Chapter 501: The Function of Spiritual Power
She wasn’t worried about math, but she was worried about subjects that required a lot of memorization, like Chinese, English, politics, and history. But as Tan You tried to recall things, she found that the texts she had once memorized now appeared in her mind with perfect clarity.
No matter which subject she thought about, she could remember it clearly.
"What are you spacing out for?" Wang Hunv tapped Tan You’s chopsticks. "Are you tired from the military training? Why don’t you go to bed early after dinner?"
"I was just thinking about the placement test the day after tomorrow. I was a little worried, but now I’m not worried at all." Tan You shoveled a mouthful of rice into her mouth. Although she didn’t understand why she had undergone such a big change, she honestly wasn’t the least bit worried about the upcoming test. In fact, she was full of confidence.
Tan Deming comforted Tan You, "It’s just one test. Just treat it like any other. You studied so hard over the summer, so the results will definitely be good. You’re a great student."
Tan You couldn’t help but laugh. "Grandpa, I’m just an average student. You only think I’m amazing because I’ve always gone to school in the countryside. I wouldn’t be anything special in a big city."
"I don’t believe it. You’re the best." The old man huffed twice. In his heart, at least, Tan You was the best.
After dinner, Tan You offered to help clear the table, but her grandmother pushed her toward her room. "You get a good night’s sleep. Don’t you have to make steamed buns tomorrow morning? I can handle this."
Tan You shook her head. ’This old woman... though she meant well, the mention of tomorrow morning’s buns made her kindness feel less genuine. It’s a good thing I’ve matured over the years and can discern people’s true intentions; otherwise, I would’ve been furious.’
Accepting her grandmother’s goodwill, Tan You washed up and went back to her room to rest. This time, she didn’t rush to look at the math competition problem book. Instead, she took out her high school textbooks and began to verify her theory, page by page.
An hour later, Tan You’s eyes grew brighter and the smile on her face widened. "My memory can improve? I’m finding that if I think back carefully, I can recall about seventy or eighty percent of the books I’ve read before."
The little milk-dog flew out. "It’s because your spiritual power has increased, Host. Memory is an external manifestation of spiritual power. The higher your spiritual power, the closer you can get to having a photographic memory."
Tan You nodded. "So that’s how it is. Hell Mode really lives up to its name. The rewards are certainly generous."
Even though the lottery had used up almost all of her Energy Points, Tan You knew the little system was just being stingy with them. To put it bluntly, these Intelligence Value points were an extra reward. The main system was just using the lottery as a pretense to distribute them to her.
With the small amount of Energy Points she had saved up, if she had actually tried to win Intelligence Value points, she might not have gotten even a single point for 100 Energy Points.
’So, if I want to get more Intelligence Value, I really have to take on these high-difficulty, high-reward missions.’ But for now, Tan You wasn’t thinking about starting a new intermediate mission right away. She needed to take a break.
’Or maybe I should go to a beginner world to relax?’ Tan You was tempted, but when she thought about the placement test the day after tomorrow, she dismissed the idea.
In the early morning, before four o’clock, Tan You got out of bed. She had promised to make steamed buns this morning, and because of the hot weather, she had to get up early to let the dough rise. If she had prepared it the night before, the dough would have spoiled by now.
The dough was halfway through rising when Wang Hunv woke up as well. She was surprised to see Tan You. "Why are you up so early?"
Tan You rubbed her cheek on her shoulder. "Letting the dough rise. I wanted to get it done while it’s not so hot this morning."
Wang Hunv grunted in understanding and grabbed a shovel from outside the kitchen. "I’m going to check the water in the fields. When your grandpa gets up, have him go buy some meat. Oh, right, I want to eat meat pies, too."
Tan You knew what kind of meat pies Wang Hunv was talking about. They were made by wrapping a generous amount of meat filling in dough, then slowly baking them in a bread oven. They were similar to baked meat buns, but the homemade ones had far more filling and were much more satisfying to eat.
"I’ll make some if there’s enough meat filling left over." Tan You could easily grant her grandmother’s small request. It was just a little extra work, nothing to fuss about.
The sounds of Tan You kneading dough in the kitchen were loud enough that Tan Deming couldn’t stay asleep in his room either. When he came out, he heard his wife still chattering away, "It would be great if we could have roast chicken for lunch."
Tan You good-naturedly agreed to everything. "As long as Grandpa buys the ingredients, you can have whatever you want to eat."
She didn’t feel that cooking for her grandmother was demeaning. On the contrary, Tan You enjoyed this state of quietly working alone. It allowed her to calm her mind and think about her own affairs, and it helped her to center herself.
Tan Deming shook his head. He felt that the way Tan You treated his old wife now was like coaxing a child—pacifying her with a bit of food. The thought was rather amusing.
Seeing Tan Deming approach, Wang Hunv started giving him instructions. "It’s not so hot to go out now, and the sun’s up. Drive the three-wheeler slowly on the road. Buy a lot of meat; I see Tan You’s made a lot of dough."
"And buy a chicken... actually, just half a chicken. Tan You said she’s also making meat pies." Wang Hunv thought for a moment and changed her mind. "If they have pork liver, buy some of that. The cold-dressed liver Tan You made for my birthday was delicious."
Tan Deming just kept smiling amiably. After listening to all of Wang Hunv’s instructions, he chuckled and said, "Is there anything else you want me to buy? If not, I’ll head out."
"How about you buy a black fish? Last time we went for a check-up, didn’t the doctor tell you to eat more fish when he prescribed your medicine?"
A smile immediately bloomed on Wang Hunv’s face. The doctor had said that to her, and she was surprised Tan Deming still remembered. The old woman was like that; as long as Tan Deming showed her a little concern, an irrepressible smile would light up her face.
Tan You used to think Wang Hunv was a bit of a simp for men. No matter how fiercely she fought with Tan Deming the day before, as soon as he said a few sweet nothings, she would immediately soften up.
But looking back now, she could understand. People of that generation hadn’t had much schooling, especially women, who received very little education growing up.
They weren’t valued at home, and after marrying, they could only rely on their husband’s family and their husband himself. Everyone appreciates beauty, and Tan Deming was a good-looking man. Even though he couldn’t be the family’s main pillar of support, the old woman was fond of him.
To be honest, her grandmother wasn’t a good-looking woman. She had triangular eyes, upward-slanting brows, a flat nose, a wide mouth, and a gaunt, skinny frame. But no matter her flaws, she had managed to raise a whole family.
’So you really can’t judge a person by their looks. Of course, nobody’s perfect; everyone has character flaws. As a person, you really shouldn’t be too demanding of others.’
In any case, that was between Wang Hunv and Tan Deming, and Tan You wouldn’t interfere. The old couple had bickered for years, but at their age, were they going to get a divorce or something?
A couple in youth becomes companions in old age. In this family, Wang Hunv had held things together for the first few decades, then Cheng Wenhui had taken over. And now that the burden of supporting the family had fallen onto her own shoulders, Tan You felt no pressure at all.