After entering the room and locking the door, Wen Nianxin slept like a log.
Upon waking, she revised her upcoming plans in her mind.
According to her initial thoughts before arriving, she had intended to first reconcile with her maternal grandparents.
Having grown up relying solely on her grandmother since childhood, hearing that term evoked an inexplicable fondness in her heart, regardless of whether they were actually her relatives.
Moreover, her intuition told her she ought to meet the original host’s maternal grandparents.
She just hadn’t expected them to have already left Mingzhao City.
Since they weren’t here, if she wanted to extract money from the original host’s scumbag father and stepmother, she’d need to find another approach.
Fortunately, she had met Uncle Ma in advance. From him, she learned that the current factory director had been promoted by her grandfather. Presumably, upon learning her identity, he would likely do her a favor. Thus, she decided to seek out this director first.
Getting out of bed, Wen Nianxin changed into patched clothes, wrapped a thin scarf around her neck covering half her face, locked the room door, and went downstairs.
“Xiao Wen, are you very sensitive to the cold?”
Old Ma asked concernedly when he saw her wearing a scarf despite the 20-degree weather.
“I might have caught a chill sleeping on the train last night. The scarf helps block it.”
“I see. When you’re alone outside, you must take good care of your health.
There’s hot water in the water room. Later, take a thermos and fill it to soak your feet in your room and drive away the cold.”
“Alright, I will.”
While packing, she had deliberately placed a thin scarf in her luggage bag.
Not for warmth, but to cover her face.
Currently, she didn’t know anyone and didn’t want anyone who recognized the original host to accidentally disrupt her plans.
“Uncle Ma, I want to go to the textile factory now to find Director Zhang. Can I get in?”
“Wait five minutes for me. I’ll find someone to cover my shift, then I’ll take you there.
The textile factory’s guard, Old Li, is an old buddy of mine. He’ll give me face.”
In less than five minutes, Old Ma returned with a man around thirty years old.
“Uncle Ma, is this your niece?”
“Yes.”
“Cover for me for half an hour. I’m taking my niece to the factory to see my cousin. I’ll treat you to drinks another day.”
After saying this, Old Ma led Wen Nianxin out of the guest house.
“I have a distant cousin who also works at the textile factory as a workshop supervisor. We’ll go find her first.”
“Alright, I’ll follow your lead.”
Wen Nianxin silently marveled at her luck in having met Uncle Ma; everything had become much smoother.
Once this matter was settled, she must properly thank him.
Before even fully approaching the textile factory’s gate, Old Ma began waving toward the guardhouse while loudly calling Old Li’s name.
“You old rascal, keep your voice down! I’m not deaf—I can hear you!”
A thin, wiry old man emerged from the guardhouse, responding to Old Ma’s greeting with a laughing curse.
“Aren’t you on duty today? What brings you here? Craving a drink?”
“Absolutely. How about coming over to my place later for a couple of shots?”
“Got enough liquor? Don’t try fooling me with another nearly empty bottle again.”
“How could I? Your sister-in-law went to our daughter’s place two days ago to help with the kids. While she’s away, I sneaked out yesterday and got half a bottle.”
“Sounds perfect. I’ll head over after my shift.”
After settling on the time and place for their evening drink, Old Li finally noticed Wen Nianxin standing behind Old Ma.
“And this is?”
“This is my niece, Xiao Wen. I brought her to see my cousin. Can we go in?”
“Your niece is my niece too—why would I stop you? But she’ll need to register her details first. Otherwise, if there’s a surprise inspection of visitors, I won’t be able to explain.”
Wen Nianxin took the visitor log and scrawled her name in wild cursive. Following Old Ma, she successfully entered the Textile Factory and met his distant cousin, Huang Cuie.
“Fourth Brother, what brings you here?”
“My niece has an urgent matter and needs to speak with Director Zhang. Is he in his office?”
“Niece?”
Huang Cuie looked at the female comrade whose face was mostly hidden by a scarf, feeling puzzled.
Though she and Old Ma were distant cousins, they had kept in close contact since both worked in Mingzhao City and their workplaces weren’t far apart. Their relationship was quite good.
How come she didn’t know her cousin had a niece she’d never met?
Old Ma glanced toward the workshop, gently pulling Wen Nianxin a step behind him to shield her from the curious eyes inside.
“I’ll explain another day. We need to see your director now.”
“Come with me then. I happen to have a document to deliver to him anyway.”
Holding the file, Huang Cuie led the two up to the third floor of the Textile Factory’s office area. She stopped at the innermost office and knocked lightly twice.
“Come in.”
Zhang Wei set down his pen and looked up at the visitors, frowning slightly.
He recognized the first two, but the last one—though her face was covered—gave him a sense of familiarity.
“What’s this about?”
“Director, I’m here to submit the work summary report for the last three months. Old Ma said he has something urgent to discuss with you. Since he seemed genuinely pressed for time, I brought him straight here. I hope you don’t mind.”
“No problem.”
Since they were already here, there seemed little point in objecting.
“Director Zhang, are you busy right now?”
Old Ma wore an apologetic smile, feeling somewhat guilty for showing up unannounced with company.
“Not too busy. What’s the matter?”
Old Ma took a small step aside, signaling for Wen Nianxin to speak.
“Director Zhang, I’m Wen Nianxin, granddaughter of the retired Director Wen. I’m not sure if you remember me.”
As she spoke, Wen Nianxin lowered her scarf slightly, revealing her full face.
Director Zhang had once been her grandfather’s assistant, and the original host had grown up in the Textile Factory’s Family Compound. He ought to recognize her—though to what extent, she wasn’t sure.
“What kind of talk is that? I’ve watched you grow up since you were little—how could I not know you, your Uncle Zhang?”
He’d felt a sense of familiarity earlier. Once the scarf was removed, Zhang Wei matched her to the young girl in his memory, though she looked thinner now.
“You’ve returned to the city? Did your husband come back with you?”
“You knew I got married?”
Zhang Wei nodded.
This puzzled Wen Nianxin.
The original host had long cut ties here. Her scumbag father and stepmother shouldn’t have known about her marriage—so how did Director Zhang know?
“Don’t just stand there—have a seat.”
Brimming with questions, Wen Nianxin sat down across from Zhang Wei’s desk.
“Did you come back to see your… parents?”
When mentioning the words “mom and dad,” Zhang Wei hesitated slightly.
“They don’t know I’ve returned yet.”
“You haven’t gone back?”
“No, I’m currently staying at the Guest House nearby.”
“Did they not allow you to return, or…?”
“After I went to the countryside, I lost contact with them. I wrote many letters but never received any replies. Perhaps they intended to cast me out of the family from the very beginning.”
Wen Nianxin curled his lips in a self-mocking smile.