The Art of Teasing - Chapter 59

Chapter 59

After the two Lian brothers and Ye Ling finished their meal and got into the car, Lian Xi said to Lian Xin, "Fourth Brother, you can stop worrying now. Little Sister clearly takes after us Lians. She doesn't resemble that Wen fellow in the slightest."

Lian Xin replied, "When Aunt got married, you were still in Third Aunt's womb. What the hell do you know? Back then, when Wen Shiyi was courting our aunt, he cut a damn fine figure—skilled in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, handled people and situations impeccably. Even I thought he'd make a fine uncle-in-law. None of us saw that rotten core." His eyes reddened recalling those childhood days.

Lian Xi teased, "Fourth Brother, how come you're just like Yu'er, getting all emotional whenever Aunt is mentioned..."

Lian Xin silenced him with a single glacial glare.

Lian Xin said, "You were born late. There's a lot you don't know. You're aware of how Grandma gave birth to Aunt and Little Uncle, right?"

Lian Xi answered, "I know. The medical conditions were poor back then. Twins—a dragon and a phoenix—and a difficult labor. Grandma held a ginseng slice between her teeth and mustered her final ounce of strength to push them out. The delivering doctor said if they hadn't come when they did, all three—mother and both children—would have been lost."

Lian Xin nodded. "Grandma had four sons, and Aunt was her only daughter. She prized her more than her own eyeballs. You were born too late; you never met Aunt. Yu'er resembles her, with that same soft, gentle way of speaking, but compared to Aunt, she falls far short."

Lian Xi asked, "Short in what way?"

Lian Xin said, "When we were little, before Aunt married, she managed the household, not Grandma. Our parents were all busy then and dumped us kids with Grandma. Little Uncle had enlisted in the army. Aunt, still unmarried, stayed home looking after our whole pack of brats. We were terrors—climbing trees to steal bird's eggs, prying up floor tiles, digging tunnels in the courtyard looking for secret passages, scaling roof beams to raid bat nests. We did it all. Grandma's discipline was iron-fisted. Whenever we caused trouble, we'd get a real dressing-down and be scared witless. We'd always flee to Aunt. Every time, she'd hold Grandma off first, then ask us what happened, then guide us on how to clean up our mess. She'd explain everything we did wrong in detail. After that, she'd punish us with copying texts and household chores, and the matter would be closed with Grandma. But back then, you couldn't make the same mistake twice. A second time, and Aunt would personally escort us to Grandma."

"Grandma's form of punishment was locking us brothers in the basement. That basement once served as a cellblock—people died down there. Even in July it was bone-chillingly cold and eerily silent. Positively haunted. Locked inside with no food, you could cry your throat raw and no one upstairs would hear a thing."

Lian Xi instantly shot Lian Xin a look of profound sympathy.

Thinking of his aunt, a wave of pain surged through Lian Xin's heart. What a wonderful person. Gone, just like that, and in such a tragic way. When Aunt died, he had slipped in during the chaos for a look. Lifting the cloth that covered her, he saw her eyes were open, staring wide. He tried to close them but couldn't, no matter how he tried. Then Second Uncle grabbed him from behind and dragged him out. He kept screaming, "Aunt's eyes won't close! Aunt's eyes won't close!"

His father had drawn a gun then, intent on killing Wen Shiyi. Wen Shiyi held the newborn baby in front of him as a shield and retreated into the doctor's office, locking the door, shouting that if he was going to die, the whole family of three would die together.

His cousin, his maternal cousin, motherless at birth, used as a human shield by her own father, cried until her voice was hoarse.

At that moment, he could have killed Wen Shiyi himself.

Wen Shiyi, terrified of death, used his daughter as a talisman. One moment he threatened a family suicide, the next he insisted a child without a mother couldn't lose her father too.

The entire family said that was when they realized how blind they had been, how utterly they had misjudged the thing that was Wen Shiyi.

His grandmother had thoroughly investigated the Wen family before marrying Aunt off. She hadn't just looked at Wen Shiyi; she had examined his entire family. She noted the simple family structure—two sisters already married and living far away, so no potential conflicts with sisters-in-law. The elderly Wens were educated intellectuals with proper manners, unlikely to create difficult in-law situations. Who could have known Wen Shiyi was that kind of creature? Before he'd won Aunt's hand, everything was perfection, as if he'd pluck the very stars and moon for her. While Aunt was pregnant, rumors of his unfaithfulness surfaced. When Aunt heard, she sent her attendants away and sought Wen Shiyi to talk. Witnesses saw Wen Shiyi storm out with a hardened face. When someone asked, "What's wrong, young sir?"

Wen Shiyi replied, "Your young miss fell. Go help her up." Then he left.

Aunt was nine months pregnant then, nine months! A pregnant woman carrying a child for nine months!

He later heard the elderly amah recount holding Aunt and shouting desperately for help, watching as the blood poured out. Elder Wen and his wife rushed over, saw the volume of blood, knew things were dire, and ordered her to the hospital immediately. The blood, it flowed the whole way there... By the time she reached the hospital, it was already too late...

Noticing Lian Xin's darkening expression, Lian Xi didn't dare speak. After a moment, he tentatively said, "All these years, Wen Shiyi chased women, desperate for a son, and still couldn't even—" He stopped, seeing his Fourth Brother's laugh—a cold, ghastly, twisted grimace. His heart lurched. No way? He leaned in and whispered in Lian Xin's ear, "Did our family really... tamper with that function of Wen's?"

Lian Xin's bloodshot eyes widened fiercely as he glared. "Who told you that?"

"I overheard Little Uncle muttering to my dad. Didn't catch it clearly."

Lian Xin cursed, "Can't you ever keep a lid on your mouth? And with Ye Ling—stop letting her pump you for information! That woman is scheming every possible angle on Yu'er. Who knows what she's after."

Lian Xi replied, "I know what can be said and what can't."

Lian Xin was so exasperated he laughed.

Ye Ling hadn't expected that shortly after the Lian brothers sought her out to ask about Wen Zhengyu, Wen Zhengyu herself would appear in her office, asking about her dealings with the Lian family. Specifically, the matter of her and the Lians joining forces to bring down Wen Shiyi.

Ye Ling stared at Wen Zhengyu in stunned bewilderment, trying to figure out where she had heard this.

Wen Zhengyu hadn't heard it from anywhere. She had pieced together recent people, events, and circumstances and drawn her own conclusions.

Though she didn't involve herself much in business, she knew Wen Shiyi's net worth was conservatively estimated at over a billion yuan. The debts she and her grandfather had repaid for him amounted to less than three hundred million. Before, she hadn't understood; she thought owing nearly three hundred million was an enormous sum. Only after running her own business did she realize that debt itself isn't the problem—it's whether one has the ability to repay. Whether through Wen Shiyi's own means or through family connections, he could have scraped that money together. He wouldn't have suddenly abandoned everything and fled over such a sum. As for illegal fundraising, given Wen Shiyi's circumstances at the time, that wasn't what it was. Yet Wen Shiyi had suddenly run, never even returning for his elderly father's birthday. This was deeply irregular.

She'd harbored a vague suspicion about this before, but after dining with the Lian family, it had suddenly crystallized.

For over twenty years, she'd had no contact with the Lian family. Yet she could see they had always thought of her. They thought of her, and her grandparents were people who valued familial connections and reciprocal visits. Even if the Lian and Wen families no longer associated, she was still the Lian family's biological granddaughter. Logic dictated that once she began learning to maintain family ties and send gifts, she should have paid a visit to the Lians. Yet, it never happened. For over twenty years, no contact. Finally, the Lians found her through Ye Ling.

Her mother's death was etched into the memories of three generations of the Lian family. A grievance this profound—she was Wen Shiyi's biological daughter, and even she couldn't fully let it go, let alone the Lians. The Lian family couldn't possibly have simply dropped the score with Wen Shiyi. Yet for all these twenty-plus years, Wen Shiyi's business prospered and his fortunes grew ever larger. Only last year did he go bankrupt and flee.

The person who bankrupted Wen Shiyi was Ye Ling—at least, Ye Ling was the one who did it on the surface. The fact that her Little Uncle could reach her through Ye Ling meant Ye Ling had considerable dealings with the Lian family, and a deep connection at that. Ye Ling, capable as she was, was still an outsider who had only arrived locally a few years ago. For her to force Wen Shiyi to run for his life, she must have leveraged some local connections. Connections that were at odds with Wen Shiyi, at odds to the point where every single one of her own relatives had avoided mentioning it to her even now.

Her maternal family, because of her mother's death, had driven her father away. Outsiders didn't know. The two families involved couldn't bring themselves to tell her.

Similarly, she couldn't approach her maternal family or her grandfather to ask. So, she sought out the only person who had been directly involved: Ye Ling.

When she came to ask Ye Ling, she didn't hold much hope. After all, Ye Ling was neither a Lian nor a Wen. There were many things the Lian family might not have shared with her.

Ye Ling didn't know who had tipped Wen Zhengyu off, but this wasn't an easy subject to discuss. On one side were Wen Zhengyu's maternal uncles; on the other, her biological father. If Ye Ling had no particular designs on Wen Zhengyu, she could dismiss this in a few words. But with her intentions, not talking about it would seem like she was treating Wen Zhengyu as an outsider. If she did, and Wen Zhengyu clashed with the Lian family over it, Ye Ling would end up damned either way.

She would have liked to simply take the blame and gloss over the matter, saying she alone had done it, calling in a few favors from the Lians. But she wasn't willing to deceive or conceal the truth from Wen Zhengyu.

She invited Wen Zhengyu to sit on the sofa, poured her a glass of water, and then hesitated before saying, "To be honest, I'm not entirely clear on the ins and outs myself. Because of your relationship to it all, some things... are difficult for me to talk about."

Wen Zhengyu nodded. "I understand. I just want to know who helped avenge my mother. I want to learn about her."

The sudden mention of Wen Zhengyu's mother caught Ye Ling off guard. She paused, then quickly gathered her thoughts. The Lians were in-laws to the Wens—they wouldn't go after Wen Shiyi to this extent without cause. She knew Wen Zhengyu's mother had died very young and that Wen Shiyi was somehow involved, which was why the Lians had targeted him. But the specific details were beyond her knowledge.

Wen Zhengyu asked, "Was it my Little Uncle?" Lian Huaixin had found Ye Ling to contact her, and he had been her mother's twin sibling, born of the same womb.

Ye Ling was sorely tempted to advise her to let the older generation handle their own grudges. But the person who had partnered with her was Lian Xin, who wasn't of the older generation. Lian Huaixin had initiated contact, but the actual operation was handled jointly by Lian Xin and her. Selling out Lian Xin, however—that she had no qualms about. She said, "Lian Xin as well." She paused and added, "The Lian brothers are always united. If one makes a move, the others won't stand idly by."

Wen Zhengyu nodded. This explained everything. The only lingering question was why the Lians had waited over twenty years to act.

Ye Ling said, "The Lian brothers care about you deeply. They're worried you might be suffering or unhappy. They even sought me out about it yesterday."

Wen Zhengyu murmured an "Mm," and then nodded softly. "They're all very good people."

Ye Ling wanted badly to urge Wen Zhengyu to let bygones be bygones. But matters involving one's own mother—who could easily move on from that? When her own parents died in a car crash, she and her brother had investigated for years until they could definitively confirm it was indeed an accident. Only then could they rest.

Wen Zhengyu thanked Ye Ling and took her leave.

Afraid of distressing her maternal grandparents, she didn't dare approach the elderly couple to ask about her mother. Instead, she called Lian Huaixin and inquired through him.

She asked these things without any ulterior motive. She simply wanted to know what kind of person her mother had been—what she liked, what she disliked, stories from her past. She didn't want every thought of her mother to be limited to that one photograph, or the memory of Wen Shiyi slapping her during Chinese New Year.

She visited Lian Huaixin's home.

Her Little Aunt-in-Law and two younger male cousins were overseas. Her Little Uncle rarely stayed alone at this house; he normally resided with her maternal grandparents.

Though infrequently inhabited, the house was clearly tidied regularly. It was spotless—no accumulated dust, no hint of must or mildew.

The photo wall displayed a family portrait of four. Her Little Uncle stood behind his wife and children, his posture a picture of contentment, as though sheltering them in his embrace. Her Little Aunt-in-Law wasn't conventionally beautiful, but she was neat-featured and refined, her smile radiating warmth.

She said, "Little Aunt-in-Law is very lovely."

Lian Huaixin declared with pride, "She certainly is!" He asked Wen Zhengyu, "What would you like to drink?"

Wen Zhengyu replied, "Anything will do."

Seeing it was getting late and worried tea would keep her awake, Lian Huaixin put plain water on to boil. Once the water was heating, he went into a room and carried out a thick photo album to show Wen Zhengyu. "These are all photos of me and my sister. We were dragon-and-phoenix twins—a rarity. Your Eldest Uncle loved messing with cameras, so he was always photographing us. Visiting relatives and friends, people were always pulling us aside for pictures. Back then, your maternal grandmother loved fussing over us. Over time, my sister and I accumulated more photos than your Eldest Uncle, Second Uncle, and Third Uncle combined." He added, "You can look, but don't take them. My sister has her own album, in her room. Get hers the next time you're over there."

Wen Zhengyu responded with a soft "Mm." The album began with photos taken when the twins were just over a month old. Some were of the two of them together, others were group photos with all the siblings. Her mother and Little Uncle were thirteen years younger than the Eldest Uncle and nine years younger than the Third Uncle. Standing beside their three elder brothers, they appeared especially small, like little beans. The pair were also extremely close; in every photo, they held hands. The young brother and sister were both utterly adorable. The effect of three wild-boy brothers flanking two delicate younger siblings was unmistakable—a single glance revealed the first three sons were free-range, while the dragon-and-phoenix twins were tenderly home-raised.

Lian Huaixin said, "Those three thought they could compete with me for my sister. In every photo, they always wanted to be holding my sister. They found me an annoyance." He pointed to one particular photo. "See this? Didn't get to hold my sister, so they're glaring at me. Glares are useless. We came from the same womb."

Wen Zhengyu said, "They came from the same womb too."

Lian Huaixin shot her a glance. "That's different. Look—they all resemble my dad. My sister and I resemble my mom."

Wen Zhengyu looked at her uncle. Instantly she realized there was finally someone whose skin was thicker than Ye Ling's. To utter such blatant nonsense. But she was talking to her own uncle—constantly undermining him wasn't appropriate either. Wen Zhengyu silently swallowed her retort and resumed turning pages.

The album was thick, and behind every photograph lay countless amusing stories from their childhood. Lian Huaixin could never run out of things to say about his sister, so time slipped by unnoticed. Wen Zhengyu hadn't finished looking and wanted to borrow it. Lian Huaixin refused and told her to get her mother's copy instead.

Wen Zhengyu made a mental note to retrieve that album, but she knew it would lack a narrator. So, she arranged with Lian Huaixin to return tomorrow.

Lian Huaixin arranged to meet her at her maternal grandparents' home.

Wen Zhengyu agreed.

When she arrived at her maternal grandparents' house, had dinner, and entered her mother's room, the commentary squad had doubled. Her maternal grandmother didn't speak much, but occasionally, when her Little Uncle or grandfather mentioned something, she couldn't help interjecting a line or two.

"Those three rascals went swimming in the lake, tricked their sister into staying on the shore to guard their clothes. And this—how old were they, daring to go in the lake? When they came back, they were baked charcoal-black from the sun. Huaijin was covered in mosquito bites! I was absolutely furious!"

Lian Huaixin claimed he didn't remember.

Her maternal grandmother said, "Of course you don't remember. You were only four!"

Wen Zhengyu was rendered speechless. The older brothers went swimming in the lake and left their four-year-old sister on the shore to guard their clothes. This was just barely acceptable for that era. In modern times, by the time they finished swimming and came ashore, the little sister would likely have been kidnapped by human traffickers. Yet her grandmother's primary complaint was that her mother had been bitten by mosquitoes.

Elder Lian even defended his sons: "Huaixin had Huairen looking after him in the water. Nothing would have happened."

Her maternal grandmother turned and scolded her Eldest Uncle instead: "The eldest brother didn't set a proper example, leading his younger brothers into the lake." She then extrapolated to the father failing to discipline his sons, scolding her maternal grandfather as well.

Contrasting her grandmother's treatment of her sons, Wen Zhengyu felt the old woman was truly gentle with her. An incident from years ago, and her grandfather still got an earful over it. So wronged. This also showed that back then, none of the older brothers—nor even her grandfather—had escaped her grandmother's scolding.

The album belonging to Elder Lian and his wife's daughter recorded every detail of Lian Huaijin's growth. Wen Zhengyu was content enough learning so much about her mother; she didn't have the heart to ask to take it.

The elderly lady also told her, "All your mother's things are here. If you're ever thinking of her, come by anytime."

Wen Zhengyu understood. The old lady was hoping she'd find time to come and keep them company more often. She agreed, saying, "Alright."

Her phone rang. Seeing it was Lian Xin, she answered, "Brother Xin."

Lian Xin asked if she was free over the weekend.

Wen Zhengyu said, "I am."

Lian Xin said, "Good. We'll come pick you up this weekend."

Wen Zhengyu was baffled. "What's happening?"

Lian Xin said, "Farmhouse barbecue, just on the outskirts of town. Drive out in the morning, back by afternoon." He paused, then added, "Oh, right. Bring a partner."

Wen Zhengyu was slow to process this. "Bring a partner? Why?"

Lian Xin said, "Everyone else will be paired up, and you'll be a lone singleton. That's no good."

Wen Zhengyu felt another stab to the heart. She suddenly understood why everyone in the Lian family married early. In this environment, who could endure being a single dog?

She hung up, her expression tangled in conflict.

The elderly lady asked, "What's the matter?"

Wen Zhengyu said, "Brother Xin mentioned a barbecue this weekend."

The elderly lady said, "Go. They've all settled down now, tied to wives and children. They aren't as wild as they used to be. Joining them will be lively."

Wen Zhengyu: "..." She was still single. Could no one here consider the feelings of a single dog?

She didn't have many friends. The closest were Wen Li and Ye Ling. Inviting Wen Li wasn't appropriate. Inviting Ye Ling was equally obviously inappropriate. Wen Zhengyu thought, I'll just go and be a single dog.

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