In some mountain forests in my hometown, there is a precious tree called Nanmu. Lush all year round, the trunk is straight, and the crown looks like a big umbrella. I remember when I was a child, my father took me to the back hill. He pointed to a nanmu and said to me, "Don't underestimate this tree. Although it is not a towering tree, it has a history of hundreds of years and is quite valuable. "

"Is such a humble tree worth so much money?" I said with some disbelief.

Father replied: "To see whether a thing is valuable, we should not only look at the surface, but also look at the essence." Take nanmu tree as an example. Its appearance is not much different from other trees, but its texture is many times better than other trees. " Other trees can grow in a few years or ten years, but nanmu grows slowly, and it usually takes a hundred years to become a pillar. Although it later became a pillar, because it fully absorbed sunlight and rain, it experienced numerous storms, the color became elegant and symmetrical, and the wood became hard and thick. When it is used as furniture, it not only has small expansion deformation, but also has a faint fragrance. So nanmu is often used.

My father also said: "Be like Nanmu, don't aim too high, don't be eager for quick success, don't pursue quick success, and know how to grow step by step, which will be more valuable."

In my hometown, there is also a tree called paulownia, which is planted in the front yard and backyard of almost every household. Paulownia trees are widely distributed in China, and their growth rate is amazing. Generally, it can grow into a big tree in three to five years. However, due to the rapid growth, the texture is generally poor, the branches are short and curved, and there are many scars. Building a house is not as good as eucalyptus and cypress. Using it as furniture is not as good as Chinese fir and poplar, not to mention nanmu. So in my hometown, people usually use paulownia as firewood.

As the saying goes, a drop of water wears through a stone. From the nanmu tree, I understand a truth: it takes time to become something useful, and its value is often limited.

Once, a frustrated young man went to visit Menckel, a master painter. He asked, "Why does it take me only one day to draw a painting, but it takes a whole year to sell a painting?" Mencaier smiled and said to the young man, "You might as well reverse the time and draw a picture a year, maybe you can sell it in one day." If a person wants to succeed in a short time, even if he can do it, it is often a flash in the pan.