The Art of Teasing - Chapter 66

Chapter 66

In the afternoon, an important client was coming to the studio to view paintings, an appointment already made with Wen Zhengyu.

After lunch, Wen Zhengyu told the elderly Lady Zhang about it, explaining she would return after concluding the business.

The elderly lady gently patted her hand and said, "Go ahead. In business matters, even though you have partners, you still need to keep a close eye on things yourself." She added a few more pieces of business advice before letting Wen Zhengyu depart.

Qi Wei, sitting beside the elderly lady snacking, couldn't help smiling at this and said, "Grandma, so unwilling to trust Yu'er?"

The elderly lady said, "She's only been in the business for less than a year, still half-understanding many things. I heard that last time, she caught a cold, was recovering, and didn't go to the office for a week. Though communications are advanced now, and much can be done via online office or phone contact, when you open a shop and do business, how can there be a boss who doesn't personally oversee things? She's personally in charge of authenticating the paintings too. Her shop still lacks a reliable chief manager or appraiser to hold the fort; they're all young people in their twenties and thirties, so she needs to be even more vigilant in overseeing it."

Qi Wei nodded, smiling, "That's the logic." She leaned closer and asked quietly, "The granddaughter you've been thinking about day and night is back. Happy?"

The elderly lady smiled until her eyes narrowed, saying, "Happy. This child is genuinely thoughtful. Having her come by often, both Old Man Lian and I feel our health has improved. We just feel that there's something to look forward to in our days again." Her children and grandchildren all had families and careers now; they no longer needed the two elders to worry about them. The only one they couldn't set their minds at ease about was this youngest maternal granddaughter—with no father or mother, and still unversed in practical matters. Though she had many cousins who could offer some help, they all had families and careers of their own, unable to look after her at every turn. In one's life, the one you could ultimately rely on was yourself. She and Old Man Lian now just thought about living a few more years, watching this little granddaughter stand on her own two feet, so they could leave at peace.

Qi Wei smiled and said, "Coming over this time, I can see both your and Grandpa Lian's spirits have improved a lot."

The elderly lady laughed, "Indeed. We have to pull ourselves together to deal with her. Last time she went catching crabs, she came back and organized a crab feast. That crab feast—she just brought over a large basket full of crabs. Drawing up the menu, arranging for people to buy groceries—it was all Old Man Lian and I helping her arrange it. We were so busy our backs and waists ached, and we only let her go back after she massaged our shoulders and backs for half the day."

Qi Wei laughed until her shoulders shook; after a while she asked, "Really aching backs and waists?" Just drafting a menu and then calling the kitchen to manage procurement, how could that leave the two of them so exhausted?

The elderly lady's decades of seasoned composure were not for nothing; she sighed with a straight face, "Getting old now, not up to things anymore."

Qi Wei just felt that this elderly couple definitely hadn't teased Wen Zhengyu any less. Wen Zhengyu, with that gentle, seemingly well-behaved little look but a bellyful of thoughts—not exposing her would be doing oneself a disservice. Exposing her, though, clearly thin-skinned and tender-stuffed, her ears turning red with just a tease, yet she still tried to act as if nothing was wrong.

She knew why the elderly lady worried about Wen Zhengyu. Given the Lian Family's circumstances, they could in any case leave Wen Zhengyu a sum of assets enough for her living expenses. But the crux was that Wen Zhengyu was good-looking, with a soft, delicate temperament, possessing that quintessential Jiangnan gentleness and refinement, plus a covert little stubborn streak. Just like this, even she upon seeing her wanted to tease and flirt a little—Wen Zhengyu inevitably attracted many people's fixations. Drawing such fixations indicated charm, nothing wrong with that, but the prerequisite was being able to fend off wolves, having the ability to protect oneself. Otherwise, it was hard to avoid ending up with the fate of a beautiful face fated for sorrow.

Ye Ling finished lunch and then took her leave. Once in the car, she instructed Dong Yuan, "Investigate Zheng Dongsheng." He had bankrupted Wen Shiyi; yet, when Wen Zhengyu met her, she could still maintain polite courtesy. At Old Madam Zhang's longevity banquet, unless Zheng Dongsheng had done something out of line, Wen Zhengyu would not have shown it outwardly, still less made him apologize so publicly. "Didn't know she was a daughter of the Lian Family"—this subtext was quite interesting! The Lian Family was powerful, not someone surnamed Zheng could afford to offend, yet Wen Shiyi and Wen Ru were both fallen! In this world, those who kick someone when they're down are never in short supply.

Dong Yuan acknowledged the order. He spotted Wen Jing walking past ahead, as if heading to park a car, and said, "Boss, Wen Jing is up ahead."

Ye Ling thought of the interactions between Qi Wei and Wen Zhengyu, and her heart felt somewhat stifled, a bit of frustration rising. She initially wanted to say, "Don't bother with her," but the words reached her lips and she swallowed them back, saying, "You drive back." She got out of the car and went directly to wait for Wen Zhengyu outside the main hall.

In under two minutes, she saw Wen Zhengyu come out.

Wen Zhengyu noticed Ye Ling standing there, as if waiting for someone. She first glanced around but didn't see Ye Ling's vehicle. She approached and asked, "Waiting for someone or waiting for a car?"

Ye Ling asked Wen Zhengyu, "Heading back to the studio?"

Wen Zhengyu gave a soft "mm" of acknowledgment.

Ye Ling said, "Then let's go together. I had Dong Yuan leave first."

Wen Zhengyu keenly noticed that Ye Ling's tone was slightly different from usual. She looked toward Ye Ling, not able to discern any particular emotion from her face, but clearly, Ye Ling seemed somewhat displeased.

After Wen Jing brought the car around, she and Ye Ling got in.

Wen Zhengyu swept a glance at Ye Ling and, seeing that Ye Ling was not speaking, ignored her.

A moment later, Ye Ling asked her, "Seems you have a rather good impression of Qi Wei?"

Wen Zhengyu said, "Not bad."

Ye Ling: "…"

Wen Zhengyu felt this question was asked a bit oddly. She looked at Ye Ling suspiciously; Ye Ling sat there silently, saying nothing. She recalled the events at the lunch table and figured it was likely Qi Wei picking up food for her that had displeased Ye Ling.

Ye Ling, jealous?

If it were her grandfather or maternal grandparents acting like this, she would directly ask, "Jealous?" But she and Ye Ling hadn't reached that stage yet; such a question was not easy to ask. Moreover, although she and Ye Ling had some interactions and ambiguity, they hadn't reached the point of interfering in each other's personal relationships and feelings. This jealousy from Ye Ling was a bit inexplicable. She had just met Qi Wei; how could she have any thoughts? Qi Wei was just that type of person, naturally familiar, seeming close with everyone. Her grandmother could say to her that Lao Qi's granddaughter was exceptionally beautiful, and facing Qi Wei, surely had mentioned her no less. With this layer of connection, Qi Wei naturally treated her with a bit more familiarity than a complete stranger.

Neither she nor Ye Ling spoke again. Not until the car stopped at the studio entrance, they got off, and Ye Ling still had not said another word to her.

Only then did Wen Zhengyu realize that Ye Ling was actually a narrow-minded person, and an exceedingly narrow-minded one at that.

She was quite speechless, and also vaguely a bit displeased. Did Ye Ling really think she was the sort to follow someone just because they picked up a few bites of food for her? She tossed out the line, "Qi Wei is quite good-looking." With a twist of her head, she walked off. Let me infuriate you to death, you petty little thing!

Ye Ling was so angry she ground her teeth. She sent a text message to Wen Zhengyu: "Am I not good-looking?"

Wen Zhengyu had just reached the office door when she received Ye Ling's text. After reading it, she paused, and sent back a reply: "A bit better-looking than you." To be honest.

Just as she finished sending the message and opened the door to enter her office, she heard Ye Ling's footsteps coming up from downstairs, not turning toward Ye Ling's office, but directly entering hers.

She turned around and saw Ye Ling thrust her phone screen before her; displayed on it was precisely the message she had sent Ye Ling. She noticed that the earlier messages she had sent to Ye Ling had not been deleted; Ye Ling kept them.

Ye Ling asked her: "Who's better-looking?"

That murderous demeanor made Wen Zhengyu highly suspect that if she again said Qi Wei was better-looking, Ye Ling would slap the phone right into her face. She pondered inwardly: continue being honest or remain unyielding?

Ye Ling pressed on: "Who's better-looking?" Her voice was even colder, the icy tone unable to mask her seething rage.

Wen Zhengyu was speechless, thinking, "Who acts like this?" Watching Ye Ling's unrelenting manner, it was clear she was taking this seriously. Having known Ye Ling for so long, this was the first time she had seen her lose her temper. She found it hard to pin down exactly; she just felt Ye Ling was being a bit unreasonable. Yet she also understood that if it were an unrelated person, Ye Ling wouldn't have the time to waste getting angry. However, to say against her conscience that Ye Ling was better-looking than Qi Wei—neither she nor Ye Ling would believe that.

She thought for a moment and said, "I'm not close with Qi Wei."

Ye Ling let out a hmph, saying, "She's better-looking than me."

Wen Zhengyu stiffened her scalp and said, "Honest truth."

Ye Ling was so angry her teeth nearly shattered. It was just because she couldn't bear to; if she could bear it, she would have slapped the phone right into Wen Zhengyu's face.

She glared coldly at Wen Zhengyu, retracted her phone, and swiftly typed out a line of text for Wen Zhengyu to read aloud three times.

Wen Zhengyu saw it read: "You are better-looking than Qi Wei." She was again speechless. She really wanted to ask Ye Ling: How old are you?

Ye Ling threatened, "Are you going to read it or not?"

Wen Zhengyu wasn't worried about Ye Ling hitting her or anything, but she didn't dare keep adding fuel to the fire. Shutting her eyes, she recited three times, "You are better-looking than Qi Wei."

Ye Ling tossed out, "In a few days I'll give you my health check report. Who knows if she has any infectious diseases—you still let her pick up food for you." Having said this, she turned and left.

Wen Zhengyu: "…"

She stood there speechless and dazed for a long time, not knowing quite what to say about Ye Ling.

Dong Yuan handled matters very efficiently.

Within a couple of days, he had pried open the mouth of Zheng Dongsheng's driver and unearthed quite a few matters.

He said, "When the Wen Family was selling off its family property, Zheng Dongsheng went to the Wen Family and named a price to Wen Zhengyu, wanting to keep Miss Wen as a mistress. Miss Wen coldly refused him and jabbed at him with a couple of sentences, the gist being that he and Wen Shiyi were friends of several decades, and taking advantage of a friend's misfortune to do such a thing made him a real piece of work. Zheng Dongsheng went back to his car and ranted for a long time, said a lot of unpleasant things, and wanted to find someone to further torment Miss Wen to force her to go beg him. It coincided with Wen Shishu returning to settle the grandfather and granddaughter pair. Wen Shishu was also guarding against anyone taking the opportunity to target the two of them, so she inquired very thoroughly. Zheng Dongsheng didn't dare provoke Wen Shishu and shrank back. After Wen Shishu returned to Beijing, Zheng Dongsheng found out Miss Wen wanted to find work, and he approached Xu Xiaojie again, offering generous terms to hire Miss Wen at his art studio, intending then to set a trap for Miss Wen. Miss Wen didn't agree. After Old Master Mu and Elder Wen and Miss Wen agreed to collaborate on opening an art studio, he even went to Old Master Mu's place to work his connections, but was rapped over the knuckles by Old Master Mu. Yet he still hadn't quite given up hope. Later, it was because you appeared. He assumed you had set Miss Wen up as your kept woman, didn't dare to touch your person, and so he backed off."

Listening to this, Ye Ling felt an immense blockage in her chest. After the Wen Family went bankrupt, the Wen Family's doorstep had nearly been worn down from all the visitors. There were those who fancied the calligraphy and painting network connections of Wen Ru and Wen Zhengyu and wanted to recruit Wen Zhengyu as a partner, and there were those who took a liking to Wen Zhengyu herself and set their sights on crooked ideas. To take such crooked ideas to this extent—truly, a real piece of work.

Dong Yuan said, "Zheng Dongsheng got his start through his maternal uncle's connections. His uncle retired in April this year. Right now he still holds several plots of land, worth some money; they've been checked, the paperwork is all in order. At the beginning of the year, during the demolition of one of his land plots, a displaced resident was trapped inside and buried. His uncle forcefully suppressed the matter."

Ye Ling raised an eyebrow sharply. "Forcefully suppressed?"

Dong Yuan said, "That displaced resident had a son. He was detained at the local police station for picking quarrels and stirring up trouble. After that, the family didn't cause any more commotion." He paused and said, "A person died; naturally, there are still case files. Because the family stopped kicking up a fuss, the matter of the trapped and buried resident was left hanging."

Ye Ling asked, "The case hasn't been closed?"

Dong Yuan said, "Not closed."

Ye Ling said, "You handle this matter." Not dealing with him would be letting down this ready-made opportunity and handle to exploit.

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