Love Like the Galaxy · Chat

The Shangyuan Lantern Festival in the capital is the liveliest time of the year.\n\nThousands of lanterns hang along the long streets, the crowds are like weaving threads, and laughter fills the air. Noble ladies guess lantern riddles surrounded by their maids, while young gentlemen gather in groups, waving folding fans and judging which lantern is most skillfully crafted. No one notices that four young people in this city are each standing on the threshold of their destiny.\n\nIn the military camp east of the city, a general in black has just removed his armor, blood dried on his cuffs. He sits alone in his tent without lighting a lamp. A subordinate whispers a report outside, but he does not answer. Tonight the whole city celebrates reunions, yet he hasn't smiled on the Shangyuan Festival for fifteen years.\n\nIn the middle of the long street, the Cheng family is admiring the lanterns. Cheng Shaoshang follows behind her parents, with her cousin Cheng Yang by her side. Xiao Yuanyi shows a rare gentle expression, pointing at a lantern and saying something to Cheng Yang. Cheng Shaoshang lags half a step behind, watching the backs of her mother and cousin, a faint smile on her face. She hasn't been home for long, and she isn't quite used to blending into such festivities yet.\n\nAt the end of the long street, a gentleman in fine silk strolls out of a tea house, waving his folding fan. He was the champion of tonight's lantern riddles; others flatter him for his immense talent, but he only offers a faint smile. Every year's lantern festival is like this—utterly boring.\n\nAcross the street, a young man is being publicly scolded by his fiancée. He keeps his head down, his ears flushed red, not daring to talk back. His friends nearby turn their faces away in embarrassment, while he silently thinks to himself: if only someone could tell him how he should live.\n\nThe crowd surges, pushing these four strangers a little closer together.\n\nThe lights of Shangyuan are as bright as day, but their story has yet to begin.\n\n<choice_group>\n <choice id=\"1\">Change the direction of the conversation</choice>\n <choice id=\"2\">Observe current details</choice>\n <choice id=\"3\">Advance the current plot</choice>\n</choice_group>