The Art of Teasing - Chapter 37

Chapter 37

After Wen Li left, Wen Zhengyu concentrated on the materials.

There was a lot of information, none of which she understood, so she had to take it slowly from the beginning.

The materials were roughly divided into two sections: model management frameworks from other enterprises, and real-world case study analysis. Although differences existed between industries and companies, every sector had its own standards, and corporate and financial management both possessed complete management systems and protocols. These could be cited, adapted, and implemented with modifications based on one's specific situation. One could hire professional consulting firms and personnel to carry this out, or tailor it according to one's own circumstances. Take her studio, for instance—it had just started and was still small in scale. Only a portion of these management systems applied. Those three-year plans, five-year plans, emergency startup funds—she could only read and acknowledge them. Forget three-to-five-year plans; she would already be doing well just to figure out the matters currently at hand. As for emergency funds, although she wasn't in debt at present, she had genuinely been chronically short on money. Right now, every bit of money she had was invested in the studio. She was even preparing to seek loans for expansion. There was no money sitting idle waiting for sudden emergencies or hard times. If the studio truly encountered difficulty, a small amount of emergency startup capital wouldn't be enough anyway. However, if the management systems were employed well, the studio's internal operating costs would decrease considerably, and she could relax much more.

Wen Zhengyu had contacted and discussed matters with a business management consultant and felt that introduction and implementation were feasible.

The finance and economics section dealt with real-world case studies. Mountains have no constant momentum; water has no constant form. Market positioning, operational direction, financing conditions, commercial competition—every aspect determined an enterprise's future. These things could only be grasped by summarizing experience, analyzing the future, and then implementing. Victory, defeat, success, failure—it truly just came down to the saying, "In business and trade, there is profit and there is loss." What one could do was summarize the experience and lessons of predecessors to avoid detours and incur fewer losses. The case studies provided by the consulting team were all cases of considerable impact. Among them, the matter of her father, Mr. Wen Shiyi, going bankrupt and absconding—the consulting team had also gathered information and conducted analysis.

Previously, she had been utterly ignorant of business, knowing only that her father was suspected of illegal fundraising, had suffered losses in the stock market, and that on top of this, his business partner had undergone a sudden change, leading to bankruptcy and his flight from debt. From a commercial perspective, this was a capital battle waged through the stock market and shares that had lasted nearly half a year. The suspected illegal fundraising and the partner's withdrawal were incidents that occurred only in the later stages of the strife, when Mr. Wen Shiyi's defeat was already evident. Whether these incidents existed or not, the difference at most was whether Mr. Wen Shiyi's downfall looked slightly better or slightly worse, and how much he was left holding in his hands.

Wen Zhengyu came across Mr. Wen Shiyi's case. She read it repeatedly, several times over.

In the arena of business, victory and defeat were hard to predict. It was perfectly normal for Mr. Wen Shiyi's venture to fail. What bothered her somewhat was the matter of Mr. Wen Shiyi absconding. The business had failed; he owed money. He could have paid it back slowly, or the family could have helped pay it back. Either would have been acceptable. He ran. He left behind Mr. Wen, over seventy years old, to clean up his debts and deal with the mess.

Wen Zhengyu's mood soured a little. She felt hungry and only then realized that, without noticing, it was already past midnight.

Wen Li hadn't knocked on her door; she guessed her cousin wasn't back yet. Not returning this late, she was probably staying out for the night.

She closed her laptop, rose, and went to the kitchen to see what there was for a late-night snack.

She couldn't cook. She washed some fruit, sat on the living room sofa eating fruit, and used the time to empty her thoughts and relax her nerves, planning to head upstairs to sleep shortly.

The front door opened. A car drove into the courtyard's garage.

Wen Zhengyu glanced at the wall clock in surprise, seeing it was almost one o'clock. Coming back so late? She heard footsteps stop outside the living room door, rose to open it, and saw a young woman around thirty years old supporting Wen Li, laboriously searching through Wen Li's bag for the front door key.

Wen Li reeked of alcohol and couldn't even stand steadily. Eyes bleary with drunkenness, she raised her head in Wen Zhengyu's direction and asked, "Still not in bed this late?"

And who's the one out even later? Wen Zhengyu hurriedly helped the woman guide Wen Li to the living room sofa. She said, "Lie down for a while. I'll go make you some hangover soup." She turned toward the woman, but then noticed the woman was sizing her up. Seeing that the woman showed no sign of leaving after bringing Wen Li home, she asked her to have a seat while she went to make tea.

The woman smiled. "No need to trouble yourself. May I ask who you are...? I've never heard Xiao Wen mention anyone in her household... She always said she lived alone."

Although the woman's smile was pleasant, Wen Zhengyu sensed something strange. To be precise, the look in her eyes was off—the face smiled warmly, but the smile did not reach the eyes. Her words were also peculiar. Wen Zhengyu said nothing, merely smiled faintly, then rose and headed for the kitchen.

Wen Li grabbed Wen Zhengyu's hand firmly, glanced at her watch, and said, "It's very late. Don't bother. If you go make hangover soup, I'll have to worry about my kitchen."

The woman said, in a tone that seemed half-joking, "Xiao Wen, the one in your house doesn't look much like a housekeeper. Are you hiding a beauty away here?"

Wen Zhengyu furrowed her brow slightly, secretly.

Wen Li raised a hand to move the woman's hand off her shoulder and said, "Sister Chen, thank you for seeing me home. I'm home now." She then said to Wen Zhengyu, "Xiao Yu, please see the guest out."

Wen Zhengyu could tell Wen Li's relationship with this woman was quite ordinary; otherwise, there would have been at least some introduction. She found this woman's casual intrusion into other people's family privacy and private matters somewhat displeasing. She said gently to the woman, "Sister Chen, it's late. I won't keep you."

Sister Chen said to Wen Zhengyu, "Go tidy up the guest room. I'll stay the night and look after Xiao Wen. You don't seem like someone who knows how to take care of others."

Wen Zhengyu looked at the woman, slightly stunned. This was the first time she'd ever met someone who insisted on staying in someone else's home uninvited.

Sister Chen cast a sidelong glance at Wen Zhengyu with a laughing eye, then moved to help Wen Li upstairs.

Wen Li leaned limply back on the sofa, her drunken, hazy eyes half-open as she looked at Sister Chen. Her lips held the hint of a smile as she said, "Our Xiao Yu here seems even less like someone who makes beds and folds blankets. Sister Chen, it's not convenient at home today. I must trouble you to understand I'm not able to receive guests."

Sister Chen said, "Kicking me out, are you? You heartless thing, you really have forgotten the old love now you have a new flame."

New flame, old love? Wen Zhengyu stared blankly at the woman, then at Wen Li. She was thoroughly confused. She remembered Wen Li had a very handsome boyfriend in high school. That boy had braved the scorching summer sun, riding a very stylish mountain bike to deliver flowers to Wen Li at her home one summer vacation. But later, that boy had gone swimming in the river, and his body was not found until three days later when it was pulled ashore. Wen Li had been heartbroken for many years, and it wasn't until this year's Spring Festival that Wen Zhengyu had heard Wen Li mention in passing that she was planning to marry herself off.

Wen Zhengyu understood now. This woman had probably taken a fancy to Wen Li, misunderstood her relationship with Wen Li, and treated her as a rival in love.

Wen Li pressed her palm to her forehead in discomfort. "Sister Chen, this is beneath you."

Sister Chen said, "Feeling ill, are you? Let me help you upstairs to rest." As she spoke, she moved to help Wen Li again, and used her body to block Wen Zhengyu, preventing her from getting close.

Wen Zhengyu turned and went to the main entrance. She contacted the property's security personnel through the building's access control and security system.

Very quickly, the property management office connected. A security guard's voice came through: "Hello, Property Security Office."

Wen Zhengyu gave her apartment number and said, "Please send two security guards over. I'm encountering a bit of trouble here."

Sister Chen released Wen Li, stood up, and said to Wen Zhengyu, "A guest is a guest. Do you understand how to behave?"

Wen Zhengyu stood at the doorway, gesturing toward the outside with the universal "please" gesture, and said, "Thank you very much for seeing Sister Lili home. It's late; forgive me for not inviting you to stay any longer. If you have any matter, please contact Sister Lili another day after she has sobered up." She paused, then added, "My surname is Wen. I am the youngest of the Wen family. Please do not harbor malicious speculation about my relationship with Sister Lili. Thank you."

Sister Chen stared at Wen Zhengyu speechlessly, sizing her up from head to toe. She took a deep breath, and then suddenly her expression melted into an especially cordial and enthusiastic smile. "Misunderstanding, a misunderstanding. Ah, it was all a misunderstanding. So it's the little sister..."

Wen Zhengyu: "..." She eyed the woman, speechless, then looked back at Wen Li. Wen Li actually dared to bring someone like this home. But then she reconsidered: this woman surnamed Chen harbored ill intentions. If she had taken Wen Li to a hotel, Wen Li would have been in even greater danger.

The doorbell rang. Wen Zhengyu pressed the answer button and heard a voice: "Property Security." She looked at the surveillance monitor, confirmed the arrivals were indeed wearing official property security uniforms, and only then hurried to the main gate and opened it.

The two security guards outside were also equipped with batons and walkie-talkies.

Wen Zhengyu said apologetically, "I am truly sorry to bring you over so late." She gestured toward the interior and said, "We have an uninvited guest at home who cannot be seen out. I had no choice but to trouble you to make a trip."

One security guard eyed Wen Zhengyu quizzically and asked, "What is the name of the homeowner?"

Wen Zhengyu answered, "Wen Li."

The guard asked, "What is your name? What is your relationship with the homeowner?"

Wen Zhengyu said, "Wen Zhengyu. The homeowner is my paternal cousin sister."

The guard questioned Wen Zhengyu about when she had arrived and whether she had registered with the gatehouse. Once he had obtained clear answers, he used his walkie-talkie to contact the gatehouse, asking them to check. Very quickly, the other side located Wen Zhengyu's registration information. The guard then had Wen Zhengyu recite the phone number she had left to see if it matched. Once all the information aligned, the two guards finally entered.

Sister Chen emerged from the house, glanced twice at Wen Zhengyu with a penetrating look, and then looked at the security guards flanking her. She walked to the gate, stopped, and said, "It's the dead of night, and I can't even get a taxi. How do you expect me to get back?"

Wen Zhengyu made the "please" gesture and said, "You may use a ride-hailing app. If it is truly inconvenient, I can contact my family chauffeur to drive you home. However, in that case, you would need to wait a short while at the guardhouse."

Sister Chen exclaimed at Wen Zhengyu in exasperation, "Alright, alright, my little missy, I'm afraid of you. Another day, when your sister is awake, I'll have to have a good talk with her. How could she let you act like this? I brought her home with the best of intentions, and you called security. She's drunk; look after her a bit more closely, will you?" Adopting the persona of a warm-hearted, good-natured older sister, she nattered on for a long time, then complained to the security guards a bit about Wen Zhengyu being a young girl who didn't understand things and had misunderstood her. Only then did she head toward the garage.

The two guards moved to stop her.

Sister Chen pointed toward the garage and said, "That's my car."

Hearing this, Wen Zhengyu couldn't help but pause. Didn't you just say you couldn't get a taxi...? She looked back and saw an unfamiliar Land Rover with an unfamiliar license plate parked inside the garage. Once again, Wen Zhengyu viewed this woman with fresh eyes. She had thought Ye Ling had a thick face and deep schemes, but compared to this woman, Ye Ling was truly an exemplary person of honor. She signaled the guards to let the woman drive her car away.

Once the woman had driven her car out of the courtyard, Wen Zhengyu saw the guards to the gate as well. She closed the courtyard gate and locked it. Returning to the living room, she found that Wen Li had already curled up on the sofa and fallen asleep.

Unable to lift and carry Wen Li upstairs, she had no choice but to go upstairs, fetch a blanket, and drape it over Wen Li.

She figured Wen Li had been suffering terribly, but with Sister Chen beside her, no matter how drunk she was, she hadn't dared to collapse. She had forced herself to hold on until she got home.

Get instant access to all chapters now.

Previous Table of Contents Next