Chapter 473: Guilty Conscience of a Thief
Days drifted by, and before we knew it, it was late August.
Little Third, Chen Lu celebrated his full-year birthday at the Peace Hotel.
At the age of one, babies can barely say a few nice words, but they can call out "Dad" and "Mom" quite crisply.
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In a short while, Chen An'an will be entering her last year of elementary school.
And Er Piya is about to start the first grade, where her outstanding grades and quick learning make everything less stressful for her.
Chen Pingsheng still enrolled her in an international primary school, the five-year-old little girl lugging around a big backpack,
running all over the yard.
Chen An'an then invited her best friends over, Zi and Xiaomi who are also second generation wealthy kids like her.
The trio are the best of friends in their class, and consequently, Chen Pingsheng became acquainted with their parents.
They hadn't gathered together during the summer vacation, and with school starting soon, Zi and Xiaomi decided to visit her place.
Chen An'an took them to her Anle Fund, making Zi and Xiaomi green with envy.
They went home to pester their parents, clamoring to set up a fund like that too.
But one stern look from their parents and they quieted down immediately.
Their families were wealthy too, but clearly not to the extent of splurging senselessly.
Chen An'an herself started to buckle down, even roping in her high school cousin Xiao Le to give her study lessons at home.
Xiao Le was recently in high spirits, previously looked down on by many classmates because she wasn't a local from Magic City.
But ever since her uncle gifted her mother with a Cullinan, she felt vindicated.
With her cousin An'an needing to review her studies, she naturally had to step up as the older cousin.
The daughters of the eldest sister in the family are both outstanding students, and it would be no surprise if they ended up in a 985 university in the future.
Unlike Chen An'an, who, without making more effort, could only manage to get into Harvard.
It sounds like a sarcastic remark, but it's also a fact.
After all, Harvard is one of the top-ranking universities globally, with Qingbei lagging far behind Harvard.
With An'an's grades, getting into Qingbei would probably be a bit difficult.
Harvard doesn't require testing; you can get in with a donation.
"Cousin, what do you think about me not going to an international middle school?"
"International schools are not good enough for you? Why wouldn't you go?"
"I want to make Dad proud with my achievements," Chen An'an said seriously.
Xiao Le couldn't quite grasp her intentions. Isn't uncle always respected wherever he goes? And with your grades, it's impossible to make him proud.
Er Ya always manages to get first place after fooling around for two months, while Chen An'an barely maintains a mid-class ranking even when she studies every chance she gets during summer break.
Clearly, academic success also relies a lot on talent.
"That would be quite difficult, wouldn't it?"
"The more difficult it is, the more I have to do it."
Chen An'an said, "Dad has always been so kind to me, if I can't even achieve this, I'd consider myself a failure."
"Alright then!" Xiao Le genuinely respected this point of view, but she didn't dare to say it outright.
"The public middle schools and even private ones place the most emphasis on grades, the academic pressure will be much greater in those schools."
Chen An'an gave it some thought and planned to propose this idea to Dad after finishing sixth grade.
They studied for several hours in the afternoon.
After stretching lazily, she decided to go out for a stroll with her cousin.
As for Er Ya, she was currently bum-up digging in the dirt, with a phone set up for live streaming next to her.
The magic of the internet is such that, though everyone knows she's a little princess from a wealthy family and she never shows her face on her live streams,
nor would she ever pander to the big brothers and sisters who send gifts,
she still receives nearly a million in gifts every live stream.
For some reason, netizens just love to lavish gifts on those who aren't short on money.
Isn't that strange?
Er Piya doesn't put much importance on money herself; to her, receiving gifts means people like her.
She's never thought about using it to make money, yet she can earn what an average person makes in ten years in just a single day.
To this day, she's never cashed out her income from gifts.
As always, if she needs money, she goes to Dad, and for expensive items like a pure gold hoe, she turns to Mom.
"Er Ya, do you want to go out and play together?"
Erya thought about it and agreed when her sister called her.
She couldn't be bothered to change clothes, still dirty all over.
"Sis, where are you going to hang out?"
"Just going to stroll around Nanjing Street."
"Oh... then I want to go too."
Magic City's Nanjing Street can definitely rank in the top ten in the country, not for its luxury.
But for its bustle and prosperity.
Owning a shop in such a place means your family's assets aren't exactly over a hundred million.
But it's definitely in the tens of millions.
...
Erya went shopping with her sister.
The three of them still took the driver's car, and on the way, Xiao Le was eagerly telling Chen An'an about her high school life.
Freshman and sophomore years need not be mentioned.
But the pressure really builds up after entering senior year, and many parents choose to tutor their children during this period.
Those with the means are fine, but it's really tough for those without.
Although most of Xiao Le's classmates are locals from Magic City, there are also many from other places.
Moreover, once they reach high school, a lot of girls start dating.
But by senior year, they mostly break up.
Nanjing Street is as dazzling and captivating as ever, the three of them holding milk tea, walking and shopping.
Xiao Le was very enthusiastic in her storytelling, even mentioning a pretty female teacher in her class.
And then there's a male athlete in the class she treats especially well, it always seems to exceed the usual teacher-student relationship.
But thinking about it carefully again, it seems unlikely, after all, that female teacher is married.
Her husband often comes to pick her up at school in a Mercedes.
It can only be said that when a woman wants to pursue a bit of free love, such love can transcend age.
And surpass the normal ethical constraints.
As the three walked, they suddenly saw a woman with a duckbill cap leaning into the embrace of a young man.
And wasn't that young man her classmate?
As for the woman, if Xiao Le hadn't accidentally seen her teacher wearing the duckbill cap and covering herself tightly,
She would hardly recognize her.
Xiao Le, though innocent herself, felt a little guilty like a thief.
She hurriedly pulled Chen An'an and the rest to the side, not to let that far-off, freely loving teacher see them.
Chen An'an even asked her, "Cousin, what are you doing?"
Xiao Le shushed her with a gesture for silence.
"An'an, see that woman wearing a duckbill cap? She's my teacher."
"What? She's your teacher?"
Chen An'an immediately looked in the direction of her gaze, "And the tall guy next to her?"
"My classmate, that athlete from my class."
"That intense?"
Chen An'an thought that the teacher was quite unethical, wondering if she should confront her then and there.
Due to Xiao Le's family circumstances, she always thinks about keeping peace and not causing trouble.
That is, not to stir up trouble, and to instinctively avoid it when it arises.
She took An'an and Er Piya and quickly turned to walk the other way, as if to pretend nothing was known.
What she didn't notice was that the woman with the duckbill cap had also spotted her.
And her eyes then instinctively tensed up, quickly returning to normal.
Naturally, she recognized Xiao Le, but knowing is one thing.
There's no way she'd run over and shout, "Xiao Le, are you also out shopping?"
After leaving, Xiao Le patted her chest, still a senior high school girl after all.
Her development was modest, but that trace of youthful greenness hadn't faded from her face.
At that moment, it seemed it wasn't the teacher who was the thief.
But rather herself, more nervous than anyone else.