The next day, it was past nine o’clock when Xiao Nanzhu woke up.

Rubbing his temple as he walked out of the bedroom, his head was still dizzy and his brows tightly knitted. Once a person leaves a strict environment, they unconsciously relax. Although Xiao Nanzhu had previously grown accustomed to military life, the consecutive mind-bending experiences had left him with no mental energy to think about anything else. His phone now displayed two missed calls from Si Tu Zhang. While walking toward the kitchen, he held the phone, ready to call back. When he reached the refrigerator, he instinctively stopped in his tracks, as he suddenly remembered that he had placed that strange old almanac inside the refrigerator.

“Hello, finally awake?”

Si Tu Zhang’s lazy voice sounded from the other end of the phone. Xiao Nanzhu gave a light grunt in response, but his finger unconsciously touched the refrigerator door. His mind was still contemplating the events of last night, but such ghostly encounters couldn’t be shared with others—even if he did, no one would believe him.

“Why are you calling me so early in the morning?”

His tone was dry as he asked the question. Xiao Nanzhu’s attention was mostly focused on the refrigerator in front of him, but he still spared some time to chat with his childhood friend. Hearing this, Si Tu Zhang let out a helpless sigh, then spoke in a somewhat twisted voice:

“I say, how can someone as young as you have such a poor memory? Didn’t I tell you yesterday? After the New Year, I’ll introduce you to a job. I know many people, so asking around will surely yield some opportunities. But you have to promise to join me for several meals during these New Year days. Relationships are built over drinks, and you mustn’t be as disobedient as before, Xiao Nanzhu…”

Si Tu Zhang kept nagging like a mother hen, and knowing he meant well, Xiao Nanzhu didn’t interrupt him. Though deep down he wasn’t the type to drink a few glasses and immediately become buddy-buddy with others—otherwise he wouldn’t have struggled so much in the military and ended up in such an awkward situation—Si Tu Zhang, who knew his temperament and current difficulties inside out, patiently conveyed his intentions and even spared Xiao Nanzhu’s pride by not waiting for him to ask for help. This thoughtfulness was already quite rare.

Thinking this way, Xiao Nanzhu felt perhaps he shouldn’t be so ungrateful. After all, with his poor circumstances, he couldn’t be picky. If Si Tu Zhang could introduce something reliable, he wouldn’t mind starting work after the New Year. But while he was thinking this, Si Tu Zhang had already digressed to who-knows-where, with his conclusion being—

“Anyway, you absolutely must come to this dinner tonight! The guy treating us is one of my big clients, he always gets the full package when he comes for massage and oil treatments… Do you know what he does? He’s a sales manager at an insurance company! Such people have countless resources and connections at their disposal, which will definitely benefit you. If you work under him, I guarantee you’ll have prospects!! If this doesn’t fit, I’ll find you another! I know people who sell funds! I know people who sell health products! The sales industry produces talents! Of course, if you can find a job yourself before the New Year is over, that would be best! This way, I can also give your grandmother an account as your friend! Don’t you agree?! Haha!”

Spouting nonsense that even he didn’t believe, Si Tu Zhang, clearly intent on setting up his childhood friend, hastily hung up after speaking, seemingly aware that Xiao Nanzhu was about to get angry. He didn’t even give Xiao Nanzhu a chance to respond. Left speechless by this rapid-fire soliloquy, Xiao Nanzhu put his phone back in his pocket, his anger momentarily directionless. After a good while, he finally muttered a curse.

“Damn you, why don’t you just introduce me to direct sales while you’re at it…”

His words carried a bitter, teeth-gritting flavor. With no previous work experience, Xiao Nanzhu rarely felt such helplessness. He actually wanted to resolve his work and life issues once and for all, but as Si Tu Zhang had pointed out, in today’s society, with no education or connections, he wouldn’t have a smooth journey anywhere.

Thinking this way, feeling irritated and wanting a cigarette, Xiao Nanzhu frowned and unconsciously glanced at the refrigerator again. There was still a supermarket-gifted magnet on the refrigerator. Pressing his lips together, he placed his hand on it and instinctively clenched his fist. But before he could open the refrigerator door, his ears suddenly caught a faint sneeze from inside.

Having been scared twice yesterday, Xiao Nanzhu no longer had many reservations. After all, in broad daylight, ghosts and monsters wouldn’t dare to make trouble, and he, a dignified veteran soldier, could easily subdue a monster bare-handed. Plus, given his current difficulties with life and work, he could use an outlet for his frustrations. But just as he was standing at the ready, waiting for whatever was hiding in the refrigerator to crawl out so he could deliver a kick, the refrigerator door was slowly pushed open, and then… a scholar wearing a small blue jacket, with frost on the tips of his hair, emerged from the refrigerator, cursing and shivering.

“This… this is outrageous!! Who sets the air conditioning so low in the middle of winter?! This young master sleeping naked is going to catch a cold… Achoo!! Achoo!!!”

Xiao Nanzhu: “…………”

______________________

The Twenty-fourth, in appearance, looked like a young man just coming of age, with delicate features, a scholarly demeanor, surrounded by the fragrance of ink, and with poetic elegance between his brows.

Usually, he would stay on the old almanac without moving for a year, a work arrangement that could be described as relaxed and free. In his leisure time, he would generally read a couple of picture books in his small study, listen to a piece of Kunqu opera, and occasionally write love letters and flower rafts to Sister Grain in Ear and Sister Grain Rain, whom he had admired for a long time. Although his neighbor, the carp farmer Little New Year, was a noisy hyperactive child who didn’t like wearing open-crotch pants, always shouting and making it hard for him to sleep, this still didn’t affect the lifestyle that the Twenty-fourth pursued as a literary youth.

Although he wasn’t an important festival or a specific solar term, as an ordinary day—the most ordinary of days—he still had to work hard! What if one day he became a day commemorating the death of some great figure?!

With a chest full of grand ambitions, the Twenty-fourth thought this way and became more diligent in his work. Whenever his annual fixed workday arrived, this young man would immediately come down from the calendar and work for one day for his boss, the owner of the old almanac.

This cyclical work system had been maintained for nearly a thousand years. As calendar spirits, they had to provide the almanac master with the most accurate daily fortunes, daily zodiac interpretations, daily dream interpretations, and even personally dispel evil spirits. The Twenty-fourth had 364 colleagues, all of whom had to work for the almanac master because of the existence of the old almanac. During this time, they had changed countless masters, because time was long and distant, and human lifespans were inherently unequal to theirs. In memory, sometimes the Twenty-fourth had only met a new boss a dozen or so times, and by the next meeting, everything had changed. With such inevitably sad partings and changes, the Twenty-fourth had once again changed bosses five years ago.

The stingy, bad-tempered female boss was surnamed Xiao. When the Twenty-fourth first met her, she was only twenty-one. She had obtained the tattered almanac from her junk-collecting father and later accidentally discovered the secret of the old almanac. For any ordinary person, this would be an incredibly miraculous discovery, but this courageous girl didn’t show any timidity or fear. She actively expressed her willingness to become an almanac master, and during the decades she voluntarily served as an almanac master, the Twenty-fourth hardly felt any change in himself due to the passage of time, but this girl named Xiao Ruhua had grown old.

Old Lady Xiao fell ill. When she was well, she always scolded these lazy calendar spirits for not working hard enough, but after she fell ill, all her colleagues felt quite uncomfortable.

The Double Ninth Festival suggested organizing a donation drive to show love to Old Lady Xiao, the Nurses’ Day called on everyone to pay attention to their health and be vigilant about cancer prevention, the Mid-Autumn Festival specially sent two boxes of Moon Palace’s specially-made five-kernel mooncakes as a gesture of sympathy, while Children’s Day said nothing, just held Old Lady Xiao’s hand and cried all day.

They were all powerful calendar spirits, but faced with such a situation, even they… couldn’t change the fate of a dying person.

Because of this, the Twenty-fourth was genuinely sad for a long time. He had originally written a beautiful acrostic poem for the sick Old Lady Xiao, but unfortunately, on the day she passed away, he wasn’t on duty, so he never got the chance to read it to her. All he remembered was the suppressed, painful cry of the boy in the hospital room that day, and after that day, these calendar spirits trapped in the old almanac no longer had a boss’s constraints.

The indefinite vacation left the new work contract on the low table covered in a layer of dust. The Twenty-fourth and other calendar spirits had all been prepared to discuss work benefits and pension issues with the new boss, but Old Lady Xiao’s foolish grandson couldn’t discover anything. Later, he became single-mindedly focused on joining the army, leaving all three hundred plus employees stuck to the wall at home, gathering dust.

Because of this, those proud and arrogant traditional festivals, who never took minor figures seriously, had complained privately. But that guy called Xiao Nanzhu was gone for several years, and when he returned, the Twenty-fourth looked in the mirror and found that he had grown a beard under his chin…

Late at night, the neighboring Little New Year ran out noisily and returned crying. The Twenty-fourth was curious to see what had become of the boy who had cried so pitifully back then, so just before manifesting, he specially shaved his beard.

Twenty-fifth and others told him to have a good chat with Xiao Nanzhu, whether about life or ideals, to make him understand the benefits of being an almanac master. The Twenty-fourth accepted this glorious task, but what he never expected was that before he could even crawl out of the almanac, he would feel a bone-chilling cold blast hitting his face…

“This… this is outrageous!! Who sets the air conditioning so low in the middle of winter?! This young master is going to catch a cold… Achoo!! Achoo!!!”