Jiang Tinglan connected to Breaking Free’s livestream.
“I finally made it to the day my mother let go. She doesn’t try to control me anymore. She doesn’t even care that I dropped out of school.”
The viewers immediately flooded the chat:
[Wow, you’re so brave!]
[Congratulations! You’ve taken the first step toward reclaiming your life!]
[You stopped following the path your parents arranged for you and chose the road you actually want to take. I’m so happy for you!]
[Congratulations, Breaking Free! You’ll emerge from your cocoon and become a butterfly in no time!]
Breaking Free also offered her a brief “Congratulations.”
Jiang Tinglan said, “But I don’t know what I’m supposed to do now. Whenever I think about all my classmates still going to school while I’m no longer following the path everyone else takes, I feel so lost.”
Breaking Free replied, “That feeling is completely normal, because you’re used to being led around by your mother.”
“That’s the most frightening thing about controlling mothers.”
“She deliberately lets go and gives you the cold shoulder, leaving you to face an empty life all by yourself.”
“Her ultimate goal is to force you to go crawling back to her and say, ‘Mom, I was wrong. I really can’t live without you.’”
“But the anxiety you’re feeling right now is simply a normal reaction to the collapse of the old order. You’ll get used to it in a few days. Whatever you do, don’t give in to your mother.”
The comments began scrolling rapidly:
[Exactly! My mom does the same thing! Whenever she gets angry, she stops taking care of me and deliberately refuses to cook, just to force me to give in!]
[They just want to prove that their children can’t live without them!]
[Don’t turn back! Don’t let her manipulate you! She’s emotionally abusing you!]
[She’ll definitely come over soon and rub it in your face, mocking you for regretting your decision!]
Jiang Tinglan scrolled through the comments. Every single one insisted that this was all part of her mother’s scheme.
Then a message from her mother popped up in another app:
“I’ll be passing through our old hometown this afternoon. I have two hours between trains. Do you want some of the chestnut pastries from the shop downstairs where we used to live? I can pick some up for you.”
Her mother hadn’t asked whether she regretted her decision. She hadn’t mocked her for dropping out or asked whether she was feeling lost.
Instead, she had asked whether she wanted the chestnut pastries she had loved most as a child.
Jiang Tinglan’s eyes suddenly grew hot.
It wasn’t like these people had said at all!
Her mother had let go, but she wasn’t giving her the cold shoulder. She was genuinely learning how to interact with her daughter more gently.
—
Meanwhile, at the Saint Virtue school board chairman’s office—
Yu Xiaxing had just sent Chen Yuru flying with an elbow strike and snatched her phone away.
A tablet was sitting in front of them, and they were watching Breaking Free’s livestream on it as well.
The reason Jiang Tinglan had received her mother’s message so promptly while Breaking Free was trying to manipulate her was no coincidence. Yu Xiaxing had been keeping watch here the entire time.
After finding out what snacks Jiang Tinglan liked, Yu Xiaxing had sent the message asking whether she wanted chestnut pastries.
If Jiang Tinglan really wanted some, it wouldn’t be a problem. They could simply call the shop in her old hometown, pay a little extra for shipping, and have them delivered the same day.
Chen Yuru glowered. “I’m seriously done with this. When I take care of my daughter, they accuse me of being controlling. When I stop interfering, they accuse me of giving her the silent treatment. So no matter what I do, I’m wrong? Give me my phone. I’m going to tear this Breaking Free apart!”
Yu Xiaxing rolled her eyes. “See? You’re getting worked up again. I told you—you need to act like a sweet, harmless parent. Don’t worry about what Breaking Free says. Just do what a faux-sweet parent is supposed to do: show concern with your words, but don’t actually do anything.”
Chen Yuru said, “That’s not—”
“Either listen to me or get out of my office!”
Yu Xiaxing was truly speechless. Chen Yuru was the kind of person who had worked herself half to death.
She hadn’t actually been assigned any business trips recently. In fact, after working for more than ten years, she had never taken a single day of annual leave. She had been saving it all this time.
She had taken time off from the company and checked into a hotel to help Yu Xiaxing carry out her plan.
But after going without a break for so many years, suddenly having nothing to do made her anxious and restless. She desperately wanted to find something to occupy herself with.
So, relying on her old connections with Saint Virtue, she had come to find Yu Xiaxing.
As it happened, Yu Xiaxing wanted to investigate whether Huo Mian was the person behind Breaking Free’s account. Since Chen Yuru’s daughter was also a possible point of entry, Yu Xiaxing had agreed to let her stay and investigate together.
The two of them had heard everything Breaking Free said to manipulate Jiang Tinglan.
Chen Yuru had nearly sent a comment attacking Breaking Free directly.
Yu Xiaxing couldn’t let her blow their cover, so she had quickly seized the phone and sent Jiang Tinglan a message to keep her calm.
Yu Xiaxing said, “You really need to calm down. Humans naturally have a herd mentality. A lot of things start sounding true simply because enough people keep repeating them.”
“I’ve already privately messaged all the accounts in that chat. About ninety percent of them are probably paid shills. They work together to deceive and manipulate the occasional potential client who wanders in.”
“If you post comments saying the opposite right now, they’ll swarm you and attack you. Other than that, it won’t accomplish anything.”
Chen Yuru took a deep breath.
Now that she was watching from an outside perspective as her daughter was being deceived, she truly couldn’t blame the girl anymore.
A whole group of people had woven an impenetrable net around her.
She was only a tiny creature trapped inside it, unable to see the right way out.
After a while, Jiang Tinglan’s connection icon on the screen turned gray. She didn’t post any more comments.
Chen Yuru said, “Thank goodness. My daughter isn’t listening to them anymore.”
Yu Xiaxing stared at the screen, thinking for several seconds.
“No. That’s not good…”
Yu Xiaxing tried to look at the situation from the scammer’s perspective.
Encouraging a child to drop out of school didn’t bring Breaking Free any immediate profit. Making money was their ultimate goal.
Now that Jiang Tinglan had dropped out, Breaking Free was probably about to move on to the next stage.
Yu Xiaxing guessed, “Breaking Free is probably messaging your daughter privately right now. They’re likely getting ready to squeeze money out of her.”
—
Jiang Tinglan had indeed received a private message from Breaking Free.
The other party first sent her a gentle hugging emoji to soothe her emotions.
Breaking Free: “Congratulations! You’ve entered the true rebuilding stage.”
Jiang Tinglan: “What should I do next? I feel so lost. I don’t want to stay at home every day.”
Breaking Free: “Has your mother already cut off your financial support?”
Jiang Tinglan: “Yes.”
Breaking Free: “I knew it. Adults love using this trick. They claim to respect your choices on the surface, but secretly cut off your money to force you to give in. That’s called financial conditioning.”
Jiang Tinglan opened a shopping app and placed a random order.
She discovered that her payment went through normally, and her bank also showed no problems.
Jiang Tinglan sent another message: “Sorry, I made a typo just now. My mom hasn’t cut off my finances. I still have tens of thousands in my account.”
This time, there was a long pause.
Breaking Free: “You see? Your mother hasn’t cut off your finances, yet you still have no idea how to move forward. That proves your entire life has been forcibly controlled by her. You never truly built a support system of your own. You’re an empty shell…”
Breaking Free launched into a lengthy professional-sounding analysis.
The terminology was so technical that Jiang Tinglan couldn’t understand it, but it sounded incredibly impressive.
Finally, Breaking Free said, “I can recommend a rebuilding mentor to you. She specializes in helping girls like you, girls who have no sense of self, establish their own identities.”
