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

The clouds pressed down on the ridge of Cangshan Mountain and spread all the way south.

As the setting sun cast its last rays across the gap in Erhai Lake, the courtyard walls, rough wooden tables, and blue-tiled eaves were all bathed in an orange glow.

The bamboo pole was bent by the wind, and the racing suit I brought back last night had been washed clean of mud, its empty sleeves swaying in the wind.

Chen Lang sank into the rattan chair, the bamboo strips creaking under the pressure. A waterproof bandage wrapped around his right arm and neck, while his left hand held a rough porcelain teacup.

The doctor's original words were "rest for three days," but for him, stripping away all unnecessary movements, all that remained was the word "sit."

The gate was kicked open, and shoes splashed through the water on the stone slabs.

Su Niannian stepped across the threshold carrying two stacks of dripping, chilled beer, leaving two fingerprint marks on the cardboard boxes.

"Make way, the number one sponsor of the victory celebration banquet is unloading."

The cardboard box hit the wooden table, splashing water droplets everywhere. She turned around and pointed her index finger in Chen Lang's direction.

"The patient drinks tea. Whoever adds wine to his cup, I'll throw him into the mushroom pot to cook."

Chen Lang flicked his wrist, and the porcelain cup clattered onto the table.

"I'll be in charge of checking your quantities."

"dream."

Su Niannian snatched the empty wine glass from Chen Lang's hand, flicked her wrist, and a plate of sunflower seeds fell to the ground.

The pine wood in the brazier in the courtyard crackled as Bai Weiwei poked at the flames with iron tongs.

The kitchen door was open, and steam rose from the boiling wild mushroom and free-range chicken soup, drifting over the eaves and dispelling the lingering smell of engine oil and mud.

Ye Xingyu walked out wearing a cotton and linen apron and placed a stack of blue and white porcelain bowls on the wooden table.

In the corner of the windowsill, her phone lay face down, its screen black, devoid of any more urgent schedule notifications or data pop-ups.

She looked down and straightened her sleeves. The chunky knit sweater, pilling and worn from a street stall, had no competing logos that needed to be covered up.

The porcelain bowls were arranged one by one, their bases clattering with a series of dull thuds. Ye Xingyu pressed her fingers against the rim of the bowls, pulling her lips upwards, but she couldn't flatten them no matter what she did.

"You found money?" Su Niannian tapped the edge of the casserole with a long-handled wooden spoon.

Ye Xingyu put down the last pair of bamboo chopsticks, her fingertips tapping the edge of the table.

"Niannian, I went for a walk around the ancient city this afternoon."

"Um."

"I crossed two streets, ate a bowl of spicy cold chicken rice noodles, and stood outside a silver shop for ten minutes."

Su Niannian's arm, which was scooping soup, was suspended in mid-air.

"The sun was scorching my back, the wind was blowing back from the alley, and across the street an old lady in a floral jacket was walking her dog."

Ye Xingyu lowered her voice and clasped her hands together in front of her.

"The dog was rolling around on the bluestone slab, and I just stood there and watched it roll around seven or eight times."

"Is no one checking up on us?"

"No." Ye Xingyu inhaled, her nostrils flaring. "No one asked me for my location, no one asked me to take street photos and post them in a nine-grid format, and no one said that street stalls didn't fit my commercial value."

Su Niannian's wrist sank, and the wooden spoon disappeared into the boiling soup.

"I also bought a bracelet."

Ye Xingyu flipped her wrist, and a dark red braided rope loosely wrapped around her wrist bone. It was crudely made with exposed threads and a small, broken silver bell the size of a grain of rice hanging from it.

"Five yuan, paid by scanning the QR code."

"It's ugly enough." Su Niannian's gaze swept over the red line.

"Yes." Ye Xingyu laughed, her chest vibrating, the rice-grain bells jingling against her knuckles.

"The stall owner brought out a box of fancy items for me to choose from, and I pointed to this one."

She straightened the bamboo chopsticks one by one and arranged them neatly on the side of the bowl.

"In the past, when shooting fashion shoots, it was all arranged by the production crew. If a button was buttoned in the wrong place, the whole crew would stop working and wait for me to reshoot."

Ye Xingyu lowered her head, her fingernails digging into the rough texture of the red rope.

"Now, if I want to wear a five-yuan note, I'll wear a five-yuan note."

Su Niannian gripped the long handle of the ladle and stirred it three times in the pot. The scalding steam hit her eyelashes. She turned her head, rubbed the back of her hand against the corner of her eye, and raised her chin.

"You even need to report a five-dollar piece of broken rope?"

Ye Xingyu raised her face, her eyes glistening with tears, and smiled.

"Niannian, I went out today without my power bank."

"continue."

"My phone screen went black at 3 p.m.

"so?"

"A black screen is a black screen." Ye Xingyu swallowed hard.

"Hold on tight, Tianhao. There's no list of 20 million in breach of contract fees, no barrage of calls from the PR department, and no Young Master Long smashing things and yelling on the phone."

"The power went out, so I took a detour along the bluestone path for an extra half hour."

"I passed by a flower shop, went up and smelled five kinds of roses, but didn't buy a single one."

"Then, I walked back."

She stood by the table, her fingers tracing the edge of the neatly stacked porcelain bowls.

"On my way back, I was calculating that those people on the street had probably been living like this for about twenty years."

Su Niannian flung away the soup spoon, took two steps, and with a forceful push of her upper arm, shoved her into the chair in the main seat.

"Hold on tight."

"read--"

Su Niannian turned around and yanked open the lid of the casserole.

Concentrated steam rushed onto her face, and she raised her sleeve to wipe the water droplets from her forehead, her voice muffled in the white mist.

"There's always tomorrow. Let's first make up for what Xingyao took away with this pot of chicken soup."

Beside the rattan chair, a metal levitation ball silently rose into the air.

Chen Lang adjusted the radio module and lens focus, and pressed the start button with his left thumb.

The platform's backend data streaming has started, and the numbers in the upper left corner of the screen have begun to jump.

Thirty thousand.

80,000.

150,000.

The scene freezes on a distant view of the courtyard, with braziers, wooden tables, and clay pots, and the number of online viewers immediately surpasses 200,000.

Last night's footage of the race at Turn 9 went viral on various video platforms all day, topping the trending search list.

A large number of passersby flocked to the live stream room following the algorithm's recommendations.

Two minutes later, the number jumped to 280,000, and the upward curve showed no signs of slowing down.

The barrage of comments flooded in from the right side.

[Front row! Raise your hand if you stayed up all night watching Turn Nine!]

I watched the screen recording of Ye Xingyu terminating her contract ten times! Burning the contract was so satisfying!

[Newbie question: This video was edited from a high-energy racing clip, but why is this guy's entire profile full of travel videos??]

[How is Lang Shen's right arm? It looks quite thickly bandaged in the post-match photos.]

[A mukbang video by the new record holder for the Nine Bends, commemorating the occasion.]

[Will the cliff-jumping performance still be on today?]

Chen Lang flicked the control panel, zooming in on the fire pit in the center of the courtyard.

"The car's in for repairs today, so let's cook the chicken first."

The scrolling speed of the comments increased again.

Last night, track enthusiasts, Ye Xingyu's die-hard fans, hardcore racing players, and a few local official media accounts with blue V verification were all crammed into this small screen.

The number of online users exceeded 320,000.

For a blogger whose follower count has just surpassed one million, this data already puts most of the top streamers in the dust.

The comment section started to flood with messages rhythmically.

[Where's the number one on the leaderboard? Where's Qin Shaoren, who said he'd book the whole place last night?]

[You promised to fly to Dali overnight to pay the bill? Did you oversleep?]

[They're probably still in the garage picking out which supercar is worthy of the muddy roads of Dali.]

Several newly registered blank accounts took the opportunity to emerge.

Just admire the online tycoons; anyone can talk big.

[They disappeared as soon as it was time to pay the bill; the script was finished and filming was over.]

This account is obviously a shill kept by the guild; newbies shouldn't take it too seriously.

The scrolling speed of the public chat was slowed down by a few jarring comments.

Longtime fans began to fight back, while anti-fan accounts relentlessly pressed on, repeatedly copying and pasting the same text.

Chen Lang picked up his teacup, blew away the floating leaves on the surface of the water, and took a sip.

"No need to look."

"Someone's life right now is quite unconventional."

"The water is deep, and the fire is scorching."

Before the last note had even faded, a dark gold fleet logo exploded at the top of the live stream screen.

The platform's highest-level entrance effect tears the screen as a golden dragon spirals down.

"Ignorant and incompetent" suddenly appeared in the live broadcast room.

The first Super Carnival gift fell from the sky.

The second one followed closely behind.

The gift counter flipped wildly, and the dazzling special effects blurred the entire screen.

ten.

Thirty.

Sixty.

One hundred.

The banner dominated the public chat, and the whiteboard account that had just started the discussion was completely crushed by the massive data flow and squeezed out of the message list.

The screens of more than 300,000 viewers froze for two seconds, and the number of bullet comments exploded exponentially, directly boosting the number of online viewers to 380,000.

Holy crap! A hundred consecutive draws at the Carnival!

[Where are the haters who were just calling someone a fake tycoon? Are their faces swollen yet?]

[Qin Shao: Quiet down, let's get some money to clean up the mess first.]

Why are the hater accounts silent? Are their keyboards smoking?

This wave of investment starts at least in the six figures; they're throwing money around like water!

In the kitchen of the small courtyard, a continuous stream of gift notification sounds filled the air.

Su Niannian held up a wooden spoon and leaned half her body out.

"Oh, so Young Master Qin hasn't even landed yet, and he's already here to cause trouble with money?"

The dark gold account sent out bolded comments.

Master! I refuse to accept this!

Last night I got all the route approvals, crew arrangements, and the landing convoy sorted out! The moment I stepped onto the tarmac, my sister and eight bodyguards pinned me down!

Passport confiscated, car keys confiscated, bank cards restricted! I'm currently locked in the headquarters office in Shanghai, reviewing financial statements!

Qin Shuang even threatened, "If I dare to open the window, she'll move my bedroom to the 28th floor of her company building tomorrow!"