The Three Days Before a Holiday Are the Weirdest Days in Any Office

September 28, Wednesday.

Seven boxes of mooncakes sat in the break room. The cleaning lady stomped the cardboard flat and stacked it next to the fire hydrant. At 10:03, Lao Zhou submitted a leave request on the OA system. Reason: going back home. He attached a screenshot of his train ticket. At 10:07, the approver column turned gray. Lao Zhou put his phone face down and went to get water. He came back, didn’t drink it, and left the cup next to his mouse until six.

On Xiao Chen’s screen was an Excel file. Columns A through D had data. Column E was empty. Every ten minutes he pressed Alt+Tab. Footsteps at the door. He switched to email. The footsteps passed. He switched back to his shopping cart. A tent sat in the cart. Delivery address: the office. He planned to return it the first day after the holiday.

A-Mei’s leave request was rejected. She typed louder than usual. The person next to her put on headphones. She typed a paragraph, deleted it, and sent one word: “Okay.” Then she added a period. The period made it final.

David mentioned four people in the group chat. Three were on leave. One didn’t reply. He walked to Lao Zhou’s desk. “Bro, click this form for me. Five minutes.” Lao Zhou said, “The process is stuck on my end. I can’t click it.” David said, “Give me your account. I’ll click it for you.” Lao Zhou looked at him, wrote his username and password on a sticky note, and stuck it to the edge of the monitor. David finished. “I’ll treat you to Crazy Thursday this month.” Lao Zhou said, “Okay.” The sticky note stayed there until after the holiday.

At 11:30, the meeting room door opened. Five people walked out like they had just been pulled from water. One went for water. One went to the bathroom. One stood by the window and looked down. The meeting minutes went to the group chat. Title: “Reconfirmation of Pre-Holiday Work Arrangements.” No one replied.

At two, Xiao Yang, who was on a diet, stood up holding a mooncake. “Someone help me. There are still six boxes.” No one looked up. She put the mooncake on the communal table and wrote on a sticky note: “Free. Help yourself.” At three, two mooncakes were gone. At four, another one. At five, Xiao Yang put the rest in the cabinet. “I’ll bring them out tomorrow.”

Xiao Chen posted on Moments: “Three days left.” The picture was the window. Two minutes later he deleted it. The boss had liked it. The boss was in Japan. His location was Tokyo. He had liked everyone’s posts, including Xiao Chen’s. Xiao Chen turned his phone face down and kept pressing Alt+Tab.

After Lao Zhou gave David his username and password, his own process stayed stuck. He went to Finance. Finance said, “Wait until after the holiday.” He went to Legal. Legal said, “It’s in process.” He went back to his desk, peeled off the sticky note, crumpled it, then unfolded it. Beside the username and password was a line in small writing: “Crazy Thursday, don’t forget.” He put the paper ball in his drawer.

Before leaving, A-Mei revised the meeting minutes three times. Too short. Too long. Then just right. She sent it and cc’d the boss. She turned off her computer, stood up, and sat down again. She opened the drawer, took out a mooncake, and bit into it. Five-kernel. She chewed twice, swallowed, picked up her bag, and left.

At 6:05, four people remained. David was on the phone. Xiao Chen was looking at the tent. Lao Zhou was waiting for the elevator. Xiao Yang stood in front of the cabinet for a while and didn’t open it. The cleaning lady came in for the trash and flattened the mooncake boxes. The elevator arrived. Lao Zhou got in. Before the doors closed, he heard David say, “Give it to me first thing after the holiday.”

September 29, Thursday.

Five boxes of mooncakes sat in the break room. Xiao Chen’s tent arrived. He stuffed it under his desk. A-Mei’s leave request was rejected again. Lao Zhou took the sticky note out of the drawer and stuck it back on the monitor. David mentioned everyone in the group chat. “Last day. Everyone hang in there.” No one replied. The boss posted a photo of Tokyo Tower on Moments. Caption: “Last day before the holiday. Thanks for your hard work, everyone.” Xiao Chen liked it. Two minutes later, he unliked it.

September 30, Friday.

At ten, the office was one-third empty. The people who could get leave had gotten it. The people who couldn’t were slacking off. The people whose leave had been rejected carried resentment. The people chasing KPIs kept pushing. The honest ones stayed stuck. Three boxes of mooncakes remained. Xiao Yang put out the “Free. Help yourself.” sign again. No one took any. At three, Admin sent the National Day holiday notice. The group chat filled with “Received.” Lao Zhou sent “Received.” Then he peeled off the sticky note and threw it into the trash can. The note flipped in the air and landed on the rim. He didn’t pick it up.

At six, off work. The elevator was packed. Lao Zhou stood in the corner and watched the floor numbers drop. Xiao Chen scrolled on his phone. A-Mei looked out the window. David replied to messages. Xiao Yang stared into space. The elevator reached the first floor. The doors opened. Everyone walked out like water leaving a bottle. No one said goodbye. The boss’s Moments updated. Location: Narita Airport. Picture: a boarding pass. Xiao Chen didn’t like it.

Those were the three days. The office didn’t change. The mooncakes didn’t run out. The sticky note didn’t come off cleanly. Crazy Thursday didn’t happen. But everyone left. Some went to the train station. Some went to the airport. Some went home. Some just changed locations and kept looking at their phones. The holiday began. No one looked back.