98 posts tagged with "Society"

Old Chen's mobile phone was an old-fashioned button phone handed down from his son. Apart from making and receiving calls, the flickering icons on the screen were like ancient hieroglyphs to him, both familiar and strange. Every month, he would go to the business hall at the corner of the street to pay his phone bill, no more, no less, always fifty yuan. The clerk mechanically tapped on the keyboard and handed him a thin piece of paper printed with numbers and symbols he couldn't understand.

Ah Q has been feeling a bit hot lately. Perhaps it's because the weather is warming up, and it's time to drink iced water again. As usual, he strolled into that "Mixue Ice Cream & Tea" shop. The Snow King at the door was still smiling, but that smile, in Ah Q's eyes, seemed to have a bit more strangeness.

"A cup of lemonade," Ah Q said, his voice a little hoarse.

My name is Wang Er, but I don't acknowledge that I am Wang Er, even though my household registration booklet, ID card, graduation certificate, and various documents issued by my workplace all clearly state these two characters. I believe I'm someone, someone with wisdom, with thoughts, someone waiting to be swept up by the torrent of history to the pinnacle of life. Of course, this peak is not Mount Everest, but something more metaphysical, such as the peak of wisdom.

Old Li had been looking at the starry sky above his head for nine months. To be precise, he had been floating and looking at it for nine months. This was no romantic affair, it was like being locked in solitary confinement with only a toilet and compressed biscuits. The only difference was that outside this confinement was a vacuum, and some coldly gleaming stars.

The whole thing was just damn frustrating. Old Li, a seasoned astronaut, was supposed to return to Earth three months ago, hug his grandson he'd never met, drink a little wine, and brag about how the farts he released in space changed the course of human history. But now, he could only listen to those bureaucrats on Earth bickering through a dilapidated communicator.

At the end of the old street, there is a stone bridge. At the head of the bridge, there is a pastry shop that sells Qiaotou Gao, a cake famous far and wide.

When I was a child, my biggest craving was for this Qiaotou Gao. White glutinous rice flour, kneaded with lard and brown sugar, sprinkled with osmanthus flowers, and then steamed. It came out hot and fragrant. One bite, and the soft, glutinous, sweet taste would reach deep into your heart.

Zhao Xunjin's name, now etched as a chilling obituary, is embedded in the precipitous cliffs of Mount Hua, like an eternal footnote. But during the days of his disappearance, his fate was like a mirror, reflecting countless possibilities, and in each reflection, pushing the truth into a deeper mist.

These days, it's really crazy! Gold is going insane, with a different price every day. I mean, can you eat gold? Can you wear it? But this thing has driven people completely nuts.

The room was dark and damp, only the ticking of the old-fashioned wall clock, like a dull judgment, knocking on Old Man Li's heart one sound at a time. He sat on a hard wooden stool, hunched over, his cloudy eyes staring at a stain on the floor. The shape of the stain resembled a distorted human face.

Ah Q has been feeling rather troubled lately. This trouble isn't because of anything else, but because of his stomach.

Before the sun even peeks out, the foot of Taishan is already crowded with silhouettes of people. There are shivering college students wrapped in military coats, tour guides holding small flags, and old ladies carrying baskets selling water and flatbreads. But among this crowd, the most eye-catching is Xiaoliuzi.