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

It was late at night, and Chen Ziran lay in bed, the light from his phone screen reflecting on his face.

The class group chat is buzzing with activity, messages keep popping up, mostly about tomorrow's birthday party.

He was about to lock his screen and go to sleep when Yang Xunran's profile picture suddenly popped up.

"Ziran, how about we pull something really big at Jiaxin's birthday party tomorrow?"

Chen Ziran typed back to him: "What kind of work are you doing? Are you going to stuff a lighter in your crotch?"

After typing that line, just imagining the scene sent a chill down his spine, so he added another message: "Ugh, don't mess around."

Yang Xunran was silent for a moment before replying, "Your idea... is actually not bad."

"Nice my foot! It's someone's birthday, and you're singing, dancing, and throwing lighters at them. That's not a good example."

Yang Xunran sent a regretful emoji: "A life without fun and humor is devoid of joy."

Chen Ziran didn't reply. He put his phone on the bedside table, turned over, and closed his eyes.

But he found himself unable to sleep at all, and his heart was beating a little fast.

He opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling, lingering in the darkness for a while. Then he picked up his phone, glanced at tomorrow's weather forecast, put the phone down again, and closed his eyes.

At 7:10 a.m. the next morning, there was a knock on Chen Chu's door.

He rolled over and ignored him.

There were a few more knocks on the door.

Then the door was pushed open a crack, and Chen Ziran's voice squeezed in through the crack: "Dad, are you awake?"

Chen Chu pulled the blanket up a little higher and replied sullenly, "No."

Chen Ziran completely ignored his answer and pushed open the door to come in.

Chen Chu opened one eye and saw Chen Ziran standing neatly dressed by his bedside, wearing a clean white sweatshirt, with freshly cut hair, and her eyes sparkling as she looked at him.

The morning light streamed through the gaps in the curtains and fell on him, making him look like he had just stepped off a magazine cover.

Chen Chu glanced at the alarm clock on the bedside table; it was 7:13.

He closed his eyes again.

"Why are you up so early? Isn't it 2 PM?"

Chen Ziran stood by the bed, somewhat embarrassed, and tugged at the hem of her hoodie: "I wanted you to help me decide if this outfit would suit me."

Chen Chu opened his eyes, looked at him for a few seconds, then sighed, sat up, rubbed his eyes, carefully examined him, and nodded: "Very good. Go ahead."

Chen Ziran turned and left the room, satisfied. Chen Chu sat on the bed, watching the door close, then glanced at the alarm clock, before falling back onto the pillow, ready to go back to sleep.

But as soon as he closed his eyes, a scene from more than ten years ago, when he first went to ask Chu Qiuyue out, inexplicably appeared in his mind. He got up early in the morning, changed three sets of clothes, and spent almost an hour fussing over his appearance in front of the mirror before finally going out.

He lay in the darkness, couldn't help but sigh, then turned over and covered his head with the blanket.

……

Under the same sky, different windows.

at the same time.

The curtains in the hotel room were drawn tightly shut.

Xu Ziang sat on the edge of the bed, his phone screen lit up, showing a replay of Chen Chu's live stream. Chen Chu leaned against the door frame praising Chen Ziran's handsomeness, while Chen Ziran stood in front of the mirror, touching his newly cut hair and grinning foolishly.

He stared at it for a long time, then turned his phone upside down on the bed, lay back on the bed, and stared at the light fixture on the ceiling. He kept asking himself the same question.

Why can other people's parents speak so nicely?

Why can other people's parents communicate well?

For him, even sitting at a table and having a meal without arguing is a luxury.

Does he hate his father?

I don't hate.

He never truly hated Xu Danian; what he hated was the way they interacted.

He felt sorry for his father. When he saw his father being exposed to the scorching sun and bent over by the steel bars and cement on the construction site, he felt more distressed than anyone else.

But between those feelings and "whether I want to talk to him," there seems to be a chasm he can never cross.

Grandpa and Grandma sat on the chairs next to them.

Grandma looked at his dejected appearance and remained silent for a long time before finally speaking.

Her voice was hoarse, carrying the weariness unique to the elderly: "Zi'ang... your father fell and injured his foot at the construction site."

Xu Ziang's body stiffened for a moment.

Grandma handed him the phone.

On the screen was a photo of Xu Danian's calf wrapped in thick bandages, the bandages soaked with blood, the gruesome red spreading across the white gauze, a shocking sight.

Xu Ziang looked at the photo, and his fingers holding the phone began to tremble slightly.

It took him a long time to find his voice again.

"...Is he alright?"

Grandma's phone rang. She looked down and saw it was a message from the program team.

After she finished reading, she looked up and said, "Zi'ang, the Education Bureau has sent an education expert, surnamed Sun, who will come to talk to you later."

Xu Ziang didn't speak, still looking down at the back of his hand resting on his knee, as if he were looking at something unrelated to him.

Grandpa sat beside him, watching his stubbornness, and after a moment of silence, he finally couldn't help but speak, his voice filled with barely suppressed impatience.

"Zi'ang, how long are you going to keep making a scene? Your grandmother is so old, and because of you, she's been staying in the hotel every day, not getting enough sleep, and she's become so haggard. Can you really bear to see her like this?"

Xu Ziang kept his head down.

Grandpa's voice was heavy with disappointment: "Your father's leg is injured like that, how will he manage alone at home? Don't you feel any heartache for him at all?"

Xu Ziang remained silent.

Grandma tugged at her husband's sleeve, signaling him to stop talking.

The room fell silent again.

Xu Ziang remained seated on the edge of the bed with his head down, the faint sounds of car horns from the street outside the window drifting in, like sounds from another world.

He knew what he should say: he should say he was wrong, and he should say he was willing to go back and apologize.

But when he opened his mouth, he found that saying those words was harder than jumping off a building.

It's not that he doesn't want to go back; he just doesn't know if things will go back to the way they were before.

He wasn't afraid of his father's anger.

Just like Grandma said, there's no lasting grudge between father and son.

But some wounds don't heal overnight.

They will fester, become inflamed, and be torn open again in the next argument, and what flows out is not resentment, but something more despairing than resentment.

There was a gentle knock on the door.

Grandpa went over and opened the door. Standing outside was a woman in her thirties, wearing a beige cardigan, her hair tied in a low ponytail, and a gentle, non-aggressive smile on her face.

She nodded slightly to her grandfather, then looked past his shoulder and landed on the boy in the room: "Hello, my name is Sun Xuerong, I was sent by the Education Bureau. Would you mind coming in and having a seat?"

Xu Ziang raised his head and looked at the unfamiliar woman at the door. He neither nodded nor shook his head, but simply sat there quietly.

Sun Xuerong didn't wait for his reply. She quietly walked into the room, sat down in the chair next to her grandmother, and didn't rush to speak.

She simply sat quietly, remaining silent alongside Xu Ziang.

After a while.

Xu Ziang got tired and couldn't help but stretch his hips.

Sun Xuerong spoke up at this moment, "Zi'ang, do you hate your father?"