When the Side Character Gets a System and Travels through Difference Worlds-Chapter 113: Friendship Also Has Exclusivity
Tan You took stock of their ingredients. "We’re out of red beans, and we’re out of white sugar."
Making popsicles, chilled rice cakes, milk pudding, and so on all required white sugar. They were all consumables and absolutely essential. As a result, the family’s sugar supply had been dwindling rapidly.
Wang Hunv smacked her lips. "Then go buy some red beans and white sugar. It’s not that expensive."
Before, Wang Hunv had no idea red beans could be used in so many different ways. She only knew how to make red bean rice or red bean porridge. How could she have ever imagined anything else?
Tan You looked up at her. "Give me money. I don’t have any."
"I’ll have your grandpa give you some in a bit." Wang Hunv wasn’t angry. She had grown to crave Tan You’s cooking. Besides, she could see that Tan You was trying to lose weight; after slaving away in the kitchen, Tan You herself would barely eat a few bites. She and Tan Deming were the ones who ate almost everything.
As she spoke, she glanced at Tan You. "Have you... lost some weight?"
"I don’t know," Tan You said. "We don’t have a scale at home."
But she could feel it herself; her figure had slimmed down a bit. As for her actual weight, Tan You figured she probably hadn’t lost much, since it had only been a short time. Her goal was to get down to a normal weight within a year. Weight loss, after all, wasn’t something that could be rushed.
Besides, she was at an age where her body was still developing. If she lost weight too aggressively at this stage, it could damage her health. So, Tan You truly wasn’t in a hurry to lose weight.
After breakfast, Tan Deming gave Tan You twenty yuan, mainly for her to go to the supermarket and buy some red beans and white sugar. Tan Deming took a drag from his cigarette. "Keep the rest and buy yourself something. A girl your age shouldn’t have no money at all."
Tan You pressed her lips together. "Okay."
’I really do have things I need money for right now,’ she thought. ’For instance, I want to buy stamps to mail some submissions. But the way things are, without a single penny to my name, how am I supposed to submit anything?’
Tan Deming asked tentatively, "Do you want me to go with you?"
Tan You rejected the offer immediately. "No need. I’ll take the bike. I’ll be back soon."
She wasn’t a child. ’It’s just a trip to town, how bad can it be? But I know Grandpa’s just worried about me getting heatstroke in this hot weather.’
Buying the ingredients went off without a hitch. On the way, Tan You also stopped by the post office to buy a few stamps, which left her with five yuan. Tan You treasuredly stroked the five-yuan bill, feeling like she’d never been this wealthy before.
In the mission worlds, Tan You had handled plenty of money, but she knew it wasn’t hers—it belonged to her clients. That was why she always remained completely unfazed whenever she saw those enormous sums.
’Look at me now, getting all excited over five yuan.’ With a self-deprecating laugh, Tan You pedaled her bike faster. ’So, how am I supposed to make money before I turn sixteen?’
’I can’t just go begging Cheng Wenhui and Tan Lin for money, can I? Even though they have a legal obligation to support me, I want to slowly distance myself from them. The first step, then, is to start separating from them financially.’
With a plan slowly forming in her mind, she reached the entrance to her village before she knew it. As soon as she got there, Tan You started a round of greetings for all the uncles and aunties. ’It’s strange,’ she thought. ’Why is there always someone outside every house in our village?’
"Tan You, you’re back? Did you go buy sugar?"
"Mhm."
"Was the supermarket crowded?"
"It was alright, not too bad."
After making awkward small talk past four houses, Tan You was stopped by a chubby auntie as she passed the fifth. "Tan You, ah, you haven’t come over to see Tan Ying since the high school entrance exams. What have you been up to at home lately?"
Tan You glanced at her. "Nothing much. It’s not that I don’t want to see Tan Ying. Didn’t she go to J City right after the exam results came out?"
The auntie chuckled. "Oh, is that so? I thought you were just in a bad mood. Our Tan Ying scored a 602 this time. It’s the first time she’s ever scored so much higher than you."
Tan You was very calm. "Then please congratulate her for me. I hope she does even better in the future."
The other woman hadn’t expected Tan You to say that and was suddenly at a loss for words. Tan You planted one foot on the concrete road. "Auntie, is there anything else? If not, I’m heading home."
"Also, don’t say that I haven’t gone looking for Tan Ying. She hasn’t thought about hanging out with me since the exams either. The way you put it, Auntie, makes it sound like you’re blaming me. I’m not that petty."
With that, Tan You rode off, leaving the woman standing there as her expression darkened.
The Beauty System suddenly appeared. "Host, are you unhappy?"
"A little, I guess," Tan You said with a small laugh. "I wasn’t born this cold, and I don’t really have a heart of stone. Tan Ying... she’s the one who taught me that friendship can also bring great sadness."
The Beauty System said timidly, "System does not understand."
Tan You gave a self-mocking laugh. "It just means she used to be my only friend, but I was never her only friend. She was always making new friends, and I was always ranked somewhere behind them."
"Friendship has its own kind of possessiveness. A long-term, unequal friendship... I just don’t see the point in maintaining it. And now, after seeing a bit of the world, I no longer crave that kind of friendship or affection."
"Oh, forget it. It’s all pretty complicated. There’s not much to say about it."
Tan You didn’t pay any mind to Tan Ying or her mother, Yang Juan. After getting home, she went to her room to read and study. She had just finished a math competition problem when she heard someone talking outside.
"Grandpa, I’m here to see Tan You. Is she home?" Hearing that voice, Tan You paused. She quickly glanced at her desk. Other than the math competition book, there were only a few magazines.
Tan You pulled open a nearby drawer, put the math competition book and her scratch paper inside, then quickly grabbed a magazine and flipped it open to a random page. By the time she looked up, Tan Ying had already pushed the door open and come in.
"Tan You? How did your skin get so fair?" That was the first thing out of her mouth, and she was clearly shocked.
Tan You smiled faintly. "I haven’t gone out these past few days, just been staying at home."
Tan Ying was a little jealous. "You were always fair, but now you’re even fairer. And... your acne is gone, too."
Tan You glanced at the pimples on Tan Ying’s face. "Eat more vegetables."
Tan Ying hadn’t expected Tan You to be so cold and felt a little uncomfortable. She sat down next to Tan You. "How come you didn’t go to City C this time? You used to go every summer vacation."
Tan You turned a page in her magazine. "Mm, I didn’t do well on the entrance exams, so I figured I wouldn’t go and be an eyesore to my mom."
Tan Ying also picked up a magazine. "Then why are you still at home reading this stuff? Aren’t you afraid your mom will yell at you?"
Tan You shrugged. "I don’t care anymore. It’s not like I read them often."
Tan Ying leaned closer to Tan You. "I heard the rental bookstore in town got a new batch of books. You haven’t gone to rent any?"
Tan You glanced at her. "No. I don’t have any money."
If she hadn’t understood it before, Tan You now clearly understood Tan Ying’s intentions. A big part of the reason she’d loved reading novels in her third year of middle school was her own weak self-control, but the root of it all had been Tan Ying’s constant encouragement.
