People often say, “Once you enter officialdom, you have no choice.” It has become a catchphrase among many officials. But are they really powerless, or do they simply fail to resist temptation? Who has ever bothered to find out? In today’s society, upright officials with the courage of Hai Rui are few and far between. Since ancient times, many have entered officialdom only to be tempted by power and money, losing the purity and kindness of their humanity along the way.
In a small township in a small county lived a girl named Dong Xue, an ordinary girl from Sha Township. Ever since childhood, she had dreamed of a simple goal, not some grand achievement: she wanted to become a township official. Little did she know that, amid the tides of social change, her dream would gradually change with the passage of time.
Deep in young Dong Xue’s heart lay the seed of an unyielding spirit: steadfast perseverance, the courage to strive, and, most precious of all, purity and kindness. Yet during her years working in the township, she tasted every sweetness and bitterness life had to offer and learned the warmth and coldness of human nature. In the end, she was exhausted in body and spirit, lost her drive to struggle, had all her rough edges smoothed away, and squandered the most precious years of her youth. Even the fervor in her heart was extinguished by life at the grassroots level.
Life is unpredictable. When Dong Xue was very young, she was powerless to protect her mother. She resolved to become a township official so she could protect her, yet in the end she sacrificed herself to protect someone else. Such is the unpredictability of life, and the cruel irony of fate.
