The Art of Teasing - Chapter 64

Chapter 64

Wen Zhengyu was a bit troubled.

She had only recently reunited with her maternal grandparents' family, and there were many things she wasn't familiar with yet — for example, she didn't really know her family members' birthdays. The invitations for her maternal grandmother's birthday banquet had been sent out long ago, but it was unheard of for a grandmother to have to send an invitation to her own granddaughter for her birthday. The Lian family and the Wen family had been cut off from each other for over twenty years, so no one had ever sent invitations to the Wen household. She figured the Lian family probably hadn't realized she didn't even know their birthdays — they assumed she knew, and then no one told her, until she invited everyone over for crabs and Lian Xi, that big mouth, started babbling on about everything and mentioned her grandmother's upcoming birthday. That was when she finally found out.

Now, she had finished the painting, but it still needed to be mounted.

There were fast options for mounting paintings — mechanical mounting only took half an hour — but that wasn't good for preservation or for later removal and restoration. The best option was manual mounting, but manual mounting took a long time, at least a week at minimum.

If she didn't mount it and just put it in a painting tube to give as is, then after her grandmother's birthday, take her grandmother along to get it mounted? That was no way to present a birthday gift.

The south was humid. The four words "misty rain in Jiangnan" perfectly captured the damp climate of the region. Even mounted paintings needed moisture-proofing during the humid plum rain season, or they would quickly become damp and moldy. Looking at the furnishings and décor in her grandfather's home, she could tell they weren't the type to appreciate calligraphy, paintings, or antiques, so they certainly wouldn't know how to preserve calligraphy and painting works. If her painting were hung in the house, it would start to mildew after just a few spells of drizzling rain, and she would be the first to be heartbroken over it.

Her painting was done on sized Xuan paper, and if it was to be preserved, it really needed proper mounting.

Wen Zhengyu hesitated for a long time, then went to the studio's storage room and found a rosewood carved painting tube for the painting. Anyway, she visited the old lady often. She would find a time later when the old lady was free and take her along to get it mounted. Ultimately, it was the thought that counted.

For the old lady's birthday, she couldn't possibly act like an outsider and wait until the day of the banquet to show up.

On Friday, after having lunch with the old gentleman, she took the birthday gift the old gentleman had prepared for the old lady and brought Wen Jing along to the Lian household. Going to the Lian household, she didn't even need to bring a change of clothes or daily necessities — the old lady had long since prepared everything for her.

The advantage of the old lady having many children and grandchildren showed itself at times like this. Her paternal grandfather only had one granddaughter by his side, so when she helped her grandfather celebrate his birthday, she was exhausted and utterly worn out, and in many areas, she still needed her grandfather's help, even dragging the old gentleman into quite a bit of busyness. But for her maternal grandmother's birthday, with her uncles, aunts, cousins, and cousins' wives handling everything, when she arrived, the old lady was still in the courtyard watering the flowers.

The old lady saw her car, put down the watering can, and walked over with quick, light steps, asking, "Why are you here at this hour? I thought you'd come tomorrow morning."

Wen Zhengyu said, "How could I? It's my own grandmother's birthday — of course I have to come early. I should have come even earlier, but to prepare your birthday gift, I worked overtime for a whole week, so you can't blame me."

The old lady heard she had been busy for a week and asked, "What did you prepare? Just you coming makes me happy."

Wen Zhengyu smiled and said, "You're happy just because I'm here, and you still ask what I prepared?"

The old lady said, "You were busy for a whole week — I have to ask."

Wen Jing opened the trunk and began moving the birthday gifts. The old lady leaned over to look. Seeing boxes and boxes in brocade packaging, she looked at Wen Zhengyu suspiciously and asked, "What's all this?"

Wen Zhengyu said, "I don't know — Old Mr. Wen prepared it, all things from his storeroom. I'm guessing the calligraphy, paintings, and antiques from his storeroom definitely won't be for you — probably things like ginseng, tonics, and supplements."

The old lady scrutinized the pile of things supposedly ginseng and tonics for a long time but couldn't spot which one was from her granddaughter. She asked, "What did you prepare?"

Wen Zhengyu took the painting tube from the back seat, supported her grandmother as they went inside, and said, "I painted it. Just finished yesterday afternoon — fresh out of the oven. You'll need to wait a few more days for it to dry before taking it to be mounted. I'll go with you then — I'm familiar with the mounter."

The old lady laughed, exposing her, "You — you ran out of time and didn't have time to send it for mounting. Just say so, will you? It's not like I'd blame you." She added, "But it's settled — you have to go with me."

Wen Zhengyu was exposed by the old lady, suddenly blushed, and nodded, "Definitely, definitely."

The old lady smiled as she opened the painting tube and carefully took out the painting.

Wen Zhengyu helped the old lady unroll the painting, saying, "I paint slowly, that's why it took so long. It's my first time painting this kind of birthday tribute, so if there are any shortcomings, please don't be too harsh, Old Madam."

The old lady teased her, "If I were harsh, could you paint another one?"

Wen Zhengyu agreed very readily.

The old lady laughed and shifted her gaze to the painting. The first thing that met her eyes was a longevity character, within which were painted green pines and immortal cranes, framed by the sun, moon, mountains, and rivers — clearly auspicious symbolism. Beside it were two lines of inscription: "In the Dingyou Year, Jiyou Month, Wen Zhengyu offers congratulations on Grandmother Zhang Yunhua's eighty-sixth birthday. May Grandmother enjoy happiness, health, and boundless longevity."

Birthday tribute paintings she had seen before, but inscriptions this long were rare. The painting was beautiful, and the calligraphy was lovely too.

The old lady read Wen Zhengyu's inscription over and over, and examined her painting again and again. Only after a long while did she withdraw her gaze and tightly grasp Wen Zhengyu's hand. This painting — even every single pine needle was clearly depicted. The verdant, lush pine trees even bore clusters of full pine nuts, symbolizing abundant descendants. The immortal cranes were lifelike, every feather clearly rendered. The mountains were majestic, rolling and undulating with immense momentum behind them. Behind the clouds, dawn was breaking, the morning sun just rising, and in the distant sky, the moon's faint form still lingered.

The old lady, afraid of damaging the painting, urged Wen Zhengyu to carefully put it away and said they would take it out to look at again after getting it mounted in a few days.

Wen Zhengyu placed the painting back in the painting tube. She glanced around and, not seeing Old Master Lian, asked, "Where's Grandfather?"

The old lady said, "A few of his old war comrades and brothers have come — they're in the study. Your Grandpa Qi is here too."

Wen Zhengyu asked, "Grandpa Qi?"

The old lady said, "Lao Qi. He and your grandfather grew up together like brothers. Back when your grandfather's leg was injured, if Lao Qi hadn't risked his life to bring your grandfather back, your grandfather would have lost his life on the battlefield long ago. Now that we're all old, one by one, they've nearly all passed on. Only your grandfather, Lao Qi, and Old Bian remain." She paused briefly, then added, "Lao Qi also has a granddaughter, a bit older than you. Very pretty."

Wen Zhengyu saw that when the old lady mentioned someone else's granddaughter, her eyes crinkled with smiles, and she said, "You have a granddaughter too, you know." What kind of person was this, envying someone else's pretty granddaughter right in front of her own? She wasn't ugly either.

The old lady said, "She is pretty, prettier than you."

Wen Zhengyu was speechless. Her own grandmother saying someone else was prettier — it must really be true that the other girl was more beautiful.

She had come early, arriving right after lunch. By afternoon, guests began arriving at the house — grandmother's sisters, aunts, maternal uncles, and maternal aunts, various relatives of the old lady. She also met the old lady's brother. The old lady had seven siblings in total; now only she and her youngest brother remained. The youngest granduncle arrived in a wheelchair, accompanied by his grandson.

For an elderly person's birthday, the first to arrive were naturally the old gentlemen and old ladies close to them.

Her eldest uncle, youngest uncle, eldest aunt-in-law, and the wife of her eldest cousin had all returned, warmly and enthusiastically greeting everyone.

Wen Zhengyu stayed by her grandmother's side, entering yet another round of relative-recognition mode.

After recognizing one wave of relatives the first day, the next day at the banquet, while acting as the old lady's human cane beside her, she continued recognizing people. She just felt that compared to Old Mr. Wen, the old lady truly was a local power broker, knowing people from all walks of life. Those of the old lady's generation came, and the younger generation from households that had dealings with the old lady also came to pay birthday respects. She had only heard her grandfather mention in passing that her maternal grandmother was formidable, but now that she saw it for herself, she realized the old lady seemed a bit too formidable. Usually, when a woman married into the Lian family, others would refer to her as "Madam Lian," but this old lady had such a strong standing that people addressed her by her maiden surname — "Old Madam Zhang," "Old Madam Zhang," "Aunt Zhang." From the words of the elderly visitors, she vaguely learned that the old lady had also been a figure who stirred winds and rains in her youth. Listening to everyone's stories, she couldn't help but think: the wild streak in the Lian family's sons — its roots very likely didn't lie with her grandfather, but with the old lady.

Wen Zhengyu only dared to secretly speculate in her heart, not daring to ask the old lady: Did her uncles and cousins get their wildness from her? She was afraid the old lady would smack her.

For the old lady's birthday, far more people came than for her grandfather's.

All four of her uncles had served in the military. Her eldest uncle had retired at sixty just recently; the second and third uncles had later transitioned to civil service; the youngest uncle was still in the military. These military men all valued camaraderie — even after discharge or career transition, old comrades still came to visit. Some comrades had continued their military careers, some had transferred to local government positions, and some had gone into business. With four uncles, their comrades came in droves, colleagues came in droves, some bringing their families — wives and children together — taking up over a dozen tables. Her seven male cousins also each had their own careers or businesses. Aside from Lian Xi, who had only served three years, all of them had done stints in the military, so their comrades and colleagues also came en masse. Besides her uncles and male cousins, the families of her aunts-in-law and cousins' wives also had relatives coming. Then there was Lian Xin, who was in business, so his contacts were many as well.

Even though Wen Zhengyu had always thought her memory was quite good — she could usually remember everyone after meeting them once — today she just couldn't keep up. Fortunately, she had the old lady guiding her. First, she followed the old lady around to meet a circle of people.

The old lady's single phrase, "This is my granddaughter, my Huaijin's child," conveyed everything about the Lian family's feelings toward Lian Huaijin. Wen Zhengyu just felt she had an amazing mother. She was Lian Huaijin's child.

Many people still remembered Lian Huaijin and all said she looked like Lian Huaijin. Those who knew the old lady from her younger days said she looked like the old lady.

She had met all the people familiar with the old lady. Only then did the old lady pat her hand and say, "You've kept me company for most of the morning. Go on now." She had someone call Lian Xin over and told him to take Wen Zhengyu around.

After Lian Xin took Wen Zhengyu away from the old lady's side, Wen Zhengyu asked, "Is the old lady the head of the Lian family?" She had thought that at home, the old gentleman just indulged the old lady, but only when the banquet was underway did she realize so many people had come, many of them specifically for the old lady, not for Old Master Lian.

Lian Xin said, "Our family's old lady is formidable, let me tell you. Grandfather's greatest achievement in life was marrying Grandmother. His second-greatest is being afraid of his wife." He muttered the last sentence under his breath. He said, "When we got beaten as kids, we always went to Auntie, never to Grandfather. It was useless — in front of Grandmother, he was even more cowardly than us."

Wen Zhengyu quietly asked, "Was my mom not cowardly?"

Lian Xin said, "Auntie was reasonable. She spoke gently and warmly, and when she spoke, everyone liked to listen."

Fortunately, Lian Xin figured she had already recognized enough people in that circle, so he only introduced her to a few peers who were close to the Lian family and had good relations with him, letting everyone get to know each other and exchange contact information.

She vaguely sensed something a bit off and instinctively turned her head to look — and there was Ye Ling, chatting and laughing with someone not far behind her. Beside Ye Ling was a man about thirty years old, acting extremely enthusiastic.

Wen Zhengyu looked at his demeanor and felt he was just short of fanning out his tail feathers.

Ye Ling suddenly turned her head, saw Wen Zhengyu standing not far away watching her, and her eyes immediately lit up. She said, "Excuse me," and quickly walked over to Wen Zhengyu's side. Smiling, she asked softly, "Looking for me?"

Wen Zhengyu: "..." She glanced at the man who seemed to be pursuing Ye Ling, only to see the man look at the two of them, then smile and approach. This one was also the sticky candy type. Mm, a bit annoying. Wen Zhengyu wondered whether she should get rid of him. But Ye Ling's suitors — whether to dismiss them or not was Ye Ling's business, nothing to do with her. It was just that this person's smile was a bit of an eyesore, and his gaze was somewhat unlikable. He was also quite unattractive — at least by her aesthetic standards, he fell into the not-quite-pleasing-to-the-eye category. However, the man had already approached and was very politely greeting her; out of courtesy, she had to respond.

The man asked, "I've heard that Miss Wen and Ye Ling are good friends. I've always wanted to get to know you but didn't expect to run into you here. Why is Miss Wen here?"

Wen Zhengyu: "..."

Ye Ling smiled faintly and said to the man, "Excuse us." She linked her arm through Wen Zhengyu's, turned, and led Wen Zhengyu off to meet people.

The table she went to was filled with people from the business world. Judging by their attire and bearing, as well as the seating arrangements, these were probably some of the more substantial local entrepreneurs.

Wen Zhengyu had the misfortune of running into a former friend of Wen Shiyi. This very person, back when her family sold the mansion, had made an offer to her. He was willing to spend ten million a year to keep her — his family fortune seemed quite substantial. But this left Wen Zhengyu very uncomfortable. When a family fell, it was normal for some people to have certain thoughts, but this man had been friends with Wen Shiyi for decades. She had even called him "Uncle" once. She had coldly refused him back then, and he hadn't made things difficult or pestered her further.

The man was clearly very familiar with Ye Ling as well and greeted her very warmly. Meeting her, he acted as if that past incident had never happened, saying, "Miss Wen, business booming lately?"

Wen Zhengyu nodded faintly and said, "It's alright."

Ye Ling was very keenly aware that Wen Zhengyu's attitude carried an unusual coolness. She whispered in Wen Zhengyu's ear, "Bad blood?"

Wen Zhengyu was inwardly surprised, thinking, "Can you be any sharper?" She said, "Not really."

This young miss rarely showed happiness or anger. Ye Ling understood that this person must have rubbed Wen Zhengyu the wrong way somehow, but since Wen Zhengyu wouldn't say, she couldn't press, and this wasn't the place to ask. Wen Zhengyu was now in business and would inevitably have to deal with people in the business world to some extent. Those in the business world — the ones who could come today, the ones seated at this table — all had some degree of influence and connections. She first introduced everyone seated at her table to Wen Zhengyu.

There were rules to such introductions. Junior before senior, men before women, lower before higher, distant before close, host before guest. Today, Wen Zhengyu counted as part of the host family, so Ye Ling naturally had to introduce her first. She said, "Zhengyu, Wen Zhengyu, Old Madam Zhang's maternal granddaughter."

Hearing that she was Old Madam Zhang's maternal granddaughter, the group was very surprised.

Someone asked, "Old Madam Zhang has a maternal granddaughter?" Then immediately hurriedly said to Wen Zhengyu, "Miss Wen, my apologies — no offense meant. I was just surprised." He then rose and introduced himself first.

Wen Zhengyu returned the courtesy, then explained, "My mother passed away early. When I was little, I lived with my father and paternal grandparents."

"Oh," a woman responded, asking, "Then may I ask, which number was your mother?"

Wen Zhengyu said, "Fourth. She and my youngest uncle were dragon-and-phoenix twins." After she said this, she noticed that some at the table lost a bit of their casualness, and their attitudes were no longer as lukewarm as before.

There were both men and women at the table. The men introduced themselves somewhat more proactively; the women were relatively more reserved, with Ye Ling making the introductions.

That former old friend of Wen Shiyi picked up a wine glass filled to the brim, stood up, and said, "Miss Wen, I am terribly sorry. I previously didn't know you were a young miss of the Lian family. For any disrespect, I hope for your magnanimity. With this wine, I offer you a sincere apology." After speaking, he tilted his head back, gulped, and downed the full glass of baijiu to the last drop, then immediately drank two more glasses in succession.

Three glasses of wine — Wen Zhengyu was stunned.

The people at the table were also taken aback.

Wen Zhengyu paused briefly before regaining her composure. These were all people from the business world. For someone to apologize so publicly over such a small matter like this, Wen Zhengyu couldn't refuse to give face. Besides, he hadn't done anything truly out of line. She immediately picked up Ye Ling's wine glass, saying, "A trivial matter. It's past and gone — no need to keep it in mind." She took a shallow sip, thereby putting the matter to rest.

After a moment's reflection, she also understood this man's reasoning. Mr. Wen Shiyi's family fortune hadn't been small, yet it collapsed in just half a year. This man had been friends with Wen Shiyi for decades; he surely knew how Wen Shiyi fell. With Lian Xin and Ye Ling both making moves, anyone with even slightly sharp information would know that the Lian family was involved. Businesspeople — harmony brings prosperity. One more issue is one too many. Having offered apologies and expressed regret, the matter was now put to rest. There was no need to leave such a minor grudge lingering.

She thought about how later she would still need to invite Ye Ling to go fishing and help bait hooks. A close friend she got along well with — it would be good to introduce her to the old lady too. She said, "Shall I take you to meet my grandmother?"

Ye Ling paused, saying, "Isn't that a bit inappropriate?"

Wen Zhengyu said, "Lian Xi invited us to go fishing next week and said to bring a companion. Besides you and Wen Li, I don't have other friends. I'd like to ask for your help with this. After fishing, we'll inevitably need to bring some back for Old Master Lian and the old lady, and then we'll have to freeload a meal at her place. Getting acquainted beforehand would be good too." As for not catching anything — she wasn't considering that at all. Lian Xi said he could catch fish. If they couldn't catch any, she'd make him get in the water and catch them by hand.

Ye Ling smiled, "Alright then."

Wen Zhengyu said to the group at the table, "Apologies, excuse us," and led Ye Ling over to the old lady. She said, "Grandmother, this is Ye Ling — the Ye Ling who took me crab fishing."

Ye Ling smiled as she glanced at Wen Zhengyu, then politely followed Wen Zhengyu's lead and called out, "Grandmother."

Wen Zhengyu: "..." The first thought that popped into her head was: here comes someone to steal my grandmother. Her second reaction was: you're climbing the pole way too smoothly. But still — her friend, calling her grandmother "Grandmother" along with her — there was nothing wrong with that, no fault to pick. Wen Zhengyu couldn't refute it.

The old lady heard about crab fishing and laughed, saying, "This silly child. She's grown this old and never seen crabs swim. You took her crab fishing, and she was so happy about it, she came back talking about it for days."

Wen Zhengyu: "..." This truly was her own grandmother — specializing in tearing down her stage.

Ye Ling couldn't help laughing either. "Isn't it so? When she saw the crabs, she stared without blinking. I think she just didn't dare — otherwise, she'd have grabbed them with her bare hands."

The old lady chatted with Ye Ling for a few sentences, then asked Ye Ling, "What made you think of taking her crab fishing?"

Wen Zhengyu's brow twitched. She had forgotten how shrewd this old lady was. Hopefully, she wouldn't pick up on anything.

Ye Ling said, "It was coming up on crab season, and I needed to buy some crabs for sending as seasonal gifts. For something that's going to end up in people's hands and mouths, whether it's good or bad — you have to see for yourself to be at ease. I figured that this season, Zhengyu would probably need to buy some too, so I invited her along."

The old lady nodded, praising Ye Ling, "You're a meticulous child."

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