It was the first day of the Lunar New Year.
Before dawn, Chen Shi'an rose early and threw the temple gates wide open, welcoming the first mountain breeze and auspicious blessings of the new year.
After breakfast, Chen Shi'an washed his hands and burned incense again, conducting the first ritual service of the year.
During the New Year celebrations, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day were always the busiest.
Especially on New Year's Day, many mountain villagers from the foot of the mountain came up with carrying baskets and shoulder poles to burn incense and pray for blessings.
Dressed in his long Dōfuku robe, Chen Shi'an welcomed and guided them as he did every year, taking out red envelopes to give the children some New Year's money.
Fortunately, people came early to offer incense, so by ten in the morning, Chen Shi'an had little left to keep him busy.
Chen Shi'an cleaned the Taoist Temple once more, packed his luggage, and headed down the mountain.
After having lunch at Uncle Wang's house, Chen Shi'an changed into his riding gear and swung a leg over his motorcycle.
"Fat Ink, let's go."
"Meow."
Chen Shi'an put on his helmet and fitted Fat Cat's little helmet on too. Then the man and cat rode off toward Yunqing County.
Although Cloud Roost City was not the provincial capital, it was the prefecture-level city with the largest area in Yunchuan Province, mainly because quite a few remote counties and districts had been placed under its administration in recent years. Yunqing County was one of them.
Like Santang County, where Sister Wanyin's family lived, Yunqing County was also an impoverished county. Its terrain was predominantly mountainous, and its economy lagged far behind Shangping County, where Little Cicada's family lived.
Lin Meng Qiu's hometown was an