Cosmic Visitor

Old Li looked at the dark, sooty thing in front of him and felt that life was indeed full of black humor. This thing, said to be a seed that had "studied abroad" on a space station, was treated like a treasure by the research institute and even escorted to their village by a special envoy. The task given from above was also very clear: he was to take good care of this "cosmic visitor" and strive to make it bloom and bear fruit on its native soil.

Old Li had taken care of cows, pigs, and the few acres of barren land he owned his entire life, but taking care of a seed, especially one from outer space, was a first for him. The villagers were all curious and wanted to see what this "cosmic seed" looked like. Old Li would take out a magnifying glass and let everyone look at it in line. After seeing it, they would all exclaim about how fast technology was advancing day by day.

Days passed, and Old Li fertilized and watered the seed three times a day, morning, noon, and night, while also rambling on to it. Old Li thought to himself that if this seed could really bloom into something, he, Old Li, would also bask in the glory.

A month later, the seed finally sprouted, producing a slender leaf. The leaf was dark green, unlike any leaf Old Li had ever seen before, and it felt a little rough to the touch. The villagers came to watch the spectacle again, clucking their tongues in wonder, saying that things from outer space were indeed different.

After a few more months, the "cosmic seedling" grew taller and taller, nearly reaching Old Li's waist. But besides leaves, it was still just leaves, without even a flower bud in sight. People from the research institute came for a visit and said that they still needed to wait patiently.

Old Li continued to take meticulous care of it every day. He began to wonder if this seed could really bloom? What if it was just an ordinary weed? But the research institute had said that this was an important project related to the country's future development, of extraordinary significance.

One day, when Old Li went to fertilize the land, he discovered that a cluster of small bulbs had grown from the base of the cosmic seedling. He curiously dug up the soil and found that the bulbs were transparent, and there seemed to be tiny blood vessels flowing inside them.

That night, Old Li had a dream. In his dream, he saw himself transformed into a plant, rooted in the desolate soil of the universe. He had no eyes, but he could "see" the stars of the cosmos, he had no mouth, but he could "hear" the whispers of the universe.

The next morning, Old Li woke up and found that the bulbs on the cosmic seedling were gone. He thought he was seeing things, rubbed his eyes, and looked again, confirming that they were indeed gone. His heart skipped a beat; had they been stolen?

He quickly ran to the village radio station and asked the village chief to help find the bulbs, saying that this was an important project related to the country's future development. The village chief was confused but quickly organized people to help search.

After searching for several days, the bulbs were not found, but at the recycling station in the east of the village, they discovered several small transparent spheres, exactly as Old Li had seen in his dream. The recycling station owner said that some kids had picked them up and sold them, saying they were like glass marbles and were fun to play with.

Old Li picked one up and examined it carefully. The small sphere seemed to be glowing faintly. On closer inspection, there seemed to be vessels moving inside. Old Li suddenly realized that the so-called "cosmic seed" was a joke from the start. It wasn't a seed at all, but the egg of some alien creature, and he was just a supporting character in this absurd play.

Looking at the faintly glowing sphere in his hand, he felt an unprecedented fear, and a hint of expectation, perhaps even unnoticed by himself.