China will celebrate the Year of the Horse on 17 February, a sign known for energy and hard work. But a red horse toy, made by Happy Sister in Yiwu city, changed the mood. It was meant to smile, but a factory error made its smile turn upside down. The horse looks like it is crying. This mistake made the toy a hit on Chinese social media. Many sees it as a sign of tiredness and stress from long work hours. Owner Zhang Huoqing said, "People joked that the crying horse is how you look at work, while the smiling one is how you look after work." By mid-January, orders reached 15,000 units a day, pushing the factory to add 10 new production lines. Many Chinese workers face the tough "996" system: work from 9 am to 9 pm, six days a week. Though banned in 2021 after a worker’s death, long overtime still happens. One buyer named Tuan Tuan Mami wrote, "This little horse looks so sad and pitiful, just like the way I feel at work." Marketing expert Jacob Cooke said, "Consumer products and internet memes can act as outlets for discussing work pressure, especially on platforms like Xiaohongshu." The crying horse also got wholesale orders from South Africa, East Asia, and the Middle East. New merchandise with this image will launch soon. Zhang said she never found out whose fault the upside-down snout was. "Since we can’t figure out exactly whose mistake it was, we’ll just give everyone a bonus," she added.