Tan You suddenly smiled. "You don’t know my dad at all. He only cares about money. Once he knows what’s done is done, believe it or not, not only will he not be angry, he’ll turn right around and start sucking up to me."

"Just look at the way he acts around Second Grandpa, and you’ll get it."

Cheng Wenhui paused for a moment, then smiled too. "You’re right, he only cares about money. But even though your dad’s like that, he never spends money recklessly. He’s especially frugal."

"I get it. I guess he has some good qualities," Tan You said. She understood that nobody’s perfect. No matter how bad a person was, they always had some virtues; it’s just that Tan Lin’s flaws were especially numerous.

Besides, she didn’t spend much time with Tan Lin, so there was no question of her having to tolerate him.

Tan Yue had been listening from the side. Blinking, she asked, "Sis, did you make money?"

"Mhm, the money will be here tomorrow. Don’t say anything about it to our dad today." Tan You looked down at her. She had a lot of faith in Tan Yue.

Tan Yue: "Okay, I don’t know anything. I want ice cream."

Tan You chuckled and pulled out a ten-yuan bill for her. "I’ll buy you some in a bit. You know what to say when we get back, right?"

Tan Yue tilted her head, looking from Tan You to Tan Deming. "I know. Grandpa bought it for me. I can’t let Dad know my sister has money."

Tan You ruffled her hair. "That’s what you say when we get back. After tomorrow, it doesn’t matter if our dad finds out, but not today."

Seeing Tan You hand over the money, Cheng Wenhui’s eyelid twitched. "Where did you get that money? Did your grandpa give it to you?"

Tan Deming shook his head. "I rarely give her money. This is from a manuscript she submitted. It’s not much, just a few hundred yuan."

Cheng Wenhui shook her head. She suddenly felt that Tan You had been quietly growing up in ways she hadn’t known, and only now was she getting a sense of reality. Of course, there was also a sense of disconnect.

The four of them synchronized their stories and then walked briskly toward the rented apartment. Cheng Wenhui looked at Tan Deming and suddenly suggested, "There’s a guesthouse nearby. Should we have your grandpa stay there tonight?"

"Let’s go buy some groceries first. It’s rare for Dad to visit, so we should make him something nice."

Tan You let her mom handle the arrangements. She trusted that Cheng Wenhui knew her priorities. As long as what was done was done, no matter how much of a fuss Tan Lin made, it wouldn’t amount to anything. As for Tan Lin’s reaction after learning the truth, Tan You honestly didn’t care.

Cheng Wenhui was tight-lipped. After they returned to the apartment, Tan Lin tried all sorts of ways to pry information out of her, but Cheng Wenhui never revealed what Tan You had asked of her. In fact, Tan You had already figured out Cheng Wenhui’s mindset. Although she and Tan Lin were husband and wife, the burden of supporting the family fell on Cheng Wenhui’s shoulders. Tan Lin himself was of little use.

Now that Tan You was clearly not close to Tan Lin and had come to her, her own mother, for help, Cheng Wenhui was ultimately happy. She wasn’t like Wang Hunv, who wished she could keep a firm grip on every single cent her children earned.

Besides, if Tan You could earn her own money, a huge amount of pressure would be lifted from Cheng Wenhui. And when Tan You told her that she would support Tan Deming and his wife in their old age, the weight on Cheng Wenhui’s shoulders felt even lighter.

After all, she and Wang Hunv truly didn’t get along.

The weather was still bad the next day, but Cheng Wenhui’s mood was bright. She, Tan You, Tan Yue, and Tan Deming set out early in the morning. As for Tan Lin, Cheng Wenhui simply told him it was Tan Deming’s first time in C-City and since it wasn’t a good day to go out to work anyway, she was taking him to look around the city.

There was nothing Tan Lin could do but watch them leave.

The contract signing went smoothly. The editor wasn’t particularly surprised by Tan You’s age. Some people could write poetry and publish collections at ten years old, so a middle schooler writing a long novel wasn’t that strange, was it?

Once the contract was signed, the first payment of the manuscript fee from the magazine company arrived. Looking at the notification on her phone, Cheng Wenhui lowered her gaze and smiled. She never would have thought that novels, which she despised, would one day bring Tan You so much money.

All in all, her feelings were very complicated.

"Should we head back? Grandpa and I are planning to go home at noon." Leaving the teahouse, Tan You felt a weight off her shoulders.

Cheng Wenhui: "No rush. Let’s go to the bank first."

Tan You watched Cheng Wenhui for a long moment, then suddenly broke into a smile. ’So, what will my dear mother do?’

Inside the bank, Cheng Wenhui stated her request directly. She didn’t keep a single cent of the manuscript fee that had just arrived; she transferred all of it to Tan Deming’s account. A slow smile spread across Tan You’s lips. She clearly wasn’t surprised by Cheng Wenhui’s actions.

Tan Deming was genuinely surprised. "You’re her mother. You should hold on to it for her..."

Cheng Wenhui smiled. "Since she said she’ll support you in your old age, she needs to start saving now. It’s not right for me to hold this money. Her dad will always be thinking about it. If you keep it, Dad, her father won’t dare to say a thing."

Tan Deming thought about it and realized it made sense. No matter how much of a fuss Tan Lin kicked up, he wouldn’t dare do it in front of him. They parted ways at the bank’s entrance. Tan You and Tan Deming went to the station to catch their bus, while Cheng Wenhui took Tan Yue and boarded a bus back to the apartment.

Tan Yue was a little sad. "Is Sis already going back?"

"Mhm, your sister has a lot to do back home," Cheng Wenhui said softly. She had agreed to accompany Tan You to sign the contract, but she had a condition: Tan You’s grades had to remain in the top five of her year.

After all, in Cheng Wenhui’s view, no matter how much money Tan You could make now, it wasn’t as important as her future education.

Tan Yue was a little worried. "Will Dad be angry?"

Cheng Wenhui squeezed Tan Yue’s hand. "Let him be angry. We’ve spoiled him. Seeing your sister like this now... it’s a huge relief. I used to always worry. I worried she wouldn’t be able to make money in the future, that her life would be difficult."

"Her eyesight is poor, so it’ll be hard for her to find a job... If she didn’t have a good education on top of that, I was really afraid for her..."

As she spoke, Cheng Wenhui closed her eyes. It was clear she had been under a great deal of pressure before. Plus, she had a tendency to overthink things, always worrying about what hadn’t happened yet.

The two spoke in low voices and soon arrived at the rented apartment. Tan Lin was surprised to see them back so early. Noticing that Tan You and Tan Deming weren’t with them, he asked casually, "Where are they?"

"They went back," Cheng Wenhui said, wiping the raindrops from her clothes. "I have something to tell you."

As she spoke, she casually handed the remittance slip to Tan Lin. As for the contract, Cheng Wenhui had let Tan You take it back with her. After all, if she kept it, who knew what kind of fit Tan Lin would throw?

Staring at the remittance amount of fifty thousand yuan, Tan Lin’s eyes went wide. When he saw that the account balance hadn’t increased, he gasped, "What’s going on?"

Cheng Wenhui said, "It’s money Tan You earned herself. I had her grandpa hold on to it for her."

"She earned money? How did she earn money? Why should her grandpa hold on to it? If anyone’s going to keep it, it should be us!" Tan Lin’s voice grew louder, clearly dissatisfied with what Cheng Wenhui had said. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Cheng Wenhui wasn’t intimidated by him. "Tan You said she’s going to support her grandparents in their old age, so you don’t need to worry about it. You and I just need to focus on raising Tan Yue."