After seeing news of sudden deaths, I'm questioning what the purpose of working is.
Over the past few days, I came across the news that Zhang Xuefeng passed away due to sudden cardiac death, and it truly made my heart drop. It wasn’t because I usually pay much attention to him, but rather, when something like this happens to someone who looks so vigorous—who is still running and working—people naturally project it onto themselves. Recently, I sometimes experience chest tightness myself. After scrolling through too many such updates, a thought popped into my head that was incredibly foolish yet profoundly real: Could next be me?
To be honest, I am increasingly feeling that this chest tightness isn’t necessarily purely a heart problem. Of course, you have to take your body seriously—especially with recurring chest discomfort that worsens after activity but slightly eases after rest. These signals cannot be ignored; public health campaigns have already warned quite clearly about this. But the other half is probably because people have been suspended in life’s limbo for too long. Long-distance couples, jobs that are stagnant, savings built up without knowing what purpose they serve. Even when taking occasional leave and not working, you don’t feel relaxed; you just feel emptier. Any news of sudden death, when you are in this state, turns into a persistent question: What exactly are you striving for