The Art of Teasing - Chapter 39
Chapter 39
Ye Ling was slightly surprised that Wen Li had sent her a text message saying this, but she quickly understood and couldn't help but smile. Renouncing the world to become a monastic was even harder for family to accept than coming out of the closet. Wen Zhengyu had actually told Wen Li she wanted to become a monastic. No matter how much Wen Li sided with Wen Zhengyu, there was absolutely no room for negotiation on this matter. And now, Wen Li had sent her a text message, clearly wanting her to handle this. She also had to thank Wen Li for giving her a chance to prove herself. After thinking for a moment, she picked up her phone and replied to Wen Li: "She won't."
Wen Li quickly replied to Ye Ling with a text message: "?"
Ye Ling did not reply to Wen Li.
She guessed that Wen Zhengyu had said she wanted to become a monastic because she thought temples were quiet. Wen Zhengyu liked quiet, but she loved her painting brush even more. She had no religious faith; her faith lay in the world she painted with her brush.
Since Wen Zhengyu and Ye Ling's conversation had yielded no results, she temporarily set the matter aside. Although she couldn't convince Ye Ling to give up, who she was with, or not with, was not something Ye Ling could decide. As Wen Li had said, the most important thing for her now was still learning how to make money.
She had nothing to do in the afternoon and stayed in the office looking over the materials Wen Li had given her.
After work, she first went home to have dinner with the Old Master, then drove to Wen Li's house.
Wen Li had many social engagements and often came home very late.
Wen Zhengyu's routine, on the other hand, was very regular. Unless something came up, she would always get off work at five o'clock sharp, go home first to have dinner with Old Master Wen, then around six-thirty head out from home to Wen Li's place. She drove slowly, so the trip took an hour, and she would arrive at Wen Li's house around seven. After washing up, she would start reviewing materials. If Wen Li came home early, she would discuss business matters with her; if Wen Li came home late, she would go to sleep at eleven o'clock sharp.
After Wen Li figured out Wen Zhengyu's schedule, she was speechless for a long moment before sighing, "Even civil servants don't keep as regular a schedule as you."
Facing Wen Li who left early and returned late, Wen Zhengyu didn't dare say that before reviewing materials, except for the period when the Old Master wasn't home, she usually went to bed at ten.
Wen Li felt that her cousin sister was too leisurely and enjoying her little life too much, so from time to time she would drag Wen Zhengyu out for socializing and business discussions.
Wen Li had an abundance of dinner parties and banquets, and she traveled everywhere to negotiate business. A lot of deals were made at the dinner table, or after negotiating business, they still had to go eat. Doing business meant contact with many people and many personal favors. If someone had a birthday, engagement, or longevity celebration, she always had to be considerate. Basically, of the three meals a day, besides breakfast, lunch and dinner were either at a dinner banquet or a social event. In the evening, she also had to meet up with friends who invited her out to gatherings; sometimes, when someone encountered trouble, she had to go help. As for business management and operations, Wen Li mostly hired professional managers to handle things, or, like her partnership with Wen Zhengyu, it was managed by a partner. Additionally, Wen Li had a professional management team to handle properties and investments in various places, a team divided into three parts: advisory, financial management, and public relations.
For her small studio, the fact that Wen Li came to serve as the CFO was truly on account of their close cousin-sister relationship.
Wen Zhengyu didn't like social engagements; she didn't like dealing with all kinds of people. She couldn't be like Wen Li, who, under the other party's lecherous gaze, could still calmly and composedly arrange for the PR team to handle them. Banquets and gatherings, more often than not, were like a demon-revealing mirror, exposing people's selfish desires. At the wine table, the words that came out of these people's mouths were completely opposite to the meaning revealed by their eyes and expressions.
A friend of Wen Li had a birthday, and they were celebrating at a club. She invited Wen Zhengyu along.
Wen Zhengyu couldn't quite stand the raucous drinking games, so she excused herself to go to the restroom for some fresh air. On her way back, she entered the wrong private room and opened the door to see a fat, pasty, flabby body covered in thick black body hair pressing a hostess down on the coffee table, his ugly parts and unsightly behavior fully exposed.
Immediately, Wen Zhengyu felt her stomach churn. She rushed back to the restroom and threw up so hard she nearly brought up bile.
After throwing up, she leaned weakly against the partition in the restroom, her whole body trembling uncontrollably.
She didn't know why, she was just trembling all over.
She thought, probably because it was filthy.
Some people, some places, were like a muddy quagmire.
She feared falling into such a quagmire.
She couldn't be like Wen Li, who could trim her sails to the wind, handle everything with ease and composure, advancing and retreating freely.
"Xiao Yu." Wen Li's voice came from outside.
Wen Zhengyu guessed that Wen Li had come looking for her after not seeing her return for a long time. She responded, "I'm here."
Wen Li asked, "What took you so long?"
Wen Zhengyu didn't know how to answer.
Wen Li asked, "What's wrong?"
Wen Zhengyu said, "Nothing. I'll be out in a bit."
Wen Li said, "Okay, I'll wait for you outside."
Wen Zhengyu gave an "Mm" of assent. She heard Wen Li's footsteps go all the way outside the restroom. She took several deep breaths to steady herself, then opened the door and went to the sink to rinse her mouth and wash her face. After washing her face, she dried the water with a paper towel and looked up to see her own pale face in the mirror, her expression somewhat distressed and forlorn, looking a bit bedraggled.
Wen Li waited a long time for Wen Zhengyu to come out. When she returned to the restroom and saw Wen Zhengyu standing at the sink, she immediately noticed something was off. She asked, "Xiao Yu, what's wrong?"
Wen Zhengyu shook her head. She wanted to say "Nothing," but she knew she couldn't fool anyone in this state, so she honestly said, "Just now when I went back, I pushed open the wrong door and ran into someone..." She thought of that pasty body with black bear-like chest hair and the hair down there, and immediately her stomach churned again. She rushed into a stall once more, shut the door, and started throwing up.
Wen Li knocked on the door, calling, "Xiao Yu?"
A woman's voice came: "Xiao Li, did you find your Xiao Yu?"
Wen Li said, "Found her. It seems she's having some stomach trouble, vomiting and diarrhea. I need to take her to the hospital."
The woman said, "How did this happen? Did she eat something bad? Then go on, hurry."
Wen Li said, "Alright. I'll wait here for her to come out."
After Wen Zhengyu finished throwing up and heard the woman leave, she opened the door and came out.
Wen Li went up to support her and gently rubbed her back, asking, "Are you okay?"
Wen Zhengyu shook her head, wanting to say she was fine, but she didn't feel like talking. She rinsed her mouth again at the sink, then said, "Let's go."
Wen Li supported Wen Zhengyu by the arm as they walked out. When they passed their private room, she asked Wen Zhengyu to wait at the door while she went in to get her bag, said something to the people inside, and then took Wen Zhengyu away.
Wen Li got Wen Zhengyu into the car and then asked, "The hospital or home?"
Wen Zhengyu leaned back in the seat and softly replied, "Home." She paused, then asked, "Lili Sis, am I especially useless?"
Wen Li drove the car out of the parking spot and onto the road before asking, "In what regard do you mean?"
Wen Zhengyu couldn't say it. She herself felt that she was being melodramatic.
Since Wen Zhengyu wouldn't say, Wen Li didn't ask further.
She took Wen Zhengyu home and told her to take a bath first and relax. After returning to her own room to wash up, she changed into comfortable pajamas and poured a glass of warm water, then went back to Wen Zhengyu's room.
By the time Wen Li waited until the warm water was nearly cold, Wen Zhengyu finally came out of the bathroom slowly. She handed the water to Wen Zhengyu, saying, "Drink some water, settle your stomach."
Wen Zhengyu took the water glass, and across the small round table, sat down opposite Wen Li. She forced a smile at Wen Li and said, "Lili Sis, it's nothing now."
Wen Li said, "It's good if you're okay. If there's something, don't hide it or try to tough it out."
Wen Zhengyu nodded gently. She said to Wen Li, "Go rest. I'm really fine now."
Wen Li examined Wen Zhengyu for a few moments, saw that she still seemed listless, and asked, "Really fine?"
Wen Zhengyu shook her head, "I'm fine."
Wen Li could see that Wen Zhengyu didn't seem fine at all, but as her cousin sister, she could only help when she could and look out for her as much as possible. Wen Zhengyu was already well into her twenties; her father had fallen, and right now with her and Ye Ling watching over her, they could still temporarily protect Wen Zhengyu. She had her own life and her own career to tend to; she couldn't always be tightly shielding Wen Zhengyu. As for Ye Ling, who knew how long Ye Ling's patience would last, and what would happen when it ran out? What she could do was limited. How Wen Zhengyu would walk her path, she'd have to think it through herself.
Wen Li felt a bit heartbroken for Wen Zhengyu, but if she couldn't even bear this little bit of trouble, the future would be even harder.
She said, "It's good you're fine. Go to bed early. If anything comes up, come find me."
Wen Zhengyu gave another "Mm" and said to Wen Li, "Good night."
Wen Li replied, "Good night." She also reminded, "Get some sleep early," then got up and left.
After Wen Zhengyu watched Wen Li leave, she curled up wearily in the chair, hugging her knees and staring blankly at the night sky outside.
The scenes of this period flashed through her mind like a revolving lantern, finally settling on that unsightly scene in the private room she couldn't bear to look at.
She wanted to make money, but she didn't want to make it this way.
To say it was clean, the business world was full of all kinds of people; it was hard not to come into contact with or get involved in such things.
She wanted to paint, but she hadn't touched a paintbrush in a long time.
A little painter who ran a studio, not holding a paintbrush, not painting, busy all day with business and dealing with people.
She had been painting since she was three, for over twenty years, and she didn't want to give up her paintbrush because of money.
Wen Zhengyu was very tired and weary, but she had not a trace of sleepiness. She lazily curled up in the chair, not wanting to move.
The night sky, which originally still held stars, became pitch black. Not long after, dawn broke through the pre-dawn darkness. The sky gradually brightened; sunlight shining through the clouds cast a rosy glow, and then passed through the window to fall on her face.
She heard Wen Li getting up and came back to her senses. She moved her limbs, which were a bit stiff from sitting in one position too long, then got up to wash.
Whether she wanted to or not, dawn came as usual, the sun rose as usual, and she still had to face what she had to face.
After washing up, Wen Zhengyu applied some light makeup to cover her haggard look from staying up all night, went downstairs, drank a cup of coffee that Wen Li had brewed, ate some bread, then drove to the studio.
She hadn't slept all night. After handling the day's affairs, she was so sleepy she couldn't stand it. She went to the break room, took off her coat, got into bed, and fell right asleep.
She had slept only a short while before being awakened by the phone ringing.
Groggily, she picked up the phone and saw it was Ye Ling calling. She hung up on Ye Ling.
Soon, Ye Ling called again.
Wen Zhengyu pressed the answer button and heard Ye Ling's voice come through the phone: "Zhengyu, do you have time? I'd like to ask for your help."
Ye Ling was asking for her help? Wen Zhengyu rubbed her forehead and sat up, asking, "What's the matter?"
Ye Ling said, "It's like this: I've made an appointment regarding an ancient painting. The appraiser I had previously contacted suddenly fell ill and was hospitalized. The matter is urgent, and there's no time to contact another appraiser. I thought you are well-versed in this area, so I wanted to ask for your help."
An ancient painting? Wen Zhengyu asked, "What era is the painting from?"
Ye Ling said, "Song dynasty."
The Song dynasty! An ancient painting! The golden era when meticulous brushwork painting was most brilliant and splendid. Wen Zhengyu's drowsiness instantly vanished, and she immediately became alert.
Comments
Post a Comment