Meeting Li Changjiang's profoundly conflicted gaze, Zuo Xiaoduo smiled and took the microphone.
He began with a slightly awkward laugh. "Everyone, I'm really sorry. I honestly never expected the lie I casually spun to be taken seriously by the Principal. Awkward, this really is awkward, hahaha."
Though he spoke of awkwardness, there was none on his face. Instead, he looked all the more composed.
The sunny smile spilling from his lips instantly dazzled many of the young girls at school.
"As for my family's circumstances and background, it's honestly rather embarrassing. The root cause was that I... couldn't bear to part with the money. Haha, all my classmates who know me know I'm really stingy. I wish I could split every coin in two to spend it. When I paid my tuition that day, the teacher asked me, 'Why are you paying so late?'"
"So I spun a whole pack of lies. I said my family was terribly, terribly poor. The teacher collecting the fees believed me, then the Principal believed me, and then we ended up with today's scene. It seems the old saying really doesn't deceive us: one lie takes a hundred more lies, or even more, to cover it up. It wears out others, wears you out, and wears out your brain..."
Laughter rose from below the stage.
Quite a few mothers watched Zuo Xiaoduo onstage with smiling eyes and murmured, "This little monkey clearly isn't one to sit still and behave."
Yet their eyes held nothing but affection, without the slightest disgust.
For this child had already dispelled half the awkwardness through his own responsibility and composure.
"Of course that was a lie, a lie through and through. My family isn't poor! Not poor at all. I simply can't bear to spend money."
Facing everyone, Zuo