Little Pink Starfish

On New Year’s Day, according to Chinese tradition, people stayed home and kept their doors shut. Most shops were closed, and even rental cars were scarce. The streets had a kind of stillness to them.

Of course, if you had family gathered around you, it wouldn’t feel lonely at all. Yuan Yuanyuan was alone, though.

That sounded kind of miserable, but she didn’t feel too down about it. Still, saying she wasn’t lonely at all would be a lie. But she was used to being by herself.

Early in the morning, she stood at her doorway, tearing down last year’s Spring Festival couplets. She replaced them with a new set—ones she got for free from the bank last month when she went to make a deposit. The couplets and “Fu” character all had a watermark at the bottom that said China Construction Bank.

She spent quite a while positioning everything, layering the couplets to cover the watermark on the “Fu,” folding the borders to hide the text on the horizontal scroll. After taking a few steps back—perfect. Not a single watermark in sight.

Standing at the door, Yuan Yuanyuan gave herself a little round of applause and praised her own artistic instincts.

Her fridge was packed fuller than it had ever been since they first met.

On the stove sat a bunch of chives, washed with great enthusiasm earlier that morning and now draining on a metal steamer tray.

Winter chives were… a luxury item, okay? She’d bought them three days ago, and they were already 12 yuan a pound—nearly the same price as pork. By today, they’d probably hit 30.

Her crappy fridge was tiny—an ancient thing that came with the rental, probably over a decade old. The freezing function was laughable. So she hung bags of raw meat and frozen tofu outside the kitchen window in plastic bags. From a distance, her window looked like a horror show of unidentifiable hanging objects.

After hanging the couplets, Yuan Yuanyuan crashed into bed and passed out like a rock, as if trying to catch up on all the sleep she’d missed that year.

It wasn’t until around 5 p.m. that she was woken by a commotion outside. She dragged herself to the window and saw a group of little monsters gathered downstairs, chattering away like they were planning to go play.

Yuan Yuanyuan rubbed her eyes, groggy and achy all over. She leaned against the window, watching the kids with a sleepy smile.

The group of little monsters were all small and adorable. She didn’t usually see so many gathered at once—they tended to hide away. Now they were clearly plotting an outing. It made her feel like the odd one out, seeing how excited they were for the New Year.

She scratched her head and looked up at the gray sky. A cold, gloomy day—one of those that looked like it could freeze you on sight. The streets were empty of people, but surprisingly full of monsters. Since her first New Year as a half-monster, she’d noticed—monsters didn’t really have the “stay home for the holidays” mentality humans did.

A monster she vaguely knew passed by her window. Spotting her, he called out, “Hey! Not going out? What’re you doing inside?”

“I… don’t really have plans. Might head out later,” she replied.

They weren’t close. Just a quick exchange before he moved on. She’d barely spoken to him before, so having him talk to her now felt a bit weird. Probably thought she was odd for spending New Year’s holed up alone.

To avoid more awkward conversations, she closed her curtains, turned on the TV, and started wrapping dumplings while waiting for the New Year’s Gala to begin.

It sounded like things were lively out there… Should she go check it out?

Just as she was mid-dumpling, her phone rang. Not her usual ringtone—it was the other SIM in her knockoff dual-SIM phone. That meant it was the card she barely used.

Not many people had that number. She wiped her hands, checked the screen—yep, it was Tang Shi.

[Tang Shi: Boss! Happy New Year!]

Yuan Yuanyuan smiled.
[What are you up to?]

[Tang Shi: Looking at the gifts! There are SO many! Piled up like mountains! Right in the square by my place!]

[You went out? Playing around?]

[Tang Shi: Yep! I’m walking the square with my dad. There are always loads of tributes there. Some big monsters you never see in person, so little monsters just leave gifts with their names attached—it’s packed with stuff.]

[That square by our building?]

[Tang Shi: Yeah, that one.]

Yuan Yuanyuan thought, Wait, seriously? That little square outside their apartment building… turned out to have some serious functionality. Usually it just looked kind of run-down.

She looked at the MMS Tang Shi sent her. Mountains of gifts piled high. Little monsters everywhere. If she didn’t know it was New Year’s, she would’ve mistaken it for the Lantern Festival.

She shook her head and tossed her phone aside. Yeah, not going. Too crowded.

As the program started playing on TV, she wrapped ten dumplings with sugar instead of coins—ate them all herself—then lay down and scrolled her phone.

As she scrolled, a strange feeling crept over her.

She felt like she was forgetting something… but couldn’t figure out what. It was that classic “Oh no, I forgot my keys” kind of vibe.

What did I forget? She racked her brain but couldn’t recall. Eventually she let it go and moved on.

Even on New Year’s, comic artists didn’t always skip updates. Some might be pre-drawn, of course.

Around 11, Yuan Yuanyuan turned on all the lights in her apartment. Lights must stay on for New Year’s—demons and spirits fear the light, so they won’t come in. It sounded silly, but she followed childhood traditions anyway.

She was chatting away with Ji Xiangyu and the others in the group chat, who were talking about their families’ New Year gatherings.

[Group Leader: We had a decent turnout this year, but not as many as last year. We had a bit of a conflict with some Taoists at the end of the year—lost quite a few monsters.]

[Black & Red: Did you guys go fight them?]

[Group Leader: Hell no. I’d be toast the second I stepped in.]

Yuan Yuanyuan and Black & Red spent half the time roasting Fat Cat for being a coward. He once declared in the group that he’d flee to Africa alone if things went south. Fat Cat didn’t mind. He let them joke, cool as ever. Yuan Yuanyuan didn’t know if all heirs of powerful families were like that, but if so… no wonder those families eventually fell apart.

[Group Leader: Our family also has to send return gifts to the little monsters… I think they sent some people out again, probably to offer healing like last year.]

[Black & Red: There’s a family here that gives out gold every year… not much though. You have to go early or miss it. Does your side give anything good? If they do, I might swing by.]

Yuan Yuanyuan stared at her screen, suddenly feeling like she’d missed out on a fortune.

Those noble families were like feudal landlords, handing out gifts for New Year’s… Sure, it sounded like one of those “soup kitchens” from TV dramas, but still, she wanted a piece of it.

[Quan Quan: You guys are all rich or what?! Any chance they hand out spellbooks?!!!]

[Group Leader: …What?]

At that reply, Yuan Yuanyuan realized she’d probably asked the wrong question. New Year gifts were usually material things—money or food. Spellbooks, being knowledge-based, were probably rare.

She stuck out her tongue and decided to play dead, pretending she hadn’t seen the replies as they teased Fat Cat.

As she scrolled, another thought hit her.

Technically… she was her own noble family. A household of one.

Hmm… she hesitated for three seconds. Guess that meant she didn’t have to hand anything out, right? She didn’t have anything to give anyway.

sigh… Gift-giving is such a pain—whether among humans or monsters. It’s all politics.

As she was quietly brooding over social rituals, Fat Cat and Black & Red shifted the topic again. Fat Cat suddenly said:

[Group Leader: Tonight’s Monster Chronicle might actually be interesting. I think the author might draw something unexpected… Wonder if it’ll be what I’m thinking of.]

[Black & Red: Unexpected?]

[Group Leader: Yeah. Lunar New Year, day six… I think it might show up. But I don’t know how he’ll depict it.]

[Black & Red: You mean that? Maybe, but if he draws it now, wouldn’t it be kind of provocative?]

[Quan Quan: …Wait what? What are you guys talking about again??]

[Group Leader: We’re talking about the very first Hundred Ghost Parade organized by the Blood Jade Monster Army.]

[Black & Red: If he wants to draw that, he can’t avoid it. And now’s the perfect time. I think he’ll go for it. But maybe not this week—it might be too sensitive.]

Yuan Yuanyuan watched them spiral into a topic she didn’t understand. That happened often. They’d get caught up in lore or history, and she’d be left behind unless she cracked a joke to get an explanation.

The Blood Jade Monster Army’s first Hundred Ghost Parade? They could hold those?

Yuan Yuanyuan had never quite understood the mechanics of a Hundred Ghost Parade. When she first became a half-monster, she thought only the most powerful monsters could do it. But the more she learned, the more she realized—not just anyone could become a “big monster.”

She used to think a parade needed a big monster to lead it. But now she was learning—a military unit could organize one too? That was new.

Every time this happened, she was reminded just how little she knew about the monster world. She sighed. If even Fat Cat was predicting something big, she decided to read Monster Chronicle with the same intensity she usually reserved for Detective Conan.

At midnight, when the clock on TV struck twelve, Yuan Yuanyuan opened the comic.

She stared at the cover for a few seconds.

It was… really different.

Practically a New Year’s poster.

The cover was packed with cartoonish, chibi-style monsters, all bundled together in a festive, celebratory scene. Probably the cutest thing Qiu Qiu had ever drawn.

Must’ve been to match the holiday mood.

That silly little “New Year poster” melted some of her tension. She even wanted to laugh. Qiu Qiu could be kind of adorable sometimes.

Feeling relaxed, she turned the page—

—and her smile froze.

On the page was a person. A man standing in front of a door, quietly putting up Spring Festival couplets.

The couplets he was pasting… the words looked painfully familiar. Even though the material was different, the content was the same:
“Joyfully celebrate the festive season, light up lanterns to welcome the new spring.”
Horizontal banner: “Family Harmony.”

…

Yuan Yuanyuan nearly slammed the comic shut.

But she held it together, forcing herself to calm down.

Breathe. Breathe. What did I do today again?

Put up couplets.
Made dumplings.
Ate dumplings.
Scrolled my phone…

What’s there to draw about that?!

A massive firework suddenly burst outside her window, startling her. She had no idea which lunatic dared set off fireworks in the middle of the city.

She flipped her phone over and stared at the image in the comic. Her expression went completely blank.

The fireworks outside exploded like a celebration.

The streets were lit brightly. Across the way, some neighbors had hung up strings of tiny lights.

The whole world was glowing red. Red had always been the color of joy. Since ancient times, people had used it to welcome the New Year.

…

Ah.

Happy New Year.