Eight days before the Spring Festival of 2027, Xiao Nanzhu finally ended his military career after serving as a soldier for [redacted] years and returned to his hometown, Y City.

Although Y City was his hometown, his real home hadn’t been there for a long time. He had no father or mother, and his only relative was his grandmother. The old lady had gone to heaven the year he joined the army, and because his finances were tight, after the old city district was demolished, Xiao Nanzhu, still in the military, couldn’t afford a property in the local area. Now that he was discharged, the transition allowance from the military wasn’t much, and apart from his physical strength, he didn’t have any special skills. When processing his discharge, his comrades had asked about his future plans, to which Xiao Nanzhu had just casually smiled and brushed them off with a “I’ll take it one step at a time.”

Y City was nothing more than a temporary resting place for him after so many years of drifting, and as for his future path, Xiao Nanzhu, now approaching thirty, hadn’t really figured it out himself.

He had spent the first half of his life in this city. Before the old lady passed away and the house was demolished, his childhood was spent in a very old-fashioned small alley. The alley wasn’t large but connected twenty to thirty households, all old neighbors who had lived there for over sixty years.

These neighbors knew each other well and mostly engaged in similar livelihoods. Since Y City was considered a historical and cultural city, the old alleys were full of elderly people who understood traditional folk customs. Some sold antiques and calligraphy, some told fortunes and read bones, some performed spiritual possessions, some practiced acupuncture and prescribed herbs – all things that were quickly becoming obsolete in modern times. Xiao Nanzhu’s grandmother, for instance, was someone who looked at dates for people. Whenever a girl in the alley was getting married or someone was raising the beam for their house, they would always find Xiao Nanzhu’s grandmother to check for an auspicious date. The old lady rarely went out, relying on checking dates to earn pocket money to supplement her grandson’s nutrition. After three or four generations passing down these traditions, the children who grew up together in this area inevitably formed connections. When Xiao Nanzhu returned from the military this time, the first person he notified was a good friend who grew up with him.

Speaking of this friend, Xiao Nanzhu hadn’t seen him for five or six years. Military management was strict, and even during occasional home leave, he hadn’t been able to meet up with his childhood friend. Now, all that remained in his memory were some scenes of the two of them running around the alley when they were eleven or twelve, and thinking more carefully, just some yellowed and jumbled fragments of their time living in that alley.

So, with longing for his hometown and old friends, Xiao Nanzhu returned. The day he arrived in Y City happened to be Chinese Little New Year’s Eve. Amidst China’s most overwhelming year-end homecoming tide, he walked out of the train station alone with his meager belongings, his eyes blurred by the cold air.

In the winter tide, streets and alleys were all a hazy white. Because the Spring Festival was approaching, pedestrians were all beaming with joy. Most of the people seen outside the station were hurriedly rushing home with luggage, which made the tall, thin man with a face pale from the cold seem somewhat out of place. As he frowned, lit a Yuxi cigarette at the station entrance, and bit the filter between his lips for a puff, he suddenly heard someone shouting from a distance:

“Xiao Nanzhu! Xiao Nanzhu! Over here! Hey! Why are you just standing there like an idiot?”

A tall figure with a crew cut, dressed in a black Chinese-style padded jacket that gave off a gloomy vibe, wearing round sunglasses with a big mouth grinning – from a distance, he looked inexplicably strange.

Xiao Nanzhu, who had been spacing out, raised his eyes to see this person, and his heart immediately skipped a beat. After confirming that this person was indeed calling him, and recognizing some familiar features, he picked up his luggage and walked down the steps, cigarette dangling from his lips as he looked the man up and down, then chuckled:

“Hey, dressed like this during the New Year – are you here to greet me or attend my funeral…”

This remark momentarily stunned the sunglasses-wearing young man. He pinched his fingers, took off his sunglasses, and with narrowed eyes and thin lips, said in a chilling tone:

“What kind of talk is that, darling! These are just my work clothes! I just got off work and came to pick you up. You ungrateful bastard, still not satisfied? How about this – I’m treating today, let’s go have a drink first and catch up on how we’ve been doing these years…”

Many years had passed, but this guy’s attitude hadn’t changed a bit. Xiao Nanzhu, accustomed to being cold and distant, felt inexplicably comforted in his heart. With a smile curling at the corner of his mouth, he hooked the man’s neck and gave him a solid hug. Mr. Si Tu Zhang, dressed like a blind person, burst into laughter, shouting and yelling as Xiao Nanzhu dragged him forward by the neck. His heart felt warm too, and by the time the two found a local restaurant by taxi and sat down to catch up, it was already half an hour later.

Old friends meeting is all about reminiscing about the past and discussing old feelings. Having grown up together since childhood, their conversation naturally became more casual. Having been in the military and accustomed to roughness, Xiao Nanzhu didn’t stand on ceremony with Si Tu Zhang. He directly ordered a few dishes and a bottle of wine, then leaned back in the small restaurant’s chair and started smoking. Si Tu Zhang, who had been chattering non-stop and asking about this and that since earlier, didn’t mind this fellow’s noncommittal attitude. He simply breathed on his glasses, wiped his round sunglasses with a cloth, and asked:

“Have you resolved your personal issues?”

“All men, how can they be resolved?”

“Then have you resolved your work situation?”

“Unemployed, what else can they arrange for me?”

Answering lazily, Xiao Nanzhu narrowed his eyes and casually flicked the ash from his cigarette. On this trip back, he had already prepared himself for long-term unemployment. After all, in this society with its intense employment competition, even young college graduates might not be able to find work, let alone an old military man like him. Upon hearing this, Si Tu Zhang grinned and put his round sunglasses back on his nose, prompting Xiao Nanzhu to instinctively ask:

“You’re asking me so much, what about yourself?”

After asking this, Xiao Nanzhu clearly felt Si Tu Zhang’s smile fade a bit. Xiao Nanzhu and Si Tu Zhang stared at each other silently, with the one in sunglasses just smiling without speaking. Seeing this, Xiao Nanzhu leaned in for a closer look, then deliberately lowered his voice and said seriously:

“Hey, ever since I first saw you, you’ve been wearing those sunglasses. You didn’t secretly get double eyelid surgery, did you…?”

“…”

Si Tu Zhang’s expression at that moment was truly splendid. Xiao Nanzhu chuckled and then pretended to be serious, pressing his lips together.

“Xiao Nanzhu, you bastard.”

Cursing fiercely, Si Tu Zhang frowned, not knowing what to say about Xiao Nanzhu’s lifelong habit of teasing him. After taking an annoyed gulp of wine, he muttered under Xiao Nanzhu’s half-smiling gaze:

“I opened a blind person’s massage parlor. I’ll take you to see it sometime. It’s not that kind of adult entertainment, don’t think crooked, it’s just legitimate energy healing massage therapy…”

Even if Si Tu Zhang hadn’t said it, Xiao Nanzhu could have guessed what business this guy was in now. After all, Si Tu Zhang’s family’s traditional craft was quite well-known. Among various unconventional occupations, energy healers were always labeled as scammers, their reputation basically no better than those selling fake medicine. Many years ago, when their families were neighbors, Si Tu Zhang’s parents specialized in energy healing massage.

Whenever Xiao Nanzhu went to play with Si Tu Zhang as a child, he would see many old men and women queuing up waiting for Master Si Tu to use his powers. Master Si Tu was Si Tu Zhang’s father, and it was said that letting him use his powers once could extend one’s life by fifteen minutes.

This kind of talk, which sounded like nonsense, apparently had many believers at that time. However, this wasn’t considered a novel occupation in the old alley back then, so Xiao Nanzhu never took it seriously. What he hadn’t expected was that Si Tu Zhang, at such a young age, would go into this kind of work that seemed to have been rendered obsolete by the times. In Xiao Nanzhu’s impression, Si Tu Zhang was quick-witted and should have been able to find his way. Seeing his inquiring expression, Si Tu Zhang just smiled, then poured a full glass of Harbin beer in front of him before speaking:

“What’s up, didn’t expect I’d inherit the family business? My family’s traditional energy healing has been passed down for over three hundred years, it can’t just end with me, right? Besides, my blind massage business is doing great. If it wasn’t for picking you up today, I’d still have dozens of clients waiting in line… I should say you’ve been gone too long, there’s a lot you don’t know. Remember that Ms. Liu who did spirit dancing in our alley? Both her elder and younger daughters went to dance academies, one studying modern dance and the other ethnic dance. Now when she calls spirits, they appear more easily than others. And that astrologer Old Wang, remember him? His grandson Wang Xiaodong is a famous zodiac expert on Weibo, making much more than me… Oh, and of course there’s that possessed Fairy Li, and that chest-stone-smashing Uncle Zheng…”

“…”

The wine nearly spurted from his throat. Xiao Nanzhu really hadn’t expected that all his old neighbors had apparently found their own bright futures. Seeing his disbelieving expression, Si Tu Zhang didn’t expect this guy to take him seriously either, and just smiled and winked at him, saying:

“Now people love to say fortune-telling, energy healing, and traditional Chinese medicine are all unscientific. But what does ‘unscientific’ mean? Isn’t it just things that science can’t explain? We believe in science and don’t believe in superstition, that’s one thing, but these ancestral skills related to folk customs and cultural continuation shouldn’t be abandoned, don’t you think? Speaking of which, your grandmother was a famous Yellow Calendar Master back then. Haven’t you thought about inheriting this skill from your family? It’s better than coming back and being idle, right?”

Hearing this, Xiao Nanzhu was taken aback, thinking of his grandmother who had been gone for four or five years, with some emotion in his eyes. However, the suggestion Si Tu Zhang made wasn’t very constructive. After all, his grandmother hadn’t intended to pass on the almanac-reading skill to him when she was alive. Now that she was gone, naturally he had no way to learn it, let alone make it his future path.

Thinking this way, Xiao Nanzhu didn’t take these words to heart. The night’s drinking lasted until almost ten o’clock before they dispersed, both reeking of alcohol as they left the small restaurant with unsteady steps. Casually declining Si Tu Zhang’s invitation to spend the night at a bathhouse, Xiao Nanzhu gave a verbal promise for next time and waved goodbye. When he returned to the rental apartment that he only visited during regular vacation time, this old apartment that hadn’t housed anyone for over a year finally lit up tonight.

Old sofa, old wooden table, old almanac hanging on the wall.

Everything in the house was left by the old lady. After she passed away, Xiao Nanzhu hadn’t had time to clear things out, nor did he have the heart to. Now that he was back, although the house had a musty smell, every corner carried memories of the past. When the somewhat tipsy Xiao Nanzhu stepped into the house, he first felt along the wall to turn on the light, then went to the kitchen to boil some water, before sitting back in the living room.

Outside the window, fireworks were occasionally going off. The New Year was approaching, and everywhere was lively.

Waiting for the water to boil, Xiao Nanzhu leaned back on the old sofa, spacing out. He could vaguely hear the sound of moving furniture from the residents upstairs. The old wall clock showed that there was only half an hour left before today was over. Xiao Nanzhu shifted his gaze to the old almanac beside it and suddenly frowned in puzzlement.

In an apartment that hadn’t been inhabited for over a year, the position of everything should logically remain completely unchanged.

But for some reason, when Xiao Nanzhu’s eyes fell on the old almanac hanging on the living room wall, he strangely discovered that the date had been turned to today’s page.

“Wednesday, February 11, 2027…”

His mind couldn’t quite process it for a moment. Xiao Nanzhu tried to recall when he last left home, feeling that there was something inexplicably eerie about the old almanac hanging on the wall. Curiosity prompted him to stand up and walk to the wall, and when he carefully examined that page of the old almanac, Xiao Nanzhu found that besides the dense fortune text for various zodiac signs and daily fortunes, the center of the almanac featured a carp child spirit wearing a splendid red padded jacket with a dot on its forehead.

“Three harmonies of Tiger and Dog, Nine Stars Four Affinities, Yellow Path Auspicious Day, All things can proceed… Therefore it is called Little… New Year?”

Muttering the small regular script text below the almanac, Xiao Nanzhu, full of doubts, felt that something was not quite right and about to happen. This unfounded premonition made him frown instinctively, and in the next second, he watched as the carp child spirit, which had been motionless on the almanac, suddenly opened its eyes, first splashing him with fishy water, then glaring at him with puffed-up cheeks and yelling:

“I only have half an hour left before I’m off work today!! Which brain-damaged person is looking for me! Do you want to die?! Huh?! Huh?!!! (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻”

Xiao Nanzhu: “…………”