Years ago, there was an old man who loved his young son very much. And the old man had a lot of art collections, such as the works by Picasso, Van Gogh, Monet and many others.

As war broke out in their nation, the son became a soldier and left to serve his country. Only a few weeks later, the old man received a message that his son died in the war.

On Christmas morning, a soldier knocked on the door and said, “I am a friend of your son. He saved my life before he died. I am also an artist, and I want to give you this painting that I drew in the war.” It was a portrait (画像) of the man's son.

The old man told his neighbors it was the greatest gift he had ever received. The following spring, the old man became ill and passed away. According to the will of the old man, all of the art works would be sold at an auction (拍卖会)  on Christmas Day, the day he had received his greatest gift.

On Christmas Day the auction began with the portrait of the old man's son, The auctioneer (拍卖师) asked for an opening bid (竞价), but the room was silent. Finally, a friend of the old man said, “Will I take $10 for the painting? That's all I have.” The gavel (小木槌) fell.

The auctioneer looked at the audience and announced that the auction was over. He explained, “It is very easy. According to the will of the father, whoever takes the portrait of his son gets all his art collections.”

    A man goes into a restaurant one day. His clothes are very nice. He sits down at a table near the window.

    A waiter comes to him and says, “Can I help you, sir?” The man says, “Yes, please. Can I see the menu (菜单)?”

        “Sure,” answers the waiter. The man wants a good meal and he wants a lot of nice dishes. After a moment, the waiter brings them to him. The man has his meal happily. At this time, a boy comes in and sits down besides the man. He asks the waiter to give him ice cream. The man says, “I will be back in 5 minutes.” Then he goes out. After the boy eats his ice cream, he stands up and goes to the door. “Excuse me, your father doesn't give the money for the meal and your ice cream,” the waiter stops him and says.

    “Father? You are wrong. He is not my father. I do not know him. I meet him in the street. He says he'll give me ice cream when I come here at twelve o'clock.”

    For all his life，my grandfather has lived in the Valley of Koi．A rushing river and the Eagle Mountain divide the valley into two．They keep the villagers safe from wolves．The soil is so rich that our crops seem to grow well by themselves，and even the precious （珍贵的） fire flowers can be found here．

    Although life in the valley was good，my grandfather still worried about his people．The mountain and river kept danger out，but they also kept us far away from the world．"We must find a way to reach out to other villages，"Grandfather said，"to trade，exchange stories and make friends．If we do not，Koi will one day disappear．"

    One day，grandfather saw a spider （蜘蛛） in his garden．He bent down to look more closely and saw it building a web between two grasses．Suddenly，Grandfather knew what the people of Koi must do．

    Many villagers were skeptical ． "It comes easily to the spider，but it is so difficult for humans，"they didn't believe it possible．"We cannot fly through the air like a spider．And what would happen if strangers learned where the fire flowers grew？"

    "If I were a fire flower，I would rather be picked from the earth and loved than left alone and unseen，"Grandfather said．Some of the villagers agreed．After that，the strongest men and women of Koi began to work．Finally，the bridge was finished!My grandfather was the first Koi villager ever to stand on the far bank of the river．When he reached the other side，a stranger came to greet him friendly with a precious ice flower as a gift to share with us．

    Our village is still small and quiet，but we are no longer shut away from the world．Next spring，I'm going to walk through the mountain to enjoy the ice flowers，I would also like to meet more strangers from other places and share them fire flowers of Koi．

    It is sunny and warm today. A dog is sleeping.

    A panda comes to the dog and says, “You are a lazy dog. You don't do anything every day.”

    “What do I need to do?” asks the dog.

    “My owner(主人) gives me food to eat. My owner takes me out for a walk. My owner loves me. Ha! I eat, I go out for a walk and I sleep. I don't have any other things to do.”

    “But don't you have any ambitions(抱负)?” asks the panda.

    “Ambitions? What do I need ambitions to do? I'm just a dog,” says the dog.

    “What ambitions do you have?”

    “I often go to other countries and make friends with people there. So I can show the world that Chinese are friendly,” answers the panda.

    “Oh,” says the dog, “maybe I should do something for others.”

    One can hardly imagine Chai Huilong, wearing glasses and a T-shirt, as a Chinese chive(韭菜) farmer.

    Two years ago, Chai graduated from Tianjin College of University of Science and Technology. He took over his parents' 20,000 square meter plot of land and set up a business: growing Chinese chives.

    But instead of growing Chinese chives in the traditional way, Chai plants them in garden pots and sells them directly to customers through an online sore. Now his family makes 10 million yuan a year.

    Running a business is a dream for many young graduates. Chai is one of those young graduates who have found great career opportunities in rural areas. They make good use of their agricultural knowledge and new skills, and get support form the government.

    When Chai came up with the idea of growing Chinese chives, he was not sure about running his own business. But Youth Business China, a non-profit(非盈利的) program supported by the government which helps encourage youth entrepreneurship (创业精神), gave Chai courage and confidence. The program offers 30,000 to 50,000 yuan in start-up funding to young people who have great ideas. It also assigns(分配) each of them a tutor who provides guidance on spending the money and running the company.

    "My relatives and friends regard farming as a bad job. But being a farmer is just my job," said Chai. So far, his products have been shipped to places as far as Dubai on the Arabian Gulf. Chai is confident that he can make a greater success of this job in the future.