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

Wang Zihao sat in his seat, listening to the conversations around him, and opened his textbook to cover his face.

He lowered his head, pretending to read a text he had already read three times but hadn't been able to absorb a single word of, but the voices still pierced him from all directions like needles, passing through the gaps in the textbook, through his deliberately lowered bangs, and accurately into his ears.

"Is admitting your mistake all you get? No punishment at all? The cheater can just sit in the classroom like nothing happened, so what about all of us who took the exam seriously?"

"He only confessed after he was arrested, not because he had a change of heart. Confessing after being arrested—is that really confessing? That's just admitting defeat!"

Wang Zihao didn't speak. He kept his head down, his gaze fixed on the textbook, his lips pressed into a thin line. But his fingers, gripping the edge of the pages, were trembling slightly, and one corner of the textbook was already crumpled from his grip.

He knew he was wrong; he cheated, that's a fact, and he admitted it.

He apologized to his homeroom teacher and to Zhou Lin in the office, and every "I'm sorry" he said was sincere. He genuinely wanted to change and didn't want to continue like this. But these voices were like someone kicking him from behind just when he had finally taken a step forward, sending him back to where he started.

He wanted to say something, to say "I didn't just admit my mistakes after I was arrested," to say "I really want to change."

He felt so wronged. He clearly wanted to change, so why didn't they believe in him...

……

Another classroom.

The math teacher drew the third function graph on the blackboard, and the chalk made a sharp scraping sound as it struck the blackboard.

Some of my classmates were dozing off, some were secretly looking at their phones, and some were pretending to take notes but actually drawing little figures in the blank spaces of their textbooks.

Chen Ziran rested his chin on the back of his hand, staring listlessly at the neatly trimmed camphor tree outside the window. The midday sun shone through the gaps in the leaves, casting dappled light and shadow on the windowsill.

Just then, a soft sound came from the table behind.

Someone was poking his back with a pen.

Chen Ziran snapped out of her daze, turned around, and saw Yang Xunran slumped over the table with a mysterious smile on his face, unable to suppress the corners of his mouth, as if he had won a small lottery ticket.

"Ziran, I have some good news for you!" Yang Xunran lowered his voice, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

Chen Ziran perked up. Finding something to enjoy in a school where everyone is buried in their studies is not easy, and Yang Xunran was one of his few sources of amusement.

He turned slightly to the side, lowering his voice to the level of a casual conversation with his deskmate during class: "What good news? Did you find money?"

"I got hit!" Yang Xunran laughed self-righteously.

Chen Ziran's expression went through a complete rollercoaster in an instant, from expectation to confusion, from confusion to bewilderment, and from bewilderment to a scrutiny as if asking if he had a mental problem.

He looked Yang Xunran up and down, making sure the man didn't have a fever, hadn't bumped his head, or been abducted by aliens, before cautiously asking in a carefully chosen tone, "What the hell? Getting beaten up is good news? Are you sure you said 'beaten up' and not 'beat someone up'?"

A boy named Wang Yong, who was standing nearby, overheard their conversation and couldn't help but move his chair closer, like a nail drawn to a magnet. His face lit up with the delight of finding a kindred spirit: "Could it be that you also...?"

Yang Xunran turned his head and saw Wang Yong's expression. He was also surprised, his eyes lighting up as if he had discovered some rare species: "You too?"

Wang Yong nodded vigorously, his face filled with genuine excitement: "Being beaten up is a good thing?"

"Definitely!" Yang Xunran slammed his hand on the table, then realized he'd been too loud. He quickly lowered his head and shrank his neck, only raising his head again after the teacher turned back to continue writing on the blackboard. He lowered his voice and said, "Of course, it's not a big deal to play around like this sometimes. It's not like you get beaten up every day. Don't you feel refreshed after being beaten up?"

A hint of envy flashed in Wang Yong's eyes, and his expression softened, as if recalling a scene that didn't exist: "I envy your family, that they still let you do this. I don't even dare tell my dad. If he knew I had this hobby, it probably wouldn't be as simple as just whipping me with a belt."

He sighed, his voice lowering slightly, "Actually, I didn't mean to hide it from him. I tried to talk to him about it several times before, but his face would turn dark every time he heard about this topic, and I didn't even get a chance to speak."

Yang Xunran listened and shook his head with a sigh: "Your family is too strict, but it's normal. At our age, it's really not suitable to play too much. We still need to study hard."

A rare serious expression appeared on his face. "To be honest, I only understood this after being inspired by Brother Chen. Some things can only be understood by talking them out. How can others know what you're thinking if you don't talk to them? I used to be afraid to talk to my dad, but after trying it, I finally got to talk things out, even though I got a beating."

Wang Yong hesitated for a moment, his expression conveying both "I want to try" and "I dare not," a mix of emotions. In the end, he backed down: "Forget it, I don't dare to tell my dad. You've never seen my dad get angry."

Then he changed the subject, secretly pulled his phone out of his pocket, made some quick adjustments in the drawer, his eyes lighting up slightly, and suggested, "Hey, do you have any friends to hang out with? Let's join a group chat and play together next time. I have a few friends here, they're really nice."

Yang Xunran nodded, took out his phone and joined a group, then turned to chat with Wang Yong about other things. Chen Ziran listened for a while, trying to extract some information from their conversation to understand Yang Xunran.

He repeatedly pondered several keywords: being beaten, good news, getting punched, chatting, not daring to tell his dad, friends, group.

These words went through his mind several times, forming several different interpretations, but none of them allowed him to truly determine what Yang Xunran was talking about.

He frowned as he looked at Yang Xunran's radiant face, which looked as if he had just won the lottery. He felt that something was off, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

The bell rang, signaling the end of get out of class.

The math teacher dusted off his hands, announced the end of get out of class, and walked out of the classroom.

Chen Ziran was lying on the table, intending to close his eyes briefly, when he felt a hand on his shoulder, carrying the exhaustion and trembling of someone who had just escaped from a horror movie.

He looked up and saw Yang Xunran standing in front of him, his face as white as a sheet, a fine layer of cold sweat on his forehead, his eyes wide open, his pupils slightly dilated with fear, and his whole body looked like a mouse that had just escaped from a cat's mouth.

"Damn it, Ziran, do you know what Wang Yong is up to?" Yang Xunran's voice was extremely low, each word seemingly squeezed out from his throat, carrying a sense of lingering fear after surviving a disaster.

Chen Ziran looked up, frowning at him. His astonished expression made her tense up as well: "What?"

Yang Xunran glanced around to make sure no one else was watching them, then with unprecedented caution, he took his phone out of his pocket, tapped the screen a few times, and held the group chat interface up to Chen Ziran.

His fingers were still trembling slightly, as if he had just touched something unclean.

Chen Ziran leaned closer to take a look, and his brows immediately relaxed. The group avatar was a black leather texture, the group announcement was filled with various jargon and circle rules, and there were quite a few members in the group, who were still discussing the details of various activities, such as bondage and candles...

Hmm, a niche hobby...

Chen Ziran leaned back in his chair, looking at Yang Xunran's face, which was as white as if he had just seen a ghost, and asked, "So what exactly do you want to tell me?"

Yang Xunran swallowed hard, trying to calm his breathing, and said, "I talked to my dad about it, the one I told you about last time. I asked him if I could get some money to buy skins, and he pulled out his belt. But what I learned from Brother Chen is that communication is the most important thing."

He took a deep breath, a complex expression on his face, as if recounting a battle he had just won. "I sat down with him and we had a serious talk. I told him I just wanted a nice skin in the game, not because I wanted to play games instead of studying, but because I really love this game; it's a way for me to relax. I told him that if I did well on my exams, could I get a reward? It didn't have to be a lot of money, just a little bit, to buy the skin I liked."

He paused, licked his lips, and continued, "He finally gave me the money. But there were conditions: I had to score above 610 on the high school entrance exam. If I didn't, I would not only have to pay back the money, but also pay interest, and I would have to do housework until next year. He called it a 'betting agreement'."

He spread his hands. "But for me, this is good news. It means my dad is finally starting to negotiate with me instead of just saying no. The fact that he's sitting down to talk to me is my biggest victory."

Chen Ziran gave a thumbs up, his face filled with genuine admiration: "Awesome, trading getting beaten up for skin money, and even taking on a betting agreement."

Yang Xunran chuckled.

After they finished speaking, they parted ways and went their separate ways.

When Chen Ziran returned to the Wang family home with his schoolbag on his back, he smelled the aroma of food the moment he pushed open the front door.

He changed his shoes and walked into the restaurant, where he saw that three dishes and a soup had already been set on the table, with the bowls and chopsticks neatly arranged.

Zhou Lin was carrying the last dish out of the kitchen when she saw Chen Ziran return and smiled and nodded at him.

"You're back. Wash your hands and eat."

She seemed to be in an exceptionally good mood today. The faint trace of worry between her brows had faded considerably, and an unconscious smile played on her lips. She looked as if she had just emerged from a long winter and was basking in the first rays of sunshine.

Chen Ziran put down his schoolbag to wash his hands. When he came back, he was about to help Zhou Lin serve the dishes when Zhou Lin quickly waved her hand and pointed to the chair next to the dining table: "No need, no need, you can sit down. You've had a tiring day at school."

Chen Ziran wanted to say a few more polite words, but Wang Minghui had already come out of the kitchen with the bowls of rice and placed them in everyone's seats.

Chen Ziran couldn't resist reaching out and ruffling Wang Minghui's head.

Wang Minghui's hair was soft, and it felt like a handful of fine sand that hadn't dried yet.

Chen Ziran's intention was to express a friendly and close relationship, since they would be living under the same roof for several days in the future, and it was always good to get along well with the little guy.

But Wang Minghui's expression froze for a moment, his small hands tightened, and then his face darkened slightly. He lowered his head and walked to his seat.

Chen Ziran did not notice this little incident.

He sat down to eat, chatted with Zhou Lin about things at school, and then went back to his room for a nap.

Wang Minghui returned to his room.

He pursed his lips, his brows furrowed slightly, but he didn't say anything.

After washing the dishes, Zhou Lin sat on the living room sofa and took out her phone.

She stared at the profile picture for two seconds, then opened the chat window and sent a cat emoji peeking out. Then she typed, "What's your name?"

After waiting a while, Chen Chu replied with a message consisting of only a period: "..."

"Well, actually, if you're not very good at social etiquette, you can just say what you want to say. My level of acceptance of social etiquette can be summed up in one sentence."

"What are you trying to say...?"