The heated debates silenced as the contestants of the [Happy and Happy Family] show finally began.
The format was simple. Each contestant would walk onto the stage with their family. The program team would then play a video documenting eight years of their private home life—an honest, unfiltered record captured through long-term observation.
This show was not lavishly funded, but it had invested something more valuable: time. Eight years of footage, revealing education not as parents wished to present it, but as it truly happened.
After each family's video, judges would score their parenting. And alongside those clips, Sophia's childhood replay would be woven in as a comparison.
The audience waited breathlessly.
---
The first contestant, Samuel, stepped onto the stage with his wife and twelve-year-old son, Ethan. The family carried the proud air of literati; Samuel and his wife were both teachers at Jinling University. Their lineage was considered cultured, refined, and dignified.
The video began rolling.
---
The footage showed Ethan's childhood.
Raised in comfort, he was surrounded by grandparents who doted on him. His grandmother in particular spoiled him endlessly. When he began stealing money as a boy, she simply handed him more, thinking it was better to give than deny.
When young Ethan brought home friends of questionable character, his grandmother frowned but said nothing.
Only Samuel reacted, his anger quick and harsh. He slapped his son across the face. "You can't play with trash like that!"
But Ethan only grew angrier. His defiance hardened.
He began stealing more, smoking cigarettes, sneaking into dingy internet cafés.
One day, the footage showed him standing on a street corner with friends, taunting a beggar.
"Call me father a few times and I'll give you money," Ethan smirked.
The beggar stayed silent.
"Say it! Shout it!" Ethan's friends jeered.
When the beggar refused, they kicked him. Ethan himself kicked him too, laughing as the man cried out in pain.
Finally, the beggar, broken and humiliated, shouted the words they demanded.
The gymnasium audience shifted uncomfortably, many frowning in disgust.
The scene cut to flashing police lights. Officers had been called. Samuel, as the parent, was summoned immediately.
Instead of reflecting, Samuel raged at his son: "How dare you bring shame to me! Misbehaving! Evil!"
But those were just words. His son stood silent, eyes cold, his character already corroded.
---
When the video ended, Samuel's face burned red on stage. As a college professor, he had thought himself cultured and respectable. But the truth recorded over eight years had exposed his failures for all to see.
---
The live commentary exploded:
"This is a literati family? Educated like this?"
"Samuel doesn't actually care about morality—he only cares that his son embarrassed him by getting caught."
"If this is the so-called elite education, then I can't wait to see Sophia's childhood comparison."
---
On stage, Sophia frowned.
She had watched the footage closely. The family was comfortable, their environment privileged, but their child had grown into arrogance and cruelty.
The problem was clear: excessive doting, no discipline, and no true guidance in character. Ethan had never learned even the most basic respect for others.
Sophia turned to the judges and audience. Her voice was steady, her tone confident.
"In terms of character," she said, "the child of contestant number one has performed very poorly."
Her words echoed through the hall.
---
This, too, was part of Sophia's unique charm. She was fearless and outspoken, unafraid of controversy.
The world had seen this countless times before. At the Western Film Festival, she had been confronted with a racist joke about Black people and watermelon. Without hesitation, she had stared the man down and asked bluntly, "Do you eat watermelon?"
The backlash had been fierce. The West had scolded her mercilessly. But she never changed. She stood upright, proud, heroic in her honesty.
That was why she was admired not only at home but also abroad.
---
Scholars and educators worldwide studied her character. They called her "the contemporary value template."
Her worldview: rooted in truth and justice.
Her values: a balance between light and strength, never corrupted.
Her outlook on life: radiant, confident, and fearless.
Her life had become a textbook model. In universities across the globe, her conversations and perspective on the world were studied as a guide for future leaders.
She had been called a woman who lived "in harmony with the sun and moon."
And all of this was why her voice carried such weight in this show.
---
Sophia turned her eyes to the massive screen, waiting for her own childhood replay to appear. Her voice rang out, clear and cutting:
"When I was four years old, he didn't teach me anything. Not how to be a person, not my worldview, not any kind of training. He was an alcoholic, a man of rotten character. How could he teach me anything?"
The words landed like thunder.
The gymnasium fell into stunned silence before a wave of awe swept through the crowd.
---
Gasps and shouts rose from the audience:
"Unbelievable… there really is such a thing as a born saint!"
"Sophia is too amazing. Perfect values, perfect talent, shining like the sun since childhood."
"From the age of four she's been astonishing the world, dazzling us with her achievements—and doing it all with flawless character."
"She was destined to rise no matter what family she came from!"
"Approval!" voices roared from all directions.
Even the scholars in the front rows, professors who had long criticized parenting in their research, found themselves swayed.
For the first time, they wondered if perhaps education was irrelevant for someone like Sophia.
Perhaps she truly was something else.
Not nurtured, not guided—just born this way.
A saint, from the start.
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