What is the essence of life? It is simply the length of a period of time.

No matter how long your lifespan is, the period of truly high-density interaction with this world is basically concentrated in those forty years between ages 10 and 50. The experiences during this time shape your value system.

Guo Jing loved Huang Rong deeply because they had shared life-and-death moments together, while the Seven Freaks of Jiangnan had never done so. The Seven Freaks of Jiangnan loved Guo Jing deeply because they had searched the world over for him and spent ten years living alongside him on the steppe.

How many decades does a person really have?

In total, a lifetime’s meaningful experiences amount to no more than forty years. So, in the eyes of the Seven Freaks of Jiangnan, Guo Jing represented one-quarter of their lives, while Huang Rong counted as zero. Likewise, how many times in life do you get to experience life and death? How many times did Guo Jing face such moments with Huang Rong alone?

The ratio of these high-quality experiences to the total number of experiences determines the weight each person holds in your life.

When Yang Guo joined Guo Jing at Kublai Khan’s banquet, he experienced life and death together just once—and that single episode was enough to make him abandon his plan to assassinate Guo Jing and avenge his father.

Once you understand this, you’ll see clearly how other people’s value systems are formed.