2 posts tagged with "Animals"

I found out on a Tuesday afternoon. On the radio, an announcer read the news in a flat tone: Wannian County, Jiangxi, would no longer be hiring English teachers starting in 2025. I was making coffee, and the hissing of the boiling water mixed with the announcer's voice, like some kind of old jazz.

I put down the moka pot and went to the window. Outside, the rain was relentless. The gray sky was like a giant, damp old newspaper, the words on it blurred. I thought of my English teacher, a middle-aged man who liked to wear plaid shirts and gold-rimmed glasses. He always played Beatles songs during breaks. He said they were memories of his youth. And now, English, along with those songs, seemed to be disappearing from this small county.

Old Li works as a zookeeper in an amusement park in Zibo, specifically, a "zebra" zookeeper.

Of course, Old Li knows very well that he is not raising zebras, but donkeys. Five gray-looking donkeys with long ears.