Mirage
A hungry man passed by a baozi store, the aroma of which made him feel as if he were in a sea of baozi. He gobbled up more and more, and his body became round, and finally danced and sang with the lovely buns, immersed in the happy world of food. Suddenly, with a “poof--” sound, he slowly deflated like a balloon and turned back into a thin man. As it turned out, he was still standing in front of the baozi store, and everything was just a food illusion under hunger.
In this animated short, a hungry man catches sight of a steaming cage of buns. The buns reflect in his eyes, and suddenly, he imagines himself drifting through a universe filled with them. The scent and desire for food ignite in his mind like a cosmic explosion. From the ruins of that explosion, a small seedling sprouts and rapidly grows into a towering tree, bearing a single, perfect bun.
A bird lands on the tree, shaking the bun loose. The man eagerly picks it up and takes a bite. He begins devouring buns one after another, like a character in the game Snake, growing fuller with each bite. His fantasies deepen: he imagines falling into mountains of buns, being squeezed by their softness, enveloped in warmth and satisfaction.
He bounces from one bun to another—each one more elastic than the last—until he gulps one down and transforms into a round, bloated version of himself. Looking down, he sees a giant steamer. As he lifts the lid, steam billows upward and he begins to dance joyfully with the buns inside.
Suddenly, he deflates like a balloon. The transformation marks the collapse of the fantasy. Everything he experienced was just an illusion—a vivid dream brought on by hunger and the sight of the buns. He opens his eyes, returning to reality. The story circles back to the beginning: he is once again standing in front of the steamer, still hungry, still dreaming.
Two collages: one depicts the anxiety of travelling a long distance to find food but not being able to eat it, and the other depicts the excitement of finding food.
