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

The words landed on the table.

The embers sank into the ashes, scattering a few orange-red sparks that quickly went out.

The night breeze rustled the grape leaves overhead.

The water in the sink is still flowing.

Tap water washed over the porcelain plate, overflowing the rim and dripping down Su Niannian's apron onto the blue bricks, leaving a dark water stain.

Chen Lang put the bowls and plates he was holding back on the table.

The rough porcelain base struck the solid wood, producing two muffled thuds.

He raised his head, and the usual nonchalant look in his eyes disappeared completely.

His jawline was taut, and his gaze was fixed on the girl standing in the shadows.

"Have you thought it through?"

Shen Qingci stood under the grape trellis.

The phone case pressed against my palm, leaving red marks.

The chest heaved more, and the breath swirled in the throat, producing a vibrato.

Her shoulders and back were ramrod straight.

"I've thought it through."

Chen Lang didn't reply, his gaze fixed on her, filled with scrutiny and pressure.

Su Niannian opened her mouth, her throat tightened, and she couldn't squeeze out a single syllable.

Bai Weiwei's fingers tightened around the rag, leaving red marks on the rough fabric.

Gu Qingshang's hand holding the waterproof bag stopped in mid-air, the zipper stuck in the middle.

Ye Xingyu sat in a rattan chair, her teacup resting against the edge of the table.

The water rippled, reflecting the dim yellow lights overhead.

Shen Qingci raised her eyes and met Chen Lang's gaze.

"On the Jiangcheng Bridge, I took off my shoes and walked barefoot on the maintenance walkway outside the railing."

"The phone screen was lit up, and messages from Zhao Yulan kept popping up."

"She asked me why I wasn't going home, why I wasn't answering the phone, and said that my life was hers to decide, and I had no right to be willful."

Shen Qingci pressed down on the Buddhist prayer beads on her wrist.

Press the pad of your thumb against the rough wood grain and rub it vigorously.

"The phone kept ringing."

"At that moment, I had only one thought in my mind."

"Let go, fall, and those sounds will never catch up with me again."

Chen Lang tightened his grip on the edge of the table.

The veins on the back of his hand bulged, and his knuckles pressed hard against the wood grain.

"I'm really letting go."

"A bridge sixty meters high, with the churning river below."

"The wind lifted my skirt, and I was thrown straight down, feeling weightless and tearing at my internal organs."

"The streetlights on the bridge are getting farther and farther away from me, and the halo of light is shrinking into a small dot."

Shen Qingci's throat tightened, she swallowed, and her gaze remained fixed on Chen Lang's face.

"You jumped too."

"You chased me down from the bridge, reached out in mid-air, grabbed my waist, and pressed my head against your chest."

"The wind whistled past my ears, scraping my eardrums painfully."

"The tactical boots slammed into the steel beams of the bridge pier with a dull thud."

"You step on those crossbeams, use them for leverage, spring back, and step on them again, dissipating the force of the fall time and time again."

Finally, you used your back as a cushion and slammed me into the sandpit.

"I was chewing sand in my mouth, and my back was covered in bruises."

"You were still lying at the bottom of the pit, spitting out the sand from your mouth, asking me if I'd cried enough."

No one spoke in the courtyard.

Only the sound of water rinsing the porcelain plates and the night wind blowing through the main room remained.

"Later, Zhao Yulan called again."

"You snatched the phone from my hand, answered it, cursed back, and crushed the screen with one hand."

"At the police station, she rushed at me and grabbed me, and you stepped in front of her to block her."

"Her hands can no longer touch my clothes."

Shen Qingci lowered her head and fiddled with the wooden beads on her wrist.

One, two.

"Before that day, all I did was wait."

"Wait until she finishes yelling, wait until she makes her decision, and wait for someone else to tell me what I should do today."

"Going to school, taking exams, coming home, what time to eat, what time to turn off the lights—it's all written down in the chart she posted on the wall."

"I stood on that bridge, also waiting."

"Wait for the phone to stop ringing, wait for the wind to blow me down, wait for everything to come to an end."

She raised her head again.

Her eyes were brimming with tears, but she stubbornly held them back.

"But you didn't make me wait any longer."

"You asked me if I wanted to go home, where I wanted to go, and what I wanted to eat."

"The night I left Jiangcheng, the heavy truck was parked on the side of the road, and the rain beat down on the roof all night."

"No one knocked on the door, no one went through my schoolbag, and no one stood by my bed with a timetable."

Chen Lang stood still, his hand still resting on the edge of the table.

"When we arrived in Dali, there was a bowl of steaming Yangchun noodles in the car, and the wind blowing from the foot of Cangshan Mountain."

"The warmth and life at the Bai family's dining table, and the candy that Nian Nian slipped into my hand."

"The hot food that Weiwei left for me in the pot, and the documents that Sister Gu organized for me."

"And what Xingyu said when she hung up on Xingyao today..."

She turned her head.

He looked at Ye Xingyu, who was sitting in a rattan chair.

"I just realized that someone stood beside me and asked me if I was willing, and handed the right to choose to me."

Ye Xingyu gripped the teacup tightly, her long eyelashes drooping down to conceal the redness in her eyes.

"When Xingyu hung up the phone, I was sitting here, my mind filled with images of myself on the bridge."

"When those orders came down before, I would just back away, retreating beyond the railing until all that was left at my feet was the river."

"Now, I have people I want to protect."

The porcelain plate in Su Niannian's hand slipped and fell into the stainless steel water tank.

Clang.

The crisp sound of the impact echoed through the courtyard.

Shen Qingci did not turn around.

"I don't want to hide behind you forever, nor do I want to just accept the umbrellas you offer."

"Zhao Yulan held the strings, and I was a puppet on those strings for twelve years."

"This time, I'll be holding the steering wheel myself."

Chen Lang walked around the solid wood square table and stood in front of Shen Qingci.

The imposing presence of his height loomed down, blocking the light from above.

"Are you signing up to keep an eye on me in the car, or are you risking your life to add another layer of protection to my life?"

"I'll be your passenger."

Shen Qingci took out her phone and brought up the event registration system.

The screen emitted a cold light, illuminating her sharply defined profile.

[Ding! Registration notification for the Nine Bends Night Race]

[Co-pilot: Shen Qingci]

Identity verification: Successful

[Disclaimer for High-Risk Events: Signed (Irrevocable)]

[Emergency Contact Person: Shen Jianguo]

Current status: Locked

She clicked into the database and pushed her phone in front of Chen Lang.

The digital model of the track, the parameters of the U9 vehicle, the medical rescue route map, and the high-precision weather radar screenshots.

The text is densely packed and fills the entire page.

Documents are precisely numbered according to time sequence.

[Sixth Bend Outer Settlement Zone: 2.3 meters wide, 3 centimeters deep. Status: No-compression zone.]

The red and yellow markings are extremely eye-catching.

"The restricted area on the outer side of the sixth bend is 2.3 meters wide."

"There are blind spots at Turn 9. We need to confirm before the race whether the new camera positions have been implemented in accordance with the supplementary terms."

"Heavy rain can change the direction of drainage on the road surface. The reporting of traffic codes needs to be combined with real-time radar and the trajectory of the vehicle in front. It is absolutely not possible to simply apply the code to dry ground."

She swiped her finger to turn to the next page.

"I've memorized the U9's passenger communication channel, the five-point seatbelt locking logic, the onboard fire extinguisher, and the location of the window hammer."

"After the race started, I was responsible for reporting the race code, checking the road conditions, and contacting the repair area and the medical team."

"I will absolutely not touch your driving controls."

Gu Qingshang strode over to her, took the phone, and quickly flipped through two pages.

"You started organizing these documents this afternoon?"

"Um."

"Where's the disclaimer?"

"Signed."

"Who was listed as the emergency contact?"

"My dad."

Gu Qingshang looked up, stared at her for a long time, and then handed the phone back.

Su Niannian turned off the tap, wiped herself haphazardly on her apron, and strode out of the kitchen.

"I was worried you'd be too weak to stand and start shaking when you agreed to take photos with tourists during the day."

"Now you're going to sit in the winding race car?"

"That's a cliffside mountain road where you can travel at 200 km/h!"

"There will be more heavy rain tomorrow night!"

"A slight misstep could send both you and your vehicle crashing to the bottom of the cliff!"

Shen Qingci pressed down on her throat and swallowed the dryness.

"I'm scared."

"I remember everything clearly: the wind blowing across the bridge, the crowd blocking the exit in the mall, and the roar of the mudslide."

"But I can't just stay in one place and wait for Chen Lang to clear the way for me every time."

Bai Weiwei threw the rag in her hand onto the table.

"The passenger seat is closest to the driver's seat."

"The car broke down on the track, and you were inside. You had fewer chances of escaping than others."

"So I deserve to be in that position even more."

Shen Qingci turned her head, her gaze meeting Chen Lang's eyes directly.

"Zhao Yulan hired people to block the mall, but he and I forced our way out."

"When the mudslide came, he used a rope to go down the cliff to save people."

"Now, for Xingyu, he's betting against Xiao Yunlong with the rare Black Knight."

"He's shielded me from harm far too many times."

Ye Xingyu pressed her fingers firmly against the rim of the cup.

"Qingci, this match started because of me..."

"Star Language".

Shen Qingci raised her voice to interrupt her.

"The race started because of you, and getting in the car was my decision."

Ye Xingyu pursed her lips, biting her lower lip, and it took her a moment to find her voice.

"They used to put me in the passenger seat, and I couldn't even say no."

"Only with you all standing here today did I dare to hang up on Xiao Yunlong."

Shen Qingci took a step forward, closing the distance between herself and Chen Lang.

"Chen Lang, on that bridge in Jiangcheng, when I let go, I thought my life had reached a dead end."

"You jump down after me, catch me in mid-air, and present me with a completely new path, letting me choose for myself."

"Now I have a dad, friends, places I want to go, and a tomorrow that I can decide for myself."

Her eyes were wet with tears, her chest was heaving violently, and her breathing was trembling.

Every word he uttered was pronounced with great emphasis.

"You promised me you would show me the world, and you promised me you would live."

"This time, it's my turn to sit next to you."

"If there's a dangerous road ahead, I'll give you the warning; if someone tries to sabotage it, I'll keep an eye on it for you; if there's a problem with the car, I'll help you deal with it."

"If there's a dead end ahead, I'll go through it with you."

"As long as the car can still be driven out, I'll come back with you."