Unlimited Full-Sugar Cola Refills

"Refill! Thank you."

Li Mingyang, holding his empty glass, called out mechanically to the robot bartender behind the counter. His voice was slightly hoarse, yet it maintained an almost excited tone.

This was his thirty-seventh glass of full-sugar cola today.

Since the company implemented the "Happy Work" program, full-sugar cola has become a company standard. Each workstation is equipped with an unlimited refill cola machine. It is said that sugar can make people happy, and happiness can improve work efficiency. The company even hired a psychology expert specifically for this purpose, who publishes "Today's Happiness Tips" in the employee group every day.

Li Mingyang is a loyal supporter of the company's "Happy Work" program. Since he started unlimited consumption of full-sugar cola, he does feel a lot happier, at least on the surface. He arrives at work on time every day, types code mechanically on his computer screen, always sporting a pleasant smile, and occasionally lets out some meaningless laughter.

He's like a wind-up toy, precisely executing every instruction issued by the company. The code is no longer just cold characters, but dancing musical notes, each line filled with the sweetness of sugar.

Of course, this is just what outsiders see.

Only Li Mingyang himself knows that his daily intake of so much full-sugar cola is not for happiness, but to numb himself. He feels no joy, only endless emptiness and fatigue. Those dancing notes are actually repetitive noise, each sound mocking him.

His job title is "Code Optimizer," but in reality, his daily task is to delete the comments from the code. The company believes that comments reduce the "aesthetic appeal" of the code and affect employees' "sense of happiness."

"Empty again?" the robot bartender said mechanically, extending its metallic arm, accurately taking Li Mingyang's glass, filling it with cola, and then handing it back to him. Its movements were as standard as textbook examples.

Li Mingyang took the glass and drank it in one gulp. The icy liquid stimulated his taste buds, but brought no real sensation. He felt like a container, constantly being filled and constantly being emptied.

He glanced at his surrounding colleagues. They were all like him, wearing stiff smiles, mechanically repeating their tasks, occasionally letting out some meaningless laughs, as if controlled by some invisible force.

"You've had a lot again today, Mr. Li," a voice came from behind him.

Li Mingyang turned around and saw HR Manager Sister Wang standing behind him, wearing a professional smile.

"Yes, Sister Wang, this cola is great stuff, the more you drink it, the happier you get!" Li Mingyang tried to make his voice sound more excited.

Sister Wang nodded in satisfaction and said, "That's good, that's good. What the company needs most are positive employees like you."

After that, Sister Wang handed Li Mingyang a folder and said, "This is your 'Happy Work' assessment report for this month. Take a look and sign it."

Li Mingyang took the folder and opened it.

The assessment report read:

"Mr. Li Mingyang, your performance in 'Happy Work' this month has been excellent. Your full-sugar cola consumption ranks first in the entire company, your smile index is as high as 99.9%, and you have actively participated in 'Happy Work' activities, fully embodying the company's 'Happy Work' philosophy. We hereby commend you."

At the end of the report was a large red stamp – "Happy Work, Create Greater Glory!"

Li Mingyang took a pen and, with trembling hands, signed his name on the report. His hand was numb, as if it had lost all sensation.

He put down the pen and looked up at the electronic clock on the wall. There were still two hours until quitting time, and he had a lot more cola to drink and a lot more code comments to delete.

He held up his empty glass again and called out to the robot bartender, "Refill! Thank you."

Just then, he suddenly noticed that in the robot bartender's eyes, there was a flicker of something barely perceptible... sarcasm?

Li Mingyang was stunned. He felt like he understood something, yet also like he understood nothing at all.

He looked at the full-sugar cola in his hand and suddenly felt nauseous. He violently threw his glass on the floor, and the crisp sound of glass breaking was particularly jarring in the silent office.

Everyone stopped their work and looked at Li Mingyang. They still had stiff smiles on their faces.

Li Mingyang took a deep breath, mustered all his strength, and yelled at everyone:

"I'm not happy!"

The office became deathly silent. Then, all the employees' smiles gradually became even stiffer, and their bodies began to tremble slightly, making creaking sounds, like the signal that some machine was starting up.

Only Li Mingyang heard the sound of glass breaking echoing in his ears, and the robot bartender's ambiguous, mocking gaze.