February 19, 2027, the first day of the Lunar New Year. Auspicious for: Opening light, releasing, erecting pillars, raising beams. Inauspicious for: Moving into a new home, relocating, ancestral worship, weddings.

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The first day of the Lunar New Year marks the beginning of the new year. Xiao Nanzhu, who had formally completed his probation period as a Calendar Master, was walking to Si Tu Zhang’s home carrying fruit gift boxes.

From today onward, he was officially on duty. During his free time over the past few days, he had thoroughly familiarized himself with his work environment. Although the calendar gods each had different personalities, overall, they got along well. With the new year bringing new prospects, Xiao Nanzhu wanted to create a fresh start for himself, but he had already encountered some bad luck early this morning.

He had promised his childhood friend Si Tu Zhang that he would definitely visit his home for a meal during the New Year, so despite his reluctance to move, he still went out. He woke up early before dawn, but the warm bed in the cold winter was too inviting. Just as he had finally mentally prepared himself to get up, Xiao Nanzhu suddenly heard some rustling sounds at his door.

In the dim room, a red figure hunched over and sneakily crept in. The drowsy Xiao Nanzhu squinted at this person as they crawled to his bedside. Assuming it was today’s on-duty calendar god, he didn’t bother to acknowledge them. Strong drowsiness caused the usually vigilant Xiao Nanzhu to subconsciously relax, but because of this rare lapse in attention, he watched as the shadow quickly extended a small hand, and then a string of firecrackers was stuffed into his blanket.

Xiao Nanzhu: “…”

The explosion of the blanket at that moment startled Xiao Nanzhu completely. He cursed and tumbled out of bed with his blanket, his expression somewhat dazed. The culprit, however, was in a good mood. Seeing Xiao Nanzhu frightened by his prank, he was already rolling on the floor with laughter. This couldn’t help but make Xiao Nanzhu’s expression turn unpleasant. After getting up from the ground with a gloomy face, he ignored the little brat’s continuous shouts about being Spring Festival, being a deity, being light, electricity, and a distant myth—all nonsense—and without a word, he pinned this little fellow, who was dressed like a red envelope, to the ground and taught him a good lesson.

During this process, Spring Festival, who wore a red double-breasted jacket, gold lantern pants, and had a red mole between his eyebrows, was initially very angry and shouting loudly. But when Xiao Nanzhu coldly searched his pockets for two firecrackers and prepared to light them and stuff them into his crotch, this thoughtless calendar god dared not speak anymore. Seeing this, Xiao Nanzhu laughed coolly, bringing the cigarette butt in his fingers closer to the fuse of the firecracker, then raised an eyebrow and said:

“What’s this now? Looking for trouble on the first day of the new year? Is this how you treat your new boss, cutie?”

“Wuwu… you… you dare! I am… I am Spring Festival…”

Frightened until his face turned pale, Spring Festival had never encountered such a thug of this level and was naturally panicked. He was afraid that Xiao Nanzhu would use his own method against him, so his expression became somewhat aggrieved, and his eyes turned very red. Seeing this, Xiao Nanzhu laughed because he wasn’t really planning to do anything to Spring Festival; he just wanted to teach him a lesson. However, he was curious about why Spring Festival, whom he was meeting for the first time, would trouble him without reason. Upon asking, he discovered that the reason actually had to do with himself.

Big New Year and Little New Year are a pair of brothers. Although most of the time people prefer to call Big New Year as Spring Festival, this doesn’t change the identical temperaments that these brothers seem to have had since birth.

Because there are several days between them, they have never worked together. But these brothers normally have a good relationship—Little New Year is tough with everyone but soft with his big brother, and Spring Festival dotes on his precious little brother terribly. Everyone in the calendar knows that these two brothers protect each other, so for Xiao Nanzhu, who indirectly caused Little New Year’s precious carp to die, Spring Festival naturally found everything about him displeasing. When he thought about how his precious little brother Little New Year had cried so heartbrokenly to him because of this person, the foolish big brother Spring Festival didn’t want to give Xiao Nanzhu any face at all.

“Don’t worry, Little New Year! I will definitely get revenge for you! What’s there to fear from a mere Calendar Master? Even if that guy Chuxi comes, your big brother will still beat him up, let alone this guy, hehehe… ╮(╯▽╰)╭”

The promise he had made to his precious little brother when going to work now seemed somewhat difficult to fulfill. Spring Festival was somewhat frustrated by his boastful claims and increasingly disliked the clueless Xiao Nanzhu. But he had failed before he had begun—he was subdued by Xiao Nanzhu before he could take him down and avenge his brother. Thinking of this, Spring Festival’s expression became extremely aggrieved. Xiao Nanzhu, having finally understood what was going on, couldn’t help but laugh.

“Hey, didn’t I already buy your brother a turtle? What more do you want? Turtles live a long time, which is a good omen too. But I have to say, how can you be so incompetent? You two brothers are truly related. How’s Little New Year doing lately…”

Having clarified the situation, Xiao Nanzhu couldn’t be bothered to argue with the childish Spring Festival anymore. He threw the unfortunate firecrackers into the trash bin, picked up Spring Festival who was lying on the ground with both hands, and even pinched his fair and tender little face. Spring Festival had been secretly fearful, and when he saw that Xiao Nanzhu wasn’t teasing him anymore, he could hardly believe it. As Xiao Nanzhu stood up and prepared to go to the bathroom to wash up, Spring Festival followed behind him, first peeking from the bathroom doorway, then clinging to the doorframe and asking softly:

“You’re not going to blow up… my little bird?”

“Be good and I won’t. Otherwise, I’ll grab your brother and blow you both up together.”

Squinting and speaking indistinctly, Xiao Nanzhu was shaving and didn’t even look at Spring Festival. As soon as Spring Festival heard about Little New Year, he immediately became alert and glared at Xiao Nanzhu, looking quite adorable with an expression that seemed to fear his little brother might be harmed by the big bad guy. Wiping his face, Xiao Nanzhu smiled at the sight, ruffled the little braid hanging behind Spring Festival’s head, and said casually:

“Alright, can’t you take a joke? Aren’t you the first day of the Lunar New Year? Don’t you know how to say auspicious words? Come with me to pay New Year’s visits later.”

Hearing this, Spring Festival looked at Xiao Nanzhu with a bewildered face. He didn’t know what this big bad guy meant by saying this, so his expression looked somewhat silly. Xiao Nanzhu didn’t explain to him, changed his clothes, took the gifts he had already bought, and led Spring Festival to Si Tu Zhang’s home. After taking a taxi to the residential area where Si Tu Zhang lived, passing several children playing with firecrackers by the roadside, and asking for directions, he finally found the small courtyard at the very back. Si Tu Zhang, who had been squatting at the entrance early in the morning waiting for him, couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief when he saw him coming.

“I thought you weren’t coming. I haven’t dared to go out this early! Quick, my dad is sick at home waiting for you to come! Come in quickly, it’s cold outside!”

The loud voice in his ear sounded quite affectionate. Hearing this, Xiao Nanzhu smiled, casually handed all his things to Si Tu Zhang, and took a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. Si Tu Zhang glared at him in exasperation and went to pat his shoulder, but when Xiao Nanzhu stepped aside, he discovered that there was a beautifully dressed, handsome seven or eight-year-old boy standing behind him.

“Hey, this kid…”

Upon seeing Spring Festival, Si Tu Zhang was startled. After all, it’s rare to see such a beautiful child outside of TV dramas. Xiao Nanzhu noticed his surprise but didn’t show any reaction, just smiled with a casual attitude, then pulled the uncomfortable-looking Spring Festival closer to himself and tilted his head, saying:

“My son, does he look like me?”

“Damn, you…”

Nearly choked to death in fright, Si Tu Zhang almost believed his words for a moment, his face half turning green. Seeing this, Xiao Nanzhu burst into laughter, ruffled the head of Spring Festival who was glaring at him, and then slowly explained:

“Just kidding. He’s a friend’s son, brought him over for a meal. You don’t mind, right?”

“How could I? My parents would be delighted. Older people love children, otherwise, why would they urge me to have kids every day… But which friend of yours? Ah, this child is truly handsome…”

Si Tu Zhang chattered with inevitable curiosity about Spring Festival’s background. Xiao Nanzhu glossed over it in a few sentences without intending to tell the truth. After entering the medium-sized courtyard, a middle-aged woman wearing a red down jacket peeked out from the kitchen when she heard the noise. Upon seeing Xiao Nanzhu, her face immediately lit up with a joyful smile.

“Ah Nan!! You’ve grown so big!! How many years has it been?! Come in quickly!! Have some sweet water first, let me make you a soil chicken egg, have you eaten breakfast yet?”

Despite the many years, there was no estrangement. Si Tu Zhang’s mother was still as warm and kind as before. When she gripped Xiao Nanzhu’s palm, it made his heart warm. Hearing her speak like this, Xiao Nanzhu didn’t stand on ceremony and said, “I just love your cooking, Auntie,” which brought a happy smile to the middle-aged woman’s face. As she lowered her head, Si Tu Zhang ‘s mother finally noticed Spring Festival standing beside Xiao Nanzhu. Upon seeing this fair and tender, adorable-looking god, she immediately displayed the special loving and delighted expression that older people have when they see children.

“My! Whose precious child is this? He’s so handsome! Oh my, could he be Ah Nan’s son? Come, come, Grandma will give you a sweet to eat. He’s truly so handsome…”

As she spoke, Si Tu Zhang’s mother immediately took out a pink paper-wrapped jade belt cake from her apron pocket. This is a type of small cake that elders in ordinary families give to the younger generation during the New Year, and they usually wrap a fifty or hundred yuan bill inside the paper package. The money isn’t much, but it represents the elders’ care for the children, and is an old custom in Chinese traditional customs.

When Xiao Nanzhu saw that she was going to give Spring Festival New Year’s money, he naturally wanted to stop her. After all, Spring Festival’s age was probably older than everyone in the house combined, so it would definitely be inappropriate for Si Tu Zhang’s mother to give him New Year’s money. But Si Tu Zhang’s mother took his gesture as politeness and insisted that Spring Festival accept it. Even after learning that Spring Festival wasn’t Xiao Nanzhu’s son, she refused to take back the red envelope. Completely helpless, Xiao Nanzhu could only compromise, lowering his head to stroke Spring Festival’s head, then leaning close to his ear and saying softly:

“You’ve taken someone’s gift and haven’t said thank you yet. Quickly, wish her a happy new year.”

Xiao Nanzhu’s words made Spring Festival, who had been somewhat silent since earlier, blink his eyes. Looking down at the small cake in his hand, he felt an odd warmth in his heart as he gazed at the kind and benevolent elderly woman before him. Perhaps it had been too long since he had been in contact with human life. As a lonely and long-lived calendar god, Spring Festival himself actually somewhat yearned for this noisy festive atmosphere. So at this moment, when Xiao Nanzhu brought him to this very ordinary family, he unexpectedly had no feelings of disgust or rejection, but rather surprisingly liked it. Thinking this way, and noticing that this elderly woman had been moving slowly with difficult breathing since earlier, Spring Festival looked up with an innocent expression and said:

“Grandma, I wish you good health in the coming year, a long life of a hundred years, and a definitely happy new year~”