Chapter 461: Chapter 460: Infinite-Stream Cannon Fodder: Lying Comes at a Price 15

"Tan Rui, did you take the money from home and your mom’s two pieces of jewelry?" Tan Ruifeng’s voice was stern, making Tan Rui shrink back into his seat.

When his parents showed up at school, he knew the matter had been discovered.

It must have been that woman who tipped off his parents; she was watching when he spoke. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have discovered it. If not for her, they would have only suspected his eldest sister.

"When you make a mistake, you need to admit it," He Qiaomin’s voice was still gentle as she patted Tan Rui’s head. "Tell mom, what did you use the money for? If you needed money, why didn’t you talk to us, instead of secretly taking it?"

Tan Rui stole a glance at Tan Ruifeng, who still wore a stern expression, and huddled his neck.

He Qiaomin tugged at Tan Ruifeng: "Look better; don’t scare Ruirui. It’s nothing to take something, as long as you admit your mistake. Ruirui is still young and doesn’t understand these things. Explain it clearly to him this time, and it won’t happen again."

"Okay." As for the son they had high hopes for, Tan Ruifeng was also afraid of scaring him at a young age. After all, their son was still small and didn’t understand many things. As He Qiaomin said, just teach him well. It’s really not an unusual thing for a child to secretly take things from home.

Seeing their attitudes, Tan Rui finally wasn’t so scared.

He said, "Classmates invited me to play card-drawing games. We play well usually. I saw the money at home and took some."

The drawer was full of money, a lot of it. I thought taking a little wouldn’t be noticed. I thought like this today, thought like this tomorrow, and the day after too—taking a little each day, and ended up taking all the money in the drawer. I panicked at first, but then I saw classmates playing card-drawing games, couldn’t resist, and when I saw He Qiaomin’s jewelry, couldn’t resist taking two pieces, sold to a classmate just in time for that classmate to buy a birthday gift for his mom who had a lot of pocket money.

Hearing Tan Rui confess, the couple finally sighed in relief. They then carefully questioned him, verbally scolded him, and told him not to take things from home secretly. If he needed anything, he could tell them, as long as it was reasonable, they could fulfill it. The premise was that his grades couldn’t drop.

"Do you mean I can go play card-drawing games?" Tan Rui said a bit excitedly. If his parents allowed it, he wouldn’t have to play those in hiding.

Tan Ruifeng said: "You can play, but you have to meet the required grades. For example, keeping in the top three of the class will get you the basic card-drawing limit, and if you move up a rank, the limit will increase. If you reach first place, of course, there will be more. If you get to first in grade, each time you maintain it, I’ll increase your limit."

Tan Rui was extremely happy: "Long live mom and dad!"

The car was filled with laughter, not the reprimanding imagined.

Earlier at the villa, Tan Ruifeng’s performance made people think he was emotionally unstable, but now it seemed that wasn’t so. With Tan Rui, he was exceptionally stable. This was something Tan Rui had done, even causing Tan Sui to lose her life, yet he only mildly reprimanded with a reward system and handled Tan Sui entirely differently.

Several people glanced at Tan Sui, her eyes slightly lowered, showing little expression on her face, but her whole demeanor was sorrowful.

This is favoritism and bias, isn’t it?

Inside the car, the atmosphere was harmonious, Tan Sui pulled Ah Chen’s arm and whispered, "Let’s go."

Everything that needed to be seen had been seen, and this wasn’t the first time.

Every time they thought it was her fault, they would make a big fuss over her admitting her mistake, even when it wasn’t certain it was her doing, just what they assumed.

But when they sensed something wrong, it likely being Tan Rui and Tan Yao, they’d only talk to them in private. They would question them and verbally reprimand them but never like with her, where it was an overwhelming barrage of scolding, and they’d reason with them patiently. All their children, yet Tan Sui never understood why she was different.

Is it because she was left in the countryside since childhood?

She thought of herself as living under others’ roofs, being especially dutiful from a young age, always volunteering to work around uncle’s house, and never competing with her cousins. Her parents always came and went in a hurry, bringing many things. When leaving, they exhorted her to be obedient and sensible; they had no choice but to leave her, so they depended on her uncle’s family for care.

So she only saw the things her parents bought as thank yous to her uncle’s family, not daring to take more.

Watching the mud house become a brick house, then a small western-style building.

Later, she learned that the money for the house was from her parents, a huge sum for the countryside.

She didn’t go hungry or cold, but in her uncle’s house, she was always a child living under another’s roof. Even if her parents gave money, she was indeed being cared for by others, not able to speak with a straight back.

She remembers a time as a child, when her cousins took her things, and she went to complain.

Her parents didn’t support her; they repeated that they needed to rely on her uncle’s family for care, or they wouldn’t know where to put her. Told her it was right to let her cousins have their way.

When she was over four, she heard her uncle’s family discussing her parents possibly taking her to the city.

She anticipated, and then waited for Tan Yao’s birth. They said they couldn’t manage two children and would take her when Tan Yao was older and things improved.

Two years passed, things got much better, but they still didn’t take her back as Tan Rui was born. Even with much improvement, managing three children was tough, so she continued to stay at her uncle’s.

Until middle school, they finally remembered her.

She was still happy, looking forward to having her own home.

But reality soon poured cold water over her. Being careful with strange and expensive things, drawing strange looks from her brother and sister. Her timid appearance drew dissatisfaction from her parents, feeling she couldn’t stand on the stage. Aside from the first banquet she attended, they never mentioned it subconsciously afterward. She was like an invisible person. The only thing she could still showcase was her grades.

However, her grades weren’t particularly great in the city—rural education lagged, and she didn’t have much study time while helping her uncle’s family.

So in terms of grades, she didn’t receive much praise, even being told by her parents to learn from Tan Rui and Tan Yao, not to be proud if she made some progress.

One incident after another shattered her already fragile and inferior heart, especially when even the help subconsciously ignored her, which was a big blow.

From being wronged the first time, she slowly learned to draw attention in another way, a form of rebellion at least.

Gradually becoming what she is now, really no one ignored her anymore.

"Going to school?" Ah Chen asked Tan Sui, who was still in a daze.

Tan Sui said: "Yes."