During National Day, classmates I hadn't seen in years came to Beicheng as a group and specifically asked me to show them around.
When they heard I made my living raising pigeons, they burst out laughing:
“What good were your grades back then? Now you still have to take care of livestock!”
Then, on the eve of the military parade, they stole my pigeons, barbecued them to go with their drinks, and mocked me:
“Birds raised by a loser, just good enough to liven up our youth!”
The next day, at the National Day celebration, the sky was missing its white doves.
As staff hurried over, my old classmates were excitedly holding up their phones:
“Comrade, are you here to interview us?”
I smiled faintly:
“I forgot to mention, the pigeons you ate weren't meat birds. They were the lead pigeons of the National Day parade flock.”
