Golden Cicada Sloughs Its Skin

Old Wang is a little annoyed lately.

It's not because of anything else, just because his wife, Li Cuihua, has recently become obsessed with "gold-clad silver" necklaces.

It's a strange thing. A while ago, Li Cuihua was still forwarding articles about "consumption downgrading" on her WeChat Moments, shouting about rational consumption and rejecting IQ taxes. But in the blink of an eye, she brought back a "gold-clad silver" necklace, saying she "got a great deal."

Old Wang looked at it from every angle and couldn't see anything special about it. A thin gold chain, hanging a gold pendant not much bigger than a fingernail. It's called "gold-clad silver," but the "gold" is as thin as a cicada's wing. Old Wang was afraid he might accidentally blow it away and melt it.

"How much was this thing?" Old Wang asked.

"1900! Per gram of gold!" Li Cuihua said excitedly, "You don't know, the price of gold has skyrocketed! I had to pull some strings with acquaintances to grab this!"

Old Wang almost popped his eyeballs out. 1900 per gram? And she had to pull strings? Are scammers so brazen these days?

"Cuihua," Old Wang said earnestly, "Were you scammed? This gold is so thin it's almost transparent. How can it be worth so much?"

"You don't understand!" Li Cuihua rolled her eyes at Old Wang. "This is called 'fashion'! Big brands all design like this! Besides, we're buying gold, not gold bars! It holds its value!"

Old Wang was completely speechless. He could see it now, this "gold-clad silver" necklace was the new "Emperor's New Clothes." Everyone knows the truth, but no one wants to expose it.

Days passed, and Li Cuihua couldn't get enough of her "gold-clad silver" necklace. Every day before going out, she would carefully examine herself in the mirror, afraid that others wouldn't see her "treasure" on her neck.

Until one day, Li Cuihua forgot to take off her necklace while taking a shower.

When she came out of the shower, she was dumbfounded.

The "gold-clad silver" necklace had turned into a silver necklace.

Where was the gold?

Gone.

Li Cuihua panicked and dragged Old Wang to find the merchant. The merchant was quite straightforward, and without a word, replaced Li Cuihua's necklace with a new "gold-clad silver" one.

Li Cuihua was relieved.

But Old Wang felt more and more uneasy. He secretly took the "gold-clad silver" necklace to be appraised while Li Cuihua wasn't paying attention.

The appraisal result made Old Wang want to laugh and cry.

The "gold-clad silver" necklace wasn't "gold-clad silver" at all. The so-called "gold" was actually a special chemical coating that dissolves in water. And the "silver" wasn't pure silver either, just a cheap alloy.

Old Wang took the appraisal report to Li Cuihua.

After listening, Li Cuihua was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing.

"Old Wang," Li Cuihua laughed hysterically, "You actually believed this was gold? I knew it all along!"

"You knew?" Old Wang was dumbfounded.

"Of course!" Li Cuihua said triumphantly, "I bought this thing just to post it on WeChat Moments! Look, my post got over a hundred likes! These days, who really cares if it's gold or not? Everyone just wants 'face'!"

Old Wang completely collapsed.

He looked at Li Cuihua and suddenly felt like he had never known her.

Or perhaps, he had never known this world.

That night, Old Wang had a dream.

He dreamed that he had become a golden cicada.

He struggled desperately, trying to shed the thin layer of gold on his body.

But no matter how hard he tried, it was useless.

In the end, he could only watch helplessly as he was trapped in that false golden shell, suffocating to death.