Shen Yilun had always been the "quiet" child. From childhood, people compared him to his bold, charismatic old…
Shen Yilun had always been the "quiet" child.
From childhood, people compared him to his bold, charismatic older brother, a natural leader who commanded attention. Yilun, by contrast, was slight and timid, perpetually shrinking into the background like a shadow. Others called him odd, and eventually, even he began to believe he was meant to dwell in solitude, swallowed by darkness.
On his first day at school, when the teacher asked about ambitions, Yilun's answer was painfully simple: "As long as I can eat my fill, any work would do..." The classroom erupted in laughter. He couldn't understand why his honest wish was mocked. School, it seemed, would be as lonely as the life he'd always known.
—He thought of disappearing again...
But fate had other plans this time.
Zheng E, a boy radiating confidence and charm, clearly born to privilege, approached him. Instead of joining the ridicule, he praised Yilun's answer, calling it "a revelation." Zheng E claimed Yilun's humble words had crystallized his own purpose.
How? Yilun wondered. It was just a joke to everyone else.
—"Let's make a promise. We'll ensure no one goes hungry. Peace will reign and famine will vanish!"
To Yilun, Zheng E seemed like sunlight incarnate. Everything he could never be. Friends with someone so radiant? Unthinkable. Yet here was this golden boy, insisting they were now "sworn allies" sharing a grand vision.
Yilun didn't fully grasp phrases like "peace reigns," but he understood the fire in Zheng E's gaze. For the first time, he had someone to laugh with, to walk beside.
—"When the time comes, you can't hide behind me anymore."
Changing his lifelong habits felt impossible. Yet... for Zheng E, and the dream they'd woven together, Yilun found himself willing to try.