After five years of divorce, Tong Liya and Chen Sicheng stood side by side once again at their son Duoduo’s 10th birthday party, posing before the starry-themed backdrop. The party, held in Beijing, carried no awkward silences, only the joyful laughter of children chasing and playing. As Dong Xuan entered with her daughter Xiao Jiuwu, Duoduo immediately rushed over to hold her friend’s hand. Chen Sicheng quickly snapped a picture with his instant camera, capturing the moment Duoduo cut the brightest sugar-star topping on the cake and handed it to Xiao Jiuwu. In the group photo of the five, their body language was naturally close, as if they had never experienced the dissolution of marriage. The venue was adorned with a mural reminiscent of Van Gogh's *Starry Night*, with star-shaped lights hanging from the ceiling and a rotating planet cake topped with the number in a black hoodie, roamed the venue capturing moments, while Tong Liya’s pale yellow dress rippled as she crouched to greet the children. When the magician made a dove appear, Duoduo instinctively grasped Xiao Jiuwu’s sleeve. The room erupted in gasps and cheers, filling the nine-square-photo grid posted by Tong Liya on Weibo the next day. She quoted her son’s whispered words: This is the best day ever! Dong Xuan quickly reposted on Weibo, sharing a throwback photo from ten years ago, when she was cradling newborn Duoduo, with the caption, The little baby I held in my arms ten years ago has grown up so fast.
The ritual of birthday wishes, carried out for fourteen consecutive years, exemplifies their boundaries. Since 2012, Chen Sicheng has wished Tong Liya a happy birthday every August 8th. After their divorce, he changed from calling her wife to Duoduo’s mom. At Tong Liya’s birthday party in 2025, he arrived with Duoduo to help set up the venue, selecting a gift with Xinjiang ethnic elements, and the three of them posed for a picture with natural smiles. The birthday party felt like a highly rational, well-managed milestone. When the starry-themed balloons were dismantled and the lights turned off, the adults drove off in different directions, yet the light in the eyes of that ten-year-old boy remained bright. The cake’s twinkling stars and the magic-induced gasps—could they completely replace the warmth of a traditional family structure? As the co-parenting partners model becomes a divorce sample in the entertainment industry, the question arises: is the rational calculation and emotional boundary protecting the child, or reshaping the essence of intimate relationships?
