Live Stream: Overly Pampered Education Creates Three Superstars in One Family

The night was as dark as ink, and the occasional afterimages of car headlights flashed past the window, casting flickering shadows in the living room.

Chen Ziran's words, "I don't need her anymore," still echoed faintly in the air. After saying that, the boy turned and went back to his room, leaving only the soft but crisp sound of the door closing. He went to play games, leaving without any hesitation, as if a layer of bloody old scar had just been peeled off, nothing more than dead skin that had long since scabbed over and fallen off in his long life, not worth mentioning.

Liu Yue sat alone on the sofa, staring at the table lamp on the coffee table that emitted a dim yellow glow, speechless for a moment.

As she listened to Chen Ziran's words, her mind was in turmoil. Suddenly, she had a moment of profound realization, followed by a deep sense of defeat.

How old is Chen Ziran? He's a minor who's still in high school.

However, at this age when he should be most confused and most likely to seek emotional support from his parents, he has already so clearly and completely broken free from his dependence on them.

He severed the umbilical cord called "motherly love" with his own hands, without resentment or hatred, simply because he "didn't need it."

But what about herself?

Liu Yue gave a bitter smile. She was an adult who had struggled in society and considered herself a mature professional woman, yet even now, subconsciously, she still kept her heart firmly locked on her parents.

She couldn't help but hope that her parents would treat her better, that they would see her efforts, and that they would give her a warm hug or a sincere word of affirmation, just like other parents do.

Although she always suppressed these feelings with a mask of "carefree" and "I'm the most beautiful woman in the world" in the workplace and in front of friends, she pretended not to care about the ties of her family of origin.

However, in every quiet moment of the night, when work is frustrating and breaking down, that intense longing for unconditional support from parents still grows wildly like weeds.

"Without a doubt... in this respect, I seem to be even less capable than him, a mere child..." Liu Yue covered her face with her hands, burying her face deeply in her palms, her murmured voice carrying an undisguised self-mockery and vulnerability.

Just then, a soft "click" sounded.

The door to the master bedroom was carefully pushed open. Chen Chu walked out quietly, having clearly already coaxed the frightened Chen Xiayu to sleep.

He gently closed the door behind him, let out a long sigh, and rubbed his slightly sore neck.

Turning his head, Chen Chu saw Liu Yue sitting on the sofa, looking as if all her energy had been drained, like a lonely sculpture.

Hearing the noise, Liu Yue looked up at Chen Chu. Her eyes were unfocused, and her eyes were slightly red. Her usual cleverness was nowhere to be seen; she looked like a lost child who couldn't find her way home.

Chen Chu walked over and sat down on another single sofa, taking a sip of the now-cold tea on the table. He immediately noticed that Liu Yue was troubled, so he deliberately softened his tone, asking with his characteristic casualness and teasing, "Why the expression? Did that kid Zi Ran's long-winded lecture just now turn you off? Are you angry, or do you feel wronged?"

She was silent for a moment, her gaze fixed on the water glass on the coffee table. With a complex expression, she looked up and abruptly asked Chen Chu, "Brother Chen... do you think I'm an adult?"

Chen Chu paused slightly in her teacup, clearly surprised that she would suddenly ask such a philosophical, even somewhat naive, question.

Liu Yue's eyes were filled with urgency and anticipation, as if Chen Chu's next answer would be some kind of final judgment that would define her.

Chen Chu put down his teacup, looked at her seriously for a few seconds, and then nodded firmly: "Yes. In terms of biological age and social responsibility, you are certainly an adult."

However, seeing the hint of disappointment in Liu Yue's eyes, Chen Chu added with extreme sharpness: "Although, in certain specific areas, such as dealing with the emotional ties of your family of origin, you do seem a bit like an immature child."

Upon hearing this, Liu Yue deflated like a punctured balloon, slumping back against the sofa. She sighed deeply, her face contorted with extreme bitterness: "As expected... I knew it. I'm not surprised at all by your assessment."

She shook her head with a bitter smile, her voice full of self-reproach: "After hearing what Ziran said, I feel like I'm a complete failure. I'm already so old, I've seen all sorts of things in life, yet I'm still trapped in this mess of my family background. I feel like Ziran is much more decisive than me; he sees everything so clearly, while I'm still stuck in the same place, still getting hurt by a few words from my parents."

Seeing Liu Yue lost in deep self-doubt, Chen Chu remained silent for a moment. Instead of his usual sarcastic remarks, he put aside his cynical attitude and gently began to comfort her.

"Actually, you don't need to be so hard on yourself."

Chen Chu placed his hands on his knees, "It's not entirely your fault. No matter how old you are or how powerful you are in the outside world, deep down you always need an 'anchor point.' A place where you can stop in the storm and feel safe."

Chen Chu looked at her intently, like a psychologist with a scalpel, slowly dissecting Liu Yue's facade: "Liu Yue, you've always felt that you're yearning for your parents' love, which is why you're in so much pain. But I think the reason you're so afraid to face things at home isn't so much because you're actually afraid of dealing with complicated adult relationships. Um, that might be a bit convoluted..."

Chen Chu paused for a moment, then gave a sharp conclusion: "But I think what you're really afraid of, what you're really missing, isn't pure 'love' at all. You're just simply extremely insecure."

Liu Yue was stunned.

"I don't feel safe..." she murmured, repeating those five words, her previously unfocused gaze suddenly sharpening.

These five words were like an extremely precise key, instantly piercing through the hazy, unclear window paper in her heart.

Yeah! Why is it that even though I'm financially independent and can even send money home every month, I always inexplicably crave for my parents to call me more often to check on me?

Am I really craving their kind of "concern" and concern?

No, not at all!

Liu Yue recalled those extremely rare moments when her parents would call to inquire about her health or work. In fact, during those times, she didn't feel the kind of overwhelming emotion and ecstasy depicted in TV dramas.

On the contrary, she responded more with polite perfunctory words, and even felt somewhat irritated and at a loss.

She doesn't crave superficial concern at all! The huge black hole in her heart is truly a "lack of security"!

Liu Yue sat up abruptly, her gaze fixed intently on Chen Chu, and asked urgently, "Why do you say that? How did you figure that out?"

"I don't even think that way myself."

Chen Chu chuckled and leaned back: "Actually, it was when we were at Xu Danian's house last time, dealing with the matter of Xu Ziang running away from home, that I finally understood what kind of mentality you have."

"Do you remember? You kept emphasizing to me that your parents always said the same thing to you when you were little: 'We'll take care of you until you're eighteen, and after you turn eighteen, we'll never take care of you again.'"

Chen Chu paused here, looking into Liu Yue's eyes: "To be honest, when I first heard you say that, I did think you were a typical East Asian child who grew up in a loveless family, lacking love and recognition..."

"Um, don't get angry yet," Chen Chu said, quickly offering a heads-up as he noticed Liu Yue's slightly raised eyebrows.

Liu Yue shook her head vigorously, biting her lip and clenching her fists tightly. "No, I'm not angry. But there's one thing you absolutely need to understand: I don't lack love! Don't imagine me as some melodramatic heroine who can't live without someone else's love! I don't lack love at all!"

"I'm not the kind of person who would act like I'm dying just because someone says they don't love me anymore!"

"Although sometimes hearing those words does make me a little sad..."

Seeing Liu Yue vehemently deny it like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, Chen Chu not only didn't refute her, but nodded in agreement.

"Yes, I know you don't lack love. What you lack is more security." Chen Chu's voice was deep and magnetic, carrying a penetrating power. "In this respect, you are actually very similar to Xu Zi'ang. Xu Zi'ang saw through his father, Xu Danian, as completely unreliable, always using him as a shield whenever trouble arose. So he despaired and could only force himself to face this cruel world alone, forcing himself to pull himself together. However, Xu Zi'ang's approach was more tragic. He directly shattered all his illusions about his father, decisively severing his emotional connection with Xu Danian."

Hearing Chen Chu compare her parents to Xu Danian, Liu Yue's tense emotions eased slightly. She frowned and instinctively defended her parents.

"Actually, I think... my parents don't deserve to be like this," Liu Yue said awkwardly in a low voice. "Although they are a bit selfish and have some traditional ideas, they are definitely not that bad. Xu Danian is a real scumbag, utterly wicked. My parents... they are just ordinary people."

Chen Chu coughed twice, speechless: "Ahem, now that you're consulting me about psychological issues, let's not discuss Xu Danian."

Chen Chu steered the conversation back on track: "The reason I compared you two is because you have one fatal similarity: you both lost your safety net and sense of security in your families of origin."

Chen Chu's eyes became extremely serious, and his tone became more forceful: "Just like your parents, they aren't inherently evil, but they often say things like, 'Our mission is accomplished once we raise you to eighteen.' That's a nuclear bomb level of damage to a child. Because it subtly implants an extremely cruel instruction in you: you have a time limit."

"Because you've known since childhood that once that deadline passes, they won't offer you any unconditional help anymore; they won't be a reliable support you can lean on when you fall. So, you have no way out. You can only force yourself to mature early and grow up quickly. In particular, this concept is instilled from a young age. So from a very young age, you're forcing yourself to be independent."

Chen Chu sighed, looking at Liu Yue's eyes gradually reddening, his voice revealing a hint of barely perceptible pity: "But Liu Yue, how could a teenager, or even a young person just entering society, possibly possess the ability to truly confront the world? How could you possibly achieve true mental independence? You can't. So, you can only frantically put pressure on yourself mentally, using this self-suppression to create the illusion that 'I am independent, I don't need anyone,' in order to combat the constant sense of panic that surrounds you, the feeling of having no support."

Liu Yue bit her lower lip tightly and remained silent.

The entire living room was so quiet that only the ticking of the second hand on the wall clock could be heard.

After a long while, Liu Yue slowly loosened her clenched fists. She felt as if all her armor had been stripped off, leaving her naked in front of Chen Chu, yet she also felt an unprecedented sense of relief.

"It seems...that's indeed the case." Liu Yue's voice sounded somewhat relieved.

Having problems isn't scary; what's scary is not knowing where the problem lies.

She finally found it. Because subconsciously she knew that her family wouldn't be her support, and that if she fell, she would be doomed, that's why she worked so hard in the workplace and wrapped herself in a thick layer of thorns.

Deep down, she longed for her parents to truly understand her hardships and for them to offer even the slightest encouragement during this difficult journey. However, at the same time, the sense of self-reliance instilled in her from childhood made her extremely resistant to, and even unwilling to, actively seek any substantial help from them.

This conflicted state of mind was like an impenetrable net, trapping her tightly.

As Chen Chu watched Liu Yue gradually calm down, he remained silent for a moment, then picked up the teacup on the coffee table and gently swirled it around.

Then, he looked at Liu Yue and said something in an extremely calm tone that Liu Yue never expected.

"Actually, so many years have passed, you don't need to continue blaming your parents."

Upon hearing this, Liu Yue, who had just been feeling sad, was instantly stunned.

A few seconds later, Liu Yue burst out laughing.

Perhaps it was because Chen Chu's extremely accurate analysis directly punctured her abscess and released the pressure, but the decadent feeling of a career woman on her body instantly disappeared by more than half, and she seemed to have returned to her usual carefree and lively self.

She casually wiped away the tears from the corner of her eye, raised her eyebrows, and looked at Chen Chu with disbelief.

"No, Brother Chen, are you schizophrenic?" Liu Yue leaned forward slightly, looking him up and down as if he were an alien. "You analyzed things so thoroughly, explaining the harm they caused me so clearly. According to the normal script, shouldn't you be slamming your fist on the table right now, joining me in a fierce condemnation of my parents?"

Liu Yue counted on her fingers and questioned him righteously, "When I saw you attacking Xu Danian in the live stream or facing Chu Qiuyue, your fighting power was off the charts! You kept saying they were irresponsible and used their child as a fig leaf. You should really hate these selfish, irresponsible parents, right?"

Liu Yue grew increasingly curious as she spoke, her large, red, and swollen eyes gleaming with a strong thirst for knowledge: "Why is it that when it comes to me, you act completely out of character, offering this 'parents are never wrong' platitudes and telling me not to blame them?"

She paused, then added, "Although... after your analysis, I realize that deep down I don't really want to blame them; it's more of a feeling of regret. But I'm still curious, this is so unlike your usual persona. Why did you say that?"

Liu Yue leaned back on the sofa, crossed her arms, and adopted a posture of listening attentively.

"Logically speaking, as an internet pioneer dedicated to tearing away the fig leaf of Chinese family dynamics, shouldn't you be passionately encouraging me to completely sever ties and bravely escape my family of origin right now?"