Golden Bird in a Cage

The Spring Festival is approaching, but I'm not excited at all.

It's not because of anything else, but the two words "adjusted leave," like two cold pieces of iron, make people feel uneasy. Would you say this is giving people a holiday, or is it giving them a sentence? Working seven days straight before the holiday, and then another seven days straight after, with a seven-day period in between, is euphemistically called a "long holiday," but it feels like swallowing a fly.

I always remember the Spring Festival when I was a child. There was no adjusted leave then. New Year's was New Year's, and the festival was the festival, clear and refreshing, joyful and unrestrained. Adults were busy preparing New Year's goods, and children were busy setting off firecrackers, visiting relatives, and paying New Year's greetings. Every day was spent genuinely and vibrantly.

But now?

Time is fragmented, and people's hearts are also stirred up. You think you're on vacation, you can take a breather, but you find that before you can even catch your breath, you have to hold it back in, because the holiday is over and it's time to go back to "work." This is not a vacation, this is clearly "teasing."

I always feel that this "adjusted leave" is like a cage, imprisoning the originally free bird of "Spring Festival." The bird flutters in the cage, but it can't fly out. We also flutter in the cage, but we can't find the true flavor of the New Year.

My friend, Lao Li, works in an internet company. 996 is the norm, and the Spring Festival adjusted leave makes him even more miserable. He said he hasn't returned to his hometown for the Spring Festival in three years, not because he doesn't want to, but because he doesn't dare to. It takes two days to travel back and forth, and with the disruption of the adjusted leave, he's afraid that he'll collapse on the way before he even sees his parents.

"What do you call this?" Lao Li said with a wry smile, "I work hard all year, just for these few days off, and what happens? I didn't get to rest, but I made myself even more tired."

I understand Lao Li's bitterness. Who isn't bitter these days?

But bitter as it is, life must go on, and the New Year must still be celebrated. It's just, is it possible to change the way we celebrate the New Year?

I sometimes wonder, if we canceled the adjusted leave and let the Spring Festival return to its original form, would it be better?

At least, we could celebrate the New Year peacefully, without being chased by time, without worrying about post-holiday syndrome, and without turning the holiday into a "chaotic mess."

Of course, I know it's not easy.

The two words "adjusted leave" involve too many things. Economy, society, culture... all aspects are intertwined.

But I still can't help but ask: Can we stop locking the "Spring Festival" in a cage?

Can we, loosen the "Spring Festival's" bonds and let it fly freely for a while?

Even if it's just for a little while, it would be good.

Perhaps, only when the "Spring Festival" is truly free can we find the true flavor of the New Year and truly appreciate the meaning of "New Year."

And not just, in the cage of "adjusted leave," watching the "Spring Festival," this golden canary, flapping its wings in vain, making hoarse calls. This chirping sound falls on everyone's heart and turns into a silent sigh. Sighing at the absurdity of life, sighing at the alienation of festivals, sighing that we have all become, in this era, trapped, little birds.