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

Shen Jianguo ignored Zhao Yulan on the ground.

He straightened up, supporting himself on his knees, his calves trembling, and slowly moved back up the steps.

Walking up to the bench and looking at his daughter lying motionless under his clothes, the man in his forties seemed to have lost all his strength, and he suddenly knelt down on one knee.

His head was pressed against the edge of the bench, his shoulders shrugged, and he couldn't make a sound for a long time.

He hunched over, his face close to search for the eyes under the hood, his hand hovering in mid-air, wanting to touch them but not daring to.

"Qingci, Dad's here. Dad's here."

When her own father came close, she didn't even flinch, standing there like a wooden stake.

He stepped back half a body, pinched the bridge of his nose tightly with two fingers, and his chest heaved several times.

"It was my fault……"

"Over the years... business trips, signing contracts, socializing, drinking... I thought that as long as I gave her enough money and the family had everything they needed, her mother would take good care of her."

"I thought that as long as my daughter was number one on the report card, it meant she was doing well..."

He raised his hand and wiped his face haphazardly, his fingernails scratching a red mark on his temple.

"I'm not fit to be a father. I'm the one who threw her to a madman..."

He raised his hand and slapped her across the face; the crisp sound echoed in the cold wind.

Shen Jianguo looked at his lifeless daughter.

He pulled his suit jacket up a little higher, choosing to leave her alone in silence.

Then, he turned around and looked at Chen Lang, who was leaning against the wall at the corner of the corridor, a dozen steps away.

Chen Lang leaned against the wall with one leg, a lollipop stick dangling from his mouth, watching the middle-aged man approach.

Shen Jianguo walked up to him, bent his knees, and was about to smash down.

Chen Lang reached out and grabbed Shen Jianguo's elbow, lifting him up an inch off the ground, managing to keep him afloat.

Chen Lang released the plastic stick from his mouth.

"No, Uncle Shen. You kneel to heaven, earth, and your parents, but you don't need to kneel to an eighteen-year-old brat."

Shen Jianguo was stunned, suspended in mid-air, unable to go up or down.

Looking at the boy in front of him who was half a head taller than him.

The boy's face was covered in dried mud and sand, and the titanium steel earring in his left ear reflected a cold light under the streetlight, but his hand was as steady as a rock.

Shen Jianguo straightened up using the force, took a step back, and bent over.

The upper body is bent at a 90-degree angle and frozen in place.

"Young man, you saved my daughter's life tonight. I, Shen Jianguo, will repay this kindness with my life."

He frantically reached into his trouser pocket and pulled out his checkbook.

"Name your price. Any amount is fine! Houses, cars, shops in Jiangcheng—anything I, Shen Jianguo, can afford, you can have—"

"don't want."

Chen Lang interrupted him, his tone curt.

Shen Jianguo suddenly sat up straight, anxiously saying, "Young man, don't think it's too little, I can do more—"

"Boss Shen."

Chen Lang suddenly changed his form of address.

Chen Lang straightened up, his gaze passing over Shen Jianguo's shoulder and landing on the bench not far away.

"Money can't buy back a life. Do you even know what your daughter's situation is like now?"

Shen Jianguo opened his mouth but didn't say anything, his eyes filled with fear.

"Severe depression."

The color drained from Shen Jianguo's face instantly.

Chen Lang didn't give him time to process it before continuing to speak.

"Don't fool yourself with nonsense about being in a bad mood."

"You saw it yourself just now; you were standing right in front of her, and she didn't even lift an eyelid."

"I don't feel happy, I don't feel sad, I don't even have the most basic reaction like 'Daddy's here'."

Chen Lang raised his chin, gesturing to the quiet shadow on the bench.

"Those who can cry can still be saved; those who remain silent are the ticking time bombs. They could come back at any moment."

"And next time, she won't stand on the bridge waiting for someone to rescue her."

Shen Jianguo's Adam's apple bobbed violently. He collapsed completely.

"Then...what should I do?" His voice trembled. "Go to the hospital? Find the best psychologist? I'll go right now—"

"Stop making a fuss."

Chen Lang interrupted him, his gaze sweeping towards the direction where Zhao Yulan was slumped at the entrance of the police station.

"If someone has been locked in a cage for over ten years, and you bring in a hundred psychologists to counsel her inside the cage, will it be effective?"

Chen Lang twitched the corner of his mouth.

"If the cage isn't dismantled, even a god can't save us."

"What she needs now is not medicine to cure her illness, but to move to a place where there are no you, no Jiangcheng, and no past."

"Stay away from this mess, and the broken string might slowly come back together."

Shen Jianguo stared intently at Chen Lang, his breathing rapid.

"You mean..." Shen Jianguo's lips trembled, "...that she leave Jiangcheng?"

"Mm," Chen Lang replied casually.

He tilted his head, biting the plastic stick of the lollipop in his mouth, as if he were talking about something completely ordinary.

"Boss Shen probably saw it too. I do outdoor live streaming. I finished the college entrance exam, but I didn't get in. I'm taking advantage of this trend to go out and do some live streaming."

He raised his hand and gestured casually.

"The plan is to travel west from Wuhan, taking photos along the way. Yunnan, western Sichuan, Yunnan-Tibet, Northwest China... the routes are all planned, and the equipment is complete. It's all outdoor content; we'll shoot wherever we happen to be."

Chen Lang turned his head, his gaze inadvertently sweeping towards the bench.

"To be honest, walking alone is a bit boring."

Shen Jianguo is not a fool.

Even someone who's been in business for twenty years, no matter how slow-witted, can hear the subtext in those words.

He looked at the young man before him—the young man who jumped from a height of sixty meters to catch his daughter, the young man who silenced his wife in front of three hundred thousand people.

Now, leaning against the wall, speaking in a nonchalant tone, he is actually offering his father a way out.

Take her away. Under the guise of a trip, pull her out of her cage.

Shen Jianguo was about to speak when he suddenly stopped.

He opened his mouth, his eyes shifting between Chen Lang and the bench with a complicated expression.

"You...you and Qingci go to the same school, right?"

"We're from No. 3 Middle School, in the same graduating class," Chen Lang said without hiding anything. "But we're not in the same class, and we haven't really spoken much before."

Shen Jianguo's brows furrowed slightly.

Of course he knew that the man in front of him was his daughter's savior, but an eighteen-year-old boy, traveling alone with his eighteen-year-old daughter...

He was a father, and the string in his mind instinctively tightened.

Chen Lang chuckled.

"Don't worry, Mr. Shen." His tone was nonchalant and casual. "I'll be live-streaming the whole thing. Hundreds of thousands of eyes are watching. It's more reliable than hiring ten bodyguards."

He paused, his gaze becoming calm.

"Besides, if I really had any ulterior motives towards your daughter, I would have simply not saved her on the bridge. Why risk my life?"

Shen Jianguo's chest heaved a few times.

Yes.

What would someone be willing to jump from a height of sixty meters for?

But he didn't make a decision immediately.

Shen Jianguo turned around, dragged his heavy steps back to the bench, and slowly squatted down in front of Shen Qingci.

"Qingci."

He lowered his voice to the very softest tone, "Dad has something to ask you. If you... if you don't want to answer, then don't answer."

Beneath the black coat, the huddled figure remained motionless.

Shen Jianguo gritted his teeth and continued speaking.

"That...that classmate who saved you, he's going on a trip. He's going to take pictures of the scenery and travel a long way."

He paused for a moment, then said, "Would you... be willing to go with him? Leave Jiangcheng and go somewhere farther away for a while?"

"Dad won't force you. If you say you don't want to go, Dad will take you home right now. If you say you want to go..."

Shen Jianguo's voice choked for a moment.

"Then Dad will let you go."

The bench remained quiet for a long time.

So long that Shen Jianguo thought his daughter had completely shut down all her sensory channels.

Then, the edge of the black coat twitched slightly.

A pale, almost transparent hand slowly emerged from the gap in the fabric.

His five fingers were loose and hung limply.

But the direction was towards the corner of the corridor—the direction where Chen Lang was standing.

Shen Jianguo looked at that hand, and his eyes instantly burned with pain.

He didn't ask a second question.

Shen Jianguo stood up and strode back to Chen Lang.

"Take her away."

When he said those words, his voice became calm.

Shen Jianguo took out his phone from his pocket and tapped the screen rapidly with his fingers.

"I'll cover all the expenses on the road. Accommodation, food, gas, equipment—spend it however you want."

He paused, then looked up, his bloodshot eyes fixed on Chen Lang. In his eyes, besides the entrustment, there was a father's clumsy, almost humble plea.

"The only condition—keep her alive. Let her laugh."

He paused, then added with difficulty.

"And...she's only eighteen..."

The words were not finished, but the meaning was already clear.

Chen Lang looked into the middle-aged man's eyes.

There is no shrewd businessman's calculation in it, but a father who is eighteen years late, clumsily trying to atone for his sins, and a little bit of fatherly instinct that he can't let go of even in this situation.

"Uncle Shen." Chen Lang's lips curled into a lazy smile.

"I, Chen Lang, have a lot of other flaws, but there's one thing I don't do—I don't take advantage of others. Especially not someone who is sick."

He raised his hand and tapped his temple with his index finger.

"My mind is perfectly clear. You can rest assured."

Shen Jianguo stared at him for five seconds.

Then I nodded.

Chen Lang didn't say anything more. He took long strides, his black tactical boots treading the ground as he walked back to the bench.

He turned his back to Shen Qingci, squatted slightly, and skillfully carried the slender figure on the bench back on his back.

He put his hands on top to support the weight on his back.

He walked straight past Zhao Yulan, his shoes crushing the dry leaves on the ground with a crisp snapping sound.

He looked up and glanced at the end of the long street.

At the street corner, there is a food stall with a large red plastic canopy.

Dim light bulbs hung from the ceiling, and white steam rose in the cold wind, carrying a strong smell of smoke.

"I'll take you to eat some decent food, and then I'll take you to see the world."

Chen Lang tilted his head and said something to his back.

He walked through the night in Jiangcheng, leaving the farce in front of the police station behind.