When the Side Character Gets a System and Travels through Difference Worlds-Chapter 30: Tingting 28

Yang Kun was floored. He hadn’t even made his move yet, and he was already reeling from the one-two punch delivered by his own parents.

"Wait, I’m your real son, aren’t I? How can you have so little faith in me?" Yang Kun protested, his face flushing. It was human nature to be rebellious; the more you rejected him, the more he wanted to press forward.

Director Yang said, "I really don’t. You don’t work as hard as she does, nor are you as serious. You don’t even have a clear direction in life yet. If I were to encourage this, wouldn’t I just be pushing her into a pit of fire?"

"She’s already had it hard enough."

Yang Kun hadn’t been idle at the factory these past few days; he had found out every last detail about Han Tingting’s family situation. It broke his heart. ’How could parents like that even exist? Just giving birth to a child but not raising her?’

Cui He added, "I like that girl too. If you truly have feelings for her, then don’t go and disturb her so casually. Don’t be a stumbling block while she’s trying to grow. Instead, you should focus on your own growth so that one day you can be the one to shelter her from the wind and rain."

Yang Kun fell silent. Who would willingly take on such a burden? His parents had always nagged him to be diligent and ambitious, but he’d never taken it to heart. Now, though, he found himself thinking, ’If I have nothing to offer, why would a good girl ever give me a second glance?’

Of course, Tan You knew nothing about this conversation happening in the Yang family’s home. As for Yang Kun not showing up at the factory for a few days, Tan You didn’t give it a second thought. In her eyes, Yang Kun was just a model, not a man.

In early August, Tan You finally finished preparing gifts for all her teachers. She took a day off and, using the addresses the principal had provided, delivered them door-to-door.

After a full day of this, Tan You had received a heap of praise. The only thing she regretted was that when she went to Teacher Shi’s house, she wasn’t home; she had gone out to visit friends and family.

Pushing this sliver of disappointment to the back of her mind, Tan You cheered herself up. ’I’ll be able to see Teacher Shi again once school starts.’

Tan You’s summer job lasted until the day before school started. Over the two-month stint, Tan You learned a lot. Of course, her biggest gain was becoming Master Hu’s student and learning many pattern-making and garment-construction techniques from him.

Director Yang had promised to reward Tan You handsomely, and he was not stingy in the slightest. In the end, Tan You went home with a huge sum of twenty thousand. Truthfully, this amount wasn’t much compared to the factory’s sales figures, but Tan You was already more than satisfied.

Han Cunming was also happy. "That’s quite a lot. You’re still a student, and they also gave you the space to learn. If you hadn’t gone to work at the clothing factory, would you have ever met Master Hu?"

Tan You nodded. "I know. You can’t be too greedy."

This was something Cheng Wenhui had always taught her. Even though her parents were in another world, Tan You still held fast to the values Cheng Wenhui had instilled in her.

Han Cunming was naturally pleased that his granddaughter wasn’t greedy. He lifted his chin. "You start school tomorrow. I went to town yesterday and bought you a suitcase. Don’t worry, I picked a black one, not one of those flashy, colorful ones."

Tan You pursed her lips. "Mm, Grandpa, I actually think other colors are very nice now, too."

Han Cunming smiled. "As long as you think they’re nice. A young girl like you, always wearing black, white, and gray. You should wear some brighter colors, too."

Tan You understood what he meant. "I’ll go to the factory and buy some fabric in other colors when I come back for my monthly break."

That was one of the perks of working at the clothing factory. Tan You had gotten a lot of fabric at cost. She had even set up a special shelf on one side of her room just for the various bolts of cloth.

Besides the classic black, white, and gray, the shelf now held many other colors. Lavender, pale yellow, burgundy, and more. Now, in Tan You’s eyes, all of these colors were beautiful.

Because the school provided room and board, Tan You could no longer stay at the off-campus boarding house. So, before heading to register, Tan You made a special trip to the Fang family’s place to give them a small gift.

Having now "unlocked" the sewing skill, Tan You had become obsessed with making clothes for people. The gifts she brought were just that: a complete outfit for the landlady and another for her husband.

As soon as she heard Tan You had made them herself, the landlady’s face blossomed into a smile. "Tingting, you’re so skilled! This dress is gorgeous."

Tan You also liked this landlady, who looked stern but was actually soft-hearted. "I already washed and ironed the clothes at home. Would you like to try it on?"

"Then I’ll go try it on. I’ve never seen such a beautiful dress before."

While Han Tingting was talking with the landlady and her husband, Han Cunming sat to the side, watching. Tan You’s suitcase was by his feet. He was happy to see Tan You interacting with others; there was always something to be learned from it.

After chatting with the landlady for a little while longer, it was time to go register, so Tan You reluctantly took her leave.

The landlady held her hand. "You’ll just be at school. We can still see each other whenever we want in the future, so what’s there to be sad about? If you miss me, just come over for a bit. Auntie will always be home."

"At school, try to spend more time with your teachers and classmates. You’re great in every way, you’re just too much of a loner."

The landlady went on, but Tan You didn’t find it annoying in the least. ’Who else would care enough to nag you like this?’ she thought. ’It’s nothing but pure kindness. And kindness from others is something to be cherished.’

Tan You’s registration went very smoothly. As soon as she and Han Cunming entered the school gates, they were led away by the high school division’s dean of students. The rest of the enrollment process was unbelievably smooth. Because she didn’t have to pay any fees, Tan You was actually the first student to complete all the procedures.

It was time for Han Cunming to head back. He insisted on giving Tan You some money, and she didn’t refuse. She was sensible and wouldn’t spend it recklessly, which was why Han Cunming felt confident giving her pocket money.

After sitting down in the classroom, Tan You scanned her surroundings. She recognized a few familiar faces, but they were all in other classes. ’From my village, is it just Yang Shun in my class?’

She never expected to be in the same class as Yang Shun. ’Speaking of which,’ she mused, ’I wonder if his mom will be nagging him to study hard every day now? What did he even score on the high school entrance exam, anyway?’ It was only then that Tan You realized she hadn’t paid any attention to the exam scores of the other students from her village.

The System, which hadn’t popped up in a long time, appeared. "Yang Shun scored 589. Han Wei scored 620 and is at No. 4 Middle School. Han Peng scored 633 and is also at No. 4 Middle School."

Tan You nodded. "Oh, you even know all this? You’re amazing."

System: "Of course. The System is the most amazing of all!"

Tan You smiled. She always felt this System was like a little child. But then, she herself was only a sixteen-year-old kid, and her understanding of the world was truly far too limited.

She was in a very good mood right now. She had seen Teacher Shi in the office, and Teacher Shi was even wearing the dress she had made for her. That alone was enough to make Tan You’s eyes curve into a smile.

The first-year high school students started a week early for mandatory military training. Tan You, who was now a shade darker, didn’t care about that at all. She didn’t place much importance on her appearance or figure; right now, the most important thing to her was her studies.