Keep Competing All You Want, I’m Going to Lie Flat on My Island

It took Zhao Xiaogang just one month to go from a 996 work prison to owning a private island. When he slapped his transfer request down on his boss’s desk, the whole company thought he’d lost his mind. “Applying to go to Southeast Asia voluntarily? Is this guy about to get lured into a scam compound in Myanmar?” He couldn’t be bothered to explain. He just smiled. “You all can keep fighting over work. I’m off to pick a tropical island and lie flat.” Once he arrived, he worked while scouting the area, until he finally found a bargain and decisively bought an island. The first thing he did when he finally stood on his own beach was turn off his alarm and sleep until he woke naturally. Gathering seafood, collecting shells, brewing coffee, watching the sunset. He’d never felt so comfortable in his life. He casually sent a few videos to his family. A relative reposted them online, and overnight they went viral. His private messages blew up: “Island owner, please take me in!” “I want to lie flat too!” “Send me the address. I’m quitting right now!” Zhao Xiaogang looked at his peaceful little island, then at the flood of messages, and sighed before breaking into a smile. “Fine… A few people won’t hurt.” And so began the story of: An island owner forced to go into business, A bunch of “unlucky souls” desperate to escape the rat race, And an island developed from scratch. Somehow, this life seemed even more fun than simply lying flat!