Water Monkey

Lunar New Year fell on Jan 25. Anyone born before that date belongs to the previous year (Goat).

Monkeys think faster than they talk and talk faster than they act. They can explain something complicated in three sentences and find the most interesting person in any crowd within minutes. Rules read to them as defaults: route around if possible, comply only when cornered. They come off as quick, funny, restless. What is hidden is that jokes are often a lid, and the loudest laugh in the room may be sitting on top of the least certain feeling. They are also the friend who fixes your phone, then explains the joke you missed three days ago.

Jia is the tree that grows straight up, Shen the monkey that cannot sit still and takes things apart. The spring rises out of that metal air as a single thin thread that never quite dries. People like this have many ideas and quick hands, trying first and thinking after. They ignore the procedure and find a route in from the side. They look unreliable, yet when something must be finished they can grind it out piece by piece. There are usually a few unfinished objects around, and they pick one up whenever it occurs to them.