At noon that day, Nanjing reached the peak of the summer heat. The families living along the banks of the Liqing Reservoir in the southern suburbs were too hot to sleep through the afternoon. So everyone sat beneath the willows by the water, leaning back in deck chairs to catch a little cool air, chatting and drinking soda.
From time to time, people cast a casual glance at the water.
Something on the surface gradually caught their attention. It drifted closer and closer, growing larger by the moment, until the idle chatter fell silent. Hundreds of eyes stared at the thing, which was neither quite white nor black, neither long nor flat.
“Looks like a fish.”
“Nonsense, what fish could be that big? I think it’s a sow.”
“Even an old sow’s gone swimming!”
“Of course. It’s so hot, even an ice pop would want to jump in and cool off.”
As they were talking, the thing drifted to within fifty meters of the shore. Two brave young men jumped into the water with a splash and swam straight toward the monster.
As soon as they reached it, the two of them let out a scream
