[Forward] First Prize in the 2016 Prose Competition for Government Agencies

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When I despised people, I became friends with a donkey; I still remember its death to this day. On the day it died, I ran to the scene. Look at it lying by the mill, emaciated, with matted fur and wide eyes. The death appearance was extremely tragic, with only one leg still pushing forward forcefully. I know that even when it died, it still tried its best to turn the mill. Because last night it said that the festival was approaching, and it needed to make one final effort to grind the remaining 400 jin of beans and complete the task, before going home to rest properly. I just didn’t expect to die from the grinding machine after all. When I first met it, it was a model among donkeys, a talented young one with an unlimited future ahead. I have seen it grind flour; its pace is steady and even, the flour produced is white and fine with no impurities at all, and it works diligently without complaint, earning praise from its owner every year. I heard that at first, grinding flour wasn’t that stressful either – one just went to the mill on time every day and then returned home after finishing the work. But then things suddenly changed; somehow, one of the donkeys accidentally ground something that contained impurities, and this led to complaints, damaging the owner’s reputation. The owner decided to reform the system for grinding flour with donkeys; those who ground the flour were responsible for it, and many oversight agencies were established. As a result, the original 50 donkeys that were used for work were forcibly divided into different categories. There are donkey propagandists who are responsible for shouting production slogans and promoting the outstanding achievements of the donkeys. There are supervising donkeys, responsible for watching over the other donkeys as they work. Research on donkeys is focused on developing advanced milling methods. There is also a Plan Donkey, responsible for formulating work plans and tasks. Of course, there are also donkeys of a higher rank, responsible for managing other donkeys. What’s left at the end are these low-quality donkeys; once the reforms are completed, it turns out that less than 40% of them are actually suitable for pulling mills. From then on, the donkeys clearly became tired; what used to require 50 donkeys to grind could now be done with 20 donkeys. After stricter management was implemented, the number of donkey species continued to increase, while the number of common donkeys dropped sharply. Many donkeys stopped plowing and went to do other things; some wrote production plans, some conducted research, and some even got involved in artistic performances. As a result, the more types of donkeys there are, the fewer donkeys available for work, and the problem of too much work and not enough donkeys becomes increasingly prominent. Donkeys are divided into so many categories, and each category has specific tasks to perform. The work of grinding flour also requires constant innovation to support promotional efforts. It turns out that simply working hard to turn the mill around is no longer sufficient; it doesn’t meet the trends of the times. So first, they learned from Malaysia*, drawing on the advanced experience of horse-drawn carriages, and used them to grind grain at full speed; later, they realized that there was too big a difference between donkeys and horses, so they gave up on this idea. I tried to learn the method of plowing with an ox by pulling in a straight line, but found it technically impossible and failed as well. Many donkeys, with no other choice, have to pull the mill in various ways. Some pull the mill while jumping, some while crawling, some while kneeling, and some while rolling – after a day of such effort, their legs are on the point of breaking. After all this hassle, many donkeys were full of complaints and lacked motivation. To motivate the donkey to grind grain, the master came up with a method for calculating the workload. The number of times the donkey is used to grind grain per day, as well as the quantity and quality of the flour produced, are all managed through standardized metrics; at the end of the year, those who produce the most flour receive rewards. Those who receive more rewards can earn points and then be promoted to management donkeys, eliminating the need to pull the mill. I warned it at that time not to trust its master any longer, as he had once tricked you by showing a carrot in front of the donkey. But it wouldn’t listen and kept working hard; it was number one for three consecutive years. When it wore big red flowers on itself, it felt as though it was about to make it. But later, the owner promoted another donkey, and the reason was that that donkey could sing – it was a rare talent that brought honor to the owner. From then on, its confidence suffered a devastating blow, and it gradually became disheartened. I saw that it was demoralized and had no desire to grind flour, so I also advised it to leave and find a job that was easier and more promising. Many donkeys can lead carts and carry passengers, and they can still live a good life. But it insists that after grinding flour for so many years, it no longer knows anything. Being older, it’s not easy to pull a cart with passengers; I can no longer learn how to do it. I don’t have enough strength to pull the cart by myself, and carrying passengers could hurt them. It’s not ideal right now, but at least things are stable; I’ll just go with it. Even if you’re just minding your own business, there’s still so much work to be done. I see it still going up to grind the flour every day, and coming back down in a circular motion. When grinding, it lacks energy and its movements are uncoordinated; the flour produced is of uneven consistency, with some pieces still containing dirt. It no longer has any of the vigor it once had. One day, the donkey eventually fell at the millstone, just as its owner had said, “A good donkey dies at the millstone.” When the master came, I watched from the side and cried for a long time, yet not a single tear fell. It’s just about how excellent that donkey used to be – it dedicated its entire life to the task of grinding grain, and it called on other living donkeys to learn from it*. After the onlookers who had come to mourn dispersed, I saw the owner go into the kitchen and instruct the cook to kill the donkey, cook its meat, and turn its skin into donkey-hide gelatin to strengthen his wife’s health.