Tan You helped her explain, "Grandma means that I should rest more and not have to do chores like deboning chicken feet. If I want to eat them, I can just go buy some. Is that what you meant, Grandma?"

"Yes, yes, that’s exactly what I meant." Wang Hunv nodded. "You get me, Tan You. To be frank, chicken feet aren’t as good as chicken meat or drumsticks. Those are much better value."

Tan You just smiled and didn’t argue with Wang Hunv. Some people preferred value, while others enjoyed the chewy bits like tendons and gristle. It was all a matter of personal preference, and it was best for everyone to respect each other’s tastes.

Wang Hunv only ate one chicken foot, putting the remaining three in the refrigerator. Tan Deming knew his wife all too well. Seeing this, he whispered to Tan You, "Your grandma wants to save those to eat with her congee tomorrow morning."

"Sour and spicy. They’ll definitely go well with the congee."

Tan You lowered her gaze and smiled. Seeing that the chicken cutlet had floated to the surface, she swiftly and precisely lifted it onto a tray to drain the excess oil. Wang Hunv came around from the small back room. "Is that ready to eat?"

Tan You said, "It’s too hot. How about I cut it into smaller pieces for you? That way you won’t burn your hands holding it."

Of course, Wang Hunv didn’t object. "Okay, but I don’t want too much. I need to save room for other things."

"Then you and Grandpa can share it," Tan You said, deftly cutting the chicken cutlet—which was bigger than her face—into small pieces. Wang Hunv and Tan Deming then squatted down under the persimmon tree outside the kitchen, taking turns eating the freshly fried chicken cutlet.

While the Tan family was busy experimenting with fried chicken, things were different over at Tan Tao’s house. The snacks Tan Tao had brought back were, without exception, a huge hit with everyone. They wanted to make every single one.

Tan Nanfeng saw the situation clearly. "Making fried food is a full-time job, and the heat is too intense. It’s not suitable to be sold alongside ice jelly."

Tan Tao said, "Then let’s get another cart. It’s a bit too crowded for the four of us to be huddled around a single stall anyway."

Tan Nanfeng asked, "Which business do you want to run?"

Tan Tao didn’t hesitate. "I want to do the fried food business. Making ice jelly isn’t that hard in the end, so you guys can do that. Besides, you’re getting older. I’ll have my sister work with me."

Tan Nanfeng paused for a moment. "Alright, I’ll get another cart tomorrow. You should try making some of those boneless chicken feet tomorrow. If we can’t sell them all, we’ll just eat them ourselves."

He knew his younger son was being considerate of him and his wife. Frankly, the ice jelly business was indeed less tiring than the fried food one. As long as everything was prepared at home, all they had to do at the night market was sell it. It wasn’t like fried foods, which had to be made to order.

"As for Tan You..." Tan Nanfeng paused. "Let’s stay close with the Tan family from now on. They’re good, honest people."

Wang Xiuzhen simply smiled. "Okay. I’ll buy her a few new outfits later."

Tan Tao quickly stopped her. "Oh, please don’t. You love buying flashy clothes, and Tan You doesn’t like wearing floral patterns. I know how to handle things with Tan You. This is a matter of our friendship, so you don’t need to worry about it."

Tan Nanfeng thought for a moment and didn’t say anything more. "Alright, let’s go set up the stall. We’ll get you a small cart tomorrow, too. From now on, whatever money you and your sister make, you two can split it yourselves. We won’t get involved."

Tan Tao winked. "Really? You won’t get involved?"

Tan Nanfeng glared. "When you were working as a mason under me, did I ever take a single cent from you?"

"No, no," Tan Tao said, dodging the kick from his old man. "Then my sister and I will work hard to make money and try to do even better business than you!"

Tan Nanfeng ignored him, but the thought of what the future held made him smile in his sleep that night.

And while Tan Tao’s family was busy setting up their business on the food street, Tan You wasn’t idle either. She wasn’t in a rush to call Cheng Wenhui and her husband back just yet. She needed Tan Tao’s family to get firmly established first before she could plan her next moves.

So, Tan You went out to do a mission.

The moment she mentioned doing a mission, the Beauty System’s beady eyes crinkled up, and its mouth stretched into a wide grin.

Tan You glanced at the Beauty System. "You’re starting to look a bit like a smiling angel."

The Beauty System’s little tail wagged furiously. "I knew you liked dogs the most, Host!"

Tan You rubbed her fingers together, a little sad that she couldn’t physically touch the little system. Honestly, the more she looked at it, the more she found its features to be quite refined, especially after it changed into this new skin. It looked even more handsome now.

Tan You didn’t consider herself to have a girly heart, but after thinking about all the skins in the System’s store, she suddenly had the urge to play dress-up with the little system. ’How fun would that be?’

Catching Tan You’s thought, the Beauty System swished its tail. ’Hehe, it feels so good to be taken care of by the Host! Being called a little good-for-nothing a few times is no big deal. After all, the Host is here to carry me.’

"Li Zi, you’re always working out of town, and I get so bored at home all by myself. Your cousin just found a job in the city, so instead of him renting a place, why don’t we let him live with us? What do you think?"

Tan You had just come to her senses when she heard that last sentence. She paused, looking at the middle-aged woman on the video call. This was Li Lanzhen, the biological mother of the body’s original owner, Tang Li. In Tang Li’s memory, her mother was the textbook definition of a woman who would do anything for her brother’s family.

"I think it’s a terrible idea," Tan You said bluntly. "That’s my house. Why on earth should I let an outsider move in?"

The original Tang Li had relented and let Li Wanjun move in, and then he simply never left. Since Tan You had accepted her mission, she certainly wasn’t going to repeat the same mistake, so she refused flat out.

Li Lanzhen’s expression turned sour. "What do you mean, ’an outsider’? That’s your cousin! Besides, if your cousin moves in, he can keep me company."

"I need to remind you, that house belongs to the Tang family. My dad may be gone, but the house was put in my name. I have the right to decide who lives there and who doesn’t. Not even you, my own mother, can override that."

"Li Wanjun’s last name is Li, not Tang."

Tan You’s voice was grim. "If you insist on doing this, then I’ll call Grandpa and Grandma. They’ve been living in the countryside for so long; it’s about time they came to the city to enjoy their golden years."

"And conveniently, there’s a hospital and a supermarket near the apartment complex. That’ll make things easy for them if they need anything."

Li Lanzhen’s face twisted in anger. She never would have imagined that Tang Li would actually bring her parents-in-law into this. She knew her in-laws had long disapproved of her funneling money to her side of the family. If they found out she was planning to let her nephew move into the house, she would definitely be in for it.

"But he’s still your cousin..." she said hesitantly, clearly not ready to give up.

Tan You found it laughable. "If you really want to subsidize your brother’s family, then don’t use the Tang family’s assets. You can spend your own money however you want to help your brother and your nephew. I have no objection to that."

"But if you think you can be generous with my things to win brownie points, it’s not going to be that easy."

Tan You was perfectly clear-headed. "If you so much as dare to bring Li Wanjun into that house, I will go straight to his company and cause a scene. We’ll see if Li Wanjun still has the nerve to keep working there after that."

"I hear the company he just joined is publicly listed, too..."