Chapter 346: Chapter 346: You Still Want to Be My Dad?

Cheng Wenhui was quite calm. She looked at Tan You. "Signing a contract with your dad is fine, too. If he’s taking your money, he naturally has to meet your requirements. It’s only fair."

Tan You snapped her fingers. "It really is so much easier talking to you."

She patted Tan Yue’s back. "Bring me my draft notebook."

Tan Yue scurried over with the draft notebook. Tan You took it and quickly drafted an agreement.

"Mom’s monthly salary is 2,500. I’ve said it before, whatever her monthly salary is, that’s what I’ll pay you." Tan You tapped the table. "So, I’ll pay you 2,500 a month."

Tan Lin was silent for a moment. "If you’re buying us a house, I don’t need a salary from you."

Tan You was a little surprised, but seeing the pained look on Tan Lin’s face, she laughed. "You really don’t want it? If you weren’t saying that with your eyes squeezed shut, I might have actually believed you."

Tan Lin opened his eyes and scoffed good-naturedly, "It’s not often I get to be this generous."

"No. Buying a house is one thing, a salary is another. They’re two separate matters." Tan You grew serious. "I’m buying you a house because you’ve had it rough in the past. It’s not that Grandpa didn’t want to treat you well; it’s just that he and Grandma were willing but unable."

"Whatever other parents couldn’t give you, I’ll do my best to provide, as long as it’s within my means. But it has to be something I offer willingly. I don’t like it when you ask me for things."

Tan Lin mulled over Tan You’s words, then suddenly stood up and glared. "You... you’re trying to act like my dad?"

Tan You was unconcerned. "I don’t mind if you want to call me ’Dad’. Do you still want the house or not? Sit down!"

Tan Lin immediately sat down. "I want the house."

Tan You tapped the agreement. "I’m not asking you to work for free. From now on, Grandpa and Grandma are my responsibility; you don’t need to worry about them. It’s just that I have to focus on my studies and can’t always look after things at home, so I’m entrusting you to take care of them."

Her tone grew heavier as she continued, "If you agree, then from now on you need to understand that your role is that of their caretaker, not someone who can pull the ’son’ card to make things difficult."

Tan Lin thought for a moment. "Okay. So what do I have to do on a regular basis?"

Tan You said, "During the winter and summer breaks, I’m mostly at home, so you basically won’t be needed. But after I go back to school, you’ll need to come back to see Grandpa and Grandma three times a week, and give the house a thorough cleaning once a week."

"Also, if they’re feeling unwell in any way, you need to take them to the hospital immediately. My grandpa will pay for the medical expenses."

"For now, that’s basically it. Grandpa and Grandma are still in pretty good health and can go to town to buy groceries themselves, so you won’t be needed for that."

Tan Lin agreed at once. "That’s not hard at all. I can do that easily."

He then leaned closer to Tan You. "Are you really putting me on a salary?"

Tan You glanced at him, pressing her index finger against his forehead to push him back a bit. "Yes. I don’t go back on my word. Taking care of the family doesn’t mean it’s an effortless task. On the contrary, the chores are even more trivial and complicated. You can be considered a ’full-time child’ now, so it’s only right that I pay you a salary."

In reality, Tan You was outsourcing her responsibilities to Tan Lin, so from her perspective, paying him a salary was perfectly reasonable. These days, hiring a caregiver would cost far more than 2,500. In a way, Tan You was actually getting a good deal.

The only difference was that this particular caregiver happened to be Tan Lin. But that didn’t matter. If Tan Lin dared to cause trouble in the future, she had her ways of handling him.

Tan Lin chuckled gleefully. He grinned at Cheng Wenhui. "You work at the factory, and I’ll work at home. Heh heh, I’m a salaried man now, too."

Seeing Tan Lin’s smug look, like a petty man who’d just gotten his way, Tan You felt a mix of pity and amusement. "Alright, if you want any vegetables from the garden, just come back and pick them yourselves. It’s a waste if we have too much and can’t finish it all."

"That covers the main points. The most important thing is, if there are any conflicts, you come to me. Don’t argue with my grandpa."

Tan Lin reflexively retorted, "When have I ever argued with your grandpa?"

Seeing Tan You staring at him, Tan Lin said sullenly, "I won’t argue with your grandma either. Whatever she says, I’ll just agree with her, alright?"

Wang Hunv was displeased. "When have I ever said anything to you? I’m not going to be depending on you in the future, so I have nothing to say to you."

Cheng Wenhui lowered her head and smiled. Watching Tan Lin sign the agreement with Tan You and Tan Deming, she suddenly thought, ’How has everything been going so smoothly since I came back?’

Tan You glanced at Cheng Wenhui. "I contacted President Yang this afternoon. There’s a discarded sewing machine in your factory’s warehouse. I’ll go get it tomorrow so you can practice at home."

Cheng Wenhui was both surprised and worried. "Does it cost anything?" 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Tan You said, "It’s free. I’ve already paid for it."

She was, of course, referring to the few design sets she had sold. Exchanging them for just Cheng Wenhui’s job and a sewing machine... Tan You truly felt she’d gotten a bad deal. But when she considered that it would allow Cheng Wenhui to learn a valuable skill, Tan You didn’t dwell on it.

The next morning, Tan You, Tan Deming, and Tan Lin went straight to the bank. Tan Lin heaved a sigh of relief when he saw the check being cashed. Although it pained him to see the money deposited into Tan Deming’s account, the sting lessened when he remembered that part of it was for buying them a house, and he chose to ignore it.

He might be petty and narrow-minded, but he had one redeeming quality: Tan Lin knew which side his bread was buttered on. Besides, money in Tan Deming’s hands was as good as in Tan You’s, so it made no difference.

Anyway, Tan Lin had come to a simple realization: pleasing his eldest daughter was much easier than pleasing anyone else.

While they were looking at houses, Tan Lin spoke up. "Back before your Second Granduncle retired, I asked him to help me find a job, but he just gave me all sorts of excuses. He wouldn’t help us at all. He’d rather help Shanyun from the family behind us than help us, even though we’re the real family."

Tan You paused. "Speaking of Second Granduncle, if I’m calculating the time right, he should be coming back for his annual visit around September. Grandpa, what are your thoughts?"

Tan Deming said, "I don’t have any particular thoughts. He comes back for a month every year. And while he gives us some money, the household also ends up spending a lot. When you do the math, we only net about a thousand yuan or so."

"And your grandma always cooks separate meals just for him." Thinking of Tan Desheng, Tan Deming couldn’t help but sigh. "Your Second Granduncle is biased, after all. He’s closer to Tan Deji’s family, even though our family has no blood relation to Tan Deji’s."

Tan You knew the convoluted history behind this. Tan Deji’s family lived right behind the Tan family. The Wu Yunzhen who came over last night was Tan Deji’s wife. Speaking of Tan Deji, it was a long story.

Tan You’s great-grandfather, Tan Yufang, had two brothers, making three in total. Tan Yufang was the eldest, so Tan You’s lineage belongs to the first branch. Tan Deji’s family was considered the second branch, but not purely so, because Tan Deji had no blood relation to the Tan family. Back in the day, Tan Deji’s mother—already with his older sister in tow and pregnant with him—married Tan Yufang’s second brother.

So, in the end, there was no blood relationship between Tan Deji’s family and Tan You’s family. Tan Deji merely held the title of the eldest son of the second branch.