The Art of Teasing - Chapter 84
Chapter 84
The text message was sent, like a clay ox entering the sea, and there was no response whatsoever.
Wen Zhengyu guessed that Ye Ling must be angry again with her petty-mindedness. She really hadn't seen before that Ye Ling had such a temperament. The two of them were in different places, and Ye Ling had been busy lately with Zheng Dongsheng and the Ye family's second branch, so she had no time to come find her; being angry would be for nothing.
She was in a rather good mood, lying on the sofa hugging a thin blanket and sleeping.
Yang Yu glanced up at Wen Zhengyu, turned off the room's lights leaving only the bedside lamp on, and continued working on her laptop.
The industry conference only lasted one day.
After the conference, Wen Zhengyu visited several elderly painters in Shanghai, and also visited the cooperative enterprise for an inspection, before returning. After returning, she went to the Public Security Bureau to complete the procedures for revoking her protection. She originally wanted to stay in a hotel without telling the old lady, but then thought that if the old lady found out, it would only anger her more, so she returned to stay at the old lady's place.
She reduced the security personnel to just Wen Jing and Ma Jun. The old lady didn't say anything, but from the moment she returned, the old lady had her running around in circles.
Previously, she was only allowed to handle financial matters; now the old lady took her everywhere, treating her as a secretary. She didn't bring bodyguards; the old lady herself went around with two carloads of bodyguards. When she went to the art studio, the old lady had bodyguards send her, and when it was time, she had bodyguards pick her up to meet.
Following the old lady, she toured the entire catering company, even going to a breeding base in a neighboring city and staying for a few days. The catering company had its own breeding bases: one a vegetable cultivation base, the other a meat livestock breeding base.
The meat and vegetables from the breeding bases were sent to a distribution center, which then distributed them to the various catering outlets. The old lady's catering company had four catering brands under it, each with a deputy general manager, above whom was a general manager overseeing everything, and above the general manager was the board of directors.
Wen Zhengyu asked the old lady, "How many directors does this catering company have?"
The old lady told her there were currently two. She knew one of them was the old lady; when she asked who the other was, the old lady said what was she prying so much for, just learn the work.
Wen Zhengyu thought, Could it be me? But she also knew that was impossible. She had only recently acknowledged the Lian family relatives, and had never given the old lady her identification documents. This catering company had been running for many years; especially that local specialty restaurant, it had opened before she was even born.
The art studio was entering its busy season, the Mid-Autumn Festival was approaching, and the matters of the catering company, the studio, and Mid-Autumn gift-giving kept her so busy her feet barely touched the ground.
The old lady also had a food processing enterprise under her name that produced mooncakes. Only when she mentioned Mid-Autumn gift-giving did the old lady tell her, offering her wholesale prices, asking how many she wanted, and saying the factory people would deliver them.
Even if it was her own grandmother selling mooncakes, she still had to first ask what kind of mooncakes they were. The old lady simply took her to the food processing factory.
The food factory wasn't large, with over three hundred people. It mainly produced pastries, and also mooncakes.
The mooncakes weren't some super famous brand; they were quite well-known locally, one of the few mooncake brands often chosen for holiday gifts, and she had bought this brand in previous years. Her art studio needed quite a lot of mooncakes: each employee had to have at least one box, plus those for clients and for artists who regularly sold paintings to the studio; all told, three to five hundred boxes wouldn't be enough.
Her mooncake order, at most, was only a few hundred boxes. Ye Ling's group company and Lian Xin's group company needed far more; they came with large trucks to haul mooncakes.
Wen Zhengyu admired the old lady to the point of prostration. With this food processing factory, the old lady could do the business for her grandchildren every year without ever making a loss.
Wen Zhengyu tasted the mooncakes fresh from the oven, still unpackaged, and said to the old lady, "Grandmother, why don't you just support me?"
The old lady didn't even look at her, saying, "Even giving you a few bodyguards, you still try every which way to return them."
Only then did Wen Zhengyu realize that this one was also petty-minded.
Speaking of petty-mindedness, Ye Ling, with her pettiness, hadn't contacted her for half a month. She figured Ye Ling was busy, and also that her petty-mindedness was acting up again.
Since Ye Ling didn't contact her, she didn't contact Ye Ling either. In the family group, there were daily real-time updates on progress; seeing the progress, she knew things were going fairly smoothly for Ye Ling. Things were smooth, yet she still didn't contact her.
Wen Zhengyu then felt she herself was also a bit guilty of pettiness.
"Yu'er."
Wen Zhengyu was startled awake by her grandmother's voice, realizing the old lady had already walked far ahead; she hurried to catch up. Compared to others buying by the truckload, she only bought a few hundred boxes, and still had to have the elderly Boss Zhang personally bring her on this trip; Wen Zhengyu felt rather embarrassed. She held the old lady's arm and said, "You could have just told me the brand; why did you need to personally take me on a trip?"
The old lady said, "During the Mid-Autumn Festival, the factory is busy, so I also need to come and check on things."
Wen Zhengyu accompanied the old lady at the factory for a whole day, and even sat beside her to observe the meeting. This food company produced its own pastries and sold local specialties, having opened chain specialty stores in the province for retail, all small storefront shops.
Every year, mooncake sales were the largest part; the main customers were enterprises, hotels, and several government offices, and retail was also a considerable income. The production building and the company office building were in the same factory area.
With the elderly big boss personally coming down, the company held a meeting, and all senior executives attended. Because it was a small, sole proprietorship with only one boss, and the old lady was advanced in years with declining energy, she had hired a general manager to run it.
The general manager had been at it for over ten years, now past fifty, the top of his head already bald. At the end of the meeting, the old lady said, "This is my granddaughter.
In the future, for financial reconciliations, don't come to me anymore; go to her. Monthly accounts, quarterly accounts, annual accounts—all report them to her."
The general manager and the financial manager both acknowledged.
Wen Zhengyu stared at the old lady, stunned. The old lady stood up, said, "Meeting adjourned," and walked out of the conference room.
Wen Zhengyu hurried to follow. Once in the car, she asked, "Why are you suddenly having me manage the accounts here?"
The old lady said, "Your Brother Xin thinks the factory is too small and doesn't like managing it; you take over." The old lady had nine grandsons; except for the two youngest who were still studying abroad, six of the other seven held public sector jobs. If Lian Xin didn't want to manage it, there really was no one to take over.
Wen Zhengyu teased the old lady, "Just how much retirement security are you sitting on?"
The old lady glanced at Wen Zhengyu indifferently and said, "This is nothing. Now, most of the family's businesses are managed by Lian Xin.
For me, besides the catering company and food company, there's also a shopping mall. Originally it was just a department store; after many years, it grew.
Currently, your Brother Xin manages it, and I've kept a 30% stake. I also have a bit in the real estate company, 20%.
And I've kept a few commercial buildings for rent, plus a few old family mansions and some rental shops—nothing else. If you want other things to practice on, there aren't any. Your Brother Xin is busy as anything every day, no time to guide you."
Wen Zhengyu secretly breathed a sigh of relief; that is to say, the work the old lady could assign her was just this.
"Oh, right, previously there was also a mine…"
Wen Zhengyu's eyes widened as she turned to look at the old lady.
The old lady said, "Later, the market was depressed, so it was sold."
Wen Zhengyu was speechless. The elderly, as they age, tend to draw out their speech, understandable.
The old lady went on chattering about what businesses the Lian family had previously been in. Cloth, grain, breeding, transport—they had been in almost every line of trade.
She said, "When I was a maiden, before liberation, my family even ran gambling houses and sold arms. Back then, your great-great-grandfather was a notable figure…"
Wen Zhengyu, hearing the old lady talk about the Zhang family affairs, said, "I saw that uncle's family isn't very well off."
The old lady said, "After decades of stormy weather, it's not easy to stand firm. The Lian family was lucky that your maternal grandfather joined the army, earned military honors, and had comrades to help, getting through those turbulent years.
Nobody went out of their way to make trouble for the Lian family; business has been fairly smooth, and even if there were losses, they were never complete losses, so we are where we are today. Your granduncle's family was raided back then, and his descendants haven't particularly distinguished themselves. In a family, you only need one prodigal to squander a whole fortune."
Wen Zhengyu sat in the car, listening to the old lady recount old tales; after arriving home, she went off to a dinner engagement.
That evening, after dinner, she returned to her grandmother's house. As the car reached the courtyard gate, she saw a car parked there with its headlights on.
Ma Jun immediately grew alert, gripping his nunchaku in hand. Wen Jing recognized the car first, then checked the license plate, and called out, "It's Miss Ye's car."
Wen Zhengyu, thinking that Ye Ling was so petty as to not contact her for half a month, wanted to tell Wen Jing to drive directly into the yard, but swallowed her words and said, "Stop the car."
Wen Jing stopped the car.
Wen Zhengyu didn't get out. She only rolled down the window, and saw Ye Ling push open the driver's side door and step out of the car.
Ye Ling came over to Wen Zhengyu's car and leaned over to look at Wen Zhengyu.
Wen Zhengyu asked, "CEO Ye, paying a late-night visit and waiting by the roadside, may I ask what business you have?"
Ye Ling walked around to the other side of the car, got in, took out her phone, pulled up the text messages Wen Zhengyu had sent, and said, "I've been busy for half a month straight, no time at all, can only settle accounts after autumn. As soon as I got off the plane today, I came straight here." After saying that, she placed the phone in front of Wen Zhengyu; the displayed messages were exactly the ones where Wen Zhengyu said the female police officer had lain on her bed.
Wen Zhengyu asked Ye Ling, "You believe that?"
Ye Ling said, "If you say it, I believe it."
Wen Zhengyu gave Ye Ling an indifferent glance and said, "Believe it or not, she really did sleep in my bed. CEO Ye, sorry, I'm home now. Do you want to come home with me?"
Ye Ling said, "Speaking of which, I'm more familiar with you than Officer Yang, aren't I? Would you mind if I crash at your place?"
Wen Zhengyu looked at Ye Ling in surprise, thinking she had misheard. "Crash at my place? My grandmother doesn't like me hanging around with you."
Ye Ling said, "No problem, let her get used to it first."
Wen Zhengyu said, "I'm not used to sleeping with others."
Ye Ling said, "You slept with Officer Yang. A pretty female police officer, a year younger than you." She emphasized the words "a year younger" heavily. She herself was four and a half years older than Wen Zhengyu!
Wen Zhengyu stared at Ye Ling, wide-eyed with shock. This jealousy, Ye Ling had actually held it in for half a month.
Ye Ling's fingers tapped on the phone screen; she rested her chin on her hand, looking at Wen Zhengyu with a hint of playfulness and leisure, sidelong.
Wen Zhengyu was considering whether to have Wen Jing and Ma Jun invite Ye Ling out of the car. But that thought could only be a thought; if she really did that, it would be too much.
The courtyard gate opened, and the old lady stood at the entrance, asking, "Why aren't you coming in when the car is at the doorstep?"
Ye Ling rolled down the car window, stuck her head out, and called out with a smile, "Hello, Grandmother."
The old lady turned around and went back inside without a backward glance.
Wen Zhengyu turned her head to look at Ye Ling's car; the lights were off and no one was inside, and she didn't see any of Ye Ling's bodyguard vehicles around. She looked at Ye Ling again, feeling very conflicted.
Not let Ye Ling in? It was so late, not safe.
Let Ye Ling in, and the old lady would certainly be displeased. Or maybe, let the old lady get used to it first?
But recently, with the increase in bodyguards, the guest rooms were all full. She said to Ye Ling, "My grandmother's guest rooms are all full."
Ye Ling curved her lips upward in a smile and said, "No problem, I'll stay with you."
Wen Zhengyu said, "My room doesn't have a sofa to sleep on."
Ye Ling's smile deepened, her eyes curving into pretty arcs. "No problem, we'll squeeze together on one bed."
Instinct told Wen Zhengyu that letting Ye Ling share a room and a bed with her wasn't appropriate, yet she didn't know why it was inappropriate.
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