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The Lantern Festival has passed, which means the New Year is officially over. The "Happy New Year" I've been procrastinating on for the past two weeks — if I don't say it now, I'll miss my chance.

I first heard this song in 2011 — or maybe 2012, or possibly 2013. I was back in Ankang at the time — or maybe Xunyang. Definitely not the old family home up in the mountains. During the New Year holiday, it was surprisingly quiet. The streets were decked out with lanterns and decorations yet spotlessly clean, giving off the vibe of that scene in Spirited Away where Chihiro's parents wander into the deserted bathhouse. Back then, I was still at an ambiguous stage in life. When I watched Spirited Away, I didn't know whether to identify with Chihiro, Haku, or the frog who opens a window to smoke between shifts. I probably wasn't quite at the frog stage yet — the frog was already well-acquainted with everything about the adult world of the bathhouse. I was still at the stage of trembling before Yubaba while negotiating for a job.

On those clean, quiet streets, I heard the Little Tigers singing: "Let me gather all my courage to wish you a Happy New Year." I'm not sure if it was Nicky or which Tiger exactly — definitely not BabyBus Tiger. (I just listened to it again — it's actually a female voice, a duet with some young girls.) This scene might be something I'm imagining now; I'm not sure if it's real or not: I was just standing on the street looking at the supermarket, a handful of people inside, feeling like an eighteen-year-old suddenly told to visit some distant relative — no address, no phone number — just standing on the street with no idea where to go.

I think I heard the whole song right there. Then I went into the supermarket and bought a carton of Zhonghua cigarettes. On the street, I tore open a pack and started smoking (the rest were for my father), and I listened to the song a few more times. I thought to myself: wow, this must be a new song — so fresh, so full of youthful sentiment. I figured whoever was playing it must be around my age, sitting in one of those hideous tile-faced small-town buildings behind me, filling in for the DJ.

I just looked it up and discovered the song was by the Little Tigers. The people who loved the Little Tigers would have been 30 to 40 by then — about my age now. If they'd watched Spirited Away at that point, they'd probably have kids like Xiao Yuan and Xiao Yu by their side, telling them: "If Mommy and Daddy eat too much, they'll turn into pigs! You'll have to go work to save them!" In their world, how could the songs they listened to on cassette tapes in middle school not be the sound of youth? They'd listened while copying down the lyrics by hand, and those lyric-filled notebooks were still around somewhere. When they sent New Year text messages with "Happy New Year," they quietly hoped the recipient still remembered sharing earbuds and listening to this very song on a Walkman.

Right now, as I write this, "Happy New Year" is playing. Xiao Yuan is sitting next to me reading "Little Red Dot" (a picture book app — I have no idea why it's called Little Red Dot). I asked ChatGPT (you can ask DeepSeek yourself) a few questions:

How old would Chihiro be today if she kept growing up?

Chihiro (the protagonist of Spirited Away) was 10 years old in the film, which was released in 2001.

If she kept growing up, by 2025 she would be:
10 + (2025 − 2001) = 34 years old.
So in 2025, Chihiro would be 34 — in the prime of her life!

Those Little Tigers fans — if in 2012 they had a 4-year-old daughter Xiao Yuan and a six-month-old son Xiao Yu, how old would everyone be now?

Assuming these Little Tigers fans were about 30–40 in 2012, taking 35 as the midpoint:

As for their children:

So these Little Tigers fans are now about 43–53, and their children are already teenagers!

Would the children still enjoy a Little Tigers song like "Happy New Year"? Would they text their friends to wish them Happy New Year?

Whether the children would like "Happy New Year" depends on their interests and upbringing. Although Little Tigers songs hold deep nostalgic meaning for the post-80s and post-90s generations, younger generations born after 2000 tend to gravitate toward contemporary musical styles. If their parents play "Happy New Year" at home or celebrate holidays together, the kids might hear it and develop a fondness for it, especially amid the festive atmosphere. But if they've never been exposed to such classic songs, they probably wouldn't seek them out on their own.

As for texting friends Happy New Year greetings — that's still very common in modern society, especially among teenagers. Social media and instant messaging (WeChat, QQ, etc.) have replaced traditional text messages, but the practice of sending holiday wishes persists, just in more modern forms: greeting cards, emoji packs, or video messages on social platforms.

So if Xiao Yuan and Xiao Yu grow up in a family that values holiday traditions and closeness, they'll likely send New Year greetings to their friends — and those greetings may be indirectly connected to their parents' beloved "Happy New Year," carried on as part of the family tradition.