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

Juice from the green grapes dripped through Shen Qingci's fingers, leaving several dark green wet spots on the floor. Only then did she snap back to reality.

A minty-scented wet wipe was slapped into her palm.

Chen Lang had somehow ended up leaning against the railing. He grabbed Shen Qingci's wrist and flipped it up, revealing his hand covered in sticky juice.

There was a nonchalant, roguish air about him.

"What did the grapes do to you? Why are you crushing them so badly?"

The warmth from her wrist made Shen Qingci realize her earlier lapse in composure. Her ears burned instantly, and she lowered her head, silently wiping her fingers haphazardly.

Chen Lang neither pressed for details nor lectured him.

He picked up the bowl of green grapes, which was still mostly half full, and strode off the balcony.

He squatted down and handed the fruit bowl to the two children who were staring longingly at the RV.

"Here, take this and eat."

Li Duo tilted her head back, her little head with pigtails tucked in, and called out "Thank you, big brother!" with bright, sparkling eyes.

She pinched a piece with her short, stubby fingers, popped it into her mouth, chewed it a couple of times, and then her little face scrunched up with sweetness that made her features look disproportionate.

"Mom! It's so sweet! A hundred times sweeter than the ones I buy at the supermarket downstairs!"

Chen Lang stood up and stuffed the remaining half-basin of green grapes into Li Jianguo's arms.

His gaze swept past Li Jianguo, across the Honda sedan whose chassis was covered in mud, and revealed several buckets of braised beef noodles and ham sausages in the trunk.

"Brother." Chen Lang raised an eyebrow.

"Don't bother with dinner. If you come to my turf and let your wife and kids eat instant noodles, it'll be embarrassing for me."

Upon hearing this, Wang Mei immediately rubbed her hands together on her apron and waved them.

"No, no, no, Brother Chen Lang, we're used to eating instant noodles while camping outside, how could we let you spend money on us?"

"Sister-in-law," Chen Lang interrupted her, a casual smile playing on his lips.

"It's not about the expense. I have this bad habit of getting an itch to cook whenever I'm hungry. If you don't let me cook this meal tonight, I'm afraid I won't be able to sleep peacefully."

Before the couple could exchange pleasantries, Chen Lang turned his head and snapped his fingers.

"Titan".

"Yes, sir."

"Activate the outdoor dining module."

As the mechanical sound subsided, a muffled hydraulic hum came from the massive bulletproof armor plate on the right side of the truck's first floor.

The heavy alloy plate slowly folded outwards, and the support arm at the bottom popped out precisely, snapping firmly into the ground with a click.

The concealed hatch pops open.

A powerful stove, a full set of kitchen utensils, a constant-temperature freezer, and a folding stainless steel countertop silently slid out under the warm white work lights.

In less than ten seconds, an open-air kitchen appeared out of thin air on the wilderness meadow.

The green basin that Li Jianguo was holding almost fell to the ground.

"I... damn it..." His weathered face froze completely, his mouth agape, wide enough to fit a perfectly round green grape.

The live-streaming ball, suspended in mid-air, transmitted this scene online, instantly causing a frenzy in the comments section.

Holy crap! Who can pull out a Michelin-starred kitchen from the side of their RV?!

[Damn, I've been running a restaurant for ten years, and my kitchen equipment isn't as high-end as Lang Ge's!]

[The instant noodles in Brother Li's trunk: Don't I have any dignity?]

[Is this what Brother Lang meant by being poor?! Today I've truly come to understand the word "poor" in a new light.]

Chen Lang ignored the comments, bent down, pointed to the glass door of the living quarters that was lit by a warm light, and gestured with his chin at the two dumbfounded children.

"It's windy outside. Let's go inside and watch TV. There are game consoles and snacks in the cabinet, so feel free to use them."

Li Hao and Li Duoduo exchanged a glance and then let out an excited scream.

The two cheered, took off their shoes, and rushed into the living quarters.

Shen Qingci stood on the balcony, watching the two children step onto the million-dollar black walnut wood constant temperature carpet, their cautious yet unable to contain their excitement, and her eyes flickered slightly.

She put down the tissue she had just wiped clean.

No one urged her, and no one demanded that she fit in.

But her steps were faster than her heart, which had been closed for eighteen years.

She went into the living quarters and quietly sat down behind the two children.

"Whoosh—"

A 100-inch 8K holographic screen silently descended from the ceiling, and a top-of-the-line gaming console started up.

The two children sank deep into the soft leather sofa, their hands gripping the handle tightly.

The cheerful background music from Mario Kart exploded in the hall-class surround sound system, filling the entire car.

Li Duoduo's arms were too short, and her thumbs couldn't reach the accelerator button. She was so anxious that her eyes turned red, and she kicked her legs wildly on the sofa.

Just then, a pair of slender, fair hands reached out.

Shen Qingci leaned forward slightly and placed the little girl's chubby fingers, one by one, into the correct positions.

"Put your index finger here." Her voice was very soft, with a touch of awkward gentleness.

"Use your thumb to control the direction, don't rush."

Li Duoduo looked up, her clear eyes sparkling as she gazed at her with admiration: "Sister Qingci, you're so amazing!"

Shen Qingci paused for a moment, and the corner of her mouth twitched almost imperceptibly.

The secondary camera on the suspended sphere accurately captured this scene.

[Ahhh! The school beauty offered to help a kid adjust the controller! This scene is so beautiful, I was completely captivated for thirty seconds!]

[When she was watching from the side, I was worried she'd find the child noisy. But she actually started teaching the child how to play video games!]

This is completely different from the lifeless girl who was in the mudslide a couple of days ago.

At the outdoor kitchen, Chen Lang deftly put on a tactical apron.

He opened the freezer and took out Wagyu beef, matsutake mushrooms, black tiger prawns, and a free-range chicken that had been cleaned very thoroughly.

With a gleaming blade, the matsutake mushrooms were sliced ​​into even, thin slices.

The free-range chicken is chopped into large pieces with three cuts, put into a clay pot with cold water, add a few slices of angelica and astragalus, cover and simmer over low heat.

The high-heat stove was turned on, and the butter sizzled as it hit the pan.

Chen Lang held the frying pan with one hand, flicked it with his wrist, and the Wagyu beef flipped in mid-air and landed back on the pan.

The oil is rendered out by the high temperature, and the irresistible aroma of meat spreads in the night breeze.

Li Jianguo was originally standing to the side, wanting to roll up his sleeves and help.

He had just picked up a scallion and made two cuts when he caught a glimpse of Chen Lang's fluid movements and abruptly stopped.

He silently put down the cleaver, took two steps back, and swallowed.

"Brother, how did you develop such knife skills... and that wok-flipping technique?"

As he spoke, the black tiger prawn in his hand was deftly deveined.

"When I was a child, my family was poor and we couldn't afford to eat out, so I had to figure out how to cook for myself."

The live stream chat was filled with ellipses once again.

[Driving a multi-million dollar heavy truck, using a million-dollar kitchen to cut M9 Wagyu beef, and you're telling me your family is poor?!]

[A college student is filing a formal complaint! I studied at New Oriental's kitchen school for three years, and I still couldn't understand the knife skills used to cut that matsutake mushroom! What is this guy not good at?!]

Chen Lang was simultaneously tending to four pots, his hands never pausing for a moment.

While stir-frying the black tiger prawns, Wang Mei walked over to the kitchen counter without anyone noticing.

She didn't make a sound to disturb them, but simply stood by the casserole pot simmering over a low flame and reached out to pick up a soup spoon.

Lifting the lid, steam rises from the milky white chicken soup.

Wang Mei skillfully skimmed off the foam, stirred it gently a couple of times, and then turned the heat down a notch.

Chen Lang caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye that the hand tossing the wok hadn't stopped.

"Sister-in-law, the way you handle the fire, you're clearly an expert."

Wang Mei smiled and waved her hand, then scooped up a small spoonful of soup, brought it close to her nose, and nodded in satisfaction.

"I may not be good at anything else, but I'm quite good at making soup. My husband has a sensitive stomach, and I've been watching him make the soup spoonful by spoonful for the past twenty years."

She put down the soup spoon, turned the heat down a notch, and turned to look at Chen Lang, her eyes filled with the gentle warmth typical of an elder.

"Xiao Lang, you go ahead and cook your main dishes. Leave this soup to Auntie."

"I'll keep an eye on the heat for you, and I guarantee that all the oil from the bones will melt into the soup, making it thick and white."

She paused, glancing towards the living quarters.

Through the floor-to-ceiling windows, one could see Shen Qingci sitting on the sofa, head down, teaching Li Duoduo how to play games.

Wang Mei withdrew her gaze and lowered her voice.

"Your girlfriend is so thin it's heartbreaking. In this weather, girls need to drink something warm."

She tapped the edge of the casserole with the back of a spoon.

"Once this soup is ready, Auntie will personally ladle a bowl for her and bring it in."

"It's stewed with angelica and astragalus; it replenishes qi and blood. The young lady's complexion is too pale; she needs nourishment."

Chen Lang paused for a moment with the spatula in his hand.

He turned his head and glanced at Wang Mei.

This middle-aged woman, a complete stranger, simply acted on a mother's instinct and clearly arranged who should receive the bowl of soup.

Chen Lang returned to the stove.

"Then I'll have to trouble you, sister-in-law."

Wang Mei smiled and responded, then put the lid back on the casserole.

She stood by the stove, occasionally peeking through a crack to observe the color of the soup.

The orange-yellow firelight illuminated her simple face.

The slender, delicate profile of a young girl seen through the floor-to-ceiling window a few meters away was bathed in the same warm light.

Less than forty minutes.

On the temperature-controlled stainless steel round table on the balcony, seven delicious and visually appealing main dishes were laid out in abundance.

The M9 Wagyu beef is pan-fried in butter until it has a perfect caramelized brown surface and a tender pink interior, with its abundant juices practically dripping from the cut surface.

The matsutake mushroom and free-range chicken soup bubbled and simmered in the clay pot, releasing thick, milky-white foam.

The stir-fried black tiger prawns are coated in a rich garlic sauce and are a glossy red.

The overpowering aroma, carried by the night breeze, filled the nostrils of hundreds of thousands of viewers in the live stream.

[Are you kidding me?! Looking at my takeout right now, I feel like I'm chewing on cardboard!!]

[I've called the police! Chen Lang released poison late at night, with hundreds of thousands of victims!]

I can't take it anymore. This table full of food and that pot of soup—I can feel the warmth and life of the place even through the screen.