“No!”
Tan Zhizhi gave Liu Xiaomei a meaningful look before answering without the slightest hesitation.
Trying to morally blackmail her? Dream on.
“Young girl, you’re pretty enough, so how can your conscience be so rotten? If this old woman weren’t weak and unable to walk properly, I wouldn’t even want to share a room with you!”
Granny Chen had not expected Tan Zhizhi to reject her so directly. She was so furious that even the hand gripping her cane trembled slightly.
From within the crowd, several people occasionally joined in, accusing Tan Zhizhi of being cold hearted and lacking a sense of responsibility.
Tan Zhizhi coldly swept her gaze over the three people who were blindly stirring up trouble, then turned her head and said calmly, “Even if my conscience is rotten, could it possibly be worse than that of your son and daughter in law, Granny Chen?”
“What do you mean by that?” someone demanded in a raised voice.
Tan Zhizhi replied, “The guests staying in Room 706 are her son and daughter in law. As for why the two of them are staying by themselves on the seventh floor while leaving their mother on the third floor without a care, only they know the answer.”
“You…” Granny Chen had never expected Tan Zhizhi to know that. Her wrinkled face immediately fell, and all the words she had prepared became stuck in her throat, leaving her unable to utter a single one.
The young couple staying in Room 706 also reluctantly stepped forward under the contemptuous and threatening looks from the crowd.
They looked quite young, around twenty three or twenty four years old, and seemed to have gotten married only recently.
When faced with everyone’s accusations, Chen Shu, who cared deeply about his reputation, darkened his face and immediately opened his mouth to call Granny Chen over.
“Mom, why don’t you just stay with us?”
However, before he could finish, his wife, Wang Xiaotian, pointed at his head and launched into a furious tirade.
“Stay with us? I’m pregnant! The doctor said that during the first three months, the fetus is especially prone to miscarriage, so I need to rest properly and can’t endure even the slightest stress. How could it possibly be convenient for me to live with an old woman who has trouble walking and suffers from asthma? If something really happens, are you going to be busy taking care of the old woman or taking care of me?”
The crowd fell completely silent.
Guest services manager Liu Xiaomei was also left awkwardly at a loss for words.
When Granny Chen had checked into the hotel, she had come alone. Over the past few days, despite such a severe flood disaster, not a single relative had come looking for her.
Liu Xiaomei had assumed that Granny Chen was a lonely elderly woman with no family.
That was why Granny Chen had been the first person who came to her mind when she tried to morally pressure Tan Zhizhi into agreeing.
Who could have expected things to turn into such a ridiculous farce?
Granny Chen was hardly in a better mood. Not only had she failed to get her way with Tan Zhizhi, but she had also been thoroughly rejected by her own daughter in law.
The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. Leaning on her cane, she went “thump… thump… thump…” toward Wang Xiaotian and sneered,
“Wang Xiaotian, do you think you’re still the high and mighty young lady you used to be? There’s floodwater everywhere outside now, and countless companies and villas have already been submerged. Who knows, perhaps all of your Wang family’s businesses have already been washed away by the floodwater. What rotten luck! If I had known this would happen, I never would have agreed to let an immoral and useless daughter in law like you marry into our family.”
Hearing this, Wang Xiaotian planted her hands on her hips and immediately fired back, unwilling to back down.
“You old hag, aren’t you ashamed of yourself for saying that? Weren’t you the one who forced Chen Shu to break up with his poor girlfriend back then and arranged for him to marry me?”
“Besides, Chen Shu and I only decided at the last minute to come to Xiping District for a trip. We never said we were bringing you along. You were the one who shamelessly followed us here in secret. And now you’re awfully quick to shift the blame.”
At those words, the people in the crowd who had been loudly insisting that Granny Chen was pitiful immediately fell silent.
As Granny Chen and Wang Xiaotian continued arguing furiously, Chen Shu, caught between them, simply lowered his head and remained indifferent.
Liu Xiaomei had no choice but to have the hotel security staff come over and drag the three of them back to Room 703 to calm down.
Only after everything had settled down did Liu Xiaomei look at Tan Zhizhi apologetically.
“Miss Tan, I’m really sorry. I had no idea Granny Chen’s situation was so complicated. How about we find someone else to share your room with, then…”
“Stop right there!” Tan Zhizhi interrupted her bluntly, her tone carrying a hint of amusement. “Since Manager Liu is such a kindhearted person, why don’t you make your dormitory available? Isn’t the guest services staff dormitory on the eighth floor? I happened to glance at it yesterday when I passed by. It’s quite spacious, around one hundred and thirty square meters, so fitting six or seven people in there would be no problem at all!”
After saying that, Tan Zhizhi turned her head toward the “good old man,” Old Hu.
“Oh, and I heard that the hotel engineering department’s staff dormitory is nearby too, on the seventh floor. Why don’t you clear that one out as well?”
Liu Xiaomei and Old Hu both wore dark expressions and were speechless for quite some time.
Tan Zhizhi merely let out a cold scoff and could not even be bothered to spare them another glance.
They wanted to play the saint without making any sacrifices themselves.
Where in the world was there such a good deal?
“Oh, and one more thing. Since everyone is here, let me make this clear. I paid for two weeks of my room when I checked into the hotel. Without my consent, the hotel has no right to force anyone into my room during that period.”
As she spoke, Tan Zhizhi slightly raised her lashes, her beautiful eyes sweeping indifferently across everyone present.
A trace of coldness entered her sweet voice.
“You all know that I have a bad temper. If someone is foolish enough to barge into my room, getting beaten up will be the least of their worries.”
In the apocalypse, the most dangerous thing to test was human nature.
If she backed down today, she might very well be the first one to die.