500 yuan, actual shipping fee: 0 yuan."

He slammed on the brakes, and a cold chill went down his back. He understood. This was no high-priced yogurt; it was a carefully crafted scam! The sender and receiver were working together, using the high declared value as a pretext to cheat the courier company out of a large compensation. And he was just a pawn in their game.

He felt helpless. The world felt like a giant meat grinder, everyone struggling to get ahead, trying every means to obtain profit. He sighed and started his tricycle again.

Back at the station, Old Wang checked the remaining packages, organized the paperwork, and slowly sat down. He looked at the empty delivery manifest, then at his busy colleagues. Suddenly, he laughed out loud, a laugh filled with helplessness and self-mockery.

"Old Wang, what are you laughing about?" Lao Li offered him a cigarette.

Old Wang took the cigarette, lit it, took a deep puff, and slowly exhaled a smoke ring. In the hazy smoke, he seemed to see that those foam boxes were not filled with yogurt, but with shining gold “trust”.

“It’s nothing, just thinking that it’s a little hot today,” he said with a smile, but his eyes looked far away, toward the sky, obscured by the towering buildings.

The next day, Old Wang went to work as usual. As soon as he arrived, he saw a police officer waiting at the entrance. The officer showed his credentials and said that he had received a report that someone was using insured delivery to commit fraud.

Old Wang’s heart skipped a beat, but he tried to appear calm and cooperated with the police investigation. The officer questioned him closely about the two boxes of “high-value” yogurt. Old Wang told him everything he knew.

The officer nodded, then pulled out two photos, one of Xiao Fang, the other of A Qiang. “Do you recognize these two people?”

Old Wang shook his head, saying he did not.

The officer did not ask any further questions, just that Old Wang had to come to the police station to give a statement. Old Wang followed the officer.

At the police station, he described the events of the day in detail and cooperated with the police to make a statement.

Just when everything seemed to be over, a young policewoman approached, holding a waybill in her hand. She walked towards Old Wang with a puzzled look on her face and said, “Mr. Wang, this bill also seems to be yours.”

Old Wang took the bill and looked at it. It was for a package sent out yesterday. The recipient was himself. The sender was a stranger.

He looked at the policewoman in confusion. She continued, “The declared value of this package is 12,500 yuan, and the contents are two boxes of yogurt.”

The bill slipped from Old Wang’s grasp and fell to the ground. His eyes widened, his face filled with shock, a chill running from his feet to his head. He seemed to understand something, yet he understood nothing at all. His lips trembled, but he couldn't utter a word.