The Art of Teasing - Chapter 174

Chapter 174

Wen Zhengyu rested for a day. She didn't make it to work the next day either, because Ye Ling dragged her off to inspect Ma Lu's security company.

Ye Ling's company practically screamed "I am obscenely wealthy" from the inside out, while Ma Lu's security company was the polar opposite. From the entrance all the way to Ma Lu's office, everything she saw proclaimed that this company was dirt poor. So poor they couldn't even afford a receptionist or janitor — those jobs were done part-time by the same men who had followed Ma Lu back from the Middle East.

The security firm rented space in a legitimate office building, and its sign was already hanging outside. This floor held four companies. The one directly facing the elevator doors had either gone under or moved out; a "For Lease" phone number was pasted across the door. They turned down the hallway, walked all the way to the very end, and there on the wall were pasted several large characters: "Brothers Security Company." Next came a glass door, with the cheapest kind of large welcome mat from the supermarket laid out in front.

Zhuo Yao pushed the door open, and Wen Zhengyu saw a reception desk made from extremely thin composite board. A woman done up with an exceptionally alluring style, tattoos running from her face down to her neck, was chewing gum with earbuds in, humming a tune as she mopped the floor. She wore long high heels and a tight leather outfit that clung to her shockingly explosive figure; with every mopping motion, her especially ample chest quivered.

Watching this, Wen Zhengyu couldn't help suspecting she'd had breast augmentation surgery. Swinging her chest around like that while mopping — wouldn't they get deformed?

The moment the door opened, the woman immediately yanked out her earbuds, swiftly put away the mop, and stood by the door holding it open while plastering on a smile. "Welcome! Our company..." She looked up, saw it was Zhuo Yao, then widened her eyes and craned her neck to look behind him. Instantly she stood ramrod straight, her smile becoming extraordinarily prim and proper. She was quite tall and seemed to be of mixed blood, but because her attire and styling made her look exactly like some street thug, grinning like this now made Wen Zhengyu instinctively feel like a fat lamb about to step into a trap. If she were a client here to hire bodyguards, she would definitely back up several steps out that front door, turn around, and leave.

The security company's floors were laid with the cheapest floor tiles, some of which were chipped along the edges. Even without being in the renovation business, she could tell at a single glance they were using reject-grade seconds. If she didn't know they'd poured all their money into buying equipment, she really would have wanted to ask: Where did my investment go? She pondered this for a moment, then stepped back and scratched at the company sign by the entrance. Foam. The cheapest kind.

She set foot through the main door again and looked up. The company did have a suspended ceiling, but this ceiling was different from those in normal companies — it was set unusually close to the actual ceiling, failing to even cover the roof beams. The company's wiring wasn't concealed; every single line was surface-mounted and ran through cable trunking. A large office space, yet there wasn't even a single panel-end desk or cubicle workstation. Just rows of small one-and-a-half-meter desks. The office was permeated with the chemical-lacquer smell of cheap furniture and the scent of budget wall paint. It was just the beginning of spring, the weather still a bit chilly. The windows were wide open, and with the high floor, the wind howled straight through. As for air conditioning — not a single unit. At least, she didn't spot any after giving the place a full sweep.

Several people were in the conference room, frantically tidying things up. On the table sat instant noodle cups along with various documents and materials, plus spare components for something she couldn't even identify.

Those people saw her and hurriedly stood at attention to greet her.

Wen Zhengyu silently closed the door for them. Turning around, she saw Ma Lu striding quickly over to welcome her and Ye Ling, ushering them toward the general manager's office.

Ma Lu's office housed a set of black faux-leather sofas, an office desk and chair, plus a bookshelf behind it purely for appearances. On the desk were piled several self-help success books. His desk held a laptop, multiple stacks of promotional brochures, documents and materials, and a printer. Beside it stood a water dispenser with disposable cups on top.

Ma Lu used the disposable cups to steep tea and brought them before the two women.

Wen Zhengyu glanced at the tea. Tea stems were visible floating inside.

Ma Lu handed the prepared documents to Ye Ling for review.

After Ye Ling examined the documents, she said, "First, show us your equipment room."

Ma Lu then led Ye Ling and Wen Zhengyu into the adjacent office.

The equipment room was much larger than Ma Lu's office, occupying a substantial portion of the company. Every set of equipment looked like it had seen use, though Wen Zhengyu couldn't figure out what any of this equipment was actually for.

Ma Lu gave them a detailed introduction.

After hearing his explanation, Wen Zhengyu — even as the boss — began to doubt whether these guys were running a bodyguard company or something else entirely.

She suddenly felt that it would be abnormal if they actually managed to land any business.

Ye Ling and Wen Zhengyu returned to the general manager's office. She sat on the sofa and signed the agreement. She told Ma Lu, "For the time being, I need to fully take over the company's operations. Once I've sorted everything out from top to bottom and inside out, I'll gradually hand things back depending on circumstances. In the next couple of days, I'll send an operations team over. You'll all temporarily follow their directives. Everyone's appearance and image need to be rebuilt from the ground up."

Ma Lu had already discussed this with Ye Ling yesterday and had no objections.

Picking up the signed agreement documents, Ye Ling then took Wen Zhengyu to the headquarters of Yushan Group.

Yushan Group still carried on Ye Ling's signature style of grandeur, though it wasn't as extravagantly luxurious as the Holding Group. Relatively speaking, it was more streamlined and incisive.

Wen Zhengyu followed behind Ye Ling into the group's main office area. Everyone there was a picture of intense busyness. The situation she'd previously witnessed at the Holding Group — people gathering in twos and threes to gossip, whispering privately among themselves — was completely absent. Many were so busy they didn't even lift their heads, utterly unconcerned with Ye Ling's arrival. Even if someone occasionally passed by and ran into Ye Ling, they merely stepped aside to make way, offered a quick greeting, then hurriedly went back to their tasks.

She followed Ye Ling through the office area and saw a screen desk in front of a door marked "CEO's Office." A woman who looked exceptionally capable and efficient was bustling about at work. Hearing footsteps, she immediately rose and called out, "CEO Ye." Upon seeing Wen Zhengyu beside Ye Ling, she added, "Miss Wen."

Although Wen Zhengyu didn't know her name, she'd frequently seen her delivering documents to Ye Ling at the art studio before, so she gave a slight nod.

Ye Ling instructed her secretary, "Notify the project manager to come to my office." She led Wen Zhengyu into the office; the bodyguards following them entered the adjacent room.

Before long, a man in his forties who was immaculately well-groomed arrived at Ye Ling's office. He first presented the report in his hands to Ye Ling. At Ye Ling's gesture, he sat down and, in the most concise manner possible, briefed her on the current progress of several projects.

Ye Ling nodded, then handed the project manager both the newly signed agreement with the security company and the photocopies of the content they had drafted the previous day. She said, "Meet the benchmark targets. At minimum, fifty million in net profit. This project can only make money, no losses allowed." She listed the names of several people and said, "Get the project team formed and deployed over there within these next two days."

The project manager carefully reviewed the project. After a moment's deliberation, he said, "CEO Ye, may I ask — who is the back-end investor behind this Brothers Security Company?"

Ye Ling gestured toward Wen Zhengyu, who was sitting on the sofa.

The project manager nodded and said, "Understood." He flipped open his notebook, jotted down some key information from the agreement, returned the original agreement documents to Ye Ling, then hurried off with his notebook in hand.

Ye Ling said to Wen Zhengyu, "I have a huge backlog of work to deal with. Make yourself at home."

Wen Zhengyu asked, "You're not assigning me any work?"

Ye Ling smiled and answered, "You can sit in and listen."

Wen Zhengyu felt too self-conscious to sit beside Ye Ling and observe from up close. She brewed some tea for herself, drank her tea alone, and audited.

Throughout the entire morning, people streamed unendingly into Ye Ling's office. One wave left, and the next immediately followed. Their speech contained no long-winded reports; everything was extremely concise, technical jargon mixed with data, leaving Wen Zhengyu completely lost in the clouds.

At noon, she and Ye Ling went to the dining hall to eat.

After she finished ordering, while waiting for the food, she told Ye Ling, "Listening to them report on their work is worse than doing grunt work." At least with grunt work she could actually do something useful. Listening to reports — she simply couldn't understand a thing.

Ye Ling couldn't help laughing and said, "Working here with me, I wouldn't even accept you for grunt work."

Wen Zhengyu raised her eyes to look at Ye Ling: What do you mean?

Ye Ling said, "Your movements are too slow. You can't keep up with the pace."

Wen Zhengyu was speechless. She silently lifted her cup and drank some water.

Ye Ling said softly, "Your area of expertise isn't here. Perhaps one day you'll become a great painter whose name is passed down through the ages, while I will forever be merely an unknown, uncelebrated merchant."

Wen Zhengyu lifted her gaze toward Ye Ling.

Ye Ling smiled faintly at her and continued, "The old man of the Ye family — perhaps at one time he could be considered someone who held authority and occupied a key position, but nowadays when people mention him, all they talk about is the wretched tragedy of his children and grandchildren destroying each other in his twilight years. After Elder Wen passed away, when others speak of him, they speak of a lifetime of treating people with goodwill, their character and conduct, as well as their calligraphy and painting works. His works never circulated widely on the market to begin with, and in just these few short months, their prices have already doubled."

Wen Zhengyu's heart trembled slightly, a kind of stirring slowly spreading outward. Ye Ling had previously said that if she wanted to paint, she should paint — not because she loved her and simply indulged her, but because she genuinely believed that painting suited her better than doing business. She gazed at Ye Ling's features, at those eyes smiling as they looked at her, and couldn't help smiling back in return. She said, "The doubling of the elder's paintings — that's just people seeing how few of his works are on the market, wanting to hoard them and drive up prices. If I were to publicly disclose how many paintings the elder left behind..."

Ye Ling cut in and picked up the thread: "The threshold of your family home would be worn down flat by visitors. It's even possible someone would stir up trouble right at your doorstep, wanting to claim a share of the calligraphy and paintings the elder left behind." The elder had left abruptly, and on top of that, the family had already divided their assets earlier. Feeling there were no property disputes, he hadn't left a will. But as the saying goes, even an upright official finds it hard to settle family matters. If someone truly showed up to cause a scene, it would just be adding pointless frustration. Wen Zhengyu was the granddaughter, and Wen Shiyi was still alive. Wen Zhengyu, skipping a generation and inheriting the elder's estate without a will — legally speaking, Wen Shiyi could come back and contest it. And logically, if even a granddaughter could skip a generation to inherit, then shouldn't grandsons from the maternal side also get a share?

Wen Zhengyu knew exactly who Ye Ling was referring to. She couldn't care less. "The things Grandfather left behind," she said, "carry far more commemorative significance than monetary worth. I set aside a portion for each of them." Her grandfather's hidden savings had already been completely drained to pay off Wen Shiyi's debts. The most valuable items among what remained were those paintings. Both her aunts, Cui Dong and Kang Bai — they all had their share. Kang Bai's portion was currently preserved in her second aunt's courtyard. Given everything Kang Bai had done, if he didn't come asking, she had no desire to bring it up, so she'd just leave it all in Second Aunt's hands. If he couldn't even be bothered to acknowledge his own mother, then he shouldn't dream of coming to claim his maternal grandfather's things.

The two chatted idly for a while. After finishing lunch, Ye Ling took Wen Zhengyu to her office to take an afternoon nap.

As usual, it was still Ye Ling holding Wen Zhengyu as the two of them drifted off to sleep together.

Ye Ling never set an alarm. She would nap briefly to refresh her mind, then get up. When she rose, she'd habitually switch Wen Zhengyu's phone to silent mode, letting Wen Zhengyu sleep until she woke naturally. In the afternoon, once Wen Zhengyu woke, she would curl up in Ye Ling's office watching Ye Ling hustle about. She couldn't understand anything being discussed, nor could she look at any documents, so she got up and went outside to wander around.

Everyone was too busy to pay her any mind, way too busy to gather in clusters and chat idly. No one gossiped about her behind her back either. Even if someone occasionally noticed her standing nearby, in the middle of their frantic work they'd press the phone receiver to their chest and ask, "May I help you with something?" Once they learned she didn't need anything, they'd immediately return to their tasks. Who she was, what she was doing there — no one cared in the slightest. Everyone just focused on their own work.

She did a full circuit and, not wanting to disturb anyone's work, returned to Ye Ling's office. She peeled some fruit and brought it over to Ye Ling.

Ye Ling glanced at the fruit placed before her, then looked toward Wen Zhengyu, who had already turned and was heading back to the sofa. She couldn't help but smile softly.

Wen Zhengyu followed Ye Ling to Yushan Group for two days of work, then refused to go anymore.

She now found it impossible to stare fixedly at things for long periods. Reading small-font characters and inspecting paintings both caused double vision. So in the mornings she went out to move around; in the afternoons she returned home to take a nap. After waking, she practiced wrist strength and played the zither.

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