Livestreaming on the Road: A Healing Journey with My Dog

At twenty-eight, on his birthday, Lin Xiaochuan, ground down by the 996 work schedule, slapped his resignation letter against his department manager's shiny forehead. He took his father's old pickup, brought along a golden retriever that kept sneaking bites of his pancakes, and set off on a road trip livestream with no destination in mind. From soy milk and fried dough sticks at the morning market to wood-fired wontons by the highway late at night. When three hundred viewers watched him fumble and burn his seventh stuffed egg pancake, the comments flooded in with tips on how to flip the pan. Gradually, the livestream became a late-night diner for overworked city folk. And he unexpectedly discovered that the passersby, bent under the weight of life, all carried stories in their pockets that were both hilarious and heartbreaking.