Reaching the age of thirty, my income randomly doubled

Chen Pingsheng: "That impressive?"

"An'an's Dad, please be reasonable. Your daughter An'an went from absolute last to top three in no time. Don't you find that strange?"

"I don't think so."

Chen Pingsheng started to defend his child, "My An'an has always been smart since she was young. She just doesn't like studying. It's not that she can't learn well. Scoring third is perfectly normal for her."

Shen Qing: "..."

"Don't you know what's going on with your own child?"

She is so smart that she bribed the top three students to swap their test papers with hers before the exam.

This isn't even considered cheating anymore—cheating is nothing but a minor inconvenience in front of her.

The original top three ended up at the bottom of the class.

They are now being ground into the dirt by their parents.

Can't you hear the crying outside?

Chen An'an's eyes brightened, and she lifted her head, giggling foolishly.

"Dear teacher, I think I need to remind you that although my An'an's grades aren't good, that's no reason for you to look down on her, right?"

Those who are officials despise those who suddenly get rich, and Shen Qing clearly felt a bit of that too.

What right does she have?

She's just someone with a yearly income of a couple of hundreds of thousands, plus some additional red envelopes.

Moreover, his family was the biggest contributor to those red envelope gifts.

"An'an's Dad, where did you get the idea I'm looking down on your An'an?"

"Whether you are or not, you know very well in your own heart. Who are you fooling with those disdainful little looks of yours?"

Chen Pingsheng said, "Our An'an has always been well-behaved and sensible since she was little. If she cheated, there must be a reason for it. You don't even ask and just start accusing her. Do you think you're doing a good job as a teacher?"

"Or do you think the opinions of us parents don't matter to you, that they can't affect you in your lofty teaching position?"

Song Yanxi also gave her a glare—it's not like everyone is some naïve young person straight out of school.

Do you think others can't hear the tone in your voice?

Song Yanxi pulled Chen An'an aside and asked her seriously, "An'an, why did you cheat?"

"Because I wanted to make Dad happy."

Chen An'an said, "Teacher Bai said Dad works really hard to earn money outside. She said if I could get good grades on the final exam, Dad would be really happy."

"You cheated just for that?"

"Yeah." Chen An'an nodded earnestly: "I was afraid I wouldn't do well, so I used two hundred yuan of my allowance to swap the test paper names with someone. Mom, I'm sorry~~"

Chen Pingsheng patted her on the head, not blaming her. A child can't have that many thoughts.

Only teachers like Shen Qing, who got into famous schools through connections, would think cheating once was a grave mistake and that it might lead them onto a crooked path in the future.

Song Yanxi also patted her chubby little cheeks, not scolding her either.

Chen Pingsheng, smiling, said: "The idea isn't bad, but you were too foolish. Swapping with a top-three student just lets everyone know you cheated. If you had swapped with someone ranked around thirtieth, who would have suspected you?"

Little An'an's eyes shone.

Chen Pingsheng wasn't going to lecture her in the teacher's office. He would discuss right and wrong once they got home.

"Mr. Shen, may we leave now?"

"An'an's Dad, I think you really need to take this matter seriously. If your An'an can cheat now, in the future, she could make even bigger mistakes," Shen Qing said sternly, her face expressionless.

Chen Pingsheng snorted with laughter: "Mr. Shen, I think you need to understand something. If you say she did wrong by cheating, then she's not mistaken, she did wrong. But let me ask you, is there anyone in this society who doesn't cheat?"

He left the rest unsaid for her to reflect upon.

Shen Qing's face stiffened, as her own academic performance in school was certainly not too good.

The teacher training college she got into was definitely not the top tier.

Yet in the competition for jobs after graduation, she edged out many top graduates from elite teacher training colleges.

She secured a teaching position at this school.

In her case, wasn't that also a form of cheating?

While she was taking the hiring exams, she had a bunch of capable relatives working outside to help her.

That's how she ensured she pushed aside teacher after teacher with better grades and more excellence, securing this coveted position at a prestigious school.

She relied on connections, while Chen An'an relied on the endless pocket money in her hand.

What's the difference?

...

On the way home.

Chen An'an obediently placed her backpack, which was bigger than she was, to one side.

With both hands on her knees, she struck a pitiful and honest pose as if she was ready to listen to a scolding.

Her eyes even blinked twice, "Dad, I was wrong."

"Where did you go wrong?" Chen Pingsheng asked while driving.

Because children can't sit in the front passenger seat, she could only sit in the back. Normally, she would have already taken out a pile of snacks from her backpack.

Perhaps knowing that she had messed up, she just sat there pitifully without moving.

Chen An'an hung her head low, "The mistake was swapping test papers with a classmate."

"Hmph..." Chen Pingsheng said, "You're quite clever, aren't you? Others cheat by copying, but you go straight to swapping names with someone who gets good grades. What, by swapping names you think you can get into Tsinghua University?"

Chen An'an's eyes lit up, her chubby cheeks slightly excited, "Dad, can you really get into Tsinghua that way?"

"You can, others can't, but you can."

Chen Pingsheng said, "Look, even if your grades are a bit poor, why cheat? In the future, those with good grades can go to Tsinghua, and your dad can just use donations to send you to Harvard, how about that?"

Song Yanxi slapped him hard, "What kind of way is that to teach your daughter? She's learning all the bad things from you."

"What's bad about it? I think it's good. Look at how young she is, yet she can come up with such rotten ideas. What's wrong with going to Harvard? Isn't that what all these rich folks here do?"

Chen An'an laughed heartily, and seeing that her dad was not angry, she sneakily pulled out a big bag of potato chips from her backpack.

She munched loudly, her little mouth making crisp sounds.

In the end, she just wanted to make her parents happy. Chen Pingsheng didn't have the heart to scold her and instead said, "An'an, your winter break is starting soon, right?"

"Yep, all my classmates are discussing where to go for the holiday."

"Where do you want to go?"

Chen An'an tilted her head to think; there were quite a few places she wanted to go.

Her classmates had told her about the Disneyland in Xiangjiang and the vast sea and ships she had never seen before.

"Dad, I'm good with anywhere, as long as you take me out to play, I'll be very happy."

"What a sweet talker."

Chen Pingsheng was pleased, "Since that's the case, let's take you to your grandparents' house. We didn't go last year, so this year we definitely need to go early, and we'll also have a trip home on the way, playing wherever we go."

"Sounds great, sounds great," Chen An'an nodded vigorously like a pecking chicken, truly interested in everything except studying.

Song Yanxi on the other hand, asked him, "Isn't Fei Yangyang about to open? And there's the renovation of so many stores, plus the Water Cloud Space investment of sixty million in the second ring. With so much going on, how can we manage to go back early this year?"

"If you want it, you can do it."

Chen Pingsheng held her hand and said, "This money will never end. If you stay in Capital City, you'll think these things can't be done without us. Once we leave, there will still be people in charge. We've been married for so many years, you're already pregnant with the second child, and we haven't even taken a proper vacation. This year is just perfect."

"But I need to arrange everything here before we leave."

"Of course, isn't An'an still in school?"

Chen Pingsheng said, "Call your sister and see if they want to come over for dinner tonight. I guess they won't go back this year, but Chen Qi will probably want to go home."

"Alright then."

Even with a larger house purchased, Song Yanxi still preferred living in the 500 square meter villa in Shijingshan.

It was mainly because it was completely sufficient for a family of three; too big, and it just wouldn't feel cozy.

Besides, if you gave Chen An'an a large yard, she would dig it up until it was a mess.

The grocery store run by her eldest sister was doing well, and with the rent paid by them this year, earning seven to eight hundred thousand wasn't a problem.

So her sister definitely wouldn't want to close the store for a break.

Chen Qi, on the other hand, was different; she was mainly responsible for logistics at Water Cloud Space, and her job wasn't indispensable.

Upon hearing her brother's talk of a trip home, she eagerly agreed.

From Capital City to Sha City it was a total distance of 1500 kilometers.

In between lay Shijiazhuang, Zhengzhou, Longhu Mountain, Wuhan, and other places.

All of them boasted famous scenic spots, and they could enjoy the sights on their way home.