Chapter 7: Tingting 5

“Whose cooking is that? Why does it smell so good?”

“It seems to be from Cunming’s place.”

“Cunming’s place? Didn’t Cunming head out to the fields ages ago? He’s still busy working out there right now.”

“Then it must be Tingting who cooked it. That girl has been helping with the fire and cooking since she was little.”

“This is incredible, the smell of this meat…”

“It smells so good.”

Han Cunming smelled the aroma before he even reached home. At first, he didn’t think much of it, just wondering why it smelled so good. But as the scent grew stronger, he couldn’t help but quicken his pace. It seemed like this fragrance was drifting out from his own house?

When Han Cunming arrived home, Tan You’s braised pork had just finished cooking. Cheng Wenhui had been strict with her, but she had taught her many manners. For instance, one shouldn’t touch their chopsticks until everyone was seated, and the elders should start eating before the younger ones.

Therefore, after Tan You placed all the dishes on the table, she didn’t touch her chopsticks, simply sitting by the table reading a book while waiting for Han Cunming to return. Conquering knowledge points she didn’t understand was clearly addictive; Tan You was gradually finding interest in reading her math textbook.

Of course, she was still far from falling in love with math, as the shadow it had cast over her was quite deep—how could that be erased in just a few short days?

Han Cunming was also puzzled; he felt that Han Tingting was acting very strange this time she came home. In the past, she would turn on the TV the moment she got back from break. She wouldn’t go to sleep until midnight, and she would even sleep in the next morning.

She certainly wouldn’t do homework or flip through her old textbooks; the pages used to be completely blank. This time, it was as if she had turned over a new leaf, seemingly falling in love with studying all of a sudden.

Before he could probe into the abnormality of Han Tingting’s return, Han Cunming washed his hands and sat down to eat. The first bite was naturally the braised pork, which looked excellent. The pork was so tender it melted in his mouth, yet it didn’t feel greasy at all. Paired with white rice, it was truly a superb culinary delight.

After finishing a bowl of rice, Han Cunming’s eating pace slowed down. Tan You, holding her own bowl, felt a bit greedy too. She loved good food, and the meals she’d had at other people’s houses these past few days had been quite plain; honestly, there hadn’t been many times she’d truly enjoyed a meal.

Besides, Han Tingting herself wasn’t fat, so Tan You ate to her heart’s content. When there was only a small bowl left, Tan You stopped using her chopsticks. The old man’s cooking was usually just average, so she would leave the rest for him to eat in the evening.

Han Cunming was a very typical rural grandfather; apart from working in the fields, he didn’t do anything at home. There was no counting on him to wash pots or dishes. Therefore, after lunch, Tan You consciously went to the well to wash the dishes.

In the time it would take to argue about it, the dishes would already be washed.

Watching Tan You wash dishes by the well, Han Cunming walked into the room with a toothpick in his mouth. He first touched the back of the television; it was ice cold. The toothpick in Han Cunming’s mouth twitched. Could it be that she really spent the day studying at home?

Unable to figure it out, Han Cunming didn’t dwell on it and returned to the living room, feeling at ease. This time, he lay down on the recliner quite comfortably, enjoying this rare afternoon nap.

When Tan You returned to the main room, she didn’t speak to Han Cunming. She was busy; how could she have the heart to chat about this or that? She was busy getting Han Tingting’s grades up, busy conquering the two major hurdles of math and physics.

Every minute was precious to her now, and she naturally couldn’t bear to waste any of it.

Han Cunming, dozing on the recliner, opened one eye slightly and saw his granddaughter, who usually trailed at the bottom of the class, hunched over the dining table, deep in thought over the problems in front of her.

He smiled slightly, closed his eyes again, and officially began his afternoon nap.

Around three in the afternoon, Tan You packed up the textbooks she had brought back. She was preparing to head to school. If she went now, she could take a shower and wash her clothes just in time for dinner.

Calculating this, Tan You moved with agility. Counting the time, the monthly exam papers should be graded by now; she wondered what kind of score she would get this time.

Han Cunming came out from his room and handed Tan You ten yuan. “Is this enough?”

Tan You thought for a moment and tentatively asked, “Give me another ten yuan; I need to buy daily necessities.”

Han Cunming took the ten-yuan note back from her hand, and when he came back out, he handed Tan You twenty yuan. Tan You gripped the banknote tightly and promised, “I won’t spend it recklessly.”

Han Cunming waved his hand. “Once I’ve given it to you, it’s yours. Hurry off to school.”

Tan You smiled. “Okay, I’m leaving now.”

She pushed her bicycle out the door, but she hadn’t ridden far when someone chased after her from behind. It was naturally Yang Shun, whom she had seen in the morning. Yang Shun looked at her with displeasure. “Why didn’t you wait for me before leaving?”

Tan You stared at him. “You didn’t wait for me when you came back yesterday.”

Han Tingting might have liked Yang Shun once, but Tan You did not. Perhaps she lacked that particular nerve; the so-called girlish sentiment simply didn’t exist for Tan You.

After saying that, Tan You ignored him and just kept her head down, pedaling forward. While riding, Tan You was reciting those math formulas and physics definitions; she hadn’t even been this diligent when she was a student herself.

Having been snubbed by Tan You in the morning, and now being ignored again, could Yang Shun take it? At this age, boys were most concerned with their pride. Since Tan You had made it clear she wasn’t going with him, Yang Shun wouldn’t take the initiative to approach her again.

Therefore, he let out a heavy huff, pedaled his bicycle hard, and soon left Tan You behind.

Tan You looked at Yang Shun’s retreating back. “How inexplicable.”

She had read all of Han Tingting’s memories, but reading them and experiencing them firsthand were two different things. Moreover, Tan You herself was a bit slow; things that others might understand immediately took her a long time to fully grasp.

So, in the eyes of others, Tan You appeared a bit dull. But this wasn’t a big problem; at least, Tan You didn’t think so.

Upon arriving at the boarding facility, Tan You was busy taking a shower and washing her clothes. Of course, on the way, Tan You had picked up two sets of undergarments and also bought a toothbrush and other toiletries.

“Tingting, aren’t these new undergarments? Why are you washing them?” a girl suddenly asked while Tan You was doing laundry.

Tan You paused. She had simply seen that every time Han Tingting got new clothes, she would wash them first, so she had subconsciously followed suit.

“I heard people say that you shouldn’t be in a hurry to wear new clothes; you should wash them once first. Who knows how much dust these clothes picked up during production?”

Tan You found an excuse; people at this time didn’t think like that, which would become common knowledge later on.

“You’re right. My mom bought me a new jacket today, so I’ll wash it too,” the girl said with a hint of showing off. Unfortunately, it was like winking at a blind person.

Thank you to my friends for the bookmarks, and thank you for the recommendation votes. Thank you all!

(End of chapter)