New Year Limited Edition
Old Wang was the sole lucky winner of the "Year-End Lucky Koi" at the company's annual party. He didn't win a BMW, nor did he win cash. Instead, he won a "New Year Limited Experience Post" – a "Spring Festival Folklore Special Envoy."
The duties of the "Special Envoy" sounded grand, but in reality, during the Spring Festival holiday, he was to carry out a series of "holiday atmosphere creation" tasks according to the company's issued "Folklore SOP." When Old Wang saw the task list, he almost laughed his false teeth out: On the first day of the Lunar New Year, send "New Year red envelopes" to the company group, and attach a picture of dumplings; on the second day, participate in the "Cloud Temple Fair" and live-stream clay figurine making at a designated location; on the third day, collect "Fu" characters and post them inside the company; on the fourth day, perform "God of Wealth Arrives" and dance square dancing in the live broadcast room; on the fifth day, send "Breaking Five" blessings in the company group, and attach a self-compiled "Breaking Five" jingle.
At first, Old Wang thought it was a joke. But when he saw the department manager sending "New Year Work Cheer" emoticons in the group, he realized: this joke was too big.
The benefits of the "Spring Festival Folklore Special Envoy" were: completion of the task, holidays as usual, and an additional reward of 100 points. The points could be redeemed for small gifts within the company. Old Wang glanced at them and saw that the highest points could be exchanged for a thermal mug printed with the company logo.
Old Wang wanted to resign, but he didn't dare, because he had a mortgage and children to send to school. He could only bite the bullet and start his "folklore performance."
On the first day, Old Wang sent red envelopes in the company group on time, accompanied by a dumpling picture downloaded from the internet. The group was filled with "Thank you, boss" replies, and Old Wang felt a little nauseous looking at this hypocritical prosperity.
On the second day, Old Wang braved the cold wind to live-stream clay figurine making in the community square. The clay figurines he made were so ugly that they looked like they had just been dug out of a coal mine, but he still had to smile like a Maitreya Buddha for the camera.
On the third day, Old Wang collected "Fu" characters in the neighborhood. He was embarrassed to ask others for them, so he could only secretly peel off the "Fu" characters from other people's doors. Then, he posted a photo in the company group, along with a "New Year, full of blessings" message.
On the fourth day, Old Wang wore a God of Wealth costume bought from a street stall and started dancing square dancing in the live broadcast room. He danced wildly, like a comical clown, and the live broadcast was filled with "666" barrages.
Finally, it was the fifth day. Old Wang posted a "Breaking Five" jingle in the group, which he had compiled himself: "Break five, break five, break away all worries, red envelope, red envelope, get rich, get rich, new year, promotion and salary increase."
Old Wang thought his mission was over.
However, that same night, in the company group, HR suddenly sent a message: "Dear colleagues, Spring Festival Folklore Special Envoy Comrade Old Wang, due to his jingle content in the fifth-day mission not conforming to the company's values, is now given a suspension punishment and all points are deducted."
Old Wang was dumbfounded. He looked at the jingle he had written and didn't understand what went wrong.
The next day, Old Wang went to the company to reason with HR. HR handed him a printed document, which clearly stated: "Supplementary Instructions on the Company's Employee Code of Conduct During the Spring Festival."
"Company values: During the Spring Festival, employees should have a positive attitude, be grateful to the company, should not have personal emotions, and should not have any thoughts of promotion or salary increase." HR pushed up his glasses and said, "Your jingle has a strong personal desire and seriously violates the company's values and must be punished."
Old Wang looked at every word in the document, feeling like he was reading an absurd novel. He suddenly remembered that yesterday, he had received an Alipay red envelope, which read "Congratulations, get rich." He found it extremely ironic. The "holiday atmosphere" he had worked so hard to create was actually a carefully designed performance, and he himself was just a manipulated puppet.
Old Wang took the document and slowly walked out of the office. The sun was shining brightly outside, and the festive atmosphere of the Spring Festival seemed as strong as ever. Only he felt like he had fallen into an ice cave. He thought of the "Fu" characters he had secretly peeled off in the neighborhood before and suddenly wondered, what exactly was behind this "Fu" character? Perhaps, he didn't want any "Fu" blessings at all. He just wanted to have a normal, peaceful Spring Festival where he didn't have to play any roles.