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

Chen Lang pressed save.

The video is only nineteen seconds long.

From the moment Shen Qing resigned and stood by the stone tablet until she walked into the crowd with camellias, not a second passed.

Su Niannian squeezed through from behind and peeked at the screen.

"The photos are alright; at least the people are people and the flowers are flowers."

Chen Lang put away his phone.

"Don't worry about my skills yet. That tassel on the left side of your hat is ready to go solo."

Su Niannian raised her hand and touched it; sure enough, the tassel was wrapped around the silver earring.

Why didn't you say so sooner?

"I want to see if it can steal your earrings along with it."

"Chen Lang!"

Su Niannian took two steps to catch up, and the children in front of her all turned around, covering their mouths and laughing.

She had no choice but to lower her voice and gesture to Chen Lang that she was waiting to be held accountable.

Chen Lang sidestepped the colorful flags sweeping towards him and turned his gaze to the narrow alley beside him.

Three men dressed as tourists left the main road.

The man in front carried a bulging camera bag, the man in the middle kept his right arm close to his coat, and the man at the back touched behind his ear every few steps.

The three of them went into the bluestone alley leading to the side of the square and stopped next to a bamboo weaving stall.

The man carrying the camera bag picked up the bamboo basket, asking the price, but his eyes followed Gu Qingshang past the stall owner's shoulder.

The man leaning against the wall squatted down to tie his shoelaces, and half of a stun gun slipped out of his sleeve. He blocked it with his palm and stuffed it back in.

Chen Lang scanned the line.

Bai Weiwei led Shen Qingci ahead, Ye Xingyu helped Su Niannian untie the tassels on her earrings, and Gu Qingshang lagged half a step behind, his gaze always fixed on the direction of the square.

Everyone is here.

The three people in the alley also kept their distance and didn't move closer.

Chen Lang took a different route, passing by the grain drying rack and stopping in front of the sugar painting stall.

"Boss, draw a dog."

The stall owner held a copper spoon.

"Should we sit or run?"

Chen Lang gestured with his chin toward the bamboo weaving stall.

"The kind that lurks along the wall, watching people."

The stall owner was delighted.

"That's a rather strange request of yours."

Syrup was poured onto the stone slab, and with a few strokes of a copper spoon, a hunting dog lying prone took shape.

Chen Lang raised his phone and took a picture of the sugar painting.

The edge of the lens perfectly covers the bluestone alley, capturing the faces, clothes, and positions of the three people, as well as the buckle of the camera bag peeking out from the side.

A few words leaked from the communicator behind the man's ear, a dozen meters away.

The drumbeats, hawking cries, and the clinking of silver ornaments mingled together, shattering the sounds into fragments.

When it reached Chen Lang's ears, every word was still clear.

"Group one has arrived; the target is outside the group."

"Stay away, don't get too close."

"With people so crowded together, it's impossible to even start."

The person on the other end of the communicator immediately interrupted him.

"Who gave you permission to move now?"

The voice had been processed, becoming hoarse and indistinct, making it impossible to determine the speaker's age.

"Today, get to know the people, remember the path, and keep a close eye on things. Until the 'Three Spirits' ritual is over, nobody should touch Zhou Henian. Whoever messes things up will have to clean up their own mess."

The three of them exchanged a glance.

The man carrying the camera bag put down his bamboo basket, bought a bamboo cup, and continued to stand guard by his stall.

Chen Lang took the sugar painting and bit off the hunting dog's head.

He unlocked his phone with one hand and pulled up the communication frequency band he had just captured. A few lines of parameters flashed across the screen; he had bypassed the channel verification.

Chen Lang pressed the voice button and spoke into one of the voices.

"One group understands."

This sentence was transmitted into the three people's communicators.

No one on the other end of the channel suspected anything.

"Keep an eye on Chen Lang, but don't get too close."

"receive."

Chen Lang held up the remaining half of the sugar painting towards Qing Shi Lane.

The three men avoided his gaze and turned their faces away.

Chen Lang transmitted the video to the terminal. Next to the fourteen red dots, corresponding facial numbers quickly appeared.

The suspended ball at a high position adjusted its angle, and all three roads leading out of the village were brought under surveillance.

The parade continued forward.

The first loop goes through the flowering trees, the second loop goes around the well, and the third loop leads into the bluestone square.

The drumbeats changed rhythm, and the young women split into two lines from the middle of the procession, holding hands and forming a circle under the colorful flag.

Bai Weiwei turned around and handed her hand to Shen Qingci.

"Can you jump?"

Shen Qingci watched the figures moving back and forth, her shoe tip stopping in front of the crack in the bluestone.

"Won't."

"That's perfect, I only know two steps. Follow my steps, and it's on me if you make a mistake."

Bai Weiwei grabbed her and led her to take the first step.

Shen Qingci's skirt bumped into the calf of the girl next to her. She immediately pulled her foot back, but the girl smiled and put her arm around her shoulder.

"It's okay, keep jumping. Everyone gets the hang of it by doing it a few times."

The drumsticks fell.

Shen Qingci followed suit, lifting her foot, landing, and turning around, her shoulders and back tense the entire time.

The camellia at her waist swayed with the hem of her skirt, almost falling to the ground.

Bai Weiwei reached out and pressed the flower back onto her belt.

Forget the flowers, watch where I'm standing.

Shen Qingci nodded.

Bai Weiwei took her hand and spun around again.

The silver buttons clattered together, making a crisp sound.

The wind lifted Shen Qingci's hair by her ears, and the top silver button on her collar came undone as she turned around.

She looked down and touched the buttons, her hand lingering on the collar for a couple of seconds before finally putting it down.

On the third lap, when she turned to face Chen Lang, she released Bai Weiwei's hand.

Shen Qingci stepped to the drumbeat alone, raised her arm, and spun around.

The indigo skirt swept across the bluestone, and the peace knot on her wrist slipped half an inch off the sandalwood beads, revealing a few old marks.

She didn't pull the knot back.

The girl next to her took her hand and helped her squeeze into the next circle.

No one asked where those marks came from, and no one kept an eye on them.

Silver ornaments clinked, shoe soles hit the ground, and the drumbeats urged the procession forward.

Chen Lang stood outside the crowd, his phone camera constantly following the indigo figure.

In the past, Shen Qingci always buttoned his shirt up to his collar and hid his wrists in his long sleeves.

Now, as she walked through the stadium filled with colorful flags, she stepped on the wrong beat and burst out laughing herself.

Bai Weiwei had already run ahead. She lifted her skirt and chased after the crowd.

Ye Xingyu walked to Chen Lang's side.

"I've known her for so long, and this is the first time I've ever heard her laugh out loud."

Chen Lang stared at the figure on the screen.

"It's been photographed."

"Send it to her now?"

"Keep it for now. If she wants it, she'll come to me herself."

Ye Xingyu glanced at him.

"Then you just wait, she'll definitely come."

Chen Lang saved the second video.

The camera pauses on Shen Qingci as she turns around. Camellias are draped around her waist, and a peace knot is fluttering in the wind. She looks past the passing figures, her gaze falling directly into the frame.

At the entrance of Qing Shi Alley, the man responsible for keeping watch also raised his phone.

Chen Lang raised his eyes.

The man's camera avoided Shen Qingci, only following Gu Qingshang and Zhou Henian in the center of the square.

The two people behind the stage did not move, and the six red dots near the stone bridge maintained their encirclement formation.

They were all waiting for the ledger to appear.

Chen Lang put his phone back in his pocket and didn't walk towards Qing Shi Lane.

Today's drumbeats belong to Songhe Village.

Shen Qingci should also finish this journey around the three spirits.

The faces, vehicles, escape routes, and communication frequencies of the fourteen people hidden under the colorful flags have all been recorded into the terminal.

Nobody can escape.

The third gong rang out into the square.

Zhou Henian, leaning on a wooden cane, walked out from behind the incense burner.

He was wearing a Bai ethnic group sacrificial robe, with the fabric at the chest forming a square outline, and the inside was fastened tightly with a pin.

Gu Qingshang stopped and pressed his hands against his sleeves.

Zhou Henian's gaze swept over her, first glancing at the camellia on Shen Qingci's waist, then turning to Chen Lang on the outside of the crowd.

Chen Lang wore a black titanium steel earring in his left ear, and there was syrup on the cuff of his windbreaker.

The live streaming equipment was not turned on, and the phone was put away.

The old man withdrew his gaze, grasped his wooden cane, and walked step by step toward the altar.

Inside the bluestone alley, the scarred man pressed the communicator hidden under his collar.

"Zhou Henian had something hidden in his chest, something square."

"Gu Qingshang was about twenty meters away from him."

"Chen Lang is still on the outer circle and hasn't moved towards the altar."

The processed audio came through the communicator.

"Keep an eye on it."

"No one is allowed to move until the first incense stick has finished burning."

"After the ceremony, whoever gets the account book will keep it."

The cries of vendors swept across the alleyway, while the echoes of gongs reverberated along the eaves.

Twenty meters away, Chen Lang heard the entire sentence.

The drumbeats stopped on the bluestone square.

Zhou Henian took down the fire and lit the first incense stick.

The smoke rose above the incense burner, and colorful flags fluttered under the eaves.

Shen Qingci stood at the front of the group, a silver button loosely fastened at her collar, a peace knot tied around her wrist, and a camellia given to her by her child pinned to her waist.

This time, she didn't back away from the crowd.

The village girl raised her hand and sang the next line of the blessing.

Shen Qingci raised her hand along with them and steadily continued the tune.