Just as his phone vibrated, Leo was staring blankly at the dense lines of code on his computer screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA transfer of 12,500.00 RMB has been completed to your account ending in 8848.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Leo let out a long sigh, and the tension in his shoulders\u2014which had been building all week\u2014finally melted away. Today was Friday, and it was payday. This money meant he could finally pay off the credit card he\u2019d maxed out last month to fix his car\u2014and still have a few hundred yuan left over to catch his breath a little in this sweltering southern city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He closed his laptop and stepped out of the office building; it was already completely dark outside. Passing a convenience store, he found himself drawn inside, heading straight for the chilled display case, where he picked up an Orleans-style chicken drumstick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Usually, he ate only vegetarian boxed lunches or the cheapest rice balls. But today, he felt he deserved this \u201cluxury.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The cashier was a young girl who quickly scanned the item and heated it up. Leo leaned against the counter, watching the chicken drumstick spin in the microwave as the fat sizzled and the aroma filled the small space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat\u2019ll be 15 yuan,\u201d the girl said, handing him the receipt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Leo scanned the code to pay, then walked out into the night with the steaming bag in hand. Instead of heading straight home, he turned into a narrow alley he rarely took. There was a 24-hour self-service laundromat he frequented, with the air conditioning cranked up high.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The place was empty, except for a man sitting on a bench in the corner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Leo paused in surprise. It was his neighbor\u2014the middle-aged man who lived downstairs and always wore a worn jacket; everyone called him Arthur. Arthur was usually quiet; rumor had it he\u2019d been unemployed for a long time. He\u2019d always come and go early and late, carrying a tattered briefcase, as if trying to maintain some semblance of dignity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Arthur was looking down, clutching a crumpled piece of paper, seemingly calculating something. Hearing footsteps, he looked up. When he saw it was Leo, a flicker of panic crossed his eyes, which quickly gave way to an awkward smile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOff work?\u201d Arthur asked, his voice a bit hoarse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYeah, got paid, so I picked up a chicken drumstick.\u201d Leo held up the bag in his hand, trying to lighten the mood. \u201cUncle Arthur, are you here to do laundry too?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Arthur nodded, his gaze falling on the chicken drumstick in Leo\u2019s hand. His Adam\u2019s apple bobbed slightly, but he quickly looked away. \u201cYeah, washing my work clothes. I\u2019ll have to wear them again tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Leo found a spot a little farther away from Arthur and sat down, tearing open the chicken drumstick\u2019s packaging. The rich aroma of meat instantly filled the air-conditioned room. He took a big bite\u2014it was tender, juicy, and perfectly seasoned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt smells so good,\u201d Leo murmured with his mouth full.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Arthur didn\u2019t say anything; he just looked down at the piece of paper in his hand, his fingers unconsciously tracing its edges. Through the motions of chewing, Leo caught a glimpse of the corner of the paper out of the corner of his eye\u2014it was a supermarket promotional flyer, printed with the special price for chicken drumsticks: 9.9 yuan per jin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Leo\u2019s heart skipped a beat. He looked at the elegant, vacuum-sealed chicken drumstick in his hand\u2014priced at 15 yuan\u2014then glanced at Arthur\u2019s crumpled promotional flyer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Suddenly, a strange thought popped into his head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Leo recalled running into Arthur in the stairwell last week. Arthur had been carefully carrying a bag of trash out, and it seemed to contain some kind of bones. Leo hadn\u2019t paid it much mind at the time, but thinking back now, the shape of those bones was unmistakably that of chicken drumsticks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the week before that, Arthur had been smoking downstairs, holding a bottle of cheap beer, and had said with a smile, \u201cMade a little money today\u2014time to treat myself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Leo stopped chewing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He looked at Arthur. The cuffs of Arthur\u2019s jacket were worn white, and the soles of his leather shoes were peeling, but every day before he left the house, he combed his hair meticulously and polished his shoes until they shone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cUncle Arthur,\u201d Leo couldn\u2019t help but say, his voice a little hoarse, \u201chave you\u2026 found a new job lately?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Arthur looked up, his eyes holding a calmness Leo had never seen before. He smiled, folded the flyer, and tucked it into his shirt pocket, right against his chest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSort of,\u201d Arthur said softly. \u201cIt\u2019s a very stable job. The pay isn\u2019t great, but it\u2019s enough to let me buy a chicken drumstick every day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Leo was taken aback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEvery day?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYeah,\u201d Arthur said as he stood up and picked up the washed clothes. \u201cYou know, Leo, I used to think happiness was the numbers in my bank account or the year-end bonus. But then I realized that happiness is actually very simple: it\u2019s when you want a chicken drumstick, you don\u2019t have to check the price, and you don\u2019t have to wait until payday.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Arthur patted Leo on the shoulder and turned toward the door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEat it while it\u2019s hot\u2014it won\u2019t taste as good once it gets cold.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The glass door closed, and Arthur\u2019s figure vanished into the night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Leo sat in the empty laundromat, still clutching the half-eaten chicken drumstick. The meat was still warm, but he felt a chill in his stomach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He took out his phone, opened the banking app, and looked at the amount that had just been deposited: 12,500.00.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the past, that number had made him feel secure, as if he had the power to control his life. He could use it to measure his own worth and determine whether this month\u2019s hard work had been worth it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But now, looking at that number, he suddenly felt it had become so light\u2014as light as a scrap of paper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He thought of Arthur\u2019s promotional flyer, tucked against his chest, and of Arthur\u2019s words: \u201cYou can buy a chicken drumstick every day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Leo slowly put down his phone and took another bite of the drumstick in his hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It still tasted great, but an inexplicable sense of panic welled up inside him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He suddenly realized that he\u2019d been working himself to the bone, putting in overtime, pulling all-nighters, and lying awake all night worrying about that number\u2014all because he thought that having that money meant having a life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yet Arthur had nothing, and yet he seemed to possess what Leo craved most\u2014that tangible \u201cevery day\u201d that wasn\u2019t held hostage by numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Leo looked out at the flickering neon lights and, for the first time, felt as though he was the one who had nothing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He swallowed the last bite of meat, carefully wrapped the bone, and tossed it into the trash can.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As he stepped out of the laundromat, the night breeze was slightly cool. Instead of rushing home as usual to turn on his computer and keep working, Leo stood under a streetlight and took a deep breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It felt as though, in that moment, something had changed completely.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I Treat Myself to a Chicken Drumstick on Payday<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":753,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[23,18],"class_list":["post-752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-anecdote","tag-feeling","tag-story"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/storyrecyclebin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/storyrecyclebin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/storyrecyclebin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storyrecyclebin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storyrecyclebin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=752"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/storyrecyclebin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/752\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":754,"href":"https:\/\/storyrecyclebin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/752\/revisions\/754"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storyrecyclebin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/storyrecyclebin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storyrecyclebin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storyrecyclebin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}