Water Rat

Lunar New Year fell on Feb 19. Anyone born before that date belongs to the previous year (Pig).

People born under the Rat tend to read a strange room before they speak: where the exit is, what is sitting on the table, who is pretending to be comfortable. They rarely talk over anyone, then replay the whole evening on the way home, keeping a private ledger of who is annoyed with whom. Give them a blocked door and they will find the side entrance rather than stand in the queue. The part few people see is that all that scanning is tiring. Shutting the door at night, eating cold leftovers straight from the fridge, is its own kind of relief.

Bing is the sun hung in the sky, Zi the rat that digs its tunnel in the dark. Water slips between stones without a sound, avoiding every visible road. People like this prefer not to stand in the light; their skill sits in small details and comes out only when needed. They remember routes, faces, and who said what, and their mind is clearest at night. By day they seem easygoing, having already mapped the way out. They form a judgment early and keep it quiet, watching what the person does next.