Once upon a time, there was a small village in the center of a big forest. All the villagers were used to their robotic farm work and none of them had the imagination or the will (意愿) to try something new, except for one girl named Jo. Very few could read or write, and Jo was one of them.

One afternoon, when Jo was on one of her explorations in the forest, she came upon an abandoned cottage (废弃的小屋). Though she’d been warned to stay away from abandoned places, her curiosity got the best of her. She slid in and was amazed to find a room full of books! Jo’s excitement was huge when she realized she had found a hidden treasure.

She ran to tell the villagers everything, thinking that they would share her excitement but instead, she heard roars of laughter! Jo was confused by this reaction (反应) and a little hurt too, but she did not give up on her books.

She came to the cottage every day and got down to reading the books. For her, each page was an adventure with characters who challenged difficulties with their determination and who struggled for good. Knowing the power of stories in impressing on people the values of life, she decided to share the stories with the villagers, though she knew it would be a difficult journey. Making this her mission (使命), Jo started telling stories every day at her cottage.

In the beginning, only a few came to the readings. But word spread rapidly, causing more and more people to come, some of whom even traveled from far away to just listen to her stories. She also conducted workshops in which she taught people how to read and write. She was remembered and lived in her stories even after she was long gone.

My first year living in Los Angeles, I was a birthday-party clown (小丑). I struggled a lot with my identity because, I viewed myself as an artist while others viewed me as ridiculous. To make matters more confusing, being a clown is itself an identity-masking job.

One night, I was asked to play as Batman. At the time I had a giant mustache (胡子). But I didn’t want to change my physical appearance, because that would have been me admitting I was more of a clown than an artist. So I chose to keep it.

The next day, I went to the party. Once I got close enough for the kids to make out the features of my face, the entire party burst into laughter. I was so embarrassed. But then came loud applause (掌声). Feeling kind of warm, I was thinking,“Is this what encouragement feels like? It’s so new.” I was still about 20 yards away from the party when I started running. They all started cheering louder, and at that moment, I was Batman.

“You see, son. I told you Batman has a mustache.” said father of the birthday boy. I saw a huge Birthday cake with a frosting Batman drawn on it, and the Batman had a mustache. I looked at it in disbelief. That’s why everyone was laughing so hard when I first arrived, because when they brought the cake out, all the kids laughed, “Batman doesn’t have a mustache.”Instead of admitting the cake was messed up, the parents tried to save face and said,“No, Batman always has a mustache. He just shave it for his movies.”

Naturally, the children were doubtful. But they were at the perfect age where they still believed in miracles. My mustache became the detail that proved what the parents had said was true and made the kids believe that I was actually Batman.

That year, I struggled a lot with my identity: was I an artist, or was I a clown? But that day, at least, there was no doubt in my mind what I was. I may not have been the hero that they ordered, and I certainly was not the hero they expected. But that day, I was the hero that they needed.

As a well-known Chinese TV hostess, Dong Qing is now hosting two cultural shows. Chinese Poetry Conference and Readers. The two shows are encouraging people to love traditional culture and find the beauty of life.

Dong was born in a highly educated family in 1973. She had a great love for traditional literature from an early age. In 2015 when she was about to study in the US, Dong received an invitation from the director of Chinese Poetry Conference asking her to be the hostess.

Because of her passion for traditional literature, Dong accepted the job.

“The contest interests me very much. Hosting it is a process of learning about poetry and performing,” said Dong. To her great joy, the show has become more and more popular.

Under the slogan “Reading touches people’s hearts”, the new TV show Readers has become a success. It invites famous guests from all walks of life to read something. Dong works as both hostess and producer.

Readers became a turning point in Dong’s 21 years of hosting. She said it brought her “quite a huge challenge”.

“There is no shortcut in this world. If you want to be a good host, you need to make thorough preparations,” said the beautiful hostess. The charm of life lies in its unknown, so we just have to try and keep going.