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

The off-road vehicle drove over the muddy puddles.

Less than five minutes after leaving Songhe Village, a black van without license plates turned into the village entrance from a hidden side road on the north side.

The car windows were covered with extremely thick privacy film.

The carriage reeked of the tarry smell of cheap tobacco, and a man with a scar on his cheek was looking down at his phone in the back row.

The screen's glow illuminated his face; it displayed a recently captured distant photograph.

In the photo, Gu Qingshang is tightly clutching the transparent document bag as he walks out of the side alley, while Chen Lang is lagging behind, carrying the sealed equipment box in one hand.

The man zoomed in on the screen with two fingers, his gaze lingering on Chen Lang's face for two seconds before pressing the voice button.

"The person is gone."

"Has Zhou Henian opened the door?" A hoarse, mechanical voice came from the other end of the phone.

"No, that girl from the Gu family didn't even go into the courtyard."

"Where are the things?"

"I haven't seen the old man hand over anything substantial yet."

After a brief silence, a deep command came through the receiver.

"Just scout the location tonight, don't disturb that old man."

The scarred man raised his eyelids and looked through the windshield at the rows of gray brick houses in Songhe Village.

"When will you make your move?"

"Tomorrow. Once the 'Circumambulation of the Three Spirits' ceremony begins, everyone in the village will gather in the square, and Zhou Henian will also leave that house. That's the best window to start."

The scarred man glanced at the bluestone path leading to the square in the distance and exhaled a smoke ring.

"What if he carries that deadly ledger with him at all times?"

A cold laugh came from the other end of the phone.

"Then let him hand it over. Whoever takes over the ledgers, deal with them too. Make it clean."

"What about the eldest daughter of the Gu family?"

"Someone will take care of her, of course."

The call ended abruptly, the busy tone jarring in the cramped carriage.

The man didn't ask another question.

The black van did not continue deeper into the village, but instead silently reversed and parked deep inside an abandoned orchard outside the village.

The car door slid open, and three men wearing dark tactical jackets with noticeable bulges around their waists jumped out one after another.

One of them unfolded a map of the "Rao San Ling" route in Songhe Village, which was circled in red pen.

The map accurately marks the square, the narrow alleyways that the sacrificial procession must pass through, and three hidden mountain paths that can avoid surveillance and leave the northern foothills.

The off-road vehicle traveled on the slippery and winding mountain road on the south side of Cangshan Mountain.

The wheels splashed water as they drove over the puddles.

In the rearview mirror, the shadow of Songhe Village grew farther and farther away, eventually being swallowed up by the mountain mist.

No one spoke inside the car; only the faint whooshing sound of the air conditioning vents could be heard.

Gu Qingshang gripped the steering wheel tightly with both hands, the pale blue veins on the back of his hands bulging slightly.

Even though the road conditions ahead were not complicated, she always kept her speed below 40 mph.

Every time she rounded a sharp bend, she would unconsciously glance at the rearview mirror out of the corner of her eye.

After driving for a full two kilometers, she finally spoke.

"Do you think that when Old Zhou said he'd ask again tomorrow, it was really just a way of saying goodbye?" Her voice was much lower and hoarse than usual, even trembling slightly.

"He probably just didn't want to openly refuse, so he gave us a graceful way out."

The windshield wipers made a regular, slightly harsh screeching sound as they swept across the windshield.

Gu Qingshang paused for a moment, his voice becoming even more hoarse.

"Grandpa can't wait. The three months the medical team gave us is just an estimate under the most ideal conditions. Any minor lung infection, any sudden organ failure, could shorten those three months to three days, or even three hours."

The steering wheel creaked as she gripped it tightly.

She switched hands twice during the process, but her palms were still sweating profusely.

Shen Qingci pulled out a tissue from the back row and leaned forward to hand it over.

"Wipe your hands first."

Gu Qingshang lowered his head and realized that his palms were already soaked with sweat.

She took the tissue.

"When Old Zhou checked the seal, he first compared the strokes, then checked the edge gaps, and finally reviewed it with the complete acceptance form." Shen Qingci looked at the mountain road ahead, his tone cold and resolute.

"The whole process took a long time. He doesn't trust people, but he trusts evidence. An old man who is willing to spend more than ten minutes rigorously verifying evidence will never give you a vague answer."

Gu Qingshang didn't reply, and the tissue was slowly crumpled into a ball in her palm.

Shen Qingci lowered her eyes and gently turned the sandalwood prayer beads on her wrist with her fingertips.

"I used to be extremely skeptical of other people's promises. But then someone taught me that when judging a person, don't listen to how nice they sound; first look at what they've actually done."

After she finished speaking, she turned her face away.

In the passenger seat, Chen Lang was leaning against the right-hand window.

He had one long leg casually bent, his arms loosely crossed in front of his chest, his wispy hair obscuring his eyes, and his breathing even; he looked as if he were fast asleep.

Su Niannian followed Shen Qingci's gaze and couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"Damn, that guy actually spoke something that sounded like a human being?"

Chen Lang didn't even twitch his eyelids, his thin lips slightly parted.

"You need evidence to spread rumors, Su Dapao."

"Look!" Su Niannian immediately spread her hands and pouted at Gu Qingshang.

"He can be incredibly annoying even when he's asleep, which means his vital signs are quite stable. We're definitely not on a dead end this time."

Ye Xingyu, sitting in the back row, also spoke softly.

"Sister Qingshang, the copy of the review report is still in Old Master Zhou's room. If he really wanted to completely sever ties with the Gu family, he would have slipped that file bag out through the crack in the door long ago after verifying the seal. But he didn't."

Bai Weiwei turned around, the blue and white tie-dyed cloth strip on her wrist swaying gently with the bumps of the car.

"And there's the first incense offering tomorrow. Grandpa Zhou has held that spot for many years, and he never uses the incense-lighting quota to do favors. Sister Zhou Lan setting the next meeting place at Raosanling Square is definitely not just a casual delay. She's clearly telling you that Grandpa Zhou is willing to let you stand in front of the whole village and explain things clearly."

Gu Qingshang's tense shoulder line finally relaxed a little.

But her eyes remained fixed on the highly reflective road surface ahead.

It's not that she doesn't understand this logic; she just doesn't dare to gamble.

Chen Lang slowly opened his eyes.

Those deep pupils swept across the rearview mirror inside the car.

[System notification: The divine skill "Absolute Insight" has been silently activated.]

The details inside the carriage were magnified in Chen Lang's eyes.

Gu Qingshang's rapid and disordered breathing, the bluish-white color of her fingers as she gripped the steering wheel, the unnatural pause in her right ankle before each light tap of the brakes, and the actual location of her gaze when she looked in the rearview mirror.

She wasn't looking for pursuers, but rather at her empty back seat.

"What you're afraid of isn't Zhou Henian's refusal at all," Chen Lang suddenly said.

Gu Qingshang's gaze suddenly froze for a moment in the rearview mirror.

Chen Lang shifted to a more comfortable position, leaning lazily against the car window.

"What you're afraid of is that the Gu family went too far ten years ago. You're afraid they'd rather take the clues to their graves than give you, their granddaughter, the right to atone for Gu Chengzhang's sins."

The ear-piercing screech of tires instantly tore through the rain.

The bright brake lights suddenly turned on, and the SUV swerved and came to a stop on the gravel buffer strip by the roadside.

The seatbelts of everyone in the car tightened suddenly at the same time.

Su Niannian grabbed the leather seat in front of her, feeling suffocated by its constricting grip.

"Chen Lang! Couldn't you have chosen a time when she wasn't holding the steering wheel? Are you trying to drag the whole car down with you?!"

Gu Qingshang's hands remained firmly gripping the steering wheel, his chest heaving violently.

She didn't turn around, but the corners of her eyes in the rearview mirror were red.

After a full five or six seconds, she finally spoke in a low voice, suppressing her emotions.

"Do you always have to be so accurate with your words?"

Chen Lang chuckled lightly, teasing him in an extremely infuriating tone.

"If I'm off-topic, I won't charge. If I'm right, I'll give you a 20% discount, just because we're acquaintances."

Su Niannian grabbed a cushion next to her and tried to throw it at the passenger seat.

Chen Lang had already pulled his hand out of his coat pocket, his slender fingers pointing upwards in the air as three fingers were raised.

He suppressed his smile.

"First, Zhou Henian didn't hesitate at all when he took the file bag. If he really wanted to kick someone out, he wouldn't have even come close to the door." He neatly took it with one finger.

"Secondly, after the document bag was brought into the room, the door latch was deliberately left half-locked. He wanted to continue listening to your statement outside the door, but he didn't want any eyes outside to see the handover inside." The second finger fell.

"Third, we had already reached the alley entrance before he sent Zhou Lan out to remind you to think carefully before answering. That wasn't a warning; it was the old man taking pity on you and sending you a notice for a make-up exam." The last finger was withdrawn.

Chen Lang turned his head and met Gu Qingshang's eyes in the rearview mirror.

"There were already people watching outside the courtyard. As soon as we entered the village, the tip-off call went straight to the village committee. What a coincidence! The dogs in the shadows know that the Gu family is investigating Beilu, but they don't know what cards Zhou Henian is holding."

Chen Lang propped his hand up behind his head.

"That's why the old man wouldn't let you in, wouldn't accept your business card, wouldn't let you look up the address, and even brazenly set the meeting place in the festival square where the whole village can see tomorrow. It seems like he's guarding against you like a thief."

Chen Lang spoke slowly and deliberately.

"Actually, he's putting on an act for those stray dogs outside. He's risking his life to protect you and that ledger."

The SUV was completely silent.

Only the torrential rain outside the window pounded against the car roof, creating a dull rumble.