A live stream that dramatically transformed a depressed schoolgirl shocked netizens across the count

When the call came in from Yunling Health Center, the black heavy truck was still lying across the shade of the trees outside the Bai family's courtyard.

The hands-free cut was activated, and the person in charge's voice rang out in the carriage.

"The police have verified that Lao Cheng is the person you are looking for."

Gu Qingshang held his phone without answering, waiting for the next word.

There was a few seconds of silence on the phone.

"The message has been delivered. He only replied with six words: 'You can see me, but only two people can come. If you bring one more, he'll leave.'"

The call was disconnected.

Bai Weiwei swiped her finger across the map on the car's screen, zooming in on the western slope of Cangshan Mountain.

"There's only one old tea transport route outside, but it rained heavily last night and turned into mud. Cars can only go halfway up the mountain; the rest of the way, we have to climb."

Gu Qingshang turned off his phone.

"I'll go with Chen Lang."

Su Niannian slapped her hand on the edge of the table.

"Gao Chengyuan was just investigated, and the He family is also loitering around. There isn't even a cell phone signal in the mountains. If a few more cars suddenly appear out of nowhere, who's going to care about you?"

Chen Lang, with his car keys dangling from his fingertips, leaned against the dashboard with his long legs crossed.

"Su Dapao, Mr. Cheng's rule is to invite two guests."

"If they really take a whole carload of people up there, people who know the situation will think they're coming to apologize, but people who don't will think they're going to forcibly demolish our property in the mountains."

Su Niannian turned to look at him, her voice rising.

"I'm talking about serious business."

"I'm also talking about serious business." Chen Lang flipped his wrist, and the metal key snapped into his palm.

"Boss Gu can see people, I can bring her back."

"Once she and I stepped into that mountain, no one could cross the line and touch her."

The carriage fell silent.

Gu Qingshang's gaze fell on the unfolded map.

Chen Lang tapped the coordinates at the foot of the mountain with his fingers.

"You stay here. If any unfamiliar cars go into the mountains, note the license plate and report it to the police, but don't follow them in. Leave things in the mountains to me."

Su Niannian pinched the corner of the cushion and finally threw it back onto the sofa.

"If you fail to report that you are safe even once, I will have the police search the mountain."

"OK."

Ye Xingyu took out her notebook, and her pen scratched across the paper as she wrote down the name of the tea garden, the route, and the contact time.

"I keep an eye on the perimeter. I check the coordinates every ten minutes. If a vehicle enters the mountains, I send two text messages; if a car stays parked for more than five minutes, I contact the police directly."

Chen Lang's gaze swept over the record sheet.

"Do it this way. Don't wait for my reply, just do it directly."

Shen Qingci opened the file box and took out a waterproof file bag.

Review report.

Account book preservation receipt.

Case filing materials.

Test results.

Each page is stacked in order, with red, blue, and white labels attached to the edges. The result is revealed when you flip it open.

The file folder was sealed and handed to Gu Qingshang.

"Materials can be replaced if they're gone, but people have to come back."

Gu Qingshang caught it with both hands. "Okay."

Shen Qingci picked up the spare communicator and took two steps closer to Chen Lang.

Chen Lang raised his left arm and watched her insert the equipment into the tactical wrist strap of her black windbreaker.

The latch made a crisp click.

Shen Qingci did not immediately withdraw her hand.

"If we lose contact for ten minutes, I will call the police."

"Shen, your probation period as a remote security officer is over. You can be promoted to a full-time position now."

The sandalwood prayer beads on Shen Qingci's wrist were pressed against his sleeve.

Stop talking nonsense.

"Yes, ma'am."

Shen Qingci stared into his eyes.

"Don't do anything reckless."

Chen Lang smoothed out the nylon strap on his wristband. "No fighting today, just get the person down the mountain."

Shen Qingci stepped back half a step.

Chen Lang grabbed the first aid kit, zipped it all the way up, checked the tourniquet, fluorescent tube, and locator inside, slung the kit over his shoulder with one hand, and opened the door of the SUV.

Gu Qingshang, holding the file folder, sat in the passenger seat.

Chen Lang walked around the front of the car, kicked the tires with his toe, checked the chassis and tow hook, and stepped into the driver's seat.

Su Niannian chased after him out of the hospital and knocked on the car window.

"Don't forget what you promised."

The car window was rolled down a crack.

Chen Lang tilted his head, and the black titanium steel earring in his left ear flashed through the sunlight.

"Leave some dinner for us."

The windows rose, the engine roared, and the off-road vehicle rolled over gravel and cut into the mud ditch on the western slope dirt road.

Chen Lang controlled the steering wheel with one hand, avoiding the collapsed shoulder on the outside, and the tires pressed against the old, more solid ruts as they surged upwards.

The mist was held up in mid-air by the tree canopy, and rows of tea trees stretched along the terraced fields.

The mountain wind blew in through the cracks in the car window, carrying the damp, bitter smell of grass and leaves.

Gu Qingshang held the file folder to his chest, his back against the chair, his eyes fixed on the muddy road ahead, his fingers pressing several creases into the edge of the kraft paper.

Chen Lang glanced at her hand out of the corner of his eye, then lightly tapped the brakes, and the SUV swerved around a sharp bend.

"Boss Gu, it's too late to think about how to phrase this now."

Gu Qingshang's jaw tightened.

"I'm afraid I'll say the wrong thing and won't even be able to get through that door."

"You have all the solid evidence in your hands." Chen Lang swerved the steering wheel, the wheels scraping against a loose rock. "Just tell the truth as the Gu family tries to cover up their mistakes, no need to act."

The car slowed down and finally stopped in front of a steep slope in a tea plantation.

The tea-carrying path in front was only two feet wide.

Chen Lang didn't remove the key; his gaze was fixed on a patch of mud beside the road.

Two fresh tire tracks were stuck in the mud.

The outer side is narrow, indicating it's an agricultural tricycle.

Wide on the inside, shallow tread pattern, typical tire marks of a city SUV, it was used to make a U-turn by turning the steering wheel halfway up a slope.

Chen Lang unbuckled his seatbelt.

"Someone got here before us."

Gu Qingshang followed the gaze.

Chen Lang pushed open the car door, fiddled with the back of his finger on the wristband a couple of times, and switched the communicator to silent vibration.

"Don't worry about whether people have left or not. Don't look back, just keep going up the mountain."

Gu Qingshang got out of the car and followed.

"Should we contact Shen Qingci?"

Chen Lang took the file folder from her hand and stepped onto the blackened stone steps with his military boots.

"Calling the police at this time is tantamount to telling the people hiding in the shadows that there is indeed a live target they are looking for here."

Gu Qingshang took a breath and followed closely behind Chen Lang on the stone steps.

On the gentle slope of the mountainside, several rows of old bamboo sheds are built beside the tea trees.

Bamboo mats covered bamboo trays, with astragalus, angelica, and notoginseng mixed together.

The strong, bitter smell of medicine wafted onto my face on the mountain breeze.

Under the bamboo shed, an old man, with his back to the mountain path, squatted in front of the medicine shelf, fiddling with the roots of the herbs.

A coarse cloth jacket, washed until faded and fuzzy, hung on his thin, bony back.

The elderly man's right wrist bone is deformed and rotates outward.

The tiger's mouth is sunken.

A dark scar left by a fire runs across the back of the hand to the forearm, the skin and flesh contracted into a taut mass.

Gu Qingshang stood rooted to the spot.

Chen Lang stopped three steps behind her, the first aid kit slung over one shoulder, and didn't move forward.

The wind made the tarpaulin on the bamboo shed roof rustle loudly.

The old man carefully spread the medicinal herbs on the mat without looking back.

"What are the Gu family trying to do using my name again?"

His voice was rough and hoarse from years of smoking.

Gu Qingshang stepped over the soft soil and stopped a meter away from the bamboo shed, holding up the file folder with both hands.

"Doing nothing of note."

Cheng Shouzhou then turned around.

His gaze passed over the plastic bag and landed on Gu Qingshang's face.

Gu Qingshang bent down.

Ninety degrees.

"Mr. Cheng, the Gu family is late. Today, I will set the record straight for you after all the trouble you caused back then."

Only the sound of the wind could be heard outside the bamboo shed.

Cheng Shouzhou did not reach out to take the bag, letting Gu Qingshang bend over.

More than a minute passed.

"Over the past ten years, many members of the Gu family have visited this place."

Gu Qingshang straightened up and looked directly into his eyes.

"Nobody mentioned it to me."

Cheng Shouzhou twitched the corner of his mouth.

"They came in waves, checking prescriptions, reconciling accounts, and searching for any copies I had on hand."

"No one has ever asked me whether I started the fire or whether I fed the medicine."

Gu Qingshang gripped the file folder tightly with both hands.

Cheng Shou-chou's right hand, with its missing finger bones, rests on his knee.

"Now that Gu Chengzhang is about to die, you've suddenly remembered to investigate my innocence."

"Miss Gu, you've come all this way up this mountain, are you here to settle accounts or to prolong your life?"