The Art of Teasing - Chapter 139
Chapter 139
Wen Zhengyu only fully processed what had happened after she returned to her room. She asked Ye Ling, "Was what I just did basically arguing with my grandmother?"
The smile tugging at the corner of Ye Ling's lips was impossible to hide. "It was," she said. For her sake, she had actually dared to argue with Grandma, the woman who had taken on the entire Lian family and never lost.
Wen Zhengyu silently turned and sat down in a chair, her heart uneasy. She had never argued with anyone before. This was the first time she had quarreled until she was red-faced and hoarse, and to have done it with her own grandmother—it was a serious breach of propriety.
Ye Ling touched Wen Zhengyu's hand. Finding it warm, and assured that her earlier venture into the cold wind hadn't chilled her, she finally asked, "What made you decide to go crouch outside the house just now?"
Wen Zhengyu was instantly mortified, her face flushing crimson. She hemmed and hawed, deeply embarrassed.
Ye Ling let out an enlightened "Oh," and said, "To show you were angry, and by the way, to bully Grandma's granddaughter..." As she spoke, she couldn't help but be both amused and pained. Fortunately, Wen Zhengyu had bounded back inside immediately after dashing out.
Wen Zhengyu said to Ye Ling, "Sit for a while." Then she went back downstairs and sat down beside Grandma again.
Grandma glanced sideways at Wen Zhengyu with a "Tch." "What are you doing sitting next to me? Go protect your wife. Shoo. Don't sit beside me. I don't have a..." The words reached her lips, but she recalled the last time Wen Zhengyu had gotten upset with her. The phrase "I don't have a granddaughter like you" absolutely could not be said again. She swallowed it back. After swallowing it, she reflected that she was still angry.
Wen Zhengyu said, without shifting her gaze, "It was wrong of me to argue with you just now."
Grandma looked at Wen Zhengyu as if she'd seen a ghost in broad daylight. "You came to apologize this quickly?"
Wen Zhengyu said, "You are my elder, and you were concerned for me and worried about me. I shouldn't have quarreled with you, much less taken advantage of your affection to be so stubborn with you."
Grandma's old heart was instantly soothed. She stroked Wen Zhengyu's back and said, "Alright, I won't hold it against you." Inwardly, she was deeply emotional. If Huaijin could see how easy her daughter is to bully, she'd be furious, she thought.
In the old days, whenever she clashed with Huaijin, she was the one who ended up fuming. When she tried to scold Lian Zhao, Lian Hui, and the rest—especially Lian Xin, that little brat who caused the most trouble and always left loose ends without properly cleaning them up—every time she just barely rolled up her sleeves, Huaijin would appear. First, she'd shield the troublemaking wild boy behind her and send them to hide in her room. Then she'd grab her and insist on reasoning things out, saying you couldn't just start by hitting children when educating them, that when children grew up, they understood reason. Understand what? They understood reason perfectly well, but they went ahead and did things anyway. What could you do? Huaijin would reason with her, speaking slowly, yet always with such maddening logic, meticulously arguing every single point until she'd hashed it out completely. She could only let Huaijin go and reason with those wild boys herself—and just like that, she'd let Huaijin rescue them.
She had really wanted to give them a solid scolding. But before she could even lift a hand, Lian Huaijin would come beaming and have the spiked club carried over, telling her to use the club to beat her, the aunt, to death first—since it was her, as the aunt, who hadn't properly managed the children. If the spiked club wasn't handy, Lian Huaijin would have people haul over every weapon from the weapons rack in the back courtyard and let her pick. She'd sit there perfectly poised and say, "Mom, I won't fight back, and I won't dodge. Hit me as you please. I'll take this beating for them. After you're done, you can let your anger out."
"Ah, that whip is newly made. I used it during morning training today, it works very well. You should try it. Just be gentle when you strike. One lash leaves a mark on the floorboards. My skin isn't rough or thick, and your hand strength is considerable. I estimate one lash would split my skin and flesh and leave me sprawling on the ground."
"Perhaps you'd prefer a rod. A rod works well. As long as you don't strike bone, I'd just bruise for a few days. Apply some bruise-healing ointment and I'd be fine."
"I know you can't bring yourself to hit me. You love your daughter, and I love my nephews. If you want to hit someone, fine. Once I give birth to one myself in the future, I'll dote on my own child, and then you can go hit Big Brother and the others' children. Poor things—father not around, mother busy with work, a bunch of kids stuck with a grandmother acting like a step-grandmother."
"When I have a little girl later, I'll raise her to be especially mischievous. I'd like to see if you'd be willing to lay a hand on her."
Lian Huaijin had needled her like that, smiling and light as a feather, until she truly wished she could slap her to the ground. And yet she couldn't touch her. In those moments, she felt that what she had raised wasn't a daughter—she had raised debts.
Grandma now looked at the troublesome creature beside her, who was clearly wanting to speak but hesitating. She said, "If you have something to say, say it." She was utterly exasperated with Wen Zhengyu. When Lian Huaijin faced her, it was always lengthy speeches that left her no room to retort.
Wen Zhengyu said, "Then I'll say it."
Grandma said, "Speak!" Wen Zhengyu's deliberate pace was driving her crazy. If you had something to say, say it. If you didn't want to, then don't act as if you did.
Wen Zhengyu glanced upstairs again. Seeing no sign of Ye Ling coming down, she lowered her voice and said, "Ye Ling's parents passed away early. Her grandfather treated her like air. Her step-grandmother's family..." She spread her hands, gesturing, and said, "The palm of her hand—here—there's a scar from holding a knife. When she wanted to take me to meet an elder, it was to meet her brother's father-in-law, saying he was the only elder who ever cared for her. Just now, I told her that my grandparents and grandfather are her grandparents and grandfather, and then you went and took your anger out on her."
Grandma said, "So you're blaming me now."
Wen Zhengyu said, "Where I was wrong, I apologize. Where you are wrong, you need to change."
Grandma asked, "And if I don't change?"
Wen Zhengyu said, "Then you're unreasonable."
Grandma said, "I am unreasonable. What can you do about it?"
Wen Zhengyu looked at her grandmother. Even her grandmother's expression radiated unreasonableness. She said, "If it were anyone else being unreasonable, I'd just stop associating with them. But when you're unreasonable..." She paused, then added, "I'm going back to my room." She stood up, hesitated, and asked Grandma, "Are you really not going to be reasonable?"
Grandma desperately wanted to throttle her. She waved her hand. "Go on. In the future, if anything happens to you, I'll settle accounts with Ye Ling. If you can't even protect your own person, you've got no standing to blame me for being unreasonable."
Wen Zhengyu's heart stirred, and she instantly understood. The old lady had given money, offered people, scolded Ye Ling, and threatened her—ultimately, it was all because she didn't want to see her being taken advantage of. She tossed back a line at the old lady: "You're unreasonable, but it's still because you want the best for me." She turned and left.
She had Wen Jing arrange a car, went back to her room to put on warm clothes with Ye Ling, and then they headed out.
Grandma saw that they weren't taking any luggage and didn't ask where they were going.
Since her grandmother hadn't told her to leave, she would stay a while longer. But business still needed someone to manage it.
The car stopped in front of an art studio.
The studio was small, a private one—a two-story shopfront with a facade only about four or five meters wide, a very typical small art studio.
Wen Zhengyu left Wen Jing and Zhuo Yao in the car. She and Ye Ling went inside. As she pushed open the door, she saw that many paintings had already been taken down from the walls and were being packed up.
A woman was bent over, packing items, and without turning her head, she said, "Feel free to browse. Closing sale, twenty percent off everything."
Wen Zhengyu leaned in and asked, "May I ask what price the proprietress herself goes for?"
Hearing Wen Zhengyu's voice, the woman looked up in delighted surprise, spun around to face her, and exclaimed, "Xiao Yu? When did you get here?"
Wen Zhengyu said, "Just now."
The woman said, "I meant when did you come to the Imperial Capital."
Wen Zhengyu said, "A while ago. Only just got some free time today. When I heard you were closing down, I rushed right over."
The woman gave Wen Zhengyu an exasperated look. "Come to gloat?" She turned back and continued packing paintings.
Wen Zhengyu said, "I have a business matter to discuss."
The woman was very surprised. "What business could you possibly have with me? The paintings here are hardly up to your studio's standards."
Wen Zhengyu said, "If you were selling them yourself, I'd value them highly." Her tone shifted. "What are your plans?"
The woman said, "Find another job. One still has to eat and support a family. The child still needs schooling." As she finished, she glanced back at Ye Ling behind Wen Zhengyu, leaned closer to Wen Zhengyu, and asked, "Is that the legendary..." She had heard the rumors about Wen Zhengyu. Some said she was being kept. Others said she had a girlfriend. Knowing what she knew of Wen Zhengyu, being kept was impossible. As for finding a girlfriend, that was even more unheard of than being kept.
Wen Zhengyu said, "Ye Ling. We live together. She lives at my place."
Seeing the woman look her way, Ye Ling stepped forward in greeting. "Hello, Ye Ling."
The woman replied, "Hello, Chu Ci."
Wen Zhengyu introduced them: "My senior sister-apprentice, student of Elder Ying." Then she said to Chu Ci, "I really do have something to discuss with you."
Chu Ci said, "Go on."
Wen Zhengyu said, "My cousin, Wen Li..." She pointed to Ye Ling, then added, "And her—they say I'm decent enough at business, I just lack a CEO."
Chu Ci immediately burst out laughing. What a pair of imps. She smiled and said, "From what I hear, your studio is doing very well."
Wen Zhengyu said, "I've been detained here by the family elders and can't go back anytime soon. I truly have no talent for business, and after thinking it over, I've decided not to torment myself or everyone else. I've considered it from every angle, and you're the most suitable candidate. You majored in business management, you were previously a corporate executive, and you studied painting. There's no one more suitable than you." Chu Ci genuinely loved art; otherwise, she wouldn't have quit her job to open a studio. But the studio wasn't profitable. With a child to raise and a family to support, financial pressures forced her to consider returning to work.
Chu Ci considered it briefly. "Let me think it over. I'll give you an answer in a couple of days."
Wen Zhengyu replied, "Fine." She quoted Chu Ci a compensation package based on her own salary and bonus standards, plus an additional five percent dry share dividend.
Chu Ci agreed readily. "Done. I'll do it. Give me a few days to wrap things up here."
They set a date, and Wen Zhengyu decided to have Chu Ci start immediately.
Beside them, Ye Ling was stunned.
She and Wen Li had previously wanted Wen Zhengyu to hire a CEO, but the young miss had hesitated for a month without any movement. After finally beginning to consider it, she'd been thoroughly lectured by Grandma and went back to managing the studio herself. By now, neither of them held out hope that Wen Zhengyu would appoint a CEO, yet in just a few moments, Wen Zhengyu had found someone—and chosen someone who couldn't even keep a tiny studio like this afloat.
Although some people were poor at running small businesses but excelled at large enterprises, Kunlun Art Studio was no large enterprise either.
But, Ye Ling reconsidered, given Wen Zhengyu's network and foundation, even Wen Zhengyu's level of business acumen hadn't driven the studio to bankruptcy. Hiring someone who both understood art and had corporate experience should work out, right?
Once she and Wen Zhengyu had left the studio and gotten into the car, Ye Ling asked Wen Zhengyu, "What's all this about? Why the sudden decisiveness?"
Wen Zhengyu thought for a moment, then said very seriously, "Before, I opened the art studio because I had no money. Now, collecting rent is enough to live on."
Ye Ling stared fixedly at Wen Zhengyu. "So what you mean is..."
Wen Zhengyu said, "This way, I won't have to go to work and can just stay home and paint in peace."
Ye Ling gazed blankly at Wen Zhengyu. "So what you're saying is, if you have money, you don't need to work anymore?" Grandma had given her money and offered her people, and after all the hardship Wen Zhengyu had endured, anyone else would have seized the opportunity to launch grand plans, achieve something remarkable, and make everyone sit up and take notice. But Wen Zhengyu had actually...
She collected herself, took Wen Zhengyu's hand, and said, "If you want to paint, then stay home and paint in peace." She thought about it and understood. Wen Zhengyu was not someone easily changed. No matter what she experienced, no matter whether she had more or less money, she remained exactly who she was. Wen Zhengyu's requirement for money was truly just enough to live on.
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