The System suddenly spoke. "Host, this is wrong. Parents have a duty to raise their children. How can they put a price on it?"
Tan You's spirits lifted a bit. "They've always said that. I'm used to it."
It was the first time someone had spoken up for her. Tan You's fondness for the System shot straight up.
She had no intention of arguing with Tan Lin; after all, he had inflicted a great deal of psychological trauma on her. She had been beaten often as a child and had gradually figured out how to get along with Tan Lin: never contradict him.
Whatever he said, she just let him say it. As for whether she agreed, 'could Tan Lin possibly control what she thought?'
Perhaps only Tan Yue was truly enjoying the meal. She was only seven, after all, and didn't understand much of what the adults were saying. Of course, she was also very close to Tan You and stayed right by her side.
After breakfast, Cheng Wenhui and Tan Lin packed their things, preparing to return to C State for work. The middle school entrance exam results had been released yesterday, and they had rushed back from C State specifically for the matter of Tan You's high school enrollment.
Before encountering the System, Tan You hadn't fully grasped the importance of education. But after seeing the life of the first client, she suddenly understood just how crucial studying was for a child from a poor family.
The Tan family was not well-off, so Cheng Wenhui and Tan Lin didn't have much luggage. They stuffed the clothes Tan You had washed that morning directly into a plastic bag, planning to hang them out to dry again once they reached C State.
As for the little girl, Tan Yue, knowing that Tan You wouldn't be going with them to C State this summer vacation, she couldn't bear to part with her. But she was no match for her parents. In the end, a teary-eyed Tan Yue left with Tan Lin and his wife.
As soon as her parents and sister left, Tan You immediately went to the kitchen. After scrubbing the pot and washing the dishes, she boiled a large pot of hot water. She had been kneeling since last night and felt she was starting to smell.
While Tan You was bathing, her grandmother didn't say anything. The family owned a few acres of land, and after breakfast, the old woman had put on a straw hat and gone to the rice paddies. Tan Deming's health was poor, so her grandmother farmed all the family's land herself. It was truly backbreaking work.
When Tan You came out carrying her dirty clothes, she saw more dirty clothes by the well—they belonged to her grandparents. As for her grandfather, Tan Deming, he was currently sitting under the shade of a tree, smoking, looking quite content.
Finally done washing and hanging the clothes, Tan You eagerly returned to her room. Her most pressing need now was to earn energy. With energy, she could enter the lottery to get Intelligence Value.
God knows how devastated Tan You felt inside every time someone said she just didn't have a knack for the sciences.
Tan You went back to the west room. Tan Deming only lifted an eyelid and didn't ask her to do any work. He knew she had knelt all night, so of course, he had no objection to her going back to her room to sleep.
After lying down on the bed, Tan You touched the halo on her index finger. "System, are you there?"
"I am. Host, do you confirm departure?" a voice sounded, and the milky-white ball of light appeared before Tan You once again.
"I confirm," Tan You clenched her fists. It was her first time going to a strange place alone and her first time doing a mission, so of course, she was nervous.
But the thought that she could earn energy by working hard and become smart in the future filled Tan You with endless courage.
Sensing Tan You's thoughts, the little system shrank imperceptibly. 'If the host comes back after completing the first mission and finds out I lied to her, will she get even with me?'
'Oh well, I'll just hide it for as long as I can. I'll deal with it when the host gets back.' Holding onto this thought of delaying the inevitable, a halo of light suddenly appeared around the system. "Beginning teleportation... Host, please be careful!"
Tan You nodded seriously. "I will! I'll definitely make it back alive!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Tan You closed her eyes on the bed. Her soul had already been taken by the System to the mission world. Her first mission had officially begun.
Perhaps because it was her first mission, or perhaps because Tan You was lucky, it was the middle of the night when she arrived in this world. Everyone was asleep. Tan You wasn't in a hurry to sleep; instead, she began to go through the original owner's, Han Tingting's, memories.
She had an excellent memory and could basically remember anyone she had seen or any voice she had heard. So, with just a moment of recollection, she knew she had arrived when Han Tingting was fifteen years old.
'Fifteen years old,' Tan You thought silently. 'Things aren't that bad yet.' At least Han Tingting hadn't been pressured to drop out, and she could still continue her studies.
But even though she hadn't been forced out yet, she wasn't far from dropping out of school.
Although there was nine-year compulsory education, not every student in the countryside finished middle school. It was fine if you had a good teacher, but if you encountered a teacher who only cared about grades, things could be tough.
This was the case for Han Tingting. She had a sensitive personality to begin with. Because of her poor grades, she wasn't valued by her teacher. Compounded by the influence of her family environment, Han Tingting's grades were almost always at the bottom of the class.
So, during the first semester of her second year of middle school, Han Tingting's homeroom teacher sought out her mother. The implication was clear: Han Tingting should stop studying. With grades like hers, she wouldn't amount to anything even if she continued her education.
Regulations got stricter later on, but they weren't so rigid back then. There were always people willing to play the villain; to boost the school's promotion rate, they would first persuade underperforming students to drop out.
And Han Tingting was one of them.
What could a fifteen-year-old girl do after being pressured to drop out? No factory would even hire her. One could easily imagine what the rest of Han Tingting's life would be like.
Recalling Han Tingting's life, Tan You touched her chest. Compared to Han Tingting, she suddenly felt quite lucky. Although her parents always hurt her with their words, at least they valued education and let her continue her studies.
Pushing thoughts of her parents aside, Tan You gradually formed a plan. The most important thing now was to prevent Han Tingting from being forced to drop out. To do that, she first had to raise Han Tingting's grades.
'Second-year middle school material,' Tan You pursed her lips. 'I just took the entrance exams, after all. If I go back to second year, I should be able to handle it, right?' With these thoughts, Tan You rolled over and fell asleep.
Before six in the morning, rustling sounds could be heard all around. Tan You sat up, clutching the blanket. She was surrounded by roommates. There were many off-campus boarding houses like this, and Tan You was staying in one run out of a private home.
The school dormitories were limited, after all, and couldn't house so many students. Thus, these off-campus boarding houses came into being. Of course, they were simple to set up.
Just tidy up the house, free up a few rooms, and arrange some beds, and you had a boarding house. There was no need for a business license or to pay taxes, and the income each semester was quite substantial.