## Chapter 6 The Surname “Wen”

Zhou Jihuai helped her to the door of the house and watched her step over the threshold before heading towards the kitchen himself.

Shu Cheng’an saw him enter and, with a sullen face, launched into a tirade. “Six months ago, when I came back home after transferring out, my parents told me that my cousin, Wen Nuan, never visits her maternal grandmother.”

“Huai Ge, how can there be a granddaughter like her? The two families don’t live far apart. Even if she’s busy with her studies, there are so many days during winter and summer vacations. She doesn’t even bother to visit once?”

“What’s more, she’s not good at studying. She’s always at the bottom of her class. What’s so busy about that? After school, she’d rather hang out with her classmates on the street than visit her own grandmother!”

“I don’t know how my aunt and uncle, two professors, could have produced someone like her.”

He had originally thought that after he was transferred to the special forces, Wen Nuan, the only remaining junior in the family, would be more considerate and visit the elderly often. But she hadn’t changed at all.

The little bit of blood kinship he had left for Wen Nuan quickly dwindled to a single digit after learning about this.

Zhou Jihuai wasn’t very interested in other people’s affairs. The surname “Wen” lingered in his mind for only a second. That second made him remember the contradictory little girl who also had the surname Wen.

The thought flashed through his mind, then he dismissed it.

“Old people value family harmony. At least make a show of it in front of your grandma. Don’t make her feel bad.”

Shu Cheng’an placed the shrimp on the cutting board and picked up a bunch of celery, starting to pluck off the wilted leaves.

He understood Zhou Jihuai’s words, but he was still angry. Earlier, he had quickly retreated to the kitchen because he was afraid he would lose his temper and start cursing the ungrateful girl.

“That little girl treats my grandma like that, and my grandma still thinks about her all the time. She gives me good things to send over to her.”

“It’s so annoying!”

–

After getting off the bus at the bus station, Wen Zhile took another bus and transferred to a two-story hotel across the street from Jingzhou University. She planned to stay there for a while.

She remembered this hotel. It used to be a guest house for a state-owned factory. Later, it was converted into a hotel and began to accommodate people from outside the factory. The building looked like all the other houses on this street, neither new nor old.

It was mid-June, not a holiday season, and it wasn’t the beginning or end of the semester at the university across the street, so there weren’t many people in the hotel.

The receptionist at the front desk was idly watching the entrance. When she saw a thin, sallow little girl walk in, she frowned and looked her up and down.

“Hello, could you please check me in? I need a room for a week. Thank you.” Wen Zhile walked to the service desk.

She spoke softly and gently.

The Wen family had good manners. In her previous life, although her whole family doted on her, even to the point of being considered spoiled by outsiders, they never slacked off in teaching her how to interact with others.

In this life, she had grown up in the Dai family for sixteen years, constantly receiving beatings and scoldings as “education.” It had subtly influenced her behavior.

The habit of grabbing something hard to make her palm hurt whenever she was nervous or emotionally agitated was an unconscious action developed in this life.

But besides that, under Wen Zhile’s deliberate effort, the twenty years of education from her previous life still prevailed.

The receptionist, who was probably in her late twenties or early thirties, glanced behind her, seeing no one.

It wasn’t like a few years ago, when you had to show an introduction letter to stay in a guest house. Now, you could stay as long as you had money.

“Let me see your ID. What’s your name? How old are you?”

Wen Zhile took out her ID card. “Dai Zhi, sixteen.”

Fang Xiuxiu’s hand, which was filling out the form, paused, then she continued writing.

“Seven days, thirty-five yuan in total. I’ll take you to your room.” She took a key and walked away from the service desk.

Wen Zhile was led to room 202 on the second floor. Fang Xiuxiu opened the door and handed her the key. “If you need anything, come downstairs and find me. If I’m not here, find another staff member.”

She responded, watching Fang Xiuxiu turn to leave. She was about to close the door.

As the door was about to close, it was suddenly stopped.