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

Chen Lang put his hands in his pockets, stepped onto the short wooden boardwalk, and looked back at Shen Qingci, who was still standing there in a daze.

"What are you daydreaming about? Come here."

Shen Qingci snapped out of her daze, quickened her pace unconsciously, and stepped onto the pier through the cobblestones.

She stopped beside the giant rock and reached out to touch the cluster of white wildflowers struggling to emerge from the cracks in the rock.

The petals were still covered with morning dew, which dampened her fingertips.

Chen Lang leaned against a wooden pillar on the pier, tilting his chin toward the lake.

"Look at the water surface."

Shen Qingci followed his gaze.

On the lake, a dozen or so red-billed gulls were flying low and circling close to the water.

Their silhouettes rose and fell amidst the shimmering waves, their wingtips occasionally skimming the surface of the lake, splashing up tiny droplets of water.

A few bold red-billed gulls even landed on the wooden posts at the end of the pier, tilting their heads to sized up the two strangers who had intruded into their territory.

Chen Lang took a sealed bag out of the inside pocket of his down jacket.

It contained a small half-bag of bread crumbs and dried shrimp.

Shen Qingci glanced at him.

"When did you prepare this?"

Chen Lang tore open the bag and poured a small amount into his palm.

"I dried and crushed the leftover shrimp shells from last night's cooking; red-billed gulls love that."

He handed the sealed bag to Shen Qingci, then spread his palm out and reached out towards the nearest seagull on the wooden stake of the pier.

The seagull tilted its head, its round, black eyes fixed on the bits of dried shrimp in his palm.

After hesitating for two seconds, it flapped its wings and flew to his forearm, pecking at the largest piece with its red beak.

Chen Lang didn't move, a lollipop dangling from his lips, his expression so nonchalant that it was as if a fallen leaf, not a bird, was perched on his arm.

The comments section went crazy.

[Does he own these seagulls?! They're not afraid of people at all!]

[I fed the seagulls by Erhai Lake all afternoon, and not a single one would come this close! What's on your skin, Lang Ge?!]

Shen Qingci stared at the seagull leisurely pecking at food while perched on Chen Lang's forearm, a faint hint of curiosity flashing in her eyes.

She mimicked Chen Lang, pinching a few bits of dried shrimp from the sealed bag and placing them in her palm before slowly extending her arm.

The movements were very light, and the breathing was deliberately slowed down.

Three seconds. Five seconds. Eight seconds.

A small red-billed gull glided down from low altitude, circled once above her palm, and finally landed lightly beside her pale, slender fingers.

Warm paws stepped on the cold back of her hand.

Shen Qingci trembled slightly.

She looked down at the seagull so close to her, watching it peck at its food without any warning.

Her wings would occasionally flap, the soft tips of the feathers brushing against her wrist.

A sensation I had never experienced before traveled from my fingertips to my heart.

That was unconditional trust from another life.

Shen Qingci's lips moved slightly.

She didn't speak, but the curve of her lips deepened little by little in the sunlight.

The suspended ball glides silently to the optimal angle.

In the video, a young girl stands on a wooden boardwalk by Erhai Lake, her white cardigan fluttering gently in the wind.

A red-billed gull was perched on my arm.

Behind me are the complete nineteen peaks of Cangshan Mountain and the vast expanse of blue water.

Sunlight streamed in from the side, casting a fuzzy golden edge on her hair and the tips of her eyelashes.

No filters, no staged photos, no artificial retouching.

The live stream was silent for a full two seconds.

Then the bullet screen system crashed once.

[My God... I've already set this image as my permanent wallpaper, does anyone understand?!]

Today, I finally understand in a concrete way what it means to live a worthwhile life.

This is the true meaning of travel! It's not about going to a popular tourist spot and taking the same photo with thousands of others! It's about finding scenery that's uniquely yours!

[Brother Lang, could you please publish a guide to the hidden gems of Dali? I'd be willing to pay a thousand yuan for it!]

These two standing together are like a world-famous painting! Someone weld this scene to life in the Louvre!

Did you guys notice Qingci smiled? It was a genuine smile, not just a social one!

As Chen Lang watched the increasingly genuine smile on Shen Qingci's face, a flash of dark gold system notification appeared in his eyes.

He moved the lollipop from the right corner of his mouth to the left, reached into his jacket pocket, grabbed a handful of crumbs, and scattered them at the end of the pier.

"Splash—"

As if receiving a signal, a dozen or so red-billed gulls took flight from all directions over the lake, flapping their wings and gathering towards the pier.

Countless white wings fluttered in the sunlight.

Surrounded by a sudden swarm of seagulls, Shen Qingci instinctively took a half step back, her back bumping into Chen Lang's chest.

Chen Lang stood still, motionless.

"What are you afraid of? It doesn't bite."

Shen Qingci did not immediately move aside.

She looked up and saw that the white wings swirling overhead blocked out half of the sky.

Sunlight streamed through the gaps between her wings, falling like scattered gold dust onto her cheeks and eyelashes.

She slowly raised her hand, and the remaining crumbs in her palm were blown away by the sea breeze.

Two seagulls swooped down one after the other, brushing past her head and bringing a cool breeze.

Shen Qingci did not dodge.

She closed her eyes and slowly opened her arms amidst the swirling white feathers.

It's like finally shedding the heavy shackles of more than a decade, allowing yourself to stand freely in the wind.

It's like finally allowing yourself to be gently embraced by this cruel yet beautiful world.

The comments section completely spiraled out of control, with countless viewers' eyes welling up with tears.

[Oh my god, I'm crying!!!!]

No one knows how deep the despair she endured to get to this point, but at this moment, she is truly free.

【Chen Lang, you're not a travel blogger at all, you're a dream weaver! You're a savior!】

Chen Lang, with a candy stick in his mouth, leaned against a wooden pillar and watched this scene.

A silhouette of a girl with outstretched arms against the backlight, with countless white wings fluttering in the sky.

"System, save this image, in its highest resolution original."

[Saved.]

Chen Lang casually tossed the broken candy stick into the trash bag in his pocket.

Only after the seagulls had dispersed did Shen Qingci turn around.

The blush on her face hadn't faded completely, but her clear eyes sparkled with a light Chen Lang had never seen before.

That was a vibrant, warm life force, truly belonging to an eighteen-year-old girl.

Chen Lang looked at her for two seconds, then raised his hand and pointed to the plank road ahead.

"Let's go, there's more fun stuff ahead."

He stepped onto the boardwalk, his tactical boots landing on the wooden planks with a dull thud.

Shen Qingci followed, then suddenly stopped and stared down at the wooden board.

She crouched down and gently pressed and stroked the surface of the boardwalk with her fingertips.

"The texture is wrong."

She looked up at Chen Lang.

"This is not common industrial preservative-treated wood."

"The surface of the preservative-treated wood has an oily feel, a lower density, and a crisper sound when stepped on."

"This sound is too muffled and too solid."

Chen Lang took two steps back and stomped his right foot on the wooden board.

The echoes from the plank road were deep and resonant.

"Quite sharp ears." Chen Lang tapped the wooden board with his finger stick. "Guess what kind of processing technique it uses?"

Shen Qingci stood up and unconsciously rubbed her thumb and forefinger together.

"It has an extremely low moisture content, a density far exceeding that of conventional air-dried materials, and no chemical resin residue on the surface, yet it is highly corrosion resistant."

"Did soaking in a certain alkaline solution alter the cell wall structure?"

Chen Lang let out a soft chuckle.

"That's the right approach, let's continue."

"Lime water".

Shen Qingci frowned as soon as she finished speaking.

"No, soaking in lime water will damage the wood's tough structure, causing it to become brittle."

"Unless the soaking period is long enough to allow calcium carbonate to slowly penetrate and completely fill the gaps between cell walls, forming a natural mineralized framework."

She stared intently at Chen Lang. "How long will this take?"

Chen Lang held up three fingers.

Three years.

"The intangible cultural heritage craftsmanship of Bai ethnic minority artisans."

"Old pine logs are soaked in a specially made lime water pool for three years, and then taken out and naturally air-dried."

"Calcium carbonate crystals completely lock the gaps between the wood fibers, making it nearly 40% denser than commercially available preservative-treated wood."

"The Erhai Lake in Dali is humid all year round, but the old pine wood treated with this process has an outdoor exposure lifespan that is more than three times that of ordinary chemically treated wood."

Shen Qingci looked at the wooden plank under her feet and nodded.

"That makes sense. Wood filled with calcium carbonate crystals can indeed achieve this level of resistance to moisture swelling."

The style of the bullet comments suddenly changed.

Wait a minute... what are these two talking about?! I didn't understand a single word!

Who am I? Where am I? Am I watching a travel livestream or the entrance exam for the Materials Physics Department at Tsinghua or Peking University?

Holy crap! I'm a graduate student majoring in landscape architecture! My advisor never even explained the microscopic chemical principles of traditional Bai wood processing to me! And these two explained my thesis outline in just a few words?!

[Guys, isn't the focus on the school beauty? This is a true academic genius! In just a few seconds, based solely on the feel of her touch, she deduced the technological principles and chemical reaction formulas!?]

[Isn't Lang Ge even more terrifying? The school beauty is a monster of academic excellence, but how does Lang Ge, this academic failure who only scored 250 points on the college entrance exam, manage to perfectly grasp the school beauty's deductions and even guide her?!]

The moment this comment appeared, the entire live stream chat exploded.

[Holy crap!!! Yeah, right!!!]

[You old rascal, Lang Ge! Didn't you say you were just an ordinary travel blogger? Didn't you say you were a terrible student who failed every subject?!]

[Liar! A man full of lies! A mere 250 points! With your level of knowledge, the Chinese Academy of Sciences would be blind not to offer you a job!]

[A complete dimensional reduction attack! This is absolutely a dimensional reduction attack! Where are the haters? Where are the haters who were just mocking Lang Ge's academic background? Come out and take a few steps, let's see if you can understand what this academically challenged guy is saying about the microscopic crystallization of calcium carbonate!]

[After the ultimate romance comes a brutal intellectual crushing... God of War, is there anything you can't do?!]