Chapter 45: Changes (Part II)

Tan You didn't care what her grandmother thought and sat in front of the sewing machine all afternoon. After making two new outfits for herself, she stopped; doing such delicate work for a long time made her eyes very tired.

For the next two days, Tan You focused entirely on altering clothes. Not just her own, but also Tan Deming's; now the old man looked particularly refreshed in a simple set of short sleeves and shorts.

Her grandmother watched coldly from the sidelines until Tan You asked Tan Deming to return the sewing machine, at which point Wang Hunu brought a pile of fabric in front of Tan You. There were also many clothes included, all of which had been produced by her brother's former daughter-in-law's garment factory.

"Use these. Make a few nice pieces. You'll be going to school soon, and you can't be wearing rags."

Tan You glanced at the pile of fabric, feeling a sense of surprise. She hadn't expected a stingy person like her grandmother to actually be willing to part with something one day. For someone with a personality like hers, who hid everything away, to actually take the initiative to bring things out?

However, since she had brought them out, Tan You was certainly not going to let the opportunity pass. She picked through the pile and quickly selected several pieces of floral fabric in subtle, clean colors.

Her gaze swept over Wang Hunu; Tan You already knew all her measurements, a skill she had honed during her previous life as Han Tingting.

"I'll make two outfits for you first."

As a way of returning the favor, it was only right to make two outfits for her grandmother after taking her fabric. Wang Hunu smiled, clearly very satisfied with Tan You's tact.

To be honest, if there was fabric available, Tan You really didn't want to keep wearing old clothes. Who wouldn't want to wear new ones?

With these thoughts in mind, Tan You was almost sewing so fast she could have sparked the sewing machine. Even if Cheng Wenhui couldn't think of buying her new clothes, Tan You had her own ways; life would always go on.

Once everyone in the family was wearing new clothes, Tan You began to make use of the wardrobe her grandmother had been hoarding.

Her grandmother was a strange person; she wanted everything she saw, even hoarding fabrics and clothes that didn't suit her. Especially since her brother's former daughter-in-law had once run a garment factory in Z Province, there was an enormous amount of clothing and fabric.

Because these clothes had never been worn, they had been kept in storage since they were brought back, so they still looked quite new. However, in Tan You's eyes, the styles were truly outdated, so they would indeed require major alterations to be worn in public.

Lately, Tan You had been struggling with a purple wool suit. She thought the purple was beautiful—not a garish purple, but a very elegant shade. It would make a fine coat if made for Cheng Wenhui.

"I really am making clothes for my mom. Grandma, you're not going to feel bad about it, are you?" As she began to unpick the seams, Tan You made sure to confirm. Because the relationship between her mother, Cheng Wenhui, and her grandmother was truly poor, stemming from the fact that her mother had given birth to two daughters.

"Go ahead, go ahead. Just make them look good." Wang Hunu rolled her eyes. Although she couldn't get along with her daughter-in-law, her relationship with Tan You was currently decent, so she couldn't bring herself to object to Tan You making clothes for her mother.

Tan You pursed her lips and smiled. She used to think her grandmother was harsh and unreasonable, but now it seemed that as long as one knew which buttons to push, they could get along.

She stopped talking and quickly disassembled the entire suit.

Making a wool coat was indeed time-consuming, and Tan You didn't spend all day sewing. It was merely a hobby; she would never make it a profession, as she still planned to visit those prestigious universities in the future.

Perhaps because Tan You kept her studies and sewing strictly separate, Tan Deming never mentioned these things to Cheng Wenhui or Tan Lin. When they called home, Tan Deming only said that Tan You was doing well, was very obedient at home, studied hard, and so on.

During this period, Tan You didn't speak to Cheng Wenhui or the others, and they didn't find anything unusual; they had long since grown used to their eldest daughter's taciturn nature.

Soon, July 5th arrived, marking two weeks since Tan You had completed her first task. During these two weeks, Tan You hadn't gone out to perform any tasks once; instead, she had focused all her energy on three things.

First was studying, second was making clothes, and third was exercise. Compared to two weeks ago, Tan You's weight didn't seem to have dropped much, but her physique looked slimmer.

The most noticeable change was her face, which was as white and smooth as cold jade, appearing almost luminous. The acne that had once ravaged her face had completely vanished, leaving her complexion as smooth as a peeled egg.

People say that fairness hides a hundred flaws, but Tan You didn't feel much of anything about it. She didn't place much importance on her face and didn't pay much attention to the changes in her appearance; honestly, she felt the rewards drawn from the system were quite useless.

Perhaps because she was naturally quiet and stayed indoors, Tan You had not gone out once since her return, so not many people in the village noticed her changes.

Tan You also enjoyed the peace. She had no friends in the village, and even with her childhood friends, she had little contact. Moreover, Tan You enjoyed the state of being alone, doing her own thing.

After returning control of her body to Han Tingting, Tan You spent ninety percent of her time alone. She had long since grown used to this solitude; in fact, she even enjoyed it.

If someone were to suddenly appear by her side, she would instead feel that they were disturbing her peace.

"Am I really returning the sewing machine?" At noon that day, Tan Deming confirmed with Tan You one last time.

"Mm, return it to them. I've used it enough." Tan You was looking at a high school mathematics book, occasionally lowering her head to write a few lines of formulas on scrap paper.

Her grandfather, Tan Deming, was also a man of few words, but he had a wide social circle and could get along anywhere. Knowing that Tan You wanted high school books, her grandfather went out and managed to scrape together a complete set from tenth to twelfth grade, including many exam papers and workbooks.

"Alright. This is just a hobby after all; it's best if you know to focus on your studies." After receiving Tan You's confirmation, Tan Deming loaded the sewing machine onto the back of the electric tricycle.

"I know. I'm still thinking about getting into a good university in the future. Mom has been thinking about it her whole life because she didn't get into college; I have to fulfill her dream." Tan You didn't even look up. Cheng Wenhui placed great importance on university, and she had been urging Tan You to study hard since she was a small child.

Tan Deming's eyes crinkled with a smile: "Good! If you get into university, you'll be the first college student in our family. In the old days, that would have been a grand event that brought glory to the family name."

Tan You put down her book and spoke with a serious tone: "That day will come."

"Grandpa, where did you get these books? Many of the workbooks are empty." Having received so many books, Tan You was naturally happy, but seeing the blank pages in the textbooks and workbooks made her feel as if she were looking at Han Tingting's old books.