A Garden of Greens Becomes Immortal

Sixteen-year-old underachiever Yang Feng did poorly on an exam, so his teacher ordered him to bring a parent to school. Upset and afraid, he ran off to hide in his grandmother’s vegetable garden in the countryside. Suddenly, he heard a radish say, “Hey, kid, you’re stepping on my roots!” From then on, Yang Feng’s whole worldview shattered...

Years later, as Yang Feng stood on the Nobel Prize stage, the host announced, “Please welcome Professor Yang Feng, winner of this year’s Nobel Prize in Biology and Nobel Peace Prize...” His words were drowned out by shouts from the audience: “Yang Cairen! Yang Cairen!” Everyone laughed as they chanted, as if this were not a solemn international ceremony. The host couldn’t help laughing. “Then please welcome Mr. Yang Cairen to the stage to deliver his acceptance speech!” The cheers rang out again: “Tell us the story of Cairen’s Cultivation! Cairen’s Cultivation!” The audience’s laughter left Yang Feng helpless. “That’s enough. This is such a solemn occasion. How can you joke around like this?” He gathered himself and stepped up to the microphone. “If I’ve achieved anything today, the first people I want to thank are my grandmother and her vegetable garden. It all began one afternoon in my first year of high school...” A few friends who knew him started laughing again. “Yang Cairen’s at it again, telling the story of cultivation in the vegetable garden! He tells it every time he wins an award! It’s hilarious!” Yang Feng was helpless. He couldn’t reveal his astonishing powers in the mortal world. Every time he told the truth about what had happened, people treated it as a one-of-a-kind story he had made up.