In an apartment in Chengdu, a group of migrant workers had just finished lunch and were chatting during their lunch break.
Colleague A said, "It's 43°C today, two degrees higher than yesterday."
Another colleague, B, said, "Yeah, but I saw in the weather forecast that it will rain this weekend, so it might be cooler then."
Colleague A said, "In Chengdu, it only really rains when it starts to rain."
Colleague B: "Of course, I still hope it rains, otherwise it's almost unbearably hot."
Colleague A: "Yeah, I don't ride my bike in the morning anymore, the wind is so hot."
At this moment, colleague C interjected, "Have you heard? Several large domestic corporations have jointly organized a wilderness survival competition. The winner will receive 1 billion yuan, which is 10 small goals."
Colleague A: "Where did you see that? I'll go take a look."
My colleague C said, "It's trending on Weibo."
Several colleagues immediately pulled out their phones to check the message. Even Wang Lun, who was preparing for a nap at his desk, took out his phone and opened Weibo. The message read: "Ten major domestic conglomerates are jointly organizing a wilderness survival competition. Two hundred participants, one hundred men and one hundred women, will be divided into one hundred teams to compete. The two hundred participants will be randomly selected from all registered participants. Registration is open on various online platforms, but real-name registration is required. All participants will sign an accident contract, stating that the organizers are not responsible for any consequences arising from personal violations of the competition rules, including but not limited to injury, disability, or even death. For other reasons, the organizers will provide compensation according to regulations. Next, the most anticipated part: the prize money. 30 days of competition: 100,000 yuan. 90 days: 1 million yuan. 180 days: 10 million yuan. 350 days: 100 million yuan. After 365 days, only one team remains as the champion, winning 1 billion yuan. If there are still other participants, the competition will continue until only one team remains." If all teams are eliminated before 365 days have passed, then all the prize money won by the participants will be halved, and the billion-dollar grand prize will be reserved for the next champion.
The lure of a huge prize would tempt anyone, and almost everyone wanted to participate in this wilderness survival competition. Even Wang Lun considered joining, but after thinking about it, he realized he knew nothing about it. Could he really rely on his 180-pound frame to survive? He decided against it.
Colleague A: "Wow, this bonus is so high, it's like ten small goals!"
Colleague C: "Are you going?"
Colleague B: "Go for it! Why not? I'll sign up as soon as registration starts. It's not too late to start learning wilderness survival skills now. Besides, with so many people, our chances of being selected are even smaller than winning the lottery."
Colleague C: "Yeah, I've got nothing else to do, so I might as well sign up and give it a try. If I get selected, with my weight of 120 pounds, I'll have to stick with it for a month."
Colleague A: "Yes, yes, yes, maybe if we get lucky, we'll meet a skilled teammate, and even ninety days is within reach."
At this moment, the boss from another office came out and said, "I heard you all talking inside. Why do we all have to sign up?"
Colleague C: "Of course. Since they probably won't get selected anyway, they might as well participate and join in the fun."
Colleague B: "Boss, what happens to our work if we get selected?"
The boss generously said, "If you're selected, you're selected. You'll still get paid; consider it a vacation. If I'm selected, you'll all be on vacation until I come out."
Colleague A: "The boss is so generous."
Colleague C: "Boss, it looks like he's done something wrong, that's why he's out here."
The boss said, "Anyway, that's the gist of it, everyone understands."
Colleague C: "Boss, if we hold on until the end, he might come back and buy the company out of you, hehe."
The boss said, "That's great. We can take the money and enjoy our retirement. How comfortable!"
Colleague C: "Boss, are you dreaming?"
Everyone laughed. At that moment, Wang Lun was also pondering whether or not to participate in the wilderness survival competition. If he signed up, and was selected, he might perish in the competition if he was unlucky. But if he didn't participate, the allure of the billion-dollar prize was undeniable; even the 100,000 yuan reward for thirty days was tempting. He couldn't help it; after working in Chengdu for years, saving every penny, the little money he'd accumulated wasn't even enough to buy a car, let alone the house and dowry he'd need for marriage. Just thinking about it gave him a headache. He decided to stop thinking about it and deal with it later.
It is said that life is unpredictable, and at this moment, Wang Lun had no idea what kind of heroic deeds he would accomplish on the deserted island.
The next day, as soon as I arrived at the company, my colleague C hurriedly said, "Have you guys seen it? There are all kinds of wilderness survival training courses online, and even books about wilderness survival have gone up in price."
Colleague B: "Price increase? That's good. I just checked, and some items are sold out on online shopping platforms."
Colleague A: "Is it that fast? I was just thinking of buying a book to read!"
Colleague C: "There's nothing we can do, it's just that fast. They say training institutions started appearing yesterday. What are we supposed to learn now?"
Colleague B: "It's okay, we can download the electronic version. We read novels every day anyway, so we can read something about wilderness survival now."
Colleague C: "Yeah, you're young and quick-witted. Haha."
Colleague B: "Let's not talk about this anymore. I'll look for it online."
Colleague A: "Let's look for it together, it'll be faster."
After saying "Okay," they all took out their phones and started searching.
Colleague C: "By the way, let's just post what we found in the company group chat so everyone can see it. Who knows, someone might get lucky and be selected? That way, we'll be prepared."
Just then, Wang Lun finished collecting his energy and figured since they were all searching, he might as well give up. So, he opened Douyin (TikTok) and scrolled through a few videos. They were all about Li Guangyi teaching you how to build a shelter, someone teaching you how to turn wood into fire, wilderness training, and becoming a wilderness master in ten days—all of which scared Wang Lun into quickly exiting. Is wilderness survival really that popular now? Aren't fair-skinned, beautiful, long-legged girls attractive? Everyone's learning this; is it really that interesting? There are so many people in the country; even if only one percent participates, that's 15 million people. Selecting 200 from those people—what are the odds? Is it really worth it? Anyway, he decided not to participate. His luck was so bad; he'd never won the lottery, and his instant noodles always came with the perfect amount of noodles, seasoning packet, and fork—never more, never less. He was just an ordinary, unremarkable person, never going to be favored by Lady Luck. So, he turned off his phone, turned on his computer, and prepared to begin his day of slacking off.
As the saying goes, life is unpredictable. No one knows what tomorrow will bring. Just like Wang Lun, who is currently slacking off, he has no idea that in the future he will have participated in the application process and been chosen by a goddess. However, fortune and misfortune are unpredictable. Let's wait and see how things develop.
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