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

A coffee shop nestled at the foot of Cangshan Mountain.

A floor-to-ceiling window frames half of a snow-capped mountain.

The afternoon light divided the long wooden table into two halves, one of light and one of shadow.

When Chen Lang arrived, Wang Rui was already sitting in a corner booth.

A suit jacket was draped over the back of the chair, the cuffs rolled up twice, and a pot of hand-brewed tea and three cups were placed in front of him.

Despite adopting a humble posture, the back is habitually ramrod straight; the ingrained sense of decorum in the capitalist world cannot mask a relaxed attitude for long.

With one hand in his pocket and the other lightly resting on Shen Qingci's lower back, Chen Lang led her through several rows of tables and chairs.

Wang Rui stood up, a flawless smile curving his lips.

"Mr. Chen, I've heard so much about you."

"Don't call him General Manager Chen."

Chen Lang pulled out a chair for Shen Qingci to sit down first, then casually sat down opposite her, stretching his long legs under the table.

"At eighteen, I failed the college entrance exam. I'm ashamed to say that Mr. Chen is shortening my lifespan."

Wang Rui was stunned for a second, then burst out laughing.

"Okay, then I'll call you Brother Lang, just like the fans in the live stream."

He personally poured hand-drip coffee for the two of them, turning the cup halfway outwards before handing it to them.

Shen Qingci sat to Chen Lang's right, picked up her coffee, took a sip, and said nothing.

Her role was clear: to listen in.

Wang Rui's gaze swept across Shen Qingci's face, but he didn't dare to look at her for long before turning back to Chen Lang.

"I didn't bring the contract today, I just wanted to chat with Brother Lang about the industry."

Wang Rui shrugged.

"There are only a handful of bloggers of your caliber on the entire Douyin platform."

"To be honest, I've been working in MCN for eight years and I've never seen an ordinary account reach this level of data in two weeks without any advertising or operations."

Chen Lang leaned back in his chair, casually twirling his coffee cup with his fingertips.

Wang Rui thought he would respond, but after three seconds there was no response from the other end.

The background noise in the coffee shop was amplified infinitely.

Wang Rui paused almost imperceptibly in the cup he was holding.

He had conducted thousands of business negotiations, but this was the first time he couldn't find a starting point in front of an eighteen-year-old boy.

Chen Lang finally spoke, his speech slow and his voice languid.

"Mr. Wang, you're not here to discuss the industry."

The smile on Wang Rui's face froze.

"You want to find out the truth."

Chen Lang looked up at him.

The new skill [Absolute Insight] has been activated passively.

Every micro-expression on the smiling face opposite me was broken down into a data stream.

The pupils constrict slightly, the thumb unconsciously presses the second joint of the index finger, and the breathing rate increases.

The core demands are clear at a glance.

To explore the background depth and assess whether Xingyao Interactive Entertainment has the opportunity to form a "strategic partnership" in the future.

"Probe my bottom line, while leaving yourself a way out."

"If the person behind me is two levels higher than the boss of Xingyao Interactive Entertainment, then this cup of coffee you're having today is your pledge of allegiance."

Wang Rui's hand, holding the cup, froze completely in mid-air.

The air conditioning in the coffee shop was on full blast, but he felt the lining of his suit jacket pressed against his back, making it hard to breathe.

Shen Qingci turned her head to look at Chen Lang.

She had experienced Chen Lang's decisiveness when saving people, his roguish charm when flirting, and his gentleness when serious.

But the person sitting next to her at this moment spoke in a relaxed tone as if he were talking about the weather, but his eyes were pinning this senior executive in the capital industry, who had been working for eight years, firmly to his chair.

Wang Rui put down his cup, placed his hands on the table with his hands folded, and his smile completely disappeared.

"Brother Lang, what's wrong with you...?"

"take it easy."

Chen Lang tapped the table with his fingertips, his tone softening.

"If you want to make friends, I won't refuse."

"But there are a few things you need to tell me first."

Wang Rui's heart skipped a beat, and he secretly breathed a sigh of relief; if the other party was willing to talk, there was hope.

"Please ask."

"Ye Xingyu".

Chen Lang uttered three words.

Wang Rui's expression changed.

"Your company's million-follower blogger, who has been suspended for almost two months, nearly drowned in Erhai Lake this morning."

Chen Lang looked at him.

"coincide?"

Wang Rui opened his mouth, his Adam's apple bobbing.

His gaze drifted to the window, then returned, forcing a bitter smile.

"To be honest, Brother Lang, Ye Xingyu's matter was a decision-making error within the company."

"What kind of mistake could have forced a top-tier cosplayer with millions of followers to come to Erhai Lake alone?"

Wang Rui remained silent for five seconds.

"Contractual performance-based clauses".

He lowered his voice.

"The company requires her to transition to live-streaming e-commerce within three months, or she will have to pay a penalty for breach of contract."

"She had a mental breakdown. I only found out she had run away before I arrived in Dali."

Chen Lang narrowed his eyes.

He didn't ask for details, he just threw out a sentence.

"You used a betting scheme to drive creators to their deaths, and then the creators almost actually died."

The last trace of businesslike expression faded from Wang Rui's face.

"I admit that Xingyao bears some responsibility for this."

"So you came to see me today not only to probe my background, but also to use my popularity to clear Ye Xingyu's name?"

Wang Rui's lips moved, but he didn't deny it.

Chen Lang toyed with the coffee cup, his fingertips brushing against the rim.

The silence lasted for ten seconds.

He smiled.

"Mr. Wang, after eight years in the MCN business, you should understand one thing."

"Hot topics aren't meant to be washed away, they're meant to be replaced."

Wang Rui suddenly raised his head.

"If you want Ye Xingyu to come out of her hiatus, I can help."

Chen Lang held up one finger.

"But not now, not for free, and not up to you."

Wang Rui subconsciously sat up straight, preparing himself for an exorbitant demand from the capital side.

"Brother Lang, name your terms."

Chen Lang tapped his fingertips lightly twice on the wooden tabletop, producing a dull sound.

"Keep the conditions first."

He raised his eyes, his sharp gaze piercing Wang Rui.

"We'll talk about the specifics once Ye Xingyu makes a decision, or when Xingyao learns to behave properly."

Wang Rui's face turned pale.

"This... Brother Lang, what do you mean?"

"Literal meaning."

Chen Lang interrupted him, his voice calm but carrying an undeniable sense of pressure.

"Go back and tell your boss a message."

"If Xingyao still wants to gain traffic benefits from me, they should treat me like a human being first."

He stood up, casually picked up the half-finished cup of coffee Shen Qingci had left on the table, tilted his head back, and drank it all in one gulp.

His Adam's apple bobbed, and the empty glass landed steadily back on the table.

"The coffee is good, thanks."

Wang Rui sat frozen in his chair, unable to come to his senses for a long time.

Chen Lang turned around, placed his palm on Shen Qingci's back, and led her towards the door.

Shen Qingci followed him through the coffee shop, her steps unsteady.

From sitting down to getting up, the whole process took no more than ten minutes.

In ten minutes, Chen Lang exposed all of the other party's intentions with three sentences, regained control of the negotiation with two sentences, and finally turned the situation around completely with the sentence "Treat people as human beings first".

Instead of rushing to reveal his trump card and demand benefits, he outmaneuvered capital and fought for the most basic dignity for a girl he had never met.

Shen Qingci's mind was buzzing, and her temples were throbbing.

She stared at the boy's back in front of her.

With his messy hair, earrings, loose T-shirt, and hands in his pockets, he looks like a carefree peer.

But the Chen Lang who was sitting in the chair just now, his eyes, speech speed, rhythm, and the timing of every pause were as precise as a scalpel.

She remembered what he had said that morning.

"I won't deal with him, let him deal with me."

He wasn't joking.

Pushing open the glass door of the coffee shop, the sunlight was dazzling.

Shen Qingci slowed her pace by half a beat.

Chen Lang turned around, sunlight illuminating his profile, and his expression returned to its usual nonchalant and carefree state.

"What's wrong?"

Shen Qingci opened his mouth.

"Who exactly are you?"

Chen Lang tilted his head to look at her, and the corners of his mouth slowly curled up.

"A student who failed the college entrance exam with a score of 250."

Shen Qingci stared into his smiling eyes and realized that she had never truly seen this person for who he was.

She lowered her head, her fingertips gripping the hem of her skirt tightly.

Something was swelling in her chest, making her breath shallow.

At the next table in the corner booth, two girls had been secretly taking pictures for the past five minutes.

The phone's camera was hidden behind the menu, recording the entire conversation.

A video titled "I ran into the travel blogger who saved people in Dali, and he was actually negotiating with a big investor" was posted on Douyin.

The picture quality is blurry, but the sound is clear.

Chen Lang's line, "Treat people as human beings first," was highlighted and accompanied by eye-catching subtitles, and the single video garnered over five million views in two hours.

The comments section exploded.

[That presence, that manner of speaking! I'd believe it if you told me he was the CEO of a listed company! He's only 18?]

Is this what real-life domineering CEOs look like? This is practically a game-changer!

[The key point is that he stood up for that girl and confronted her financial backers! She wasn't even his person! That's some serious character and magnanimity! Handsome people are handsome even in their souls!]

[At 1:47, that scene! He stood up and casually finished his girlfriend's coffee!! Another indirect kiss! I'm totally shipping them!]

One comment was pushed to the third most popular comment.

The ID looked familiar, and the signature read "Recent graduate of xx Middle School".

[Is this Chen Lang?? I was in the same class as him for three years in high school! He used to sleep at his desk every day and fail every subject. Our homeroom teacher always used him as a negative example when reading out grades! Can anyone tell me that this man who's so smug about money is the same person I know??? I'm crying. I used to find him annoying when he asked to borrow my homework, but I failed to latch onto him!]

A string of replies appeared below this comment.

[He's in the same class! I can vouch for him! He used to be useless at everything! He even skipped PE class! Now he's jumping off a bridge to save someone and riding a motorcycle, and you're telling me this is the same person??]

What exactly did he go through to go from being at the bottom of his class to becoming a top internet celebrity? What happened in between? Could a documentary be made about it?

[That's called late bloomer, you know! You bunch of blind fools didn't know its worth back then!]

CP fans focused on another scene.

The look Shen Qingci gave Chen Lang after she came out of the coffee shop.

In the video, the girl looks up at the boy beside her, the sunlight illuminating her profile.

[Zoom in on Shen Qingci's expression! This isn't just ordinary attraction; it's adoration!]

[A genius student scoring 720 points getting utterly defeated by a student scoring 250 points—this is more captivating than any idol drama.]

I finally understand. Someone as proud as Shen Qingci can never be moved by grades.

The value of the Langci couple is still rising; I'm ready to bury myself in their grave—it'll be worth dying for.

At this moment, the two people in the video are walking side by side on the bluestone road in Dali Old Town.

Shen Qingci was swept along by the crowd as she walked forward, her shoulder occasionally brushed against.

She didn't flinch, didn't frown, and didn't instinctively hunch her shoulders.

She would occasionally turn her head to glance at the boy beside her who was chewing on roasted milk fan and taking pictures of her with his phone.

Chen Lang held his phone up and pointed it at her.

"Don't move, the light is good."

Shen Qingci neither smiled nor avoided the camera.

She stood in the middle of the crowd, sunlight filtering through the tie-dyed fabric draped overhead and falling on her shoulders.

The gazes of the crowd did not suffocate her.

Because among all those gazes, the only one that truly mattered was looking at her through the phone screen.

Chen Lang pressed the shutter and looked down to scan the entire image.

Shen Qingci stands in the center of the picture, with a blurry crowd and colorful ancient city street scene behind her.

Her expression wasn't exactly a smile, but the icy look in her eyes melted away, revealing a vibrant life.

Chen Lang put his phone back in his pocket without showing it to her.

In my mind, a system notification sounded.

[Ding, the core cognition of the person being treated has shifted.]

[Shen Qingci's self-worth shifted from "meaning only when needed" to "meaningful in itself."]

Current cure progress: 69%.

Chen Lang chewed on a piece of milk fan and squinted his eyes.

Two percentage points.

Not many, but the direction is right.