Chapter 154 - 127: Have You Ever Seen a Mountain Village at Four or Five in the Morning on the First Day of the Lunar New Year?

By that logic, Li Xiang had lived two lives, making him a total of 39 plus 25, or 64 years old.

Yeah, a short life either way.

...

Jiang Cai’Er didn’t stay out too long, heading home to bed around eight o’clock in the evening.

Tonight was for the New Year’s Eve vigil. Once it passed midnight, it would be the first day of the Lunar New Year.

Then, throughout the surrounding villages, people would start setting off "door-opening firecrackers." There’s a saying that the earlier you set them off for a "fortunate start to the year," the more auspicious it is. In the past, people would mostly start around four or five in the morning. But the competition escalated, and people started earlier and earlier. Now, many just set them off the moment it strikes midnight, thinking, ’Let’s see who can beat me to it!’

Of course, plenty of people weren’t so particular about it. They’d just set off their firecrackers whenever they woke up and felt like it. As a result, the explosions would start at midnight and continue sporadically, echoing back and forth, until eight or nine in the morning.

Furthermore, the morning of the first day was for ancestral worship or the "burning of clear incense"—a ritual to commemorate relatives who had passed away in the last year—which meant more firecrackers. Then came lunchtime, and even more firecrackers. In short, if you didn’t get to bed early on New Year’s Eve, you could forget about getting any decent sleep!

Most cities, even down to the county level, now banned fireworks and firecrackers. City dwellers didn’t have to deal with this annoyance and slept soundly. Of course, they also missed out on the festive New Year’s atmosphere.

At three in the morning on the first day of the Lunar New Year, Jiang Cai’Er was awakened by the incessant sound of firecrackers, both near and far. She got up, washed her face, brewed a large pot of fragrant tea, and sat down in her study to work on some practice exams.

The tea set was a gift from Li Xiang. It was a beautiful piece of Jingdezhen porcelain with a lovely name, "Green Calyx Heralds Spring," and even came with its own electric warming base that kept the tea at a constant 55°C.

The Green Calyx is a type of plum blossom, which is one of the earliest flowers to bloom each year, earning it the names "Spring’s Harbinger" and "Spring’s Messenger."

Though a layer of white frost coated everything outside and a biting chill filled the air, Jiang Cai’Er’s room was warm as spring, filled with the rising steam and rich aroma of tea.

Sipping tea and snacking from a large plate filled with cookies, chocolate, pastries, peanuts, melon seeds, macadamia nuts, pecans, almonds, and the dried persimmons she’d gotten from Li Xiang, her productivity soared. In no time at all, she had finished most of a practice exam.

Around four-thirty, Jiang Jianguo also woke up and went to set off firecrackers. Jiang Cai’Er pushed open her window, snapped a photo of the night scene, and posted it to her Moments.

"Have you ever seen a mountain village at four or five in the morning on New Year’s Day? The fireworks are so beautiful, and the sound of firecrackers is everywhere! Cai’Er here, wishing everyone an early Happy New Year! Hope everything goes your way and that the new year brings a fresh start!"

The photo was taken from her bedroom window. Her house was on relatively high ground, so the shot captured her own courtyard as well as fireworks bursting high in the sky far in the distance. It was truly a beautiful night scene.

There was an art to framing the shot through the window. It was a technique common in classical Jiangnan gardens known as "borrowed scenery," or "framed scenery." The window itself becomes the frame, turning the view into a living painting, and the painting into a window.

As a result, Jiang Cai’Er’s photo had a rich, artistic quality.

Most importantly, she had taken Li Xiang’s earlier advice and added a clever little touch. While framing the shot, she "unintentionally" included some of the scenery on her desk, which occupied the bottom-right corner of the photo. It showed not only the exquisite teapot, two cups of fragrant tea, snacks, and dried persimmons, but also several completed practice exams, a pen resting diagonally on top of them, and next to it, a freshly spent ink refill.

After posting to her Moments, she added a comment:

"Two cups of tea for all my family and friends. One for the new spring, and one for the year that’s passed! May you witness all the world has to show, yet return with your spirit untouched. May you walk through the endless mortal coil, yet return as youthful as ever! — Happy New Year, everyone!"

After posting, she closed the window and sat back down to her work. But as she took a sip from one of the two cups of tea, she whispered softly, "One of these is for you, brother... and one is for me."

Jiang Cai’Er had woken up early and worked for a full six hours, not stopping until nine in the morning. She had completed ten entire practice exams, averaging just over thirty minutes for each one. Even she herself was stunned.

’Whoa, am I really this efficient in the morning? And I feel like all my answers are right. I definitely wasn’t just scribbling nonsense!’

She mused to herself, ’Ever since I started practicing the Breathing Technique my brother taught me, my mind feels like it’s getting sharper and sharper. It’s like my pen is guided by a divine hand!’ She could feel the Spiritual Power surging within her; it seemed she was on the verge of condensing the "Spiritual Power Vortex" that Li Xiang had mentioned!

But when she tried, she found she still fell short.

’Still no good. It feels like I’m just missing that final push. Hmm, I’ll ask my brother about it in private during the get-together this afternoon.’

...

Jiang Cai’Er’s homeroom teacher, Teacher Huang, saw her star student’s Moments post first thing in the morning. Her spirits immediately lifted. She gave it a like and forwarded it to her colleagues to share.

Previously, Teacher Huang had seen the online broadcast of the Li Family Village gala, where Jiang Cai’Er had performed on stage. She’d also heard that Cai’Er had spent last night playing with a Gatling-gun firework with a large group of kids, which had annoyed her. But since it was the New Year, she felt she couldn’t be overly strict.

She hadn’t expected Jiang Cai’Er to give her such a pleasant surprise right away!

To be studying so hard this early on New Year’s Day, finishing so many practice exams that she’d even used up an entire ink refill... ’Now *this* is my star student,’ she thought with emotion. ’This is the attitude you need to get into Qingbei! It’s exciting, inspiring, and invigorating!’

Not only did the homeroom teacher show it off to her colleagues, but she also forwarded Jiang Cai’Er’s photo to the class’s parent group chat. Other teachers followed suit, sharing it in their respective parent groups to motivate their students.

And damn, the parents’ group chats blew up. They all started hounding their children. "What are you doing playing around? Get to your homework! Go grind some practice problems! Visiting relatives? You want to watch a movie on New Year’s Day? Dream on! Do you know what time it is? And you want to watch a movie? You’ll have all the time in the world for that after you get into college!"

"If you don’t endure the hardship of studying now, you’ll have to endure the hardships of life later!"

"That top scorer in your class, the number one student in the whole school, is already doing practice problems! Her grades are better than yours, and she’s working harder than you. What right do you have to be fooling around?"

Damn, the students were instantly filled with anxiety. Their whole New Year’s holiday was ruined.

One classmate complained, "This Jiang Cai’Er is too much. She’s already number one in the whole school, and she’s still grinding this hard. Is she trying to ruin the New Year for everyone?"

"Exactly! I was planning to rest for a few days and get back to work after the third day of the New Year. *Sigh*, now I have to start early. My tragic life..."

Some students swore, "I’m going to surpass Jiang Cai’Er!" But for them, it was just a thought. Because Jiang Cai’Er had already generated Spiritual Power within her body, she was already in the realm of Extraordinary Beings.

Extraordinary... the very word implied how easily she could crush ordinary people like them.

Once she condensed a Spiritual Power Vortex, she would undergo a fundamental transformation, and ordinary people would no longer be able to even dream of catching up to her.

Jiang Cai’Er was already a top student, after all. Once she became a true Extraordinary Being, condensed a Spiritual Power Vortex, and awakened her first Superpower, her energy, stamina, and intelligence would all improve dramatically. Even as a mere Tier One, how could ordinary mortals possibly hope to compare?

With a Spiritual Power Vortex, the Spiritual Power in her body would form a self-sustaining cycle, providing an endless well of energy and stamina. It was like having a personal "nuclear-powered engine" that kept her at peak condition at all times. Who could possibly out-grind her then?

You could attend classes all day and do homework all night until you were physically and mentally exhausted, so drained that even coffee had no effect. Meanwhile, she would still be full of vigor. How could anyone possibly compete with that?