A reporter climbs a remote mountain trail hoping to write a hero's story about the aging mailman she's following.
天刚亮，川藏线的小路还湿着。山里很安静，只听得见水声。六十多岁的老山背上重重的帆布邮包，抬头看看山，就往上走。
Day had just broken, and the small path on the Sichuan-Tibet route was still wet. It was quiet in the mountains; only the sound of water could be heard. Laoshan, over sixty, hoisted the heavy canvas mail bag onto his back, looked up at the mountain, and started walking up.
山路又窄又滑，泥很深。老山走得慢，但从来不停——这条路他走了几十年。今年山下通了摩托车和信号塔，山上的村子还等他送信。
The mountain path was narrow and slippery, and the mud was deep. Laoshan walked slowly, but he never stopped — he had walked this road for decades. This year motorbikes and signal towers reached the foot of the mountain, but the villages up the mountain were still waiting for him to deliver their letters.
一小时后，年轻的女记者背着相机跟上来，气喘得厉害。“您好，我来采访您，大家都说您是英雄。”老山没说话，继续走。
An hour later a young woman reporter caught up, a camera on her, breathing hard. "Hello, I've come to interview you — everyone says you're a hero." Laoshan said nothing and kept walking.
记者举起相机拍照。“您一个人走了这么多年，难道不觉得苦吗？”老山指着树根说：“这个滑，小心。”又走了。
The reporter raised her camera and took photos. "You've walked alone all these years — don't you find it hard?" Laoshan pointed at a tree root and said: "That one's slippery, be careful." Then he walked on.
记者有点不明白。她问了很多问题，老山一个也没回答，只在滑的地方提醒她：“石头松”、“别踩水”。两人继续往上爬。
The reporter was a little puzzled. She asked many questions and Laoshan answered not one; he only warned her at the slippery places: "The stones are loose," "don't step in the water." The two kept climbing up.
第一个村子，老山一家家送信。村里人接过就回屋，谁也没说话。他本来就不在意，喝口水，背上邮包又上路。
At the first village Laoshan delivered letters house by house. The villagers took them and went back inside; nobody said a word. He didn't mind in the first place — he drank some water, shouldered the mail bag and set off again.
记者一路拍个不停，想好了一篇感人的报道，叫《大山里的英雄》。他一定是热爱工作，才干这么多年。
The reporter took photos nonstop along the way, already planning a moving report called "The Hero of the Great Mountains." He must love this work, she thought, to have done it so many years.
中午到了山顶最后的村子。又高又冷，云在脚下。送完信，记者问：“您当初为什么干这个？从小就想当邮差吗？”
At noon they reached the last village at the summit. It was high and cold, with clouds below their feet. After the letters were delivered, the reporter asked: "Why did you take this job back then? Did you want to be a mailman since childhood?"
老山笑笑：“我本来就不想干这个，从来没想过当邮差。”记者一愣：“那为什么……”“家里穷，有工资我就来了。”
Laoshan smiled: "I never wanted this in the first place; I never once thought of being a mailman." The reporter was stunned. "Then why..." "My family was poor. The job paid wages, so I came."
记者说：“原来您并不热爱这工作。”“对，我并没想留下，可钱发得准，路走熟了，一年年过去了。从来没人谢过我。”记者放下了相机。
The reporter said: "So it turns out you don't love this work at all." "Right, I didn't plan to stay, but the pay came on time, the road grew familiar, and year after year passed. And no one has ever thanked me." The reporter lowered her camera.
她本来想写英雄故事，可他完全不一样。他不觉得自己伟大，从来不说大道理，只是本来就需要工作的普通人。
She had originally wanted to write a hero's story, but he was nothing like that. He didn't think himself great and never spoke grand principles — just an ordinary man who needed work in the first place.
老山放下空邮包，坐在大石头上，拿出旧水壶喝热茶。山顶风大，他很舒服。“干了这么多年，其实也挺好的。”
Laoshan set down the empty mail bag, sat on a big stone, took out his old kettle and drank hot tea. The wind at the summit was strong, but he was comfortable. "After all these years, it's actually been quite alright."
记者把这话写在本子上，没写“英雄”。下山时老山在前面，遇到滑处提醒她。云散了，远处村子很清楚。
The reporter wrote that line in her notebook and did not write "hero." Going down, Laoshan walked in front, warning her at the slippery spots. The clouds parted, and the distant villages were clear.
几天后，报道发表。没有“伟大”和“英雄”，只有本来不想干这行的人，年年背邮包送信上山。
A few days later the report came out. No "great," no "hero" — only a man who originally hadn't wanted this line of work, carrying his mail bag up the mountain with the letters, year after year.