Unlike the girls, who had no idea how to address their relatives over New Year, Chen Shi'an was in his element in the mountain village.
After all, he was shameless enough to ask to stay even in strangers' homes, let alone among villagers he knew.
With New Year upon them, the bustle of everyday life swept away the mountain silence. Chen Shi'an did not stay tucked away cultivating at Pure Dust Temple either. Taking Fat Cat along, he strolled down the mountain and visited the villagers house by house to offer New Year greetings, having a festive lunch at one home and dinner at another.
Back when his master had picked him up and brought him back to the mountain, the scruffy old man naturally had no experience raising a baby. He had often asked the villagers for help. A woman from one family would express some breast milk, another family would send over a few sets of baby clothes, and that was how Chen Shi'an had grown up.
Although Chen Shi'an had now inherited his master's mantle and become the sole Taoist at Pure Dust Temple, the villagers who had watched him grow up still cared for him as a member of the younger generation, alongside their respect for him. Whenever they saw him, they would inevitably fuss over how he had "lost weight."
The weather really was lovely this New Year, neither cold nor dry, with warm sunshine spilling lazily over the ground.
Red lanterns still hung beneath every household's eaves, and the flagstones outside their doors were covered in red scraps left by spent firecrackers. As he wandered the village lanes, the air was filled with that New Year atmosphere unique to this season.
Chen Shi'an ambled along as he pleased. Whenever he passed an open courtyard