The Art of Teasing - Chapter 61

Chapter 61

With a father like Wen Shiyi, and with suitors who, to varying degrees, all harbored expectations that she conform her life to their wishes, Wen Zhengyu had developed a considerable aversion to the idea of marriage and starting a family. But today, her cousins had given her a very different kind of lesson.

She watched her cousins fuss over their wives, feeding them choice morsels, and from time to time, her thoughts would involuntarily drift to Ye Ling. During that meal at Ye Ling's house, Ye Ling had continuously piled food into her bowl, and she had sensed that Ye Ling's delight at that moment was completely genuine. She felt that if she could have transposed her interaction with Ye Ling from that day to this barbecue setting, she would not have been so thoroughly tormented. Her cousins looked after her, shared their food with her, but the barbecue they grilled was all seasoned to their respective wives' individual preferences. At most, when they remembered her, they would ease up a little on the chili peppers. As for anything more nuanced, like the level of saltiness—forget it. All their attentive care was reserved entirely for their wives; they had none to spare for her. A sister was dear, but even a blood sister often had to take a back seat to a wife. After all, the person you spend your life with is your wife, not your sister. The fact that they could spare some extra care for her after looking after their wives, ensuring she didn't go hungry, was something she was grateful for.

Without comparison, there is no pain; without comparison, it is also very hard to perceive a person's true kindness.

Ye Ling was good to her, devotedly and wholeheartedly good to her, and she knew it. She appreciated Ye Ling's regard and understood that having someone treat her the way Ye Ling did was a rare and precious thing. But as for any deeper emotional stirrings—there were none. At least, there hadn't been before.

After the barbecue, on the drive back, as she sat in the car, her thoughts kept returning to Ye Ling.

She couldn't quite articulate what that feeling was. It couldn't really be called liking, but neither could it be called dislike. It was simply that there was this person who now occupied a tiny, persistent corner of her thoughts.

Wen Zhengyu figured she must have been provoked into this state by her cousins.

Lian Xin dropped her off at her front gate.

As she was getting out of the car, Lian Xin rolled down the window and said to her, "Next time, for the love of all that is holy, bring a partner." He even pressed his palms together in a pleading gesture.

Wen Zhengyu couldn't help but laugh. The biggest casualties of today's barbecue had been her and Lian Xin. For her, it was because she couldn't eat spicy food. As for Lian Xin, his wife had completely done him in. His wife adored spicy food, was absolutely fanatical about it. Having managed to commandeer the grill, she had flung Sichuan peppercorns and chili peppers onto the meat as if they were free. His wife had a weak stomach, so Lian Xin wouldn't let her eat much, even forbidding her from eating much of what she grilled. But the barbecue she made couldn't just be thrown away, and Lian Zhenxing was still too young to eat anything too spicy. Therefore, Lian Xin was forced to finish every last bit of it. Earlier, Lian Xin had grumbled to her, "Normally at home, I wouldn't even dare let her into the kitchen. And you—you just had to let her snatch the grill." The other cousins hadn't fared any better, all of them falling victim to their culinarily-challenged wives, who had taken turns unleashing a barrage of various hometown specialties mixed with self-invented grilling techniques.

Her sisters-in-law had even said to her, "It's fine if you don't bring a partner. The more of us women get together, the merrier it is."

Wen Zhengyu privately thought, The merriment you're talking about is the joy of wreaking havoc.

Still, the cousins were her own family, and helping the sisters-in-law torment them felt a bit disloyal. She smiled and agreed, "Alright, next time I'll definitely bring a partner." She then added a question: "Does gender matter? Male or female, either is okay, right?"

Lian Xin shot her a glance and said, "As long as the person can be useful, either is fine."

Wen Zhengyu responded, "Okay."

As for bringing Ye Ling to these kinds of family gatherings, Wen Zhengyu's thoughts had only briefly touched on it when thinking about that home-cooked meal and how her cousins cared for their wives. If her cousins and their wives didn't object, she would actually much rather bring Old Master Lian and Grandmother along.

The elderly were often very lonely, and they feared loneliness too. Deep down, they all wished for more time with their children and grandchildren, yet they were also afraid of becoming a burden. She had experienced this most profoundly with Old Master Wen, though since she had been raised by Old Master Wen, the old man and the young girl had always managed to keep each other company quite well. Besides, the old master had his own social circle and was busy every day. She had visited Old Master Lian and Grandmother, and she knew that they were truly lonely. In that sprawling courtyard, aside from the household staff, there were only her maternal grandparents and her youngest uncle. Her youngest uncle was a public servant, and in the military at that, so his time at home was limited. Most of the time, the elderly couple only had each other for company. Fortunately, Grandmother still had some business holdings to manage, which helped her pass the time.

Wen Zhengyu had her own affairs to attend to and couldn't really find the time to visit every day. She and Old Master Wen both loved snacks and often bought them. Previously, she would buy two portions—one for herself, one for Old Master Wen—and occasionally an extra for Ye Ling. Now, she had added another portion for her maternal grandparents. When she didn't have time to go herself, she would have Wen Jing deliver it.

Sometimes, when the old madam was in a good mood, she would even personally go into the kitchen to make some flatbreads or other treats for Wen Jing to bring back to her.

She had to admit, the old madam's thousand-layer flatbread was exceptionally delicious. She had discussed with the old madam the possibility of having Sun Yuan go over to learn how to make it, but the old madam had said, "If you want to eat it, you come over. I'll make it for you."

So she found a relatively free afternoon, confirmed the old madam was home, slipped away from work, and went over to learn how to make the flatbread herself from the old madam.

While mixing the dough, she was careless, and the tip of her finger accidentally jabbed the basin, snapping off a section of her nail right into the flour.

The old madam wouldn't let her touch the dough anymore and even commented, "That hand of yours clearly isn't one meant for manual labor. When you look for a partner in the future, you must find someone who can cook." She paused, then added, "Even though there are cooks in the family, cooks can resign or take days off. Find someone who can cook, and even if you fall on hard times, you won't lack for a meal. I heard from your Fourth Sister-in-Law that you can't even grill barbecue—that she had to do it for you?"

Wen Zhengyu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Grill it for me, she said? She grilled it so heavily seasoned with numbing pepper and chili, and after it was done, every bit went into Xin-ge's stomach. And I ended up getting an earful of complaints from Xin-ge for my trouble."

The old madam said, "Her stomach is weak; she really can't eat food that's too spicy. But if you don't let her eat spicy food, she craves it and feels like her meals have no flavor. Her love for spicy food rivals your love for sweets. To accommodate the tastes of all their different palates, Old You even went out of his way to learn several kinds of regional specialty dishes."

The normally taciturn old madam became much more talkative when the subject turned to her granddaughters-in-law.

Wen Zhengyu realized that the old madam was genuinely very attentive to her granddaughters-in-law. She knew each of their tastes—what dishes they liked, what dishes they didn't like, which one had a minor health issue where. The old madam said that daughters painstakingly raised by other families, who then married into the Lian family to bear and raise children for those wild boys of theirs—it wasn't easy for them, and they deserved to be treated well.

She said, "I don't see how my cousins are all that wild?"

The old madam said, "That's because you haven't seen it. The roof beams and floor tiles in this house have all been replaced. Who else but those little monkey brats of the Lian family could manage to break a roof beam while digging out a bat's nest? And they even had the nerve to argue righteously that it was our house's beams that weren't sturdy enough and needed replacing."

After finishing her flatbread at the old madam's place, the old madam even had her take a packed serving back for Old Master Wen.

This left Wen Zhengyu somewhat confused again. She had thought the two families were estranged to the point of never having anything to do with each other.

The old madam said, "After all is said and done, he's still your grandfather. We should give him some face."

Wen Zhengyu felt that the old madam's words were a bit disingenuous.

Upon returning home, after Old Master Wen finished the thousand-layer flatbread made by the old madam, he remarked, "That grandmother of yours—she's worried I might stop you from visiting her too often. Am I that petty a person?"

Wen Zhengyu prudently held her tongue.

In the blink of an eye, it was September.

Wen Zhengyu still hadn't recruited a general manager. Although she was now working in sporadic fits and starts, often absent from the studio, fortunately, the studio had gotten on the right track. The relationships she maintained with senior figures in the industry remained quite good, the purchase prices she offered for paintings were fair, and the supply of artwork was not a worry. The paintings she acquired could all be sold smoothly, so the business performance was still decent. The marketing side was also doing very well, successfully bringing several newcomers into prominence. The manager of the marketing department had even asked her if she wanted them to run a promotional campaign for her.

This made Wen Zhengyu feel slightly awkward. She currently only had one of her own paintings on hand, and what was more, she hadn't touched a paintbrush in several months. She smiled and replied, "As the boss, I won't compete with the newcomers for resources. Focus more on cultivating them." With her speed of painting, even if they promoted her to the level of a first-tier artist, she wouldn't be able to sustain her own household expenses.

Ye Ling came to find her and asked if she was free on Thursday and Friday.

Wen Zhengyu asked, "Is there something happening?"

Ye Ling said, "Going to catch crabs."

Wen Zhengyu made a small, puzzled sound, "Hm?" and looked at Ye Ling with slight incomprehension.

Ye Ling explained, "September and October are exactly the season for eating crabs, and September is the best time for female crabs, when the roe is perfect. I've contacted a crab farmer over by Yangcheng Lake. I plan to go over and catch some crabs to give as gifts."

Wen Zhengyu thought about it. This really was a suitable occasion to gift a round of crabs. Her family had many relatives—she would need to send some. Her master, Qi Qianshu, was also someone who loved crabs, plus several elderly seniors who lived nearby. Calculating it all, the number of crabs she needed to buy was considerable. Going directly to a farmer to buy in bulk would be much cheaper. She agreed, "Alright."

Ye Ling said, "Then on Thursday, after lunch, I'll come pick you up. We'll go to Yangcheng Lake, stay there one night, and go out to catch crabs on Friday morning. We'll probably be done by noon, then head back after lunch. It's less than two hundred kilometers, so it's convenient to drive there and back."

Wen Zhengyu said, "Fine, I'll follow CEO Ye's arrangements."

Ye Ling said, "Then it's settled?"

Wen Zhengyu gave an "Mhm" and nodded.

On Thursday, after lunch, she packed her luggage for the trip, and Ye Ling came to pick her up.

Since they were traveling far and would be staying out overnight, she naturally had to bring Wen Jing along.

Wen Jing drove, and Ye Ling got into the car with her.

The exhaustion on Ye Ling's face was impossible to conceal. As soon as she settled into the car, she began to doze off.

She asked, "How did you get this exhausted?"

Ye Ling said, "I put in an extra shift. Just got off work; haven't slept all night."

Wen Zhengyu asked, "Did you run into trouble?"

Ye Ling said, "No. I was planning to give myself two days off. I'll need to personally deliver gifts myself later, so I had to get all the work matters sorted out first."

Wen Zhengyu immediately understood. Ye Ling had arranged things this way precisely because she wanted to bring her along to catch the crabs. Otherwise, having someone else catch them and deliver them would have been far more time-efficient, labor-saving, and cost-effective. This consideration alone from Ye Ling touched Wen Zhengyu quite deeply. She said, "Then get some sleep. I'll wake you when we arrive."

Ye Ling smiled and responded, "Okay." Then she rested her head on Wen Zhengyu's shoulder and closed her eyes.

Wen Zhengyu was speechless for a moment.

Ye Ling leaning on her shoulder so readily made Wen Zhengyu involuntarily entertain a thought: Could this be a calculated ploy to gain sympathy?

Within two minutes, she heard Ye Ling's breathing become deep and even.

Wen Zhengyu thought to herself, Just how exhausted is she? No matter how busy or tired she herself got, she had never ended up like Ye Ling. She reached for the thin blanket kept in the car and gently draped it over Ye Ling.

Get instant access to all chapters now.

Previous Table of Contents Next