On his way home from work, Chen Qiang passed a real estate office building. Even from some distance away he could see a big crowd gathered at the building’s entrance. Following the eyes of the crowd, he saw a man about 9 floors up, hanging from the side of the building. The man looked like he was struggling in mid air; his right hand holding onto the rail of the 9th floor balcony, his left hand stretching outward, his feet braced against nothing at all.
“Someone wants to jump off the building!” Alarmed, Chen Qiang took out his cell phone and dialed 110 and 120.
A short while later, a 110 police car arrived. A police officer stepped out and began to shout to the crowd through a megaphone:
“Please step back and make room for the rescue.” Then he shouted to the man hanging in midair; “Listen, don’t let go! The fire truck is on its way with a long ladder to save you!”
Before long the fire truck arrived. The firefighters, all clad in red, extended the long ladder into the sky and ever closer to the man.
Unfortunately, the ladder couldn’t reach that high up. The firefighters began to place an air cushion directly below where they believed the man would fall.
Soon, top municipal government officials arrived too. They formed a rescue command team right away.
Chen Qiang is a warm-hearted young man. He is always ready to help his neighbors whenever they are in need and intervene whenever he sees injustice even at the risk of his own life. Since “110” and “120” personnel couldn’t make any headway in their rescue efforts, he ran into the building and up the stairs to the 9th floor.
As he ran around and looked for a way to get to the balcony, he came to an office with this sign at the door: “Eastern Real Estate.”
There a young saleswoman stopped him from entering.
“Miss, a man is going to jump off your balcony! Please let me in so I can rescue him!”
“Rescue? No one here needs to be rescued. Mind your own business!”
“‘110’ and ‘120’ vehicles are all here, too. You haven’t heard a thing?”
A short while later, police and firefighters also came up to the real estate office. The young saleswoman greeted them with a big smile on her face: “Officer, it’s a misunderstanding.” She said.
“Misunderstanding? There is a man clinging to the balcony of this floor. Why aren’t you doing anything to save him?”
The saleswoman explained: “Oh, that is a creative marketing strategy: using a suicide dummy to attract prospective clients’ attention. That you are all here proves the success of the strategy.”
(2005)