The Art of Teasing - Chapter 127
Chapter 127
Wen Zhengyu had always kept excellent hours. Even on the rare occasion she had to attend an evening banquet, she usually left early—unless it was for someone like her teacher, a close connection who needed her to stay and help entertain the guests. At these functions, she barely touched alcohol, always stopping after a symbolic sip. People who knew her understood her disposition and never pressed her. When she occasionally ran into someone who lacked that courtesy, she simply kept her distance and had no further dealings with them.
Ye Ling, on the other hand, could not avoid the drinking table, whether at private gatherings or formal banquets. She often came home reeking of alcohol, sometimes so drunk she was utterly dazed.
After this happened a few times, Wen Zhengyu instructed the kitchen to keep a sobering soup ready for Ye Ling. Because Ye Ling drank so frequently, on the days she was able to eat at home, Wen Zhengyu had the kitchen prepare soups designed to protect the liver and nourish the stomach.
The time they could share a meal at home was exceedingly rare. Most days, they left the house together in the morning, and she would not see Ye Ling again until eleven or midnight.
When Ye Ling had not yet returned, Wen Zhengyu could not fall asleep. Sometimes she reviewed documents and financial statements. Other times, she practiced her calligraphy.
Painting required stillness of mind. Once she started, she could not easily put down the brush. The small window of time spent waiting for Ye Ling was not enough for more than a few strokes, and then she would still have to clean up the pigments. She decided she might as well practice her calligraphy and build up her wrist strength instead. As a child, she had trained by suspending weights from her wrists while writing. Later, once her characters had become presentable, she had largely stopped. Now, the calligraphy itself was secondary; building wrist strength was the main goal.
Ye Ling always complained she was too slow, even in that matter. She had tried going faster, as Ye Ling wanted. The result made the whole thing feel rushed and perfunctory. She still preferred taking her time, letting Ye Ling fully enjoy herself.
She used to love painting and reading in the Painting Hall. Now, when she had to wait for Ye Ling, she could not settle her mind. If she went to the Painting Hall to paint, she kept wondering whether Ye Ling had come home. She found it hard to find stillness, so she had taken to practicing her calligraphy on the small round table in their bedroom. The round table was small. She could not spread out her materials properly.
She had some of her mother's furniture moved back. First, she furnished her own empty courtyard. The excess furniture went to the neighboring courtyard, redecorating the residence that had stood vacant for over twenty years.
Both her own courtyard gate and the gate to her mother's courtyard were replaced with large security doors. The locks were upgraded to facial-recognition scanners. A connecting door was then opened in the wall between her mother's courtyard and her own. She and Ye Ling now occupied two full courtyards. No matter how much stuff they had, there was more than enough room to store it.
Within her courtyard, she had a study. It was convenient for the occasional bit of reading, calligraphy, or painting. From its window, she could see the courtyard gate. When Ye Ling returned, she would spot her at a glance.
She found herself constantly thinking about Ye Ling. Even when she picked up her brush to paint, what she wanted to paint was not the Kunlun Divine Mountain. What surfaced in her mind's eye was the image of Ye Ling, her back bare, the phoenix tattoo revealed across her skin.
Ye Ling was away on a business trip. Home alone and bored one evening, Wen Zhengyu painted a picture called "Spring Boudoir."
In the painting, Ye Ling stood before the Babu Canopy Bed, completely bare, her back facing the viewer. A cascade of loosely curling long hair spilled down her back. Across her smooth skin spread an astonishingly lifelike golden phoenix bird.
Wen Zhengyu could not quite pinpoint why. Before, when she was home alone, she had felt the quietude was peaceful and pleasant. Now, there was often a faint, indescribable sense of loss. Her thoughts would drift, floating aimlessly back to Ye Ling.
She wondered: Is it because we spend so little time together?
But she and Ye Ling had never spent much time together before, either.
Ye Ling's business was also different from hers. She worked in a traditional industry. Ye Ling dealt in capital operations. Different trades were like separated mountains—she understood very little of it. Ye Ling had tried to explain it to her in broad terms, but she listened in complete confusion. She had only a vague sense that it involved finance, shares, that sort of thing. As to how the operations actually worked, she was quite clueless.
Wen Zhengyu was very clear about her own limitations. She knew she had no head for business and was not cut out to run companies. All she wanted was to manage the art studio properly. As for the companies her maternal grandmother had given her, she would rather hire professional managers to run them. If they operated well, they operated well. If they could not be sustained, she would not force it or make things hard on herself. She had already made up her mind to live off rental income. Managing a property management company was easy enough. Add to that the dividends from her investments in a real estate company, a shopping mall, and other ventures, and she could never end up poor.
When the old matriarch found out about this plan, she pinned Wen Zhengyu down and gave her a beating. It was not too heavy, but she certainly did not let her off easily.
The winter days were cold. Both her maternal grandfather's and grandmother's bodies were giving them trouble, so whenever she had time, she went to keep them company.
The old gentleman, however, had gone to Second Aunt's house and had been there for over twenty days. She called him. The old gentleman was busy socializing with several old painters and had no time to come back. He told her to just keep a good eye on the house.
The old gentleman would not return. Ye Ling was away on business. Wen Zhengyu began to experience the same listless malady that sometimes afflicted her maternal grandparents—no specific pain anywhere, just a general lack of spirit.
Ye Ling was not home, but Wen Zhengyu now had spare cash on hand. When she ran into someone looking to sell off antiques and spotted something suitable, she would buy it back. Each time she acquired a new antique, she would take a photo and send it to tempt Old Master Wen. But even that failed to lure the old gentleman back.
She called Old Master Wen. "Don't you want me anymore?"
Old Master Wen fobbed her off with promises to return soon.
Wen Zhengyu said: "The Imperial Capital is so cold."
Old Master Wen said: "Radiant floor heating. It's warmer than the south."
Wen Zhengyu: "I'm bored at home."
Old Master Wen: "I hear you're busy from morning till night."
Wen Zhengyu: "At night I'm free."
Old Master Wen: "Then paint. Take a photo of your new painting and show me."
Wen Zhengyu thought of the picture she had painted of Ye Ling's bare back. "No," she said.
Old Master Wen assumed Wen Zhengyu had painted another one of those pictures of ghosts, demons, and corpses and was throwing a tantrum because he would not come home. So he said: "I'll come home to see it. Don't worry, I'll definitely be back before New Year's."
New Year's! Wen Zhengyu counted on her fingers. There was still so long until New Year's.
After ending her call with Old Master Wen, Wen Zhengyu sent a text to Wen Shishu: "Second Aunt, you're stealing my grandfather."
Wen Shishu texted back: "You stole my father for over twenty years. I'm only stealing your grandfather for twenty-some days."
Wen Zhengyu was laid low by that single sentence. She had no comeback.
When Wen Zhengyu was on the phone with Old Master Wen, Madam Wen Shishu, Ye Ling, and Kang Bai were all right beside him.
Ye Ling had been on a business trip and stopped by on the way to visit Wen Shishu and Old Master Wen. She stayed for a simple meal.
No sooner had Old Master Wen hung up the phone than Wen Shishu received Wen Zhengyu's text. While replying, she said: "Xiao Yu is probably bored at home."
Old Master Wen was also rather uneasy about leaving Wen Zhengyu. He said: "All these years, she's never been away from my side this long."
Wen Shishu said: "First it was my son. Then it was my granddaughter. It seems as a daughter, I'm relegated to the far rear echelon."
Old Master Wen paid no attention to the vinegar-drinking Wen Shishu. He stood up, took his little great-granddaughter by the hand, and walked off. "Come, your great-grandfather will take you to paint."
Wen Shishu watched the old gentleman escort her little great-granddaughter to the children's playroom. Only then did she rise and head to the study.
Kang Bai followed Wen Shishu and Ye Ling into the study. He pulled the door shut behind him and asked: "The matter concerning my uncle?" Ye Ling had said she was merely stopping by to see his grandfather. That excuse was probably the only one his grandfather would believe. His family and the Ye family were not close, and their political stances were also rather at odds. What could bring Ye Ling to his home could only be something involving his cousin. His cousin was beautiful. Not only was her bearing exceptional, but her talent was also genuinely impressive. When she had come the previous year on business and had a meal with him, several of his friends had seen her and inquired about her. Later on, the Ye family affair had also caused people to take note of her.
Wen Shishu gestured for Ye Ling to sit and asked: "Do you have some clues?"
Ye Ling named a figure. She also named a few important members of his family.
Kang Bai's eyebrows shot up. He exclaimed: "You're joking, right? Are you sure there's no mistake?"
Ye Ling's expression remained impassive. She asked: "Do you have dealings with them?"
Kang Bai said: "I know them."
Wen Shishu frowned. She said: "So it's not purely about money, then." Her expression immediately darkened. If it were just for money, that would be one thing. It was now perfectly clear: they were aiming for Wen Zhengyu, and Wen Shiyi was deep in the middle of it, stirring the pot.
Kang Bai asked: "Are you certain?"
Ye Ling said: "If I weren't certain, I wouldn't have come here." This was a simple case of Wen Shiyi selling his own daughter for money. "There's a recording. I made a copy. Take a listen." She pulled up the recording and hit play.
Wen Shiyi's voice came through the recording, along with the voices of others. The content of their discussion detailed how Wen Shiyi had found people to set up a scheme to defraud Wen Zhengyu of her money. The negotiation resulted in a forty-sixty split. Wen Shiyi was taking sixty percent! She had hired an expert to authenticate it. The recording had not been edited. It was indeed Wen Shiyi's voice. Even if she wanted to claim the other party had written a script and had Wen Shiyi read from it, given the things Wen Shiyi had actually done, she herself would discount such an excuse.
At this stage of the investigation, the only companies they could directly connect were the loan-sharking operation and the firms that had financial transactions with it. As for the mastermind behind the scenes, that person was spotlessly clean. Even if they wanted to settle scores with the mastermind, they would have to find another avenue, and the adversary was no easy target. If Wen Zhengyu had not had such a formidable maternal family as the Lian family, with Wen Shiyi selling her out like this—collaborating from the inside while they worked from the outside to set the trap—she might not have been able to protect Wen Zhengyu.
Kang Bai sank deep into thought. His uncle had lived to this ripe old age. He was no ignorant old farmer from the countryside. How could his uncle not have had some idea of who these people were when they approached him to do these things? Even if the goal was simply to extract money, once things were set in motion, the final outcome would no longer be up to him!
After playing the recording, Ye Ling said nothing further. She stood up and left.
Kang Bai escorted Ye Ling out. He said to her: "We'll be in touch."
Ye Ling nodded faintly, made a "please go back" gesture, and departed.
Kang Bai returned to the study to find Wen Shishu. His expression was extremely grim. When he saw his mother lift her eyes and cast a cold, cutting glance his way, his scalp tightened.
Wen Shishu asked: "Exactly when did he first lay eyes on Xiao Yu?"
Kang Bai said: "Last year, when Xiao Yu came to buy paintings. We were having a meal with her. He noticed her and later asked me casually who she was. I didn't pay it any mind back then. I just thought they saw us together, saw that Xiao Yu was beautiful, got curious, and asked in passing."
Wen Shishu asked: "Were there other people present at that time?"
Kang Bai thought back. "There were a few others there to help host."
Wen Shishu understood.
Kang Bai said: "Even though I played a part in this, if they only saw her that one time last year, it doesn't make sense that it would go this far."
Wen Shishu said: "As for what your uncle is like, I have no way to control that. When you get back, discuss this with Ye Ling. See how far we can take this."
Kang Bai acknowledged the order.
After Ye Ling had met with Wen Shishu, she took a flight back that very night.
Her mood was suffused with an indescribable sense of suffocation. Someone had taken a fancy to Wen Zhengyu. His underlings had then acted on it. There happened to be an opening through Wen Shiyi. The other party leveraged the situation to set up this whole scheme. All she could do was dig out the people who had directly engineered the plot and deal with them, then clean house by thoroughly dealing with the insider, Wen Shiyi. As for the rest… it would not be so easy.
The matters she had uncovered were now known to Lian Xin and Wen Li.
Old Madam Zhang and Old Master Lian's health had been consistently poor lately. Lian Xin had kept the truth tightly under wraps, not daring to let them find out. But he had not concealed it from his father, his uncles, or any of his brothers.
By the time Ye Ling got home, it was already past two in the morning. She knew that pushing open the bedroom door and entering would surely wake Wen Zhengyu. Then, after she went through her whole washing-up routine and Wen Zhengyu drifted off again, she would only have two or three hours of sleep before she had to get up. She would certainly be tired tomorrow. After a brief hesitation, Ye Ling turned and headed instead to Wen Zhengyu's newly arranged study. She flicked on the study light and immediately saw the table spread with paper stained by pigments, held down by paperweights. She walked closer. It was a half-finished painting. The subject was the way she looked while asleep. Judging by the angle, Wen Zhengyu had clearly been secretly watching her after she had fallen asleep.
Ye Ling's gaze settled on the painting. Her heart grew soft, and warm, and ached all at once.
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