The chubby boy Xiao Nanzhu and Chuxi had accidentally found was named Chai Jun. He was currently in second grade at Red Plum Street Experimental Elementary School, with average grades and a rather introverted personality. His mother was raising him alone after he had lost his father at an early age. She made a living by selling fruits at a nearby market. When Xiao Nanzhu and Chuxi appeared in his home, his mother, Wang Mei, had been forced to go out to unload goods due to the pre-New Year’s bustle at the fruit market. Left alone at home, Chai Jun had unexpectedly encountered Chuxi on his first venture out to do good deeds and spread love.

“My mom has been gone for a long time and hasn’t come back yet. Last year she did the same thing… she left me alone at home until the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year. My classmates… they all have fathers and mothers, grandfathers and grandmothers to spend the New Year with, eating dinner together and receiving red envelopes, but I have nothing… I just want my mom to come back earlier. I’m so hungry and scared being alone… I wish I could grow up quickly, so I could… so I could…”

Lowering his head and muttering these words, the tiger-headed little chubby boy peeled a large orange and didn’t forget to divide it into several segments to offer some to Xiao Nanzhu and Chuxi. As he spoke, his tone conveyed an indescribable sense of loss. Against his still childish face, it was indeed somewhat heartbreaking. After all, children growing up in relatively poor family environments tend to be more sensitive, and being left alone at home hungry during the New Year holidays was indeed quite pitiful. But children will be children—they only know their own grievances and may not understand the many difficulties their parents face outside. Thinking this, Xiao Nanzhu quickly ate the orange segments Chai Jun had given him in two or three bites, then nodded mysteriously and said:

“Hey, this is nothing, a small matter. But the one who can help you isn’t me, it’s this uncle in the red clothes. Do you know who he is? He’s Uncle Chuxi. Quickly, beg him earnestly, and he’ll help you right away…”

As soon as Xiao Nanzhu’s exaggerated words fell, Chuxi, who was slowly chewing the orange in his mouth, glanced at him. Noticing Chuxi’s helpless look, Xiao Nanzhu curled his lips into a smile and winked. His pupils were bright, his gaze clear, and the way he looked at people with a hint of ambiguity always carried a sense of unwarranted provocation. Immediately understanding what Xiao Nanzhu wanted him to do from his gaze, Chuxi frowned, then looked at the chubby boy who was staring intently at his every move, and spoke thoughtfully:

“If you truly have that desire, why not personally go and bring your mother home? Today is meant for family reunions. You and your mother should be together. But before that…”

Speaking thus, Chuxi extended his hands, which had been tucked inside his vermilion gold-edged sleeves. On his pale wrists hung a string of red tassels. The previously quiet Nian beast, upon seeing this, let out a series of excited roars. Seeing this, Chuxi remained unmoved, pointed at the spacious room, and coolly said the word “exorcise.” Upon receiving its master’s order, the Nian beast immediately howled loudly and then dragged out and tore apart all the poverty and shabbiness hiding in various corners of the room.

The hidden hardship throughout the house was instantly cleared away by Chuxi and the Nian beast’s intervention. Surely Chai Jun and his mother’s life would be more comfortable in the coming year. This gift was Chuxi’s own decision to give to the child. For a moment, Xiao Nanzhu was surprised that Chuxi, who appeared cold and difficult to get along with, was actually such a thoughtful person. Xiao Nanzhu had only intended to let the child see firsthand what his mother was currently doing for him, but Chuxi had clearly thought of more. Feeling Xiao Nanzhu’s gaze fixed on him, Chuxi, who had been unusually straightforward this time, felt somewhat uncomfortable, but eventually just tucked his hands back into his sleeves and looked down at the frightened chubby boy Chai Jun, saying:

“Don’t be afraid, come closer… I’ll take you to your mother’s side.”

__________________

The sound of fireworks in the sky exploded painfully in one’s ears. A disheveled woman with purple fingers from the cold rode a tricycle loaded with fruit across the road, her flushed face bearing an anxious and urgent expression.

She carried many concerns for her son in her heart and had been restless while working at the market earlier. After all, she was always worried about leaving such a young child at home alone. Thinking about him not having a hot meal made her heart ache, but people would surely buy fruit when going out to pay New Year’s visits on the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year. If she stocked up early, she could earn some extra money. Although sometimes people wouldn’t bother to spend such a small amount, as a woman caring for a school-age child, she naturally needed money at every turn. So, the money that others didn’t care about, she had to care about, and consequently, the labor and sacrifice she put in naturally had to be more than others.

“Huff… huff…”

Panting as she pedaled the tricycle, the woman hunched her back and gritted her teeth, her forehead covered in sweat. Perhaps she was truly exhausted; she stopped at an intersection to wait for the traffic light. But just as she was taking a brief rest and preparing to cross the road in the normal direction, a motorcycle that had clearly changed lanes incorrectly caught her off guard, and she fell to the ground along with her vehicle.

“Ah!!”

With a painful cry, fruit rolled all over the road. The motorcycle paused briefly before quickly driving away. When the woman, whose forehead and cheeks were bruised, tried to get up in a disheveled state to chase after it, she found that the responsible motorcyclist had already disappeared without a trace.

“Damned bastard, where are you rushing to so fast? Oh, my apples… my oranges… Alas…”

Ignoring her own injuries, she quickly went to pick up the scattered fruit. The woman cursed and lamented, her voice trembling. Because these fruits were tied to her livelihood, she inevitably valued them highly. But when she returned to her tricycle with the bruised fruit in her arms, she first wiped her eyes with her dirty sleeve, then suddenly, as if unable to control her emotions, began to sob softly.

Her husband was dead, and everything in the family depended on her. She had to live well for her child, but life was really… too difficult and too bitter.

Tears fell like broken strings, and the woman cried as she crouched on the ground picking up fruit, with no one coming to help her. This kind of suffering at the bottom of society is destined to be helpless and tormenting. But perhaps some things always take a turn for the better in the most impossible situations. Just as she was crying with reddened eyes, the sound of hurried footsteps rang in her ears.

From what she could see, this was a spirited-looking young man. He had a somewhat familiar face but looked rather silly. It was unclear how he had appeared here in the middle of the night. While the woman was secretly puzzled, the young man silently began to crouch down and help her pick up the bruised fruit.

“This… thank you very much… thank you…”

Speaking to the young man in a faltering voice, the woman was both alarmed and grateful. Her purple-red face from the cold looked extremely pitiful. Hearing her, the young man first froze, then kept his head down firmly. After a long while, he responded with a trembling voice:

“No need to thank me… You’ve worked hard.”

This single sentence seemed to have taken all the young man’s strength. What the woman didn’t know was that the young man had been nearby when she was knocked down. Perhaps having witnessed the woman’s most disheveled and miserable moment, this young man, whose mind was still that of a child though his body had temporarily grown up, now had red eyes but couldn’t say a word. After helping the woman pick up all the fruit and set up the tricycle, he looked at her torn cotton pants and bleeding shin, and choked out softly:

“You’re hurt. May I take you home?”

She was stunned to hear this. Truthfully, this request was strangely enthusiastic, but the woman felt that the young man didn’t seem like a bad person, so she chose to trust him. With a hint of doubt and hesitation, she sat in the tricycle with the fruit, watching as the young man clumsily pedaled the tricycle along the road toward her home. In this somewhat awkward atmosphere, the woman suddenly asked:

“Young man, what’s your name?”

“Oh, I, I’m called Xiao Jun.”

“Oh! What a coincidence! My son is also called Xiao Jun! He’s only in elementary school this year, you’re a bit older than him…”

When talking about their children, all mothers inevitably have a soft heart. The woman, who had been in low spirits, now became excited. She almost forgot herself as she talked about her child to the young man who was riding the tricycle, making him blush. Perhaps because of the emotional bond between mother and son, the two talked and laughed along the way, creating a pleasant atmosphere. When they were about to reach her residential area, the kind-hearted young man had to leave after dropping off the woman. But before leaving, he couldn’t help but look at the woman once more with reddened eyes, then spoke resolutely:

“Your son will definitely make something of himself. He will study hard, get into a good university, earn a lot of money, give you a comfortable big house, buy the best food. When you’re old, he will take care of you. He will be filial to you, not let you suffer any hardship or worry about anything, because you are a good mother…”

—”You are the best mother in the world.”

…

“Hey, comparing them, Chai Jun is really a good child. Look at what those little brats later were asking for… iPhone 26s, TFmen’s autographs, and there was even one who asked you to pay off his father’s mortgage, hahaha…”

Recalling Chuxi’s achievements tonight with a grin, Xiao Nanzhu, who had missed the reunion dinner but had wandered around with Chuxi, was in a good mood. Chuxi was now sitting quietly beside him. The Nian beast, too tired to stay up with them until the New Year, was now sound asleep with its belly facing up. After experiencing this evening together, their relationship had become somewhat more harmonious. Although Chuxi still maintained that cold, untouchable demeanor, Xiao Nanzhu felt that he had scratched the soft core beneath his hard shell.

“It’s almost midnight.”

Chuxi’s sudden words caused Xiao Nanzhu to glance at him. The Spring Festival Gala on television had begun performing the fixed song “Unforgettable Tonight.” Xiao Nanzhu was waiting for Chuxi to finish his shift before going to rest himself, but Chuxi clearly had something else to say. After shifting his gaze to the clock that was about to turn to midnight, this handsome calendar god lowered his reddened eye corners and asked in a somewhat tight voice:

“Calendar Master, could you also say to me… Happy New Year’s Eve?”