The Art of Teasing - Chapter 67

Chapter 67

Ye Ling had always been one to cut through things cleanly, without a trace of dragging. With an opportunity like this and leverage already in hand, naturally, she needed to strike fast and decisively. Of course, regarding the matter with Zheng Dongsheng, it wasn't only she who would investigate—the Lian family would do their own digging as well.

Wen Zhengyu had said to let the matter rest, but for Ye Ling and the Lian family, it was far from over.

She immediately phoned Lian Xin, told him she had a project, and asked if he was interested.

"What project?" Lian Xin asked.

"Zheng Dongsheng," Ye Ling said.

Lian Xin laughed. "You move fast."

"You're not exactly slow yourself," Ye Ling replied.

They arranged to meet and discuss the project collaboration.

Ye Ling and Lian Xin had previously teamed up to deal with Wen Shiyi, so collaborating this time was familiar ground, and the discussions went very smoothly.

The Old Madam had always been exceptionally well-informed, and the incident at the banquet could not be kept from her. She had even made a point of summoning Lian Xin to ask about it.

Since the Old Madam had asked, Lian Xin, having information on his end, naturally had to report back to her.

He told her everything he had uncovered, as well as how Ye Ling had already investigated Zheng Dongsheng, then approached him for a collaboration and shared the benefits.

After listening, the Old Madam gave a slight nod and asked Lian Xin, "What's your assessment of Ye Ling?"

"She's someone who gets things done," Lian Xin said. "It's just that both Ye Zhan and the Ye family's situation are still rather unstable."

"Tell me about it," the Old Madam said. "In detail."

Lian Xin first laid out Ye Ling's family relationships. He said, "I hear that her step-grandmother and those uncles of hers have done things quite ruthlessly. The two siblings, Ye Zhan and Ye Ling, were suppressed heavily and lived through very difficult times. Ye Zhan had some help from his father-in-law, so he was slightly better off, but if he wants to climb higher, it's hard without some financial backing. Ye Zhan was watched so closely by his uncles and their families that he couldn't make a single move. The siblings had no choice, so they took the route through Ye Zhan's eldest brother-in-law and had Ye Ling come over here to do business."

The Old Madam's brow furrowed slightly. "Their family is in such internal strife?" she asked.

Lian Xin nodded. "When Old Master Ye passed away last year, there was quite a scene. The fight over the family assets reached the point of airing their dirty laundry in public. Ye Zhan had his father-in-law and several elderly gentlemen from the capital come forward to preside over a fair settlement. The deaths of Ye Zhan's two aunts were both inextricably linked to that step-grandmother of his. After Ye Zhan and Ye Ling's parents passed away, the living allowance their step-grandmother gave out—Ye Ling only got two thousand a month. Ye Zhan, as the eldest grandson, received a bit more, four thousand, and nothing else. Every single transaction was recorded, and Ye Ling remembered it clearly; she brought it all out that day. What she also brought out were the financial records she had investigated on her uncles and male cousins, including the Ye family assets the Old Madam had transferred to them." He paused. "Ye Ling's maternal uncle died in prison last year. Got up in the middle of the night to use the toilet, hit his head on the bathroom wall, and that was it. Her uncle's family line—there's no one left now."

The Old Madam nodded. "Go on."

Lian Xin said, "Outsiders shouldn't meddle too much in the Ye family's affairs, but since Ye Zhan asked his father-in-law to bring in the older generation to arbitrate, there naturally had to be an outcome. Their family's issue, to put it plainly, is a dispute between the main branch and the second branch. Since Old Master Ye hadn't clearly distinguished the affairs of the main and second branches beforehand, it led to a life-and-death struggle. The arbitration result was that the assets Old Master Ye left behind would be split fifty-fifty between the main branch and the second branch."

The Old Madam's eyebrows twitched. "Fifty-fifty?" The main branch only had those two siblings left, while the second branch had many people. Splitting it that way, with the main branch taking half, meant far less for the individuals in the second branch. On the surface, it looked like Ye Zhan and Ye Ling took the lion's share. And forcing the second branch to cough up what they had swallowed years ago—that was bound to be a life-and-death matter. Under such circumstances, for this pair of siblings to walk away with half was a testament to their ability.

Lian Xin nodded. "Fifty-fifty. It was split on the spot, and then the second branch was forced to spit out the main branch's share of the assets they had seized. But the Ye family owns businesses, and those are divided by shares; they're now still fighting for controlling interest. Ye Ling's second and third uncles are still in their official positions and aren't too willing to let go, so their suppression of Ye Zhan is extremely severe. Ye Zhan has allied with several families and is preparing to try and unseat his two uncles."

"So, you're saying that all of Ye Zhan's expenses are covered by Ye Ling?" the Old Madam said.

"Ye Zhan has some financial power from his brothers-in-law, but the bulk of it still comes from Ye Ling," Lian Xin said. "However, Ye Ling can command all of Ye Zhan's people. That incident last time when Old Man Wen's antiques were swapped out secretly—that was Ye Ling borrowing Ye Zhan's men. Ye Zhan is a man of shining integrity, but it's Ye Ling who gets things done. Having dealt with her for so long now, I understand her methods. She works fast, precise, and steady, aims to cover every angle thoroughly, leaves no gossip for people to seize on, and certainly leaves no evidence. Her uncles still haven't managed to deal with her, to the point that their hatred has driven them to send people to physically assault her."

Hearing this, the Old Madam remarked, "Resorting to direct physical action is rather lacking in scruples." From this, one could see just how chaotic the Ye family truly was. She added, "If the determination these two siblings have were channeled outward, their situation today would be beyond their current circumstances."

Lian Xin said with considerable emotion, "That would also require her grandmother and uncles to allow it." The suppression was so harsh, they weren't even leaving a path to survival. For their family, it was a life-and-death situation, with no other road to take. For these two siblings to rise from such a family—they were figures to be reckoned with.

The Old Madam thought for a moment, then asked, "Does Yu'er know about the Ye family's matters?"

"I'm not clear on that," Lian Xin said.

"Look after Yu'er a bit more," the Old Madam said.

Lian Xin agreed. He then said, "Don't let it fool you that she doesn't have much in savings right now; her little life is quite leisurely." With that unhurried, deliberate manner of hers, so many people had set traps for her, but she sat steady on the fishing platform and never bit a single piece of bait. In the end, it was Ye Ling, using Old Man Mu to hook Old Man Wen, who finally pried open a crack.

Considering Ye Ling's eager, attentive attitude, and that this was his cousin's personal matter, he couldn't say much.

Before Wen Zhengyu had come to the Lian family to acknowledge her kin, he truly had held a grudge against her. For over twenty years, she hadn't set foot once in the Lian family home, hadn't come to visit the family elders, hadn't come to see her uncles and cousins. Not coming to visit, yet still carrying half of the Wen blood in her veins—it made thinking about her all the more uncomfortable. Lian Xin had thought that if she came to the Lian family only for that dowry and for money, he would make sure she regretted it. It was his youngest uncle who found Ye Ling to send Wen Zhengyu a message, and finally, this young miss finally showed up at their door. He and Lian Xi had already agreed to find an opportunity to put her in her place, but when they met her, neither he nor Lian Xi could bring themselves to make things difficult for her.

Whenever Lian Xin thought about the experiences Wen Zhengyu had gone through, he felt a tight blockage in his chest.

Before they made their move, the family elders had given the word: only bring down Wen Shiyi, do not harm Yu'er. Even though he had held a grudge against Wen Zhengyu at the time, she was still his aunt's child, and he did not wish for her to suffer any harm. They had not driven Wen Shiyi to total ruin; they had left him a sum of money sufficient to settle his family's needs. The result? That scum not only took the money and ran off by himself, but also left the family with a mountain of debt. If it hadn't been for Wen Shiyi's actions, Old Man Wen and Wen Zhengyu wouldn't have had to sell every last family asset, leaving those bastards stirring one after another, drawn by the scent of blood, waiting to crush her bones and suck out the marrow.

Wen Shiyi had absconded with all the money, abandoning the grandfather and granddaughter to flee. Wen Zhengyu was bound to be short of money, but what made Lian Xin look at her with new respect was that no matter how short of funds she was, she ran her business legitimately and earned hard money honestly. She never asked anyone for a single cent.

In the end, when some people couldn't lure her with profit, they actually thought to dig a pit and lay a trap to force her into it.

Lian Xin was practically laughing from sheer rage. Even if the Lian family hadn't shown their face, she still had a formidable aunt backing her up, and these bastards still dared to make a move.

If he didn't chop off a few of their claws, he wouldn't feel satisfied.

He hadn't expected that when he heard about the Zheng Dongsheng matter and went to investigate, someone else's hand was even faster than his. By the time he went to look into it, Ye Ling already held all the evidence on Zheng Dongsheng firmly in her grasp.

This time, regarding Zheng Dongsheng, regardless of whether there was profit to be gained, given the things he had done, he was going to take a shot at him. Yet Ye Ling, after taking the evidence, seizing the initiative, and already having the meat in her mouth, actually came to find him to discuss cooperation. Not only did she not let him work for free, but she generously split half the benefits with him.

If it weren't for Yu'er, if he were to step in to carve out a share, Ye Ling would have given him twenty percent at most.

While Ye Ling and Lian Xin were busy teaming up against Zheng Dongsheng, Wen Zhengyu was occupied learning accounts management from the Old Madam.

She only had a smattering of knowledge about many business matters. Before, whenever she had questions, she would ask Wen Li, but Wen Li was too busy. Later on, she turned to the Old Madam.

Once the Old Madam realized she didn't understand much, she began giving her supplementary lessons.

She brought her laptop to the Old Madam's place and showed her the accounts for her studio. The Old Madam glanced briefly over the ledger and said, "The line items for income and expenditure in your studio can be counted on one hand. If you can't even manage these accounts, you might as well shut it down sooner rather than later." With that, the Old Madam closed her laptop, stood up, and said, "Come with me." She led her to the study, turned on the computer, and logged into the financial system of a rather well-known, established local catering company. "Here, come take a look at these accounts. Start with something simple like this."

This catering company owned several brands. One brand focused on authentic local cuisine and had opened several very large branches; every time Wen Zhengyu went, she needed to book in advance, otherwise she'd have to queue at mealtime. There was also a chain operating tea houses and breakfast spots, one of which wasn't far from her studio. Additionally, there was a new market venture into modern fast food—the kind with only a few signature dishes that tasted excellent, where customers would only order those specific items; and another was a cheap, convenient fast-food chain.

The Old Madam yielded her office chair, had her sit down, and told her to just look through it slowly at first.

Wen Zhengyu strongly suspected this catering company was the Old Madam's retirement nest egg.

Her studio's finances were currently still overseen by Wen Li, who held the position of CFO and watched over them for her. Her own proficiency in financial management was, at best, at a beginner's entry level. In an instant, her true capabilities—or lack thereof—were exposed entirely.

The Old Madam issued the decree: "Alright, start learning from scratch."

There were no textbooks; this catering company would serve as the practical, hands-on learning tool.

The Old Madam also set a rule for her: come over every day and study for three hours, and arrange the rest of her time on her own.

Within a couple of days, she discovered that the Old Madam was teaching her far more than just accounts. Starting from managing the accounts, it extended to managing people. Managing accounts was about managing money; in a tangible industry, money was tied up in goods, so managing accounts inherently included managing the goods. The goods were either in the warehouses or the stores, so she had to go to the stores or warehouses to inspect them. The movement of goods, the movement of money, all had receipts and vouchers; to audit the books, she had to examine all these together. For large quantities, they used spot-checking methods. Then there was managing the money—if the revenue fluctuated and the money decreased, they had to find the reason. And finding the reason naturally led to finding the person responsible, to see if it was a personnel problem or a flaw in the internal management system.

In the morning, Wen Zhengyu would go to the studio, handle the day's affairs, and then head to the Old Madam's place to follow her in study. In the afternoon, she sometimes returned to the studio, and if someone invited her to a calligraphy-and-painting or antique appreciation event, she would attend as circumstances dictated. If she came across anyone looking to sell calligraphy, paintings, or antiques, and she felt it was suitable, she would also acquire pieces.

Busy as she was, the weekend arrived in the blink of an eye.

The Old Madam knew Lian Xi had invited her to go fishing and specially gave her a day off.

She had never gone fishing before and specifically asked Lian Xi what she needed to bring.

Lian Xi told her a long list of necessary items. His sister-in-law even told her to bring sunscreen, a sun hat, and preferably a sun-protective face scarf, since the reflection off the lake surface made the ultraviolet radiation extremely strong.

She didn't know if Ye Ling had fishing gear or if she needed to prepare a set for her, so she went to ask Ye Ling. The result was Ye Ling telling her she had already prepared a set—including Wen Zhengyu's share.

Get instant access to all chapters now.

Previous Table of Contents Next