This book takes you inside a mysterious organization that looks glamorous on the surface but is riddled with absurdities: the Nanling District Planning and Land Center. It wears the badge of a public institution, yet operates like a company. It is responsible for grand urban planning projects, while also being full of workplace routines so ridiculous they make you laugh and cry.
The protagonist, Sang Biao (Li Shangbiao), is an easygoing young man who begins his own “ordeal” here. His boss, Ce Kun, is an expert at “pretending to be studious.” His famous line is, “I used to work overtime until late at night. Now I’m passing that saying on to you.” Yet he himself turns up every day at ten, his shiny leather shoes going click-clack. His client, Shang Ke, is obsessed with paper documents, making him run back and forth to the eighth floor to print revisions, all so she can roll her eyes while touching up her lipstick. His team leader, “Rain God” Xu Shiyu, is the queen of overwork. She coordinates Saturday overtime for the whole team, then posts dance videos on her social media and doesn’t show up until five in the afternoon.
From choosing a site for a police dog training base to planning a permanent cemetery, Sang Biao navigates bizarre projects and workplace manipulation. Along the way, he teams up with fellow sufferers who drive Mercedes and Land Rovers to form a “complaint group,” finding comfort over McDonald’s on Wednesdays.
This is a “workplace survival guide” that every wage earner can relate to. Through laughter and gut punches, it helps you see the truth about work.
In the end, Sang Biao quits without another job lined up, bearing a body full of “scars,” only to discover that he has developed an exceptionally resilient heart. What doesn’t kill you won’t make you stronger, but it will definitely give you a better sense of humor. There’s no feel-good rags-to-riches pep talk here, only the absurd youth we’ve all lived through together, laughing even as we cry.
