Contention

For countless people, this day was destined to be a sleepless night.

Many stared fixedly at the moon as though seeing it for the first time, as if afraid that the moment they blinked, it would vanish forever.

In a courtyard, Li Qingmeng gazed at the moon in the sky, her mind blank for a long while.

In a hotel, Li Huang'er, away filming on location, stared blankly at the moon as well, unsure what thoughts had arisen in her heart.

In another hotel room, Gu Yixin too sank into silence.

Though Zhao Cheng had already transcended the ordinary and stirred the winds and clouds of the world, he had still been human. But now, he had truly transformed from man into immortal.

And this was only the beginning. In the coming thousand or ten thousand years, he might remain in this world, deathless, while Gu Yixin himself was no more than an ephemeral mayfly.

He could not help recalling their first meeting: that somewhat mischievous young man in the dressing room. Though Zhao Cheng had yet to make a name for himself then, he had seemed to be the center of the room all the same, with everyone gathered around him.

Some people seemed to be born different.

Indeed, he appeared successful too, and many envied his life. Yet he, too, envied others.

What he envied was not Zhao Cheng's accomplishments, but that effortless ease, that unrestrained freedom.

Whether strong or weak, Zhao Cheng had seemed, from beginning to end, to be someone at ease with himself.

After half a lifetime away from home, some had already grown old and worn, while others seemed forever young.

In a rented room outside the school, Zhou Yu looked up at the moon, his thoughts drifting he knew not where.

For no