A-Tu quickly realized that passion and brute force alone couldn't wake up a slumbering piece of land. The soil he dug up was as hard as stone, and the few ordinary seeds he planted didn't even sprout.
Just as he was at a loss, two people walked into his world.
One was an old, taciturn carpenter from the mountains, but he had skilled hands. He saw the reservoir A-Tu had haphazardly built with stones and shook his head. Then, without a word, he used bamboo and wood from the mountain to build a simple but highly efficient water diversion and irrigation system. He never asked for payment, only accepting a bowl of hot porridge and a roasted sweet potato from A-Tu in the evening. He represented the wisdom of practice and the legacy of craftsmanship.
The other was a young female student named Xiao-Ye who had come from the city to do plant research. She took a keen interest in A-Tu's peculiar black seed. She brought instruments A-Tu had never seen before, analyzed the soil's pH level, and told him the land was nitrogen-deficient and needed compost made from specific leaves and kitchen waste. She also consulted numerous ancient texts, hypothesizing that the seed might be a long-extinct ancient grain known as "Black Gold Rice." She represented theoretical knowledge and strategic foresight.
And so, a peculiar "team of three" was formed.
A-Tu was the doer who provided the land and tireless labor.
The old carpenter was the craftsman who turned ideas into reality with his hands.
Xiao-Ye was the planner who provided the blueprint and direction.
They didn't use many words but shared a strange kind of unspoken understanding. The three of them, with three different skills, built a stable, triangular structure, like three Pentacles in a cooperative effort.
Finally, on a morning after the rain, when A-Tu planted the black seed and watered it with the soil they had improved and the mountain spring water they had diverted, a miracle happened.
A few days later, a tiny, resilient green sprout pushed its way through the barren earth.
That patch of green shimmered in the morning light. It was the most beautiful color A-Tu had ever seen.
【Echo from the Mirror】
In the project you are working on, are the three roles of "doer," "craftsman," and "planner" all present? Are you willing to let go of the need to struggle alone and find your "old carpenter" and "Xiao-Ye" to collaborate and create results far greater than you could achieve on your own?