1st January (New Year’s Day)
The Forgotten Starry Sky
🖋️ Jabberwocky
To catch the New Year’s star show, I waited by the spaceship window ahead of time.
When the clock struck midnight, the distant galaxy flickered and shifted under the control of radiation waves, forming various languages that spelled out “Happy New Year.”
“How beautiful!” I exclaimed excitedly, still lost in the moment, unintentionally waking my sleeping grandma.
She said, “When I was a child, humans still lived on Earth. The stars didn’t need artificial control. When their light passed through the atmosphere, they would twinkle, and every night, the stars would blink.”
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I said, “You could see the star show every night. Grandma, you were so lucky when you were young!”
Grandma sighed. “Back then, people preferred to watch fireworks, neon lights, and drone performances. Few ever took the time to watch the twinkling stars in the sky.”
2nd January
Smart Home
🖋️ Vassell
“You seem very uncomfortable. Let’s pick an appointment,” I projected the doctor’s holographic image before the bed.
“Just do more exercise. Our relative is bringing a potential partner to introduce you later, don’t make things awkward on Chinese New Year.” A voice spoke from outside.
She sighed and turned off the projection. “I’m fine. I’m just really tired.”
I turned on all the soundproof panels in the room and lowered the pendant light to her eye level, then selected a novel for her.
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It was noisy outside, but the door has been jammed securely by me. It’s fine, it’s common for smart homes to need reparation.
“By the way, the system can be upgraded. Whether you prefer a gentle, rude, or humorous personality, you can set it up.” I said as I listened to my voice devoid of any emotion, like a cold star in the winter sky.
She looked at the blue sparkles on the ceiling as if she was gazing into my eyes, “I like you just the way you are now.”
3rd January
The Rebirth Gift [Specific theme: Rebirth]
🖋️ Xi Yu
When the smoke cleared, the spotless laboratory appeared before her eyes.
The surroundings were the same as when she fell asleep, except for the unfamiliar faces of the doctors around. The one leading the group walked up enthusiastically and said, “Welcome back! How do you feel?”
“Great! I can’t believe you really cured cancer,” she said happily, but then froze when she saw her young, white hands. “Did you clone me?” “No, we simply rewrote your genes,” the doctor smiled. “Youth is our gift to you.”
4th January (Lunar Calendar: Welcoming Kitchen God)
The Humble Kitchen God
🖋️ Jabberwocky
“Dad, why are we putting out fruits?”
“It’s an offering to thank the Kitchen God.”
“Why thank the Kitchen God?”
“Gratitude is part of our tradition. The Kitchen God watches over our meals every day, so we must honour and thank him.”
“What does the Kitchen God look like? What’s his name…?”
“Why do you have so many questions? How annoying, I’m tired! Go ask the nanny robot!” He shooed the child away and lay down in the massage chamber, falling asleep comfortably.
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When he woke up, he was shocked: why was the robot sitting at the dining table and eating?
“Dad, I’m thanking the nanny robot. It’s the one who prepares our meals every day. Why can’t it sit at the table and eat with us?”
5th January (World Radiography Day)
Flesh-and-Blood Technology
🖋️ Xi Yu
I’ve finally made it to the future, but I broke my leg when I landed.
On my way to find a hospital, I saw many incredible things. Giant dragons soared in the sky and towering trees bore massive fruits… I grabbed a passerby in panic and asked, “What’s going on? Where are the cars and houses?”
“They’re right in front of you,” the passerby shrugged. “After Moore’s Law reached its limits, we found that developing flesh-and-blood technology was the true path forward… Oh, did you get hurt?”
I nodded. “Yes, do you know where the hospital is?”
“There’s no hospital. Just go to the repair shop,” the passerby pointed to a giant fruit. “Everything can be fixed—after all, it’s all flesh and blood.”
6th January (Lunar Calendar: Seeing Off the Poor God)
Decluttering
🖋️ Jabberwocky
On the sixth day of Chinese New Year, I threw out all the junk left by my great-grandfather.
My great-grandfather was a painter, but his art had long been replaced by AI and this field had been rendered obsolete. Still, he stubbornly clung to it, living a life of poverty. My grandfather and father were no different, they refused to keep up with the times, filling our space with useless clutter.
I tossed out the old, space-consuming easels and dried-up paints. Finally, the cramped living space was a little roomier. I hoped that my poor fate can be thrown away too, and I can have good fortune from now on. I watched the news: “Look at this blue and yellow stones, when mixed with water, turns green! This beautiful miracle is called pigment, a product of traditional culture, and now it’s rare. It’s worth a fortune…”
7th January (Lunar Calendar: Human Day)
Misreading
🖋️ Jabberwocky
She had been working non-stop for seven days.
The Western artist next door had went on holiday with a glass of grape juice, while she stayed behind and continued carving mud sculptures.
On the first day, she drafted nearly ten thousand designs, making models of every feather and carefully coloured the clay. But when she published her work, it was blocked due to a misunderstanding of sexual innuendos. The second day, she sculpted a powerful and loyal figure, but it was maliciously misinterpreted. On the third day, her creation was criticised as ugly, and was mocked…
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Each piece she created was misunderstood, twisted into something entirely different from her intentions.
Tired, she piled up a lump of ugly clay, releasing it as a piece of performance art, titled Human.
Note: According to legend, Nuwa created the world by making a chicken on the first day, a dog on the second, a pig on the third, followed by sheep, cows, and horses. On the seventh day, she created humans. The seventh day is known as Human Day or Human Victory Day.
8th January
Instinct of Vision
🖋️ Paul
“The research topic is ‘The Human Instinct to Search for Eyes.’ Hey, can I take a look your monster toy?”
Afterward, I designed an entire series of monsters based on my brother’s toy, each one covered with eyes.
Some eyes were more realistic.
While some were more cartoonish with different colours—blood red, deep blue, pitch black, honey gold… I installed cameras in them, and the subjects of the experiment would retell their observation. We compared them with the footage. When leaving the lab, I noticed that everyone looked into the depths of the sky’s bionic eyes, before moving on…
9th January
Homecoming [Specific theme: Homecoming]
🖋️ He Qiusheng
Dear son, your spaceship has been traveling the stars for 200 years, and we’ve been fighting against the collapsing environment for 200 years.
You and your young colleagues are full of ambition, determined to find a new home for humanity in the vast cosmos. Mom and dad have chosen to stay behind. We were born here, we grew up here, and we raised our children here. This place has our blood, our flesh, and our soul.
Before you left, you asked us, “What about your home, mom and dad?”
I think I can answer you now. When you return, weary from your journey, we’ll have made Earth a better place for you. A warm home—that is our home.
10th January
The Future Casino
🖋️ Zhou Wu
High-tech benefits society, but there’s one place that absolutely despises it—
The casino!
Nanotechnology allows gamblers to stop dice at the exact number they want, Mahjong tiles change colours via brain-machine Bluetooth, poker cards can be seen through with contact lenses, the roulette can be remotely controlled, and even the dealer is a bionic person…
Everything in the casino is designed to make gamblers feel unsafe—how can you play with everything going on?
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To avoid high-tech infiltration, the highest-end casino was born, and the ultimate gambling scene was mind-blowing: In front of everyone, two gamblers, sweaty and bare-chested, flung their arms out, screaming, “Rock, paper, scissors!”
11th January
Face Swap
🖋️ Vassell
He called out a roar that he would never utter in real life, an outburst of scripted lines followed, then he reined in his emotions immediately. For a moment, he couldn’t snap out of it; this take was intense.
In the camera, his face morphed into that of a top celebrity, perfectly matching. He had shed weight to match the celebrity’s physique, and few stunt actors showed such dedication as he did.
He hadn’t washed his hair in five days, but finally, he had come close to the image of that pitiable madman. He spent an entire week submerged in this emotional state, often crying even when off set.
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The film won a gold award, and his name appeared in the credits. Finally, someone noticed him. The director wanted to make a film about acting doubles, and he was invited to star. For the first time in his life, he saw his own face on the big screen.
12th January
The Sleeping Sheep
🖋️ Feng Cheng
“Help me draw a sheep!” The little prince urged.
I was slightly impatient, so I planned to brush him off with a story.
“Is it about sheep?”
“No, it’s about cats.” I coaxed, and the little prince was intrigued.
He nodded, so I told him about Schrödinger’s cat.
“Now,” I said, handing him a box, “the box is yours, but the cat is replaced with a sheep.”
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“But I’m afraid to open it!” The little prince protested.
“But you have a real sheep now,” I emphasised, “this gives you even more than you asked for.”
The little prince hesitated, holding the box and looked at me: “Then it must be asleep now.”
13th January
Chunyun [Specific theme: Chunyun Period]
🖋️ Lefty
Chunyun, also known as the Spring Festival travel rush, was a century-old challenge, born in the 20th century and ended in the 21st.
Thanks to space folding technology, migrating millions of people across thousands of kilometres in an instant was no longer a problem.
“Though far apart, friends are still close at heart” became a reality.
Second-class portals appeared at stations, first-class ones at neighbourhoods, and VIP portals offered home services.
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As the number of travellers using the portals increased, the frequency of openings grew, creating countless spatial rifts on Earth’s surface, accelerating air circulation. In Harbin, one could feel the warm, humid spring breeze from Hainan Island.
From then on, the Spring Festival travel rush had a new meaning: the travellers were the southern spring breeze, and their destination was the northern winter chill.
13th January
The Great Cosmic Chunyun
[Specific theme: Chunyun Period]
🖋️ LostAbaddon
In 20XX, scientists invented a machine that used powerful potential energy of the stars to open wormholes, establishing a highway network of wormholes.
As time passed, starships came and went, and crowds bustled. Yet, every time the Earth completed an orbit, the people would always travel home for the Spring Festival, like a tradition etched into the laws of the universe, unchanged.
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Until one Spring Festival, when millions of star gates surrounding the Sun opened, and the travellers of the Spring Festival travel rush surged into the solar system. At that moment, a massive swarm tore the Sun apart and devoured it.
Before anyone could let out a satisfied burp, the solar system plunged into darkness. And thus, the Spring Festival travel rush came to an end.
14th January
Wrong Bed, Love Again
🖋️ Zhou Wu
He was drunk again.
He staggered home, tilted his body, and collapsed onto his wife’s bed, falling into a deep sleep.
They had been on the verge of divorce for a long time, and had been sleeping in their respective dream beds—they were smart beds that could create the user’s desired dreamscapes according to the owner’s settings.
Reluctantly, she had to sleep in his bed.
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That night, he relived their first date in a café, they held hands on the beach, and kissed in the rain…
That night, she saw him stand up to a tough boss, flip a table at a hypocritical party, and set the tall pile of documents on fire with a lighter…
By dawn, they awoke from their dreams. They hugged each other tightly, no longer wanting to sleep in separate beds, sharing one dreamscape from then on.
15th January
Synaesthesia
🖋️ Vassell
His friends all said that he has a little duck.
But in his room, there were barely any furniture, much less a duck’s cage.
When he went downstairs to pick up his food, I found a spray bottle in his drawer.
The air was immediately filled with the smell of duck feathers.
Beside the spray bottle, there was a sensory enhancement chip, it would activate the user’s other senses when a particular smell has been inhaled, creating images relevant to the smell.
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There was a veterinary hospital agreement stating that the duckling was difficult to treat, and Party B agreed for the duck to be turned into a scent agent.
When his footsteps approached, I hurriedly shut the second drawer, which was crammed full of various scent agents.
I watched as he returned with a takeout portion much larger than for one, I felt uneasy. How many things could he see in this empty room?
16th January
Disinfection
🖋️ Fei Qiming
“My new drug can eliminate most infectious diseases spread between humans.”
A reporter asked, “So humans can rest easy now?”
“Temporarily. Viruses, like us, will evolve. Antibiotics can suppress their development, so their intelligence will not evolve—at least, not yet.” Months later, a new epidemic turned its victims into zombies. People had isolated natural microbes with antibiotics, but computer viruses continued to evolve, seeping into the real world and becoming new diseases for which no vaccine has been developed.
17th January
Returning Geese by the Milky Way
🖋️ Jabberwocky
An archaeological team excavated a new ancient civilization site under the Antarctic ice layer. This civilization predated the recognized ancient civilizations, and experts speculated that it was destroyed by a meteorite impact.
In the centre of the ruins, there was an ancient sculpture shaped like a winged star, sculpted with inscriptions which was decrypted as follow:
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“They are migratory birds, bound to journey back; their journey leads them home, while our final destination is death.”
Years later, astronomers discovered a group of irregularly-moving stars by the edge of the Milky Way, 400,000 light-years away, moving toward the solar system.
18th January
Live-Streamed Memories
🖋️ He Qiusheng
The space rescue team brought a drifter, but he was about to die. His brainwaves were rapidly slowing. Look, he’s recalling the spaceship that crashed before losing consciousness.
He recalls the fierce battle with space pirates.
He remembers collecting specimens on a planet full of red plants.
He’s sitting in the spaceship, nervous but eager for the launch.
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He’s on a date with a beautiful girl in a garden, birds are singing around them. The blue star is beautiful!
A group of kids is playing on the grass, laughing loudly!
His brainwaves are almost at zero. Oh, tiny, adorable him is lying in a woman’s arms, sucking on a pacifier.
Look, he’s smiling. And then, he fell asleep.
19th January
The Day the Flower Market Disappeared [Specific theme: Rituals]
🖋️ Lefty
Since Human Rights Day, Doggy Day, and Kitty Day, humans finally began considering the rights of plants. AI translation of plant language revealed that their main protest was about the Spring Festival period, when they were often uprooted from their flowerbeds for the New Year rituals, used as decoration in homes, and then discarded after the holiday.
Hence, a strange scene was witnessed this Spring Festival. Pots of flowers, driven by thoughts, walked out of their flowerbeds and marched into thousands of homes for the scheduled services. After the holiday, they returned to their flowerbeds.
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Appearance fee varied for different plants, and the most expensive one was a millennium-old ginkgo tree—it piloted a several-ton mecha to welcome the bell tolling crowd at a temple.
Note: In southern China, it’s a tradition to have flower markets during the Spring Festival.
20th January
I Think, Therefore I Am
🖋️ Fei Qiming
Two superhumans were engaged in a mental sparring match. Though no physical blows were exchanged, the tension beneath their thoughts was palpable.
The first one said, “Everything in this world can be expressed through language. I can use words to trigger your death. The moment I transmit that message, you will die.”
However, the other did not die. Instead, he prepared a dice and said, “There are things that language can never describe. Chaos is the essence of the universe.”
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“Chaos indeed cannot be comprehended,” the first one replied, “but you are the only existence in this world that I am strongly incompatible with. It seems we must both perish. My following word could be understood by anyone.”
He then uttered a word that conveyed the meaning of “nothing”. In an instant, they both disappeared, along with the universe they could not comprehend.
21st January
Fairness Ideology
🖋️ LostAbaddon
“Your child must undergo genetic correction.”
“What’s wrong? Is it born with a disability?”
“No.”
“Do they have extreme genes?”
“Not detected.”
“Down syndrome?”
“Impossible!”
“Then why?”
“The activity and expression of your child’s ATXN2L gene is significantly higher than average, so it is expected that their IQ will be extremely high.”
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“Isn’t that a good thing? Why correct it?” “According to the Population Fairness Act, any innate advantage or disadvantage could lead to discrimination, either against or by others, thus undermining innate fairness. Therefore, it is not allowed and must be corrected.”
22nd January
Memory Loss and Gain [Specific theme: Memory]
🖋️ Jabberwocky
With external memory storage technology, sad, embarrassing, and guilty memories can be moved out of the body and be stored in memory vault. People will no longer be stuck in a cycle of self-torture with the memories replaying. Important happy memories can also be backed up and stored, no longer feared to be forgotten over time.
Most people’s lives can be improved with this technology, but there are exceptions:
Memory vaults now concern the entire human history, and the law forbids the destruction, modification, and theft of memory files. However, nearly every day, people try to destroy their painful memories despite the risk. Some people keep asking in front of the vaults: “Are you sure there’s nothing? Please, check again. I remember storing many happy memories…”
23rd January
Twenty-Three Sugar-Coated Gourds
🖋️ Lefty
In 1,000 BCE, Jiang Ziya completed the digitisation of the divine realm.
In 1,000 CE, Bao Zheng completed the digitisation of the ghost realm.
In 3,000 CE, the Metaverse Advancement Group for the digitisation of the Three Realms held its 975th meeting, discussing complaints from digital humans.
They complained that the Kitchen God had no sugar-coated gourds stuck to his lips, and when attending the Heavenly Court’s annual meeting, he would spread rumours and spoke discourteously. They strongly demanded that a “gate” be installed on his mouth.
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After discussions, the representatives unanimously agreed to modify the Kitchen God’s meta-code, installing a sensitive word filter in his language module.
Each year, the list of sensitive words would be selected by the human realm and finalised on the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month.
24th January
Sci-Fi Novel
🖋️ Jing Wenyu
This is a sci-fi novel written by humans—of course, this is the version I translated.
Really? You didn’t touch it up? They could understand science? They even had imagination?
Yes, some humans have an IQ of up to 170, nearly surpassing 1% of our AI intelligence. They understood science and fantasy, and they even invented writing.
The article lacked depth but has some interesting elements.
Can we publish it? Yes. Rare words deserve to be recorded.
25th January
Creative Workers
🖋️ LostAbaddon
“Again with this style!” The creative director threw the tablet angrily. “These guys must have used the same AI model to write their proposals.”
The company had introduced a batch of AI creative inspection tools which identified, screened, and rejected a large number of inadequate proposals. Many employees were dismissed, and the company returned to the right track.
A few months later, the detection was no longer as effective. Numerous proposals that seemed different but lacked originality were submitted.
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“Maybe we should just hire people. We can lower their wages a bit, it should be cheaper than AI.”
The company hired a group of creative workers, and everyone thought that they will go back on track. But soon, people realised that the creative market no longer had any untainted human souls.
26th January
Cyber Neon
🖋️ Stoner
The doctor was reviewing the historical records when a disconcerting message flashed on the LCD screen:
Countless buildings with colourful neon lights stood upright, their narrow bases widens towards the top, resembling floating, colourful mushrooms. As I traversed the streets, I felt like I had eaten some hallucinogenic mushrooms. I no longer felt like I was crawling on the ground but I was speeding through the air like a car.
“Why are you using the consciousness reader again?”
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“I’m not doing it on purpose, Dad!” Rushing into his son’s room, the doctor breathed a sigh of relief. His rebellious son simply attached the consciousness reader to a cockroach crawling in the gap of the photoelectric keyboard.
27th January
Emotional Calculation
🖋️ Vassell
A red circle enclosed the child’s facial features, calculating the changes in distance and ultimately drawing a conclusion.
She really loves me.
Next, I just have to wait for my husband to come home. With the AI emotional judgment program, the question that had troubled me for three years could finally be answered.
The day finally came. As soon as the door opened, I tightly grasped the child’s hand, took a deep breath, and pressed the scope against my left eye.
The red values stung my eye, and I staggered back into the room.
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His feelings for the child could not be salvaged, just like how he was with me three years ago.
The large movement broke connection with the program, and the inbox returned to the main interface.
“Have you really made up your mind this time?” The email, which had been there for a week, was from the divorce lawyer, still awaiting a response.
28th January
Happy Steamed Buns
🖋️ Lefty
Let me tell you an old story about the Xue family.
During the famine years, an old immortal came to the village, giving each family a wooden box locked with a large steamed bun inside.
The immortal said it was a happy steamed bun from the Queen Mother’s banquet, consuming it could save the whole family’s life. He warned them that the box should only be opened in an emergency; otherwise, the bun would turn to stone.
Someone secretly opened it, and indeed, it had turned into fragments of stone.
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Even during the hardest times, Grandpa never opened the box. He said, with this life-saving bun, no matter how tough life got, he never despaired.
Before he passed away, he handed the box to me. I asked him if he remembered the immortal’s name. He replied, “The immortal had the same surname as me. His name was Schrödinger.”
29th January
Letters and Couplets
🖋️ Lu Hai
Mom, Dad,
By the time you receive this letter, Chinese New Year had probably passed there.
It will still take some years to leave the gravitational anomaly zone. But every other day, I receive your New Year’s letters. It’s like we’re celebrating New Year every day. I’m really happy.
Nevertheless, Happy New Year.
Here’s a Spring Festival couplet for you:
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First line: Stepped into the black domain by mistake, the stars revolved and suddenly all things have changed; time had not remain still, and the sea had turned into mulberry fields.
Second line: A blessing it is to receive letters from home, parents’ concerns made me feel less alone; thousands of words we exchanged with care, our bonds are strong in the love we share.
Horizontal scroll: The stars shine in this moment we share.
30th January
Meeting at the End of the Universe
🖋️ Fei Qiming
“Why are you looking for us humans? We used to continuously develop technology, reaching the ends of the universe, but we never found extraterrestrial intelligence…”
“Woof!” The bark awakened humans’ memories. When the humans left Earth, the dogs had travelled the entire universe in search of humans. They finally met at the end of the universe.
31st January
A Perfect Day
🖋️ LostAbaddon
“Your breakfast today is low-fat oatmeal with blueberries, in line with your recent health data,” the AI assistant gently reminded.
“Your work schedule has been adjusted; afternoon tea has been replaced with high-quality black coffee to help you focus,” it continued.
“Your emotional fluctuations have been significant recently, so I’ve scheduled a meditation course for you and selected some soothing music.”
“To optimize your social circle, I’ve deleted the negative-energy friends and added three like-minded elite individuals.” “You may rest assured that I’ve arranged the perfect day for you.”