HLS Chapter 5 - 2027.2.12 Niansi
(Source: Google search result)
In front of Xiao Nanzhu were two labour contracts.
A4 paper in black and white with 365 red fingerprints under the employees’ side, while the employer’s side was still empty.
Ever since Niansi crawled out of the fridge, Xiao Nanzhu had a very complicated and twisted expression sprawled on his face.
Perhaps he had indeed run out of ideas on how to comment on this series of supernatural occurrences. He frowned and lifted the totally unguarded Niansi up.
Poor Niansi was only just a frail and feeble scholar. He couldn’t even budge a single bit and instead yelled and made weird noises as he was carried to the wall on Xiao Nanzhu’s shoulder.
Xiao Nanzhu sneered as he hung the old Huangli properly back onto the wall, and then without minding Niansi’s unceasing objection, he proceeds to shove poor soul Niansi back into the Huangli.
“AHHHH! Xiao Nanzhu! Are you crazy?! This young man’s head! AHH! This young man’s hairstyle! This young man’s face hnnn!”
Niansi’s wailing really sounded disgraceful and embarrassing.
Xiao Nanzhu was annoyed too, as he saw that this weirdo could not be forcefully stuffed back in. But Niansi was really frightened by this hooligan act of Xiao Nanzhu, and he quickly took out the labour contract from within in his sleeves.
As Xiao Nanzhu suppressed his anger and looked over it, he was left speechless. Numerous employment terms were printed on an eight-page contract, from wage benefits to the specifics of the job. The main gist of it was about how to become a Huangli Shi.
Huangli Shi…
Legend has it that it refers to a Fangshi who can alter the effects of seasonal solstices, solar terms, and festivals and predict each day’s fortune. Up until the modern era, due to the increase in new international holidays and memorial days, what was once in the old Huangli had new blood steadily infused in.
(Source: Screenshot from PV)
Being the working partner of all calendar gods in the Huangli, the interests of both the Huangli Shi and the calendar gods were protected by this labour contract, so inevitably more details were added to the list.
For example: the individual functions and origins of all of the traditional festivals; the responsibilities of season and changes in time shouldered by the solstices; even specific arrangements for calendar gods in case they needed sick days, maternity leave, or even marital leave were listed looking legit.
Since it was already A.C 2027 now, things were more organised and well-regulated.
The modern calendar has a mix of traditional festivals and holidays of the Gregorian calendar. Although this means that there would be an erosion of traditional and cultural values to a certain degree, some deviations were to be expected because of the way the solar calendar operates.
As such, the contemporary Huangli Shi is responsible for all calendar gods in the new civil calendar and the various traditional festivals and solstices of the past. But what was more important to Xiao Nanzhu lay at the bottom of the list of all former Huangli Shi: he saw his grandmother’s name, Xiao Ruhua, written there.
Xiao Nanzhu’s grandmother had signed such a labour contract when she was alive, and she had concealed this from everyone. Even her own grandson had no knowledge of this.
(Source: Baidu search result)
In Xiao Nanzhu’s memories, his grandmother never failed in foretelling any of her customers’ fortunes. Every wedding and funeral predicted by her were sure to go smoothly. There was even one time where she was able to accurately predict that a pregnant mother living in the nearby alley would have quintuplets①.
It should be known that even hospitals can’t detect such things at the start of a pregnancy. It doesn’t make sense that an old lady who didn’t know any science could tell from a glance.
Xiao Nanzhu also thought that she probably made a wild guess and got lucky.
But as he recalled, he started to feel that his old lady who never liked to dance Guangchangwu②, yet could chase him down two streets at her age to beat him up, really deserved her reputation as Xiao Shenpo③.
If it wasn’t because of how unreliable Niansi looked crawling out of the fridge telling him all this, Xiao Nanzhu would’ve seriously considered the feasibility of taking on such a job.
However, all things aside, he was in dire need of a proper job.
Considering the situation he was presently in, he would rather take on this strange job than to involve himself in Situ Zhang bro’s Pyramid scam pitch. Though, this job didn’t seem to be any more reliable either. Exorcising evil spirits, praying to gods, deciphering dreams, and altering fortunes——there isn’t even a scientific basis for any of those…
Youths nowadays aren’t like those of the past. Only the elderly would still possess the heart to fear and revere the supernatural.
Medicine and technology have advanced greatly in the modern era. It is different from when people relied on prayer for blessings and healings a thousand years ago. Everyone eventually became contemptuous towards those insensible and foolish ways that handled people’s lives like jokes. And that also led to those traditional professions that can’t be explained by science to be deemed as feudalism dross.
Fortune telling and astrology, once golden industries that could stir up the world, became the most lambasted.
On a second thought, this kind of thinking may have been too biased. Especially now that Xiao Nanzhu has seen the occult with his very own eyes, he could no longer bring himself to say these antagonistic words again.
Yet this change in mindset hadn’t managed to convince him to accept the calendar gods’ offer, because he immediately realised that…
The Huangli Shi has to work for all 365 days! Not even a single! day! off!
“Well, there are breaks in between work for sure, and the job isn’t that intense——it’s quite a leisure most of the time… Moreover, the contract only starts next year. Everyone is still resting right now and will start work after New Years. The one you met last night was Xiaonian. He is one of the 22 traditional festivals and is in charge of fire… If you have the time, you can also let Chuyi(1st) and Chuer(2nd) help you get accustomed to the workflow as well…”
Niansi stammered as he took out a comb to tidy up his hair. Xiao Nanzhu silently listened but didn’t show any signs of affirmation. That arrogant attitude of his made it seem as if he was looking for a fight.
He flipped through the contract with his eyes half-opened. His laidback manner of sitting on the sofa with crossed legs as he smoked effectively concealed his thoughts. Xiao Nanzhu’s jawline gave off a cold feeling. It’s no wonder that people find him hard to get along with if they’re unfamiliar with him. However, reality has proven that Xiao Nanzhu’s personality may be even more difficult to get along with than his appearance let on.
Niansi sat down with him but didn’t know how to start the topic.
After all, he’s kind of familiar with Xiao Nanzhu’s temper. He couldn’t do anything about this untamed, wild horse since when he was still young. If he really didn’t want to take on this job, then their work would have to be delayed even further.
By the time Xiao Nanzhu noticed Niansi secretly observing him from the corner of his eyes, he took out a cigarette, nipped it in between his fingers, and slowly began.
“Sorry for just now, well… How do I address you?”
Fiddling with a fan in his hand, Niansi in his green robes paused as he heard Xiao Nanzhu talking to him. He covered his mouth and awkwardly coughed. he then cupped his hands④ and bowed as he spoke courteously.
(Source: Baidu search result)
“I am Niansi. I was in a panic when I came out of the fridge just now. Please pardon my bad manners…”
Niansi spoke in a pleasant tone as if he was about to sing opera. Nevertheless, with how clean and studious he looked, it was hard to dislike him for his pedantic manners…
Xiao Nanzhu nodded with an “oh” and couldn’t help but glance at the old Huangli that was hung back on the wall. Right now, the Huangli was flipped to the page of Niansi, which looked about the same as any other day. The only difference was that the person that should have stayed in the painting was here before him.
Xiao Nanzhu suddenly felt absurd.
He never have thought he would walk on such a bizarre path when he first came back home, but he guessed he had no better choice left for him anyway. It’s just that… why does this Huangli Shi thing sound so stupid…?
Xiao Nanzhu detested the name in his heart for awhile but didn’t let it show on his face. He continued to elicit information from Niansi in front of him. Niansi was obviously a naive one as he let loose everything he knew upon hearing Xiao Nanzhu’s questions.
“Hmm… Calendar gods would stay in the human world when they’re at work for one day and night as part of the cycle, and after that we’d return back to the Huangli and rest for a year… What we usually do is eliminate the evil spirits and disasters that linger in the human world and bring blessings to mankind. But people have since stopped believing in such things… So the scope of our customers has become gradually smaller. We could only depend on foretelling suitable dates for weddings and childbirths to feed ourselves. Of course, us calendar gods can come out even if we’re not working; it just depends on whether we’re willing to… Your grandmother used to call out Yuanxiao and the others every New Years if she couldn’t find any mahjong friends to play with all night, but I guess you wouldn’t have remembered… You were still young at that time—— only about four or five…”
Niansi seemed excited talking about the past. Xiao Nanzhu listened quietly and found it rather interesting.
He was actually inclined to take up the job now, but he also wanted to know more about the profession before he gave Niansi a definite answer. Thus, he didn’t interrupt Niansi and declined Situ Zhang’s calls to drink a few times.
It’s imaginable how Situ Zhang must’ve been hopping around anxiously on the other side of the phone. Xiao Nanzhu smirked to himself for a bit and turned off his phone altogether.
After all, this is something crucial for his future career. He wanted to be prepared and let Niansi continue to talk more about the workflow.
It’s no wonder people say that scholarly people have great charisma: they can make everything they say to sound intelligent by simply talking. Truth is, what Niansi knew were nothing more than trivial matters and gossip about the other calendar gods; no proper business came out of his mouth. Actually, Xiao Nanzhu was very serious coming into this, but he unintentionally got lured in by all the gossip.
“Let me tell you this secret, don’t you tell anybody else, alright?… Actually, Qixi Festival and the one on the 24th of February are on really bad terms with each other, you know the reasons right? It’s all because of their similar names… So don’t mention about Qixi during Valentine’s in two days, or else he will surely turn crazy…”
Niansi’s advice made Xiao Nanzhu snicker. From there, Niansi introduced to him every single calendar god from Nianwu(5th) until the upcoming Valentine’s Day. However, when it comes to Chuxi, the last day of the year, Niansi skipped it.
“What about Chuxi? Is he special?”
Xiao Nanzhu became interested as he saw Niansi hesitate. Niansi quickly put a finger on his lips “shh!”, and snuck up to Xiao Nanzhu’s ear and whispered.
“Chuxi is different from all of us, I shouldn’t tell you anymore, mn. You’ll know it when you see him, en en……”
Xiao Nanzhu didn’t bother to ask further seeing Niansi being so stealthy.
In any case, he’ll meet him in a few days. No matter how difficult he was to get along with, it’ll only just be for a day. Up until this point, Xiao Nanzhu was convinced to try working as the glorious Huangli Shi for awhile. Niansi also mentioned that he could quit whenever he likes——he just needed to help them find a new boss if he left.
Because a portion of the Huangli Shi’s income goes to the calendar gods, the quality of the Huangli Shi’s life would directly affect theirs. The few days before the end of the year would be his probationary period. After New Years, they would continue discussing this.
Night arrived unknowingly after the long talk. Xiao Nanzhu didn’t seem to invite Niansi to stay for dinner, while Niansi knowingly said “I’m going home for dinner. Your grandmother also didn’t provide meals for us last time.”
He tidied up the contract signed by Xiao Nanzhu before he left But as soon as he was about to go, Xiao Nanzhu suddenly thought of something and called him back, then handed him a tortoise⑤ from the kitchen.
(Source: Baidu search result, soft-shell turtles bite really hard and can dash across the road at very fast speed.)
“This…?”
Niansi was rather dumbfounded holding this big tortoise. Xiao Nanzhu looked and grinned as he pointed at the Huangli on the wall.
“Help me give this to Xiaonian and say this is my compensation, so don’t cry anymore. Aren’t turtles much more long-lived than carps? Whaddya say?”
1. I did my research and apparently, twins can only be detected around 5-6 weeks, provided that the mother did an early scan. I assume the pregnancy was less than 5-6 weeks in, but I’m not sure about quintuplets, that’s amazing!
2. Guangchangwu 广场舞：It also means open-air fitness dancing, it’s a popular hobby among the middle-aged and onwards women (mostly) in China to dance together in the evening or at night in an open space to stay fit and make friends.
3. Shenpo 神婆：Something similar to witch or sorceress.
4. To cup one’s hand 拱手：This is an important form of etiquette in ancient China. This kind of salutation was formed during the Zhou Dynasty, it has transformed throughout history and there’re different forms of salutations when meeting different kinds of people.
5. Wangba 王八：This can both mean tortoise or bastard. Usually refers to Chinese soft-shell turtles (鳖) which are really different from the harmless and slow tortoise which can be kept as pets, as seen from calling someone a wangba is a vulgarity suggests how hated and aggressive this animal is.
This chapter is edited by Noxeru.
Chuxi is finally mentioned by Xiao Nanzhu in this chapter!! Although he still hasn’t made an appearance yet, let me know what you guys think? :))