After a year of hardship and strife, it’s time to take a little comfort in the fact that China’s youth began to appreciate themselves
Hello there! Your summary of the past year is now available—please take a look! (你好，你的年终总结已到，请查收 Nǐ hǎo, nǐ de niánzhōng zǒngjié yǐ dào, qǐng cháshōu).
If this refrain sounds familiar, it’s probably because you’ve already been bombarded by it alongside a personalized year-end report across numerous platforms—everything from video and music streaming services to shopping, fitness, and productivity apps—in what has become an annual ritual to siphon off our last drops of attention.
These summaries review our activities over the past 12 months, highlighting habits, milestones, and preferences in a highly visual and often entertaining way. The result is that many of us enjoy reviewing—and sharing—the data that embodies what we got up to, looking back on how we spent our time and energy.
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In that same vein, and since so much of this year’s language revolved around work, we’ve decided to do the same: via a brutally honest annual report. For ease, let’s call it the “annual report workhorse edition” (年度报告牛马版 niándù bàogào niúmǎ bǎn) for us wage slaves (打工人 dǎgōngrén):
First and foremost, welcome, Lao Ji. This nickname combines the affectionate prefix “lao,” commonly used when addressing acquaintances or peers, with “自己 (zìjǐ, self),” to coin “Lao Zi (老自 Lǎo Zì)” and “Lǎo Jǐ (老己)”—alter egos that function as confidants and a source of emotional reassurance. Embraced by netizens across China, Lao Ji was praised as “the warmest meme of the year (年度最善良的梗 niándù zuì shànliáng de gěng),” thanks to its lighthearted means of self-recognition.
As such, many found themselves saying, “I love you, Lao Ji (爱你老己 Ài nǐ Lǎo Jǐ)”—a small utterance that quietly carried individuals through countless difficult moments of stress and self-doubt.
And looking back, we’ve been through a lot and gained much along the way, though maybe not everything we truly wanted:
You’ve gained neck pain, tendonitis, a worryingly high body fat percentage, and a shiny forehead.
你收获了颈椎病、腱鞘炎、体脂率和闪亮的脑门儿。
And when faced with relentless bosses, endless tasks, and unbearably long working hours, you found yourself repeatedly considering quitting more times than you could count:
Your most frequent contact this year was your boss. You stayed in touch 365 days straight. He asked, “Is it done yet?” 3,650 times, and you replied “OK, received” 3,190 times.
你的高频联系人是老板，你们连续365天都在保持联系。他对你说“好了没”3650次，你回复他“好的收到”3190次。
As a devoted office workhorse, however, your job wasn’t the only source of pressure. When you finally clock out, a new round of struggle begins in the form of marriage pressure.
This year, you were urged to get married 10 times, forced into blind dates five times, and debated the elders 13 times. Win rate: 100 percent.
今年你一共被催婚10次，被催相亲5次，舌战群儒13次，胜率100%。
Humor aside, many workers are actually required to write their own year-end report for a performance review. In these reports, be mindful to leverage professional framing techniques, transforming everyday, mundane tasks into feats that highlight your unrivalled expertise and value.
For example, serving tea during meetings can be described as “service-oriented (有服务意识 yǒu fúwù yìshí)”; assisting colleagues with their work becomes “contributes to effective team collaboration (团队协作 tuánduì xiézuò)”; and participating in company training and learning is “enhancing professional skills (提升专业技能 tíshēng zhuānyè jìnéng).”
And if that doesn’t win your superiors over, take some small solace in the fact that 2026 is finally here. In this new year, you can give full play to the essential adulthood survival skill you gained in 2025: how to comfort yourself. So, for the year ahead, dear Lao Ji, remember to treat yourself a little better than you did last year.
Stick with me, Lao Ji—no suffering guaranteed. No savings? That’s OK. Surviving is already an achievement.
老己跟着我，包不吃苦的。没存款，没关系，能存活就已经很棒了。
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