diymy 02: The Creator
02: The Creator
Han Feng sat on the dusty floor for a full five minutes, his mind replaying the same thought over and over: this couldn't be real. He held the fish tank up to his eyes and examined it from all angles. The transparent tank walls gleamed faintly in the afternoon light, but other than that, it was a tiny fish tank.
But the information that suddenly appeared in his mind was crystal clear, as if it were engraved in his mind.
The Creator.
He pondered those three words, finding them both absurd and real. His heart pounded in his chest. He subconsciously glanced around. The study was still the same study. The shadow of the old loquat tree slanted across the windowpane. Birdsong drifted from the distant valley. The world hadn't changed at all, but he knew that something had been completely different from the moment he cut his finger.
Just then, a thought surfaced—not a sound, not words, but an intuitive impulse akin to "being thirsty and wanting to drink water"—the fish tank was prompting him to add something to it.
Han Feng hesitated for a moment, then gripped the fish tank tightly, stood up, and went down the creaking wooden stairs to the open space in the yard. The afternoon sun beat down on his back, making it feel hot. The quilts drying in the yard swayed slightly in the wind. He squatted down next to the loquat tree roots, grabbed a handful of sand from the ground. The sand was coarse yellow sand mixed with some fine, withered leaves. He carefully sifted the sand through his fingers and spread it evenly on the bottom of the fish tank, creating a thin layer.
After laying down the sand, he picked up the fish tank and examined it. The transparent tank walls and the pale yellow sand bottom finally looked somewhat presentable, like a proper fish tank.
Immediately afterward, another thought surfaced. This time, the perception was clearer than before, as if an instruction manual had been directly unfolded in his consciousness: "Time acceleration function activated. At the current level, the time flow rate is ten times. The conversion ratio between time in the tank and real time is: 1 day in reality equals 10 years in the tank."
Han Feng was stunned for a moment, then gasped. One day in reality is equivalent to 10 years in a fish tank? If you planted something in it, wouldn't it grow in the blink of an eye?
His gaze unconsciously swept around the yard, landing on the ground not far away. Under the loquat tree lay a few shriveled lychee seeds, their skin blackened and wrinkled. They were probably left there by someone who had finished eating lychees last summer, dried out by a year of sun and rain, and hard as pebbles.
Han Feng walked over and picked up the lychee pit. He wiped the dirt off his clothes, thought for a moment, and then threw it directly into the fish tank. The lychee pit lay alone on the sand, a small, dark piece. He then turned around and scooped half a ladle of water from the water tank in the yard, carefully pouring a little into the pit, just enough to wet the sand. The water level covered about half of the lychee pit.
He held the fish tank in both hands, took a deep breath, and focused his attention on the sensation floating in his consciousness. He didn't speak, but silently recited four words.
Time accelerates tenfold.
The moment the words left his mouth, a change occurred inside the fish tank.
There was no deafening roar, nor any blinding light. The change was quiet and still, but the water on the sand was visibly evaporating and condensing at an eerie speed, and tiny dust particles in the air formed an almost imperceptible miniature vortex above the fish tank. And the dark lychee seed began to tremble slightly.
Han Feng held his breath, his eyes almost popping out of their sockets.
A thin crack appeared on the surface of the lychee seed, and a tender white root emerged from the crack, like a tentative finger, trembling as it pierced the sand. Then, the root quickly branched out, thickened, and lengthened, drilling deeper into the sand at a visible speed. The crack widened, and a pale green stem emerged from the seed shell, supporting two unopened tender leaves, growing upwards in an incredible manner.
It's growing, it's really growing, you can see the changes every second.
Han Feng's legs went weak and he sat down on the ground. The fish tank he was holding felt heavy, but he felt light as a feather, as if he were walking on a pile of cotton. The lychee seed had completely broken through the shell, and the tender stem was growing taller and taller, with leaves unfolding one after another, so tender and green that they were unbelievable. The branches stretched out in the transparent tank, like a scene from a plant documentary being played in fast-forward.
He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but couldn't utter a single word. The sun shone on his back, and sweat streamed down his temples. The distant mountains were still the same mountains, and the old loquat tree was still the same old loquat tree, but the world in his eyes had become completely different.
Han Feng held the fish tank in both hands, his eyes fixed on the small lychee seedling inside. The tender green stem was still growing upwards at a visible speed, and the two cotyledons at the top had fully unfolded, trembling slightly in the transparent tank wall, as if it had just woken up from a long slumber.
However, the growth rate has slowed down significantly compared to before. After the roots have penetrated the sand, the stem's growth is no longer so dramatic, but rather a slow and continuous stretching. Han Feng estimated that it is now in the state of a weak seedling that has only sprouted a few days ago. The stem is so tender that you could squeeze water out of it. It has not yet produced any fruit, and there are no signs of lignification yet.
He quickly did the math in his mind: one day in reality is equivalent to ten years in the tank. With ten times the speed, by the time he gets up tomorrow morning, the lychee seedling will have been growing in the tank for almost ten years. Ten years is enough for a lychee tree to grow from a seedling into a lush, mature tree, more than enough time to flower and bear fruit. In other words, he can pick the freshest lychees from this small fish tank first thing tomorrow morning.
The idea struck him as both absurd and exhilarating. A tiny fish tank, a handful of sand, and a dried-up lychee seed could conjure up a whole lychee tree overnight. Who would believe that?
But amidst his excitement, a worry washed over him like a bucket of cold water. He looked down at the small fish tank in his palm. The transparent walls were thin, and it looked like an ordinary container. A lychee tree can grow for ten years, with its roots spreading several meters and its trunk growing as thick as a bowl. Could this palm-sized fish tank hold it? Would it crack halfway through?
He pondered the thought for a moment, but before he could voice it, a sense of unease surfaced. The fish tank responded to him, not with words, but with a sense of certainty that instantly reassured him, like when you ask someone, "Can you do it?" and that person doesn't say anything, but simply nods at you.
Immediately, a clearer piece of information entered his mind: although the fish tank was only the size of a palm on the outside, the internal space was independent and expandable. The size seen with the naked eye was only its projection in the real world, and the world inside was much larger than it appeared from the outside.
Han Feng breathed a sigh of relief, placed the fish tank on his lap, and continued to observe the lychee seed. The bud had grown a little taller, and the third true leaf was sprouting at the top of the stem, as small as a green needle.
The sun slowly sank behind the western mountains, and the light in the courtyard changed from golden yellow to orange-red, and then from orange-red to gray-blue. The shadow of the old loquat tree completely melted into the twilight, and the distant mountains were reduced to a blurry outline. The evening breeze blew in from the valley, carrying a cool, grassy scent. The bedding had been swaying in the wind all afternoon, and it was time to put it away.
Han Feng sat on the stone steps with the small fish tank beside him. He felt that what he had experienced in the past half day was more bizarre than the past twenty years combined. He felt like he was in an unreal dream, but the sand on his knees and the still throbbing cut on his fingertips told him that it was all real.
The last rays of dawn faded, and night fell on Shimen Village.