The Art of Teasing - Chapter 87

Chapter 87

Wen Zhengyu stared at the television screen, but her thoughts were scattered, her heart tangled in knots.

The sensation of Ye Ling's soft lips gently brushing against hers still lingered—soft, and not unpleasant. Her heartbeat accelerated uncontrollably, refusing to calm no matter what.

Ye Ling's earlier action had been rather presumptuous. Her relationship with Ye Ling had not yet reached a stage where kissing was appropriate. Wen Zhengyu felt slightly displeased, yet not averse to it either, which left her deeply conflicted.

She turned her head to look at Ye Ling and saw her leaning against the sofa, hugging a cushion, watching her. Ye Ling was completely relaxed, her gaze soft, her entire demeanor gentle—so different from her usual cold, efficient manner during work hours.

This version of Ye Ling made Wen Zhengyu involuntarily look a moment longer, and then her eyes caught the collarbone visible beneath Ye Ling's open shirt collar. The half-open neckline somehow seemed alluring.

Wen Zhengyu withdrew her gaze and continued staring at the television screen.

The soft sound of Ye Ling's laughter drifted over.

Wen Zhengyu turned her head and asked, puzzled, "What are you laughing at?"

Ye Ling asked with a smile, "Am I very good-looking?"

Wen Zhengyu couldn't bring herself to lie against her conscience and honestly nodded. She then saw Ye Ling smile so broadly her eyes curved like crescent moons. Ye Ling was exceptionally beautiful when she smiled, especially those eyes—like crescent moons shimmering with specks of light, capable of shining straight into one's heart.

She gathered her wandering thoughts and shifted her gaze back to the television screen.

The sound of raindrops pattering against the glass window came through, and Ye Ling rose to close the window.

Wen Zhengyu's gaze followed Ye Ling's movements, inadvertently sweeping over the furnishings and layout of Ye Ling's house once more.

Although Ye Ling's residence was very large and fully furnished, it had almost no sense of home, inside or out. The major pieces of furniture were all there, some decorations hung on the walls, and a few ornaments sat on the antique shelf, but the small everyday household items were rarely seen.

Whether a home has a lived-in warmth or not is conveyed through these little objects.

Some homes are not well-off, perhaps with barely any furniture, yet every tiny item in the house, even the clothes hanging on the drying rack, can reveal the owner's lived-in presence.

A pot of flowers, an unremarkable cactus—these can all reveal the small moments of daily life.

But Ye Ling's residence had none of these. Her house was grand and bright, but it lacked the warmth of a home.

The most distinct trace of Ye Ling's presence in this living room was probably the scent of her perfume. The lingering odor of sweat from those male bodyguards in the air was even stronger than Ye Ling's perfume.

Wen Zhengyu deeply disliked the air being filled with this sweat smell reeking of hormones. Whether from men or women, when too many people were around, all kinds of odors mixed together, and breathing it in felt stifling.

She liked crisp, fresh air—the clean air blowing in with the wind during a fine drizzle, pure and free of that turbid murkiness.

Wen Zhengyu swept her gaze around once more and could already tell that in Ye Ling's house, probably only the bedroom belonged to her personal space; the other spaces were all used by the bodyguards. She suddenly understood, to some extent, why Ye Ling liked to gravitate toward her place whenever she had free time. If it were her, she wouldn't like to crowd together with a bunch of pungent bodyguards either.

Wen Zhengyu looked at the empty walls, and an idea suddenly flashed through her mind. Although many of her paintings depicted demons, devils, ghosts, monsters, skulls, and dead people—not suitable for display—some of her competition and exhibition pieces were presentable enough and would absolutely not cause anyone to lose face if hung up.

Such an empty house could use a couple of paintings as decoration. Ye Ling had bought almost all of her paintings, yet she would rather leave her house walls bare than hang up even one.

The paintings had already become Ye Ling's property. How to handle them was entirely up to Ye Ling. Wen Zhengyu couldn't really say anything about it.

Ye Ling finished closing the window, then went and washed a plate of grapes and returned. She sat down beside Wen Zhengyu, peeled the grape skins, and began feeding grapes to Wen Zhengyu once more.

Wen Zhengyu felt quite embarrassed by Ye Ling's actions and said, "I'll peel them myself."

Ye Ling said, "While you're at my place, there's no reason for you to have to lift a finger just to eat some fruit."

Seeing Wen Zhengyu raise an eyebrow at her with a very disapproving expression, she admitted with a smile, "Feeding you gives me a greater sense of accomplishment. Open up. When in Rome, do as the Romans do."

Wen Zhengyu glanced at Ye Ling's neatly trimmed nails and picked up a grape to peel herself. She wasn't good at picking out fish bones, so she kept her nails long—peeling grapes was far easier for her than it was for Ye Ling.

Just as she finished peeling a grape, Ye Ling suddenly leaned over from beside her and snatched it away with her mouth in one swift bite. When Ye Ling snatched the grape, her teeth even lightly grazed Wen Zhengyu's fingertip.

Wen Zhengyu was utterly stunned for several seconds before she turned her head, dumbfounded, to look at Ye Ling.

Ye Ling had already eaten the grape, spat out the seed, and praised, "Grapes peeled by Zhengyu really are the tastiest."

Wen Zhengyu was dazed for another few seconds before snapping back to her senses, feeling a strong urge to get up and leave.

After snatching one, Ye Ling didn't dare try to snatch a second.

Wen Zhengyu watched Ye Ling intently, just wanting to see what other tricks this person could come up with.

Ye Ling continued eating grapes and asked about how Wen Zhengyu had been lately.

Wen Zhengyu said, "Fine." She was unwilling to elaborate.

Ye Ling detected that Wen Zhengyu's tone was slightly off. Her brow twitched, and she turned to look at Wen Zhengyu. "Are you upset?"

Wen Zhengyu said, "A little."

Ye Ling thought to herself, So honest. She looked at Wen Zhengyu very earnestly. "I really enjoy being with you, and I enjoy teasing you too. But if it makes you unhappy, I won't do it again next time."

She paused, then added, "Your fingers are so slender; when you peel grapes, they move like you're plucking flower petals."

Wen Zhengyu found Ye Ling a bit too much to handle. She glanced at the time and said, "I should be going."

Ye Ling could tell that Wen Zhengyu was genuinely a little upset now. Her earlier action had indeed been too forward, but in front of someone she liked, she didn't want to constantly read expressions and tread carefully. She also wanted to do some willful things that she herself enjoyed, even if it might upset the other person.

Actually, it wasn't easy to make Wen Zhengyu angry. Most of the time, Wen Zhengyu wouldn't hold others' rudeness or impropriety against them; she would just maintain an appropriate distance, keeping others outside a certain boundary that was a safe zone for her. Ye Ling could be considered to have stepped within the boundary Wen Zhengyu had drawn, and because her earlier action had exceeded the limit Wen Zhengyu had set for her, Wen Zhengyu was now redrawing the line.

Wen Zhengyu called Wen Jing and asked her to come pick her up.

Wen Jing told Wen Zhengyu that she and Ma Jun would need about half an hour to arrive.

Wen Zhengyu said, "Then call me when you get here." She hung up and stood to take her leave from Ye Ling.

Ye Ling remained seated on the sofa, unmoving, merely lifting her eyes to look at Wen Zhengyu.

Wen Zhengyu met Ye Ling's gaze and saw that those eyes were deep and dark, seeming to emanate some kind of emotion.

Ye Ling collected her thoughts and said, "Wait until Wen Jing and the others arrive before you go." Seeing that Wen Zhengyu hadn't moved, she said, "I promise not to do anything rude again."

Wen Zhengyu actually quite wanted to go out by herself for a walk, but after the near-kidnapping incident, even if she dared to go out alone, she feared her grandmother and the others would find out and scold her again. She sat back down on the sofa and continued watching television.

Ye Ling curled up her legs and sat on the sofa, unable to stop herself from fixing her gaze on Wen Zhengyu again. Wen Zhengyu's personality sometimes made her grind her teeth in frustration, yet she could do nothing about it.

In the living room, only the sound from the television broke the silence, which was accentuated by the quiet between the two of them.

After a long while, Wen Zhengyu finally said, "CEO Ye, we aren't yet familiar enough for kissing or taking things from each other's hands... we're not at that stage."

She couldn't quite tell whether she was upset by Ye Ling's presumptuous action earlier or simply unaccustomed to suddenly being so close with Ye Ling.

Ye Ling nodded slightly, said nothing, and single-handedly finished the entire plate of grapes, then polished off a plate of watermelon from which she had only eaten two pieces. She then said, "Sorry, excuse me," stood up, went upstairs, and returned to her bedroom.

Wen Zhengyu stared in surprise at the two empty fruit plates, then turned to watch Ye Ling retreat to her bedroom. She knew Ye Ling's appetite well enough. Ye Ling had eaten quite a lot at dinner; with two plates of fruit now in her stomach, how stuffed must she be?

When Wen Jing and Ma Jun arrived to pick up Wen Zhengyu, Ye Ling came back downstairs.

It was raining outside. The car drove into the courtyard, and Ma Jun came over holding an umbrella to escort Wen Zhengyu, so there was no need for Ye Ling to brave the rain to see her to the car.

Ye Ling stood under the eaves, watching Wen Zhengyu get into the car and then watching Ma Jun close the car door for her.

The moment the door shut, it separated her and Wen Zhengyu into two worlds—inside the car and outside. Then Wen Zhengyu's vehicle slowly drove out of her courtyard and disappeared into the rainy night.

Ye Ling stood under the eaves, staring blankly into the rainy night for a very long time before she turned and went back inside.

Sitting in the car, Wen Zhengyu gazed blankly out the window, her mind without direction.

As the Mid-Autumn Festival approached, everywhere was busy.

The old matriarch had said she wanted her to manage the accounts, so she had her manage the accounts. Not only did she have her manage the accounts, but raw material procurement and finished product sales were also entrusted to her. The production workshop also wanted her to keep an eye on things whenever she went to the factory, since production process losses directly affected raw material costs. Food ingredients all had shelf lives; if they piled up during the production process and caused a backlog, leaving them too long risked spoilage. Even with preservatives added, semi-finished products sitting in a backlog had a time limit. If they expired, the mooncakes produced would be black-hearted mooncakes. A proper, legitimate food enterprise that had been operating for quite some years was not some shady processing workshop; brand reputation and word-of-mouth still mattered.

She loved eating pastries and snacks and was very picky about them—the old matriarch knew this. When the food company's R&D department made new pastries, the old matriarch had her go taste them, and she was expected to elaborate in detail on what tasted good and what didn't.

Fortunately, she had eaten a lot of pastries, so food wasn't something that could stump her. Whether it was good or bad, where it fell short, let alone listing one, two, three, four, five points—she could go six, seven, eight, nine, ten. Not to mention distant examples, at least for local pastries, what brands there were, what shops existed, and what each shop's specialty was, she could recite them all as if listing family treasures.

After the old matriarch discovered her "talent" for food, not only was she sent to the food factory's R&D department, but even the restaurant chain's R&D department wanted her there. Pastries were one thing—the flavors were mostly sweet-based. But the restaurant chain's R&D department dealt with everything: sour, sweet, numbing, spicy—all sorts. Sending her, a person who favored sweet foods, to help with recipe tasting at the restaurant's R&D department—if they followed her palate, the place would probably have to close down.

The art studio's business, delivering festival gifts, plus the restaurant and food company—Wen Zhengyu was so busy her feet barely touched the ground. Ye Ling's small matter was naturally tossed to the back of her mind.

A week passed in the blink of an eye.

Lian Xin called to invite her to handle the property title transfer, saying everything had been arranged; she and Ye Ling just needed to go to the Real Estate Transaction Center to complete the transfer procedure.

The appointed time was ten o'clock the next morning.

Wen Zhengyu asked the old matriarch for leave. She went to the art studio in the morning, dealt with the day's matters, then rushed to the Real Estate Transaction Center and completed the transfer procedure with Ye Ling.

Ye Ling asked her, "Do you have time? If so, let's go to the house to hand over things."

Her tone was flat, without pleasantries, carrying a hint of detachment.

Wen Zhengyu wondered, Is this drawing a clear line, so that from now on, the bridge returns to the bridge and the road returns to the road?

Fine, that would save them each their own troubles.

She nodded and said, "Alright."

Ye Ling asked, "Go now?"

Wen Zhengyu nodded. "Okay."

Ye Ling nodded as well and walked directly toward her own car.

Wen Zhengyu couldn't help silently lamenting, This petty person's pettiness really is sharper than the tip of a needle.

She'd had her first kiss taken, been taken advantage of, and she wasn't the one making a big deal about it—yet this petty person actually...

Wen Zhengyu was made a bit unhappy by Ye Ling's pettiness, but then she thought, her interactions with Ye Ling hadn't been many to begin with. Each had their own career and life to be busy with; seeing each other once or twice a month now was already quite good. Romance... she was thinking too far ahead.

She sat back in her car and gave Wen Jing the address of the Old Family Mansion.

After more than a year, standing before the gates of the Old Family Mansion again, Wen Zhengyu truly felt as if a lifetime had passed.

Before, when she came home, the car always drove directly through the side gate into the garage. That garage, in old times, had been the stable—a place for keeping horses and parking carriages—and later became a garage. Now, her car drove up and stopped in the parking space outside the main gate. Ye Ling's car had not driven in either; it was also parked in the visitor parking space outside, lined up next to hers.

Ye Ling got out of the car. Her bodyguard stepped ahead to open the gate.

Wen Zhengyu stood before the gate and lifted her head to look at the plaque above the door—Wenya Garden. The characters had been inscribed by her grandfather. "Wen" was her grandfather's surname, and "Ya" was her grandmother's given name. Her family's door plaque was still there.

Wen Zhengyu's gaze lingered on the door plaque for a long time before she moved her eyes away and followed behind Ye Ling, stepping through the main gate.

She suddenly recalled the first time she met Ye Ling. She had stood in the courtyard, watching Ye Ling and her entourage step through this main gate.

Over a year ago, when her family collapsed, she had lamented the unpredictability of life. Today, she still felt the same sentiment. Who could have imagined that the woman who stepped through this gate back then would have so many entanglements with her—buying her family's house, stealing her first kiss, and being this staggeringly petty on top of it.

Wen Zhengyu felt that Ye Ling's behavior wasn't just excessive; this pettiness of hers was beyond absurd.

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