By YIN GAN

As soon as Qing Ying stepped into the village where Xu Erhais family lived， she was immediately enveloped by the peaceful atmosphere and delighted by swathes of greenery.

Qing was a reporter from a media outlet， there to interview Xu about his saving two drowning children.

Greeting her were luxuriant trees bathed in the sunlight. Qing pictured the beautiful green feast brought by these trees in her mind. In March， waving willows with their slightly yellow leaves and tender green shoots herald the advent of spring. In April， vibrant phoenix trees welcome a blossom period. In May， flowers of pagoda trees give off a refreshing scent attractive to bees and butterflies.

Coming back to reality， she saw a quiet village before her， its neat roads and quaint houses devoid of people. A lone dog barked in reply to a rooster crowing. The stillness was almost ethereal.

Xus house was at the end of the village. It comprised five bright red-brick and tiled rooms and a yard measuring over 666 square meters in size. Inside were poplar trees whose bark is bluish-white and moist， probably planted before the rooms were built. The waist-high walls of the courtyard were decorated in a windmill pattern made of blue tiles and provided little security.

Escorted by one of the villagers， Qing was about to enter through the gate when she saw a white goat jump gracefully onto the wall， stamp its hooves and jump off into the shrubs on the other side of the road. Qing became worried that the white goat might get lost and be unable to return to Xus home.

The villager escorting Qing opened Xus gate and called out to him several times. No one answered， except for the soft meows of a cat. The villager told Qing to wait at the gate while he went in search of Xu.

While Qing was looking around at Xus yard， a big black cat appeared from nowhere and approached her. The cat seemed curious of this new visitor and tilted its head looking inquiringly at Qing， who bent down and reached out to pat its head. Suddenly her small handbag slipped off her shoulder and fell to the ground， frightening the cat， which leaped up in surprise， the hair on its back raised in anger. The cat turned away， agilely climbed up a nearby poplar tree， watched her from the safety of the leafy canopy， and hissed， as if warning her not to do bad things here.

As she was contemplating the cats behavior， a yellow-haired dog happily ran into the yard. It immediately sniffed the smell of a stranger and began barking when it noticed her. She has always been afraid of dogs. Having already been startled by the black cat， to be approached a few seconds later by an angry dog was very unsettling for Qing. It seemed to her that there were more animals than people in this village. Qing instinctively put her bag in front of her for protection and shouted at the yellow dog， “Dont come near me！” Unfortunately， this action proved to be the wrong thing to do at the time. Hearing her raised voice， the dog lowered itself to the floor and bared its teeth threateningly. A menacing growl escaped its throat and Qing felt herself shiver in fear.

“Dahuang， stop barking！” said a man who came into the courtyard. The dog obeyed and calmed down. “I am Xu Erhai， sorry to have kept you waiting，” said the man.

Lowering her guard against the dog， Qing managed to take a closer look at Xu. He appeared to be 30 something， was well built， and had a refined looking face.

Xu invited Qing into the house and offered her a cup of tea. “I heard that someone from the newspaper was here to interview me，”he said， adding with embarrassment that he had done nothing special to deserve stories written about him.

“You rescued two drowning children； we need to report such good deeds to spread positivity，” said Qing. Xu waved away her kind words.

“Anyone else would have done the same， and your news reports may induce people to do it for fame and fortune，” said Xu.

Qing was a little surprised that Xu would make such a statement.“What was in your mind when you decided to save the children？” she asked.

“I didnt think of anything， it was just instinct，” Xu replied and no matter how she asked， it was clear that he was not interested in saying anything more about life-saving and the interview became a dull affair.

The yellow dog Dahuang entered the room， bowed its head and wagged its tail before laying down at Xus feet. The black cat also slipped down from the tree， entered the room and rested peacefully close to Xu， from time to time glancing over at Qing.

Suddenly the white goat came through the open gate and looked at them. Xu waved his hand at it. “You are used to freedom. You dont have to report to me，” he said to the goat， which turned around and headed for its enclosure， seemingly upset.

When looking at Xu again， Qing vaguely thought that he should be an animal， or conversely the goat， cat， and dog should be people. With this strange idea in her mind， she suddenly dismissed the idea of interviewing Xu， believing that he was naturally a reserved person.

Xu shouted from behind as Qing left his home， “You forgot your bag！” reminding her that she had left her bag on the table. Xu came running out of the house with the bag toward the courtyard wall. He placed his hand on the wall and leapt over it coming to a stop directly in front of Qing.

She suddenly understood the real reason why Xu wasnt interested in talking about the life-saving incident： he must have thought it was a weird thing not to save people when you had such a strong body and quiet determined spirit.