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

Shen Qingci clutched the plastic bag, her knuckles turning porcelain white.

The plastic bag made a soft "rustling" sound.

She followed Chen Lang's gaze and looked three steps away.

Chen Lang's gaze swept past the crowd and landed on a middle-aged man who was bending over and stacking tomatoes.

"Look at that stall, the tomatoes are neatly arranged, divided into three sizes, and there's a white gauze sheet underneath."

Shen Qingci looked in that direction.

That stall was completely different from the vegetable stall next to it, which had rotten leaves mixed in and piled up haphazardly.

Amidst the bustling morning market, there was an air of order.

"What does that mean?" Chen Lang asked in a lazy voice, with a rising tone at the end.

"He cares about what he sells."

"clever."

Chen Lang bent his knuckles and made a feint towards her forehead.

A very light breeze arose.

"The thing a person puts their heart and soul into is the thing that no one sees."

He took half a step forward.

His tall figure shielded her from a vendor pushing a fresh produce cart that was driving recklessly.

"Do you remember the first time I spoke to Lao Li? What did we say?"

Shen Qingci's eyelashes trembled slightly.

The image of Chen Lang standing on the meadow at the foot of Cangshan Mountain came to mind.

At that moment, Chen Lang looked at Li Jianguo's mud-covered Honda sedan and said in a calm tone, "I'm truly impressed that your two-wheel-drive city car can drive so reliably on this terrible road."

"You praised his driving skills," Shen Qingci said softly.

"Not entirely," Chen Lang shook his head.

Chen Lang's dark eyes reflected the mingling figures in the vegetable market.

"I praised his dedication."

"An ordinary city car would easily bottom out and break down on such a bad road. But he knew the road conditions thoroughly beforehand so that he could take his wife and children out to see the sights. He precisely avoided every pothole along the way, driving extremely slowly and steadily, so that the people in the car did not experience any bumps. He is not just good at driving, he has made sure that the safety of his family is in every brake and turn."

"I was just stating what I saw."

Chen Lang turned his head to look at her.

"What people lack most in this life is not money, but being seen."

"When you compliment a vendor on how well they arrange their vegetables, what makes her happy isn't the compliment itself, but the fact that someone finally noticed the hard work she put in sorting the vegetables in the cold wind at three in the morning."

"You don't need to rack your brains to make up stories or act when chatting with strangers."

"Take a look, find that detail she's so proud of but no one has ever mentioned, and say it outright."

He stuck his index finger out of his pocket and casually drew a circle in the air.

"Observe first, then praise, and finally, the goal."

"If the order is reversed, it becomes cheap flattery. If the order is right, it's called sincerity."

After a two-second pause, the live stream chat exploded with comments.

Holy crap! This social skills lesson was incredibly valuable! Even I, a 30-year-old socially awkward loser, actually understood it!

"First look, then praise, and finally, the goal. I'm printing this out and putting it on my desk tomorrow!"

Wait a minute! He's not teaching her how to bargain, he's teaching her how to deal with people!

Now I understand why Brother Lang can become familiar with anyone in two minutes—it's because he genuinely knows how to read people!

[Deconstructing the core logic of social media thugs! If this were published as a book, I'd buy a hundred copies and give them to my husband who offends people every day!]

[Brother Lang: I'll teach you how to bargain. In reality: I'll teach you how to get along with the world. This psychological reshaping is making me cry.]

Shen Qingci stood quietly in place.

My fingertips traced the rough texture of the plastic bag's edge.

Old Li lowered his guard and offered her a cigarette; Wang Mei walked over with a smile, carrying green grapes; Li Hao stuffed candy into her palm.

Those emotional interactions that she couldn't decipher before now formed a clear chain of cause and effect.

She looked up.

A bright gleam shone in his usually cool eyes.

"I understand."

Chen Lang straightened up and put his hands back in his pockets.

He gestured with his chin toward the noisiest part of the crowd.

"Understanding is useless; you need real-world experience."

Shen Qingci followed the gaze and looked over.

Ahead is the busiest seafood section in the entire market.

The glass water tank was lit by a blinding white light, and water was splashing everywhere.

Crucian carp frantically thrashed their tails in the red plastic basin, while the tentacles of black tiger shrimp rested on the edge of the glass.

The vendors' voices were all incredibly loud.

Dark, foul-smelling sewage clung to the damp ground, and a pungent, salty odor wafted through the air.

Shen Qingci tightened his arms around Xiao Cong.

Chen Lang glanced down at the bag she was protecting in her arms.

The corners of his mouth are turned up in a slant.

"Next stop, the seafood section."

"The water is deep there."

He slowly took a step forward and turned his head to look at her.

A mischievous smile spread across his eyes.

"Don't get your spoils dirty."

The two walked side by side into the depths of the market.

The seafood area had a very strong fishy smell, and the ground was covered with black anti-slip netting.

The sewage accumulated in the potholes glistened oily under the light.

Chen Lang's tactical boots made a dull "creak" sound when he stepped on them.

He always walked on the outside, subtly blocking a fresh food cart full of crushed ice and dripping with fishy water.

A group of tourists were picking out fish at a bustling fish stall.

The boss was a bald, fat man with a towel draped over the back of his neck that was of indeterminate color.

Holding a long-handled landing net, he roughly scooped a lively grouper out of the glass tank.

Shen Qingci stopped and glanced at the entire stall.

First look, then praise, and finally, the goal.

She stood there, looking at him for two seconds.

The water in the glass tank was cloudy and yellowish, but the fish inside were very lively.

A handwritten price list, wrinkled from being soaked in water, was pasted on the outside of the tank, with the word "wild" heavily circled several times in red marker.

Most importantly, the rim of the cylinder was wrapped with four or five layers of thick silver waterproof tape.

The edges have rough, hand-cut edges, indicating that the owner reinforced them himself.

Have it.

Shen Qingci lightly pinched his palm with his fingertips and stepped forward.

"Boss, you've put a lot of effort into reinforcing this water tank."

She tried to make her voice sound relaxed, and pointed to the tape on the rim of the cylinder.

"Did you wrap it by hand? This kind of fish is strong. If it were on the edge of a regular tank, it would probably have been smashed to pieces by its tail."

The bald, fat man was pouring the fish from the net onto the electronic scale.

Upon hearing this, he abruptly stopped moving.

He turned his fleshy face and glanced at her.

That mercenary gaze swept over her, lingering for a second on Shen Qingci's refined and aloof features.

Then, his whole face was filled with a warm smile.

"Wow, this young lady knows her stuff!"

He casually draped the net over the side of the vat and turned around.

He deliberately raised his voice by three points.

"That's right! These fish are all wild catches from the deep waters of Erhai Lake. They're very wild, and ordinary thin glass tanks simply can't withstand their antics."

"I have to re-tap it every two days. I've searched the whole market, and only my family is willing to go through this tedious trouble!"

Shen Qingci's chest rose and fell slightly.

The tension in my shoulders and back eased slightly.

It works. The formula Chen Lang taught me is valid.

She followed up with, "So, is this grouper also wild?"

"How could it be fake?" The fat man patted his waterproof apron, which was covered in fish scales, and spoke rapidly.

"Look at the luster of these fish scales! Farmed fish never have such a bright shine. Don't worry, I've been selling in this market for eight years, and I rely on word of mouth. I never adulterate anything!"

Shen Qingci nodded slightly and pointed to a slightly smaller grouper at the bottom of the tank.

"I want this one. Can you give me a discount?"

"This is my first time buying seafood, so I don't know much about the market, but I can tell that you're running this stall with care."

The live stream chat exploded again.

[A top student applied what they learned immediately! This formula is applied so perfectly!]

[Genius! You just finished learning and immediately got a perfect score on a real-world test?]

The uncle is beaming with joy; this is a sure win, right?

The bald boss rolled his eyes and lowered his voice by half a octave.

His tone became extremely familiar.

"This pretty young lady came to my house on her first visit; you have good taste!"

"I'll give you a discount. The market price is 120 yuan per jin (500g), and this one weighs exactly 2.5 jin, so I'll give it to you for exactly 300 yuan!"

"Everyone else pays 150 yuan per jin without haggling, but since you're a new customer, I'll give you an exclusive discount!"

Shen Qingci was about to nod and take out her phone.

Out of the corner of my eye.

The thick black plastic bag containing the fish, splashing water, landed with a "plop" on the aluminum alloy pan of the electronic scale.

The moment the red numbers jumped wildly.

The fat man's right hand, which was originally holding the edge of the scale, twitched awkwardly.

With his rough thumb, under the cover of the large palm and the shadow of the fish's body, he quickly tapped twice in the lower right corner of the keyboard.

Shen Qingci's eyesight is 4.0.

She could even see the black grime that hadn't been washed off under the thumbnail.

Wait! The shop owner moved his hand! He pressed the scale!

[Holy crap, we're doomed! Qingci's sincerity has backfired; this heartless boss isn't buying it at all!]

[It's heartbreaking; not everyone deserves to be "seen." With some people, the more sincere you are, the more they think you're an easy fool.]

Shen Qingci's finger, which was reaching for the zipper of the canvas bag, hovered in mid-air.

His lips were slightly parted, and his breathing became intermittent.

The warmth of my fingertips was gradually drawn away.

She used to secretly watch anti-fraud videos in bed while she was locked in her room doing practice tests.

This seafood stall uses a special combination scale; with a simple press of your finger, seven ounces can be converted into one pound.

"The weight is wrong."

The warmth on the bald boss's face froze beneath his thick, fleshy muscles.

With a sudden flick of his wrist, the long-handled scoop net slammed heavily onto the fish-scale-covered cutting board.

"Bang!"

Muddy water splashed up, and a few drops of foul-smelling water splattered onto the hem of Shen Qingci's pure black windbreaker.

"What nonsense are you spouting, you little brat!"

Shen Qingci's heel slid back half an inch.

The soles of the shoes made a "squeaking" sound as they rubbed against the wet, slippery anti-slip netting.

Her eyelashes trembled violently as her gaze drifted to the left and behind her, searching for that safe zone with a faint scent of mint and tobacco.

A fine layer of cold sweat seeped out from the back of my neck.

The fat man glared with his bloodshot eyes and roared fiercely in a rough voice.

"My scales are calibrated daily by the market supervision bureau; I'm honest and trustworthy!"

"If you can't afford it, don't come here to cause trouble and delay my business! Get out of my way!"

Tourists picking out fish around them stopped what they were doing and turned around.

The older woman at the next stall pursed her lips.

All sorts of scrutinizing, suspicious, and curious gazes were fixed on Shen Qingci.

The surrounding chatter turned into a muffled buzz.

His free hand was clenched into a fist.

My fingernails dug into the softest flesh of my palm, using the stinging pain to resist the urge to turn and run away.

But her heels remained firmly planted on the ground, and she did not retreat an inch.

The wandering gaze refocused, converging into a sharp, cold glint.

Chen Lang was standing half a step behind her.

His oversized windbreaker was open, and his hands were neatly tucked into his pockets.

He stood casually, without saying a word, nor did he take a step forward to pull her back behind him.

He simply tilted his head, his dark eyes fixed on the girl's shoulders and back, which were taut like a bowstring.

The corners of his mouth curled up in a highly controlled arc.

The live stream chat exploded with a frenzy of comments.

[Brother Lang definitely did it on purpose! His eyes can even read the micro-expressions of high-ranking executives in the financial industry, how could he not see that this company has a problem!]

[Got it! The scallion-selling auntie is a tutorial in the newbie village, but this shady scale is the real first elite monster!]

[Wait a minute, this is terrifying! Did Brother Lang deliberately guide Xiao Qing to praise the boss, perhaps even anticipating the boss's overconfidence and subsequent revealing of his hand movements while weighing the scales?!]

[Holy crap, if he even figured this out, then the first level is teaching how to bargain, the second level is teaching interpersonal skills, and the third level is practical fraud detection... Where exactly is Lang Ge on this level?]

[I think there's definitely more than just the third level! He's deliberately not helping with his hands in his pockets; he must have a deeper purpose! Brothers, what level do you think this man is on?!]

[This pulling sensation is terrifying! I bet it starts at the fifth level! Any class representatives want to do a deep breakdown and type your guesses in the chat!]

[Don't back down! Xiao Qingci, don't back down! Brother Lang is right behind you; even if the sky falls, he can hold it up with one hand! Just do it!]