“The teacher will definitely find out who the thief is.”
“Yeah, the teacher always knows what to do. We don’t need to be afraid. If anything happens, we can just ask her for help.” Hearing this, Emma finally stopped crying and, surrounded by her classmates, went to find the teacher.
The teacher first patiently asked about the value of the watch.
Emma sniffled and said, “I… I’m not really sure. Daddy said there were a lot of zeroes, and he said… it could probably buy the whole school a new building.”
At that, the teacher nearly blacked out. She didn’t think Emma was exaggerating in the slightest. She vaguely remembered Emma’s parents. They were indeed very wealthy, and the principal had personally told her to take extra care of Emma. After all, Emma’s father was the kind of man who might donate an entire building on a whim.
No one in the school wanted to offend someone like that. The principal and teachers felt the same. Now the teacher was nearly panicking. Why would Emma’s dad buy her such an expensive watch? And now it had gone missing on school grounds—wasn’t something she could explain away. Besides, the students at this school were all from affluent families. She couldn’t just accuse someone without solid proof. What if a parent came after her? She was stuck in an impossible situation. She quickly called the principal and, in the meantime, gently comforted Emma. She promised the watch would be found and asked for a little time. Only then did Emma calm down, sniffling now and then as she leaned into the teacher’s embrace. Seeing this, the teacher finally felt a small sense of relief. As long as the child stayed quiet and didn’t make a fuss, she could manage. Otherwise, it would’ve been a complete disaster.
The principal picked up the call, and after hearing everything the teacher said, he also felt the situation was thorny. Still, no matter how difficult it was, now that it had happened, they had to get to the bottom of it.
“Mr. Wood, what should we do?”
The principal thought for a long while, then waved his hand decisively. “Search the backpacks. That watch isn’t a small matter. You know what Emma’s father is like—he’s not someone we can afford to offend. I imagine most regular families couldn’t, either.”
The teacher opened her mouth, wanting to point out that none of these students were from ‘regular families.’ But on second thought, even if they weren’t, there were very few families as over-the-top wealthy as Emma’s. That realization helped her relax a little.
“Alright, Mr. Wood, I’ll go check the bags now.”
The principal nodded and ended the call. Immediately after, the teacher returned to the classroom with Emma in her arms. Seeing most of the students were already in their seats, she felt slightly relieved.
“Alright, children, put your pens down. I need to say a few words.” Before speaking, she had already set Emma back on the ground. The moment her feet touched the floor, Emma ran to her seat and stood by it, her eyes still visibly red. It was obvious to anyone that she’d just been crying hard.
The teacher cleared her throat. “Everyone, settle down now.”
“Emma’s watch has gone missing. We need to search for it. Unfortunately, the classroom cameras are broken, so we’ll be using the most basic method: checking the backpacks. Don’t worry, kids. We won’t touch anything else. If we don’t find Emma’s watch in your bag, we’ll put everything back right away.”