When the Side Character Gets a System and Travels through Difference Worlds-Chapter 19: Tingting 17

No matter how much self-control she had, at heart, she was still just a sixteen-year-old girl. Besides, she had always loved reading novels. Not having touched one in months had actually made Tan You quite antsy.

But her craving for Intelligence Value forced Tan You to suppress these restless feelings. ’It’s fine. Once my Intelligence Value increases, studying will be easier, and I’ll have more time to have fun.’

Having convinced herself, Tan You finally managed to calm down.

The New Year passed peacefully. The Han family didn’t really have many relatives, which was similar to Tan You’s own family. Few relatives came to visit during the holiday season.

Tan You was happy with the peace and quiet. Even though it was just her and Han Cunming, she still felt it was the happiest New Year she had ever had.

She thought about her own family—how Tan Lin and her grandparents were always arguing, especially during the New Year, when they never got a moment’s peace. Pushing aside those unpleasant memories, Tan You served Han Cunming a bowl of soup.

Coming out here on a mission had shown Tan You how other families interacted. It was a chance for her to catch her breath, a brief escape from that oppressive and cold home.

Time flies when you’re focused on something. Soon enough, it was the first day of the new semester.

This time, Han Cunming accompanied Tan You to school. It was the same familiar Class 3, with the same familiar homeroom teacher. But after looking around the office, Tan You felt a little disappointed. "Is Teacher Shi not here?"

Wang Lanfeng said, "Teacher Shi is originally a high school teacher. She’s on maternity leave and will be going back to teach at the high school next month."

"The high school division?" Tan You was stunned. ’Does this mean I’ll never see Teacher Shi again?’

The head of the math department patted Tan You’s head. "Why the long face? I’ll be your math teacher from now on. If you really miss Teacher Shi, just work hard and get into high school. Then you can be her student again, right?"

Perhaps his words struck a chord. Tan You bit her lip, holding back tears. "I understand. I like you too, Mr. Qin."

"You sure don’t look like you like me," Mr. Qin said, amused. "Such a big girl, and still on the verge of tears. If your math scores drop later, I won’t let you off the hook."

"But if you do well..."

Seeing Tan You’s head snap up, Mr. Qin dangled a carrot. "If you do well, I’ll take you to the high school division to see Teacher Shi."

Tan You’s eyes lit up instantly. "When? I’m free anytime! Let’s go now!"

Mr. Qin didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. "You might be free, but Teacher Shi isn’t. She’s still on maternity leave. It’ll probably be another month before she comes back to teach."

Tan You was a little disappointed but made a mental note of the timeframe. "I understand. Thank you, Mr. Qin."

"Alright, keep working hard this new semester. Don’t let your grades slip now that you’re in my class."

Tan You was very serious. "I won’t. I won’t let Teacher Shi down."

"You’d better not," Mr. Qin chuckled. "Did you finish the test papers I gave you before the break? Let me see."

"I did all of them," Tan You said, pulling the papers from her bag. "But a few questions were really hard. Could you explain them to me, Mr. Qin?"

Since Mr. Qin wasn’t her homeroom teacher, Tan You didn’t hesitate to sit down beside him. But just as she was working through a couple of problems with his guidance, a girl nearby suddenly let out a cold snort.

Tan You looked up at her. ’Is she unhappy with me?’ The moment she saw the girl’s face, she recognized her. It was Wan Wei, the former top student of their grade. Last semester, Mr. Qin had taught math to her class.

’Now that she knows I’m also Mr. Qin’s student, is she jealous?’

Tan You might have been a bit slow on the uptake, but she could still understand this sort of drama where good students vied for a teacher’s favor. She really wanted to say, ’You’re overthinking it. The teacher I like the most is Teacher Shi, okay?’

After a quick glance at Wan Wei, Tan You decided not to say anything to her. They weren’t even in the same class; there was really nothing to say.

Tan You spent over half an hour with Mr. Qin, finally understanding all the problems she’d been stuck on. As she left the office, she saw Wan Wei waiting in the hallway.

"You won’t get first place every time," Tan You heard her say as she walked past.

Tan You tightened her grip on her backpack straps. "I’ll just have to work harder to hold on to the top spot for a little longer, then."

She had a competitive streak, too. Right now, studying was Han Tingting’s only chance to change her life. Moreover, Tan You wanted to use this opportunity to make up for her own regrets of slacking off in middle school. Naturally, she wanted to keep excelling.

Having her taunt thrown right back at her, Wan Wei was obviously not in a good mood. Tan You didn’t hold any ill will toward Wan Wei, though. ’Back in school, how bad can a good student really be?’

It just meant they would both have to study hard and let their grades do the talking.

When she entered the classroom, she saw Han Cunming wiping her desk, and Tan You couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. This was the old man who, at home, wouldn’t even lift a finger to right a fallen oil bottle. And now he was actually helping her clean?

Han Cunming had his reasons. "You were in the office studying. I’ll help you with this so you’ll have more time to study later. You have to make me proud and work hard to get ahead." 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

Tan You understood. "I know. One day, I’ll make it so no one can look down on me."

"Good! That’s the spirit!" Han Cunming cheered. "Your teacher said evening self-study starts tonight, so I should be heading back. Take good care of yourself, and don’t be afraid to ask your teachers for help with your studies."

"Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of myself." A pang of warmth and sorrow touched Tan You’s heart. Although Han Cunming looked fierce, the old man was genuinely good to her.

"Also, your thick clothes are too heavy. Bring them home to wash. They won’t dry properly if you wash them at the dorm." After thinking for a moment, Han Cunming added a few more reminders before finally leaving the classroom.

Looking at the ten yuan Han Cunming had pressed into her hand, Tan You carefully put the money away. Ten yuan was a considerable amount at this time. Since all her meals were provided at the boarding house and Tan You had already bought her school supplies, there wasn’t much she needed.

She usually only needed to buy some daily necessities, and being frugal herself, Tan You could typically save half of it each week.

Evening self-study didn’t start until later, so the afternoon was free. After eating lunch at the boarding house, Tan You lay on the edge of her bed to preview the new semester’s lessons.

She started with math and physics; she wasn’t worried about the other subjects at all. The other girls gathered together, whispering about the things they had seen and heard over the New Year holiday.

No one spoke to Tan You. Mainly, it was because Han Tingting had now set the standard as a model student, and her roommates didn’t dare disturb her. What if her grades slipped and she ended up blaming them?

Tan You had no interest in topics about visiting relatives. Studying alone like this made her miss Zhou Wen and Cao Xia dearly. Unfortunately, they were third-year middle school students and had started their semester much earlier. They were in class right now.