"Whose cooking is this? Why does it smell so good?"
"I think it's from Cunming's place."
"Cunming's place? Didn't Cunming go to the fields early this morning? He's still busy out there."
"Then it must be Tingting who's cooking. That girl has been helping with the cooking since she was little."
"This is incredible. The smell of this meat…"
"It smells amazing."
Han Cunming smelled the fragrance before he even got home. At first, he didn't think much of it, just wondering why it smelled so good. But as the scent grew stronger and closer, he couldn't help but quicken his pace. 'Is that delicious smell coming from my house?'
When Han Cunming arrived home, Tan You's braised pork was just coming out of the pot. Cheng Wenhui had been strict with her, but she had taught her a great deal about etiquette. For example, you don't start eating until everyone is present, and the younger generation can only begin after the elders pick up their chopsticks.
So, even after placing all the dishes on the table, Tan You didn't pick up her chopsticks. She simply sat at the table, reading a book while waiting for Han Cunming to return. Conquering a subject you don't understand can be addictive, and Tan You was gradually starting to find her math textbook interesting.
Of course, she was still a long way from loving math. The trauma it had left her with was quite deep—not something that could be erased in just a few days.
Han Cunming was also puzzled. He felt that something was off about Han Tingting this time she came home. In the past, she would turn on the TV the moment she got back for a break. She wouldn't go to sleep until midnight and would always sleep in the next morning.
She would never do her homework or even flip through her old textbooks, which were completely blank inside. This time, it was like she'd had a complete personality change, as if she had suddenly fallen in love with studying.
With no time to investigate Han Tingting's strange behavior, Han Cunming washed his hands and sat down to eat. His first bite was, naturally, the visually appealing braised pork. The meat was stewed until it melted in his mouth, yet it wasn't the least bit greasy. Paired with white rice, it was a truly superb culinary experience.
Only after finishing a full bowl of rice did Han Cunming's eating pace slow down. Tan You, holding her own bowl, was also getting hungry. She was a foodie herself. The meals she'd had at others' houses these past few days were all pretty standard, and to be honest, there weren't many times she had eaten to her heart's content.
Besides, Han Tingting wasn't overweight, so Tan You ate freely. When there was still a small bowl's worth left, Tan You put down her chopsticks. 'The old man's usual cooking is just so-so. I'll leave this for him to eat tonight.'
Han Cunming was a typical countryside grandpa; aside from working in the fields, he did nothing at home. You couldn't count on him for things like washing the pot or doing the dishes. So, after lunch, Tan You dutifully went to the well to wash the dishes.
In the time it would have taken to argue about it, the dishes were already clean.
Seeing Tan You washing dishes by the well, Han Cunming, with a toothpick dangling from his mouth, went into the room. He first felt the back of the television; it was completely cool. The toothpick in his mouth twitched. 'Could it be she really spent the day studying at home?'
Unable to figure it out, Han Cunming didn't dwell on it. He casually returned to the living room. This time, he settled comfortably into the recliner, enjoying a rare afternoon nap.
When Tan You returned to the main hall, she didn't speak to Han Cunming either. She was busy. Who had the energy for small talk? She was busy trying to raise Han Tingting's grades, busy conquering the two great fortresses of math and physics.
To her now, every minute was precious, and she naturally couldn't bear to waste any of it.
Han Cunming, dozing in his recliner, cracked open an eye. He saw his granddaughter, who had always been at the bottom of her class, hunched over the dining table in the living room, pondering a problem in front of her.
He smiled faintly, closed his eyes again, and officially began his afternoon nap.
Around three in the afternoon, Tan You packed up the textbooks she had brought home and prepared to head back to school. If she went now, she could take a shower, wash her clothes, and still be in time for dinner.
Her movements were brisk as she calculated her plan. 'By now, the monthly exam papers should be graded. I wonder what score I'll get this time.'
Han Cunming came out of his room and handed Tan You ten yuan. "Is this enough?"
Tan You thought for a moment before asking tentatively, "Could you give me ten more? I need to buy some daily necessities."
Han Cunming took the ten-yuan bill from her hand. When he came back out, he handed her twenty yuan. Tan You clutched the banknote tightly and said, almost like a promise, "I won't waste it."
Han Cunming waved his hand. "It's yours now that I've given it to you. Hurry up and get to school."
Tan You smiled. "Okay, I'm leaving now."
She pushed her bicycle out the door, but she hadn't ridden far before someone caught up to her from behind. It was, of course, Yang Shun, whom she had seen that morning. He looked at her unhappily. "Why did you leave without waiting for me?"
Tan You stared at him. "You didn't wait for me when you came back yesterday, either."
Han Tingting might have liked Yang Shun in the past, but Tan You did not. Perhaps she just wasn't wired that way; the so-called feelings of a young girl simply didn't exist for Tan You.
After saying that, Tan You ignored him and just pedaled ahead with her head down. As she rode, she recited math formulas and physics definitions. She had never even been this diligent when she was a student herself.
Yang Shun had been snubbed by Tan You that morning, and now she was ignoring him again. How could he stand it? Teenage boys at this age are especially concerned with their pride. Since Tan You had made it clear she didn't want to travel with him, Yang Shun certainly wasn't going to go out of his way to stick around.
So, with a heavy huff, he pedaled his bicycle furiously, quickly leaving Tan You behind.
Tan You watched his retreating back. "How weird."
She had seen all of Han Tingting's memories, but seeing them and experiencing things firsthand were two different matters. Besides, Tan You herself was a bit slow on the uptake. Things that others might understand in an instant would take her a long time to fully comprehend.
As a result, to others, Tan You appeared somewhat dense. But that wasn't a big problem, at least not in her own opinion.
After arriving at her dorm, Tan You busied herself with showering and doing laundry. On the way, she had also bought two new sets of underwear and other toiletries like a toothbrush.
"Tingting, isn't that new underwear you just bought? Why are you washing it?" a girl asked suddenly as Tan You was doing her laundry.
Tan You paused. She had simply seen in Han Tingting's memories that the girl always washed new clothes before wearing them, so she had subconsciously done the same.
"I heard that you shouldn't wear new clothes right away. You should wash them first. Who knows how much dust they collected during production?"
Tan You came up with an excuse. It was a reason everyone would know later on, but people at this time didn't think that way.
"You have a point. My mom just bought me a new jacket today, so I'll wash it too," the girl said, her tone laced with a hint of showing off. Unfortunately for her, it was a case of casting pearls before swine.