Tan Deming smiled. "Well, thank you so much. Let me treat you to lunch. It’s almost time to eat anyway."

Old Tang waved a hand. "No need, we already have plans. We’ll see each other again if we get the chance."

Worried that Tan Deming would insist on treating them, Old Tang got up to leave, with Old Wei right behind him. Tan Deming overheard them talking, "There’s a pretty good story in this issue, the one right at the beginning. The writing is solid, and the premise is very original..."

Tan Deming’s graying eyebrows rose slightly. He walked over to the magazine, flipped through it casually, and saw that the first story was Tan You’s. He smiled, said nothing, and returned to sit down across from her.

Even though the bookstore had ordered extra copies in advance, by mid-afternoon, the entire run of this issue was sold out. When the store manager tried to place a rush order, the reply was that they had to wait for the printing factory to produce more; they wouldn’t have stock until tomorrow at the earliest.

Tan Deming was beaming. "It’s selling really well, aren’t you happy?"

"Of course I’m happy," Tan You said, the corners of her lips turning up slightly. "Come on, shall we head back?"

"Let’s go back. I wonder what your grandma ate for lunch today. Should we buy her something to take home?" Tan Deming was in a good mood, and his thoughts had turned to Wang Hunv, who was home alone.

’Grandpa really does care about Grandma,’ Tan You thought. ’It makes sense, after all the years they’ve spent together.’

"Let’s get your grandma something to eat; she loves her food." When it came to understanding Wang Hunv, Tan Deming certainly did. Her grandma was easy to please—a little tasty food could make her happy for a long time.

Tan You glanced at the steel-band watch on Tan Deming’s wrist. "When I make money in the future, I’ll buy you a nice watch. You’ve been wearing this one for a long time."

Tan Deming chuckled. "Alright, I want a good one. One that costs this much."

As he spoke, he made a "one" gesture with his finger. Tan You said, "One hundred thousand? Okay, I’ll work hard to earn the money and buy it for you."

Tan Deming almost choked on his own saliva. "I meant one thousand, and you say a hundred thousand! You just say whatever comes to mind, don’t you? A hundred thousand for a watch? What kind of watch is that, is it inlaid with gold?"

’I’ve seen antique watches worth tens of millions,’ Tan You thought. ’A hundred-thousand-yuan watch is honestly just a drop in the bucket.’ But in Tan Deming’s eyes, that was already a huge sum of money.

"Those are completely handmade; they’re very rare," Tan You said, frowning. ’Speaking of which, maybe I could lean toward engineering? I’m pretty good with my hands.’

Tan Deming never discouraged Tan You. "Okay, but not right now. We don’t have that kind of money at the moment. How about this..."

He thought for a moment before continuing, "When your savings hit eight figures, then you can buy me a watch like that."

Tan You felt a pang in her heart. "Okay. I’ll work hard and try to get my savings to eight figures as soon as possible."

The two of them were speaking very quietly, so no one heard them. In fact, even if someone had, it wouldn’t have mattered. They would have just thought the grandfather and granddaughter were really good at bragging.

By evening, Tan Deming and Tan You finally got home. Seeing the array of braised dishes Tan Deming brought back—pork knuckle, roast duck, salt-water goose, and more—Wang Hunv’s eyes crinkled with laughter.

Her usually harsh, triangular eyes now looked much kinder.

Wang Hunv eagerly grabbed a duck leg, but then, after a thought, handed it to Tan You. "You eat first."

Tan You raised an eyebrow slightly but didn’t refuse. "Okay, thanks, Grandma."

Wang Hunv wasn’t overthinking it. "You earn the most in our family, and you’ll be the one in charge from now on. So the first bite is definitely yours. No one can go before you."

’The old lady isn’t without her merits,’ Tan You thought. ’She’s quite perceptive, knows whose coattails to ride.’

After watching Tan You take a bite of the duck leg, Wang Hunv couldn’t wait any longer. Only after taking a couple of bites from every dish did she finally think to ask about anything else. "So, how did it go?"

Tan Deming said, "Extremely well. Around two in the afternoon, the bookstore’s stock was sold out. I wasn’t convinced, so I went to several newsstands, and they were all sold out too. That’s what delayed us this afternoon; otherwise, we would have been back two hours earlier."

Wang Hunv didn’t care about the other details. "Does this mean there’s money?"

Tan Deming nodded. "It should..."

His words were cut off by the ringing of the phone. Tan You wiped her hands. "I’ll go get it."

Wang Hunv tossed aside the half-eaten goose leg. "I’ll go listen too."

Don’t be fooled by the old lady’s small stature; she caught up to Tan You in just a few steps. While Tan You was on the phone, she leaned in close to the receiver, looking curious even though she couldn’t understand what the person on the other end was saying.

Tan Deming shook his head with a helpless laugh. He wasn’t going to listen in; his eldest granddaughter would tell him everything anyway.

On the other end of the line, Editor Chen’s voice was full of excitement. "This issue’s sales are incredible! The printing factory is working overtime, and the order calls are non-stop."

"Also, we’ve had readers calling the publishing house to ask about the upcoming plot..."

He had only just hinted at it, but Tan You understood what he meant. He was afraid she would miss her deadline.

"The middle third was mailed out today. If all goes well, it should arrive tomorrow." 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

’Tan You might be young, but she’s pretty sharp,’ Editor Chen thought. He chuckled. "For such an important manuscript, you could have just called me. I would have come to pick it up in person! What if it got lost in the mail or something..."

"How about this: when the next part of the manuscript is ready, just let me know, and I’ll come get it myself."

Tan You asked, "Is all that formality really necessary?"

"It is," Editor Chen said decisively. "You’re a rising star now. Everyone is buying the magazine for *Tianjiao*. Of course we have to treat such an important manuscript with the utmost care."

Tan You couldn’t argue with him. "Alright. I’ll call you when the manuscript is ready, as long as you don’t mind the trouble of running around."

"Hah, how can you call making money ’trouble’?" Editor Chen laughed. "Besides, it’s just a little legwork. Not tiring at all."

"Oh, right. As per your mother’s request, I also sent a copy of the magazine to her."

"Also, once this month’s sales figures are out, the publishing house will have your share of the profits. From the looks of it, the amount should be quite substantial."

Tan You lowered her gaze slightly. "Mm, thank you for your trouble."

After a bit more miscellaneous chatter, Editor Chen reluctantly hung up. ’Tan You is great in every way,’ he thought, ’it’s just that she’s too young and doesn’t have an ID card yet, which does make things a bit inconvenient.’

「C City」

For the first time in ages, Cheng Wenhui didn’t go to the construction site with Tan Lin today. Instead, she took Tan Yue on a tour of various bookstores and newsstands. Her main goal was to see what the sales volume for this issue of the magazine would be. So far, it looked very good; at the very least, most of the places they visited were basically sold out.

Tan Lin’s face lit up. "Looks like it’s selling really well! Money’s coming in."

Cheng Wenhui reminded him, "Even if money comes in, it has to be sent to your dad."

Tan Lin wasn’t angry at all. "I know. She’s my daughter. It’s not like she’d just stand by and watch me live in poverty, right? I’m not scheming for her money."

Cheng Wenhui said, "As long as you’re truly fine with it, that’s what matters. I estimate it won’t be a small sum."