The Art of Teasing - Chapter 12

Chapter 12

She called Wen Li and told her about Mu Yao wanting to sell his shares to Ye Ling. She vaguely sensed something was off about this, but couldn't quite put her finger on what exactly was wrong.

Wen Li reminded her to look through the corporate law, to understand the regulations and procedures for share transfers.

According to corporate law, a shareholder transferring their shares must obtain consent from more than half of the shareholders, and under equal conditions, other shareholders have the right of first refusal.

In other words, for Old Master Mu to sell his shares, he needed her and Wen Li's consent, and only if the two of them waived their right to purchase those shares could Ye Ling then have the qualification to buy.

The more Wen Zhengyu thought about it, the more this matter seemed wrong.

Given this situation, even if Ye Ling approached Old Master Mu, he could have perfectly used national regulations as a pretext and sold the shares to her and Wen Li instead. That way, he could extract himself from the situation while also giving the two of them an explanation. They would then owe Old Master Mu a favor and, no matter what, would have to pay an extra one or two million to compensate him for his loss.

She had witnessed the force with which Ye Ling bought things. Although the woman was somewhat difficult to deal with, everything was always laid out in the open. Even when she wanted to bundle all of her paintings as a package deal along with the house, it was written into the contract clearly and plainly. When they signed that contract, every painting in her Painting Hall had been inventoried and registered as an attachment to the contract. Someone meticulous in their work was usually thorough in all aspects. Ye Ling threatening Old Master Mu by cutting off his son's supply contract to force him to sell his shares—this crude and straightforward method didn't quite match Ye Ling's usual style of doing things.

In this matter, both of these people seemed peculiar.

Ye Ling and Old Master Mu were both showing something off about this matter, yet she couldn't figure out what exactly lay behind this offness.

After she finished dinner, while accompanying her grandfather on a walk, she brought up this matter, hoping her grandfather could give her some guidance.

Old Master Wen merely furrowed his brow and asked: "Old Man Mu wants to sell his shares to Ye Ling?"

Wen Zhengyu nodded and recounted the entire matter, including the parts she found contrary to normal reasoning, to Old Master Wen.

Old Master Wen said: "Where there is something abnormal, there is a reason for its abnormality. As for why it's abnormal, think it through yourself."

Wen Zhengyu thought for a moment and said: "If Ye Ling had come to me seeking collaboration, I would never have agreed. Could it be that Elder Mu was brought in by her?" She then felt a bit puzzled and said: "Why would Ye Ling go to such lengths to buy these shares and collaborate with me? She even held an exhibition of my paintings before, raising the value of my work." After she finished speaking, she looked toward Old Master Wen and saw her grandfather lift his eyelids. The glance he swept over and the expression on his face let her know that her guess was not far from what the old gentleman was thinking. She gaped in astonishment and asked: "It can't be?" Elder Mu really was brought in by Ye Ling?

Old Master Wen toyed with the walnuts in his hand, continuing to stroll leisurely, giving Wen Zhengyu no answer whatsoever.

Wen Zhengyu understood—this was her grandfather telling her to figure it out herself.

The next morning, Wen Zhengyu received another call from Old Master Mu, asking to meet with her and Wen Li to discuss the share transfer.

This matter reeked of abnormality. She had no desire to become business partners with Ye Ling, so she pushed the meeting back by a few days.

She first reviewed the relevant laws and regulations on operating a business herself, consulted with a lawyer, and then went to discuss it with Wen Li. Her intent was to pool money together with Wen Li and buy out Old Master Mu's shares.

Wen Li's response was: "Buying them out would certainly be ideal. But we'll still need to see how things play out."

Wen Zhengyu understood Wen Li's meaning. Wanting to buy them was one thing; whether they could buy them—that depended on how the negotiations went.

Since this involved a multi-party collaborative purchase and sale, when the time came to negotiate the share transfer, Ye Ling also came.

Ye Ling was still dressed in professional attire, looking sharp and efficient.

She entered the tea room, first greeting the eldest present, Old Master Mu, exchanging formalities with Wen Li, and then asked Wen Zhengyu: "It's been many days since we last met. Have you been well lately?" Her tone was casual and concerned, truly as if they were old friends of many years.

Wen Zhengyu replied politely: "Thanks to your kind wishes, acceptable." Her gaze inadvertently swept over Ye Ling's legs and shoes. Counting the interview she had seen online during Ye Ling's art exhibition, this was the fifth time she had met Ye Ling. Every time, Ye Ling wore a suit, trousers, and high heels. The heels were always very high, and her entire bearing was restrained yet forceful. What would Ye Ling look like wearing a skirt? The thought surfaced in her mind. Perhaps it was because she was so used to seeing Ye Ling in professional attire and her seemingly gentle and polite but actually fierce demeanor, but the image of Ye Ling in a skirt was actually a bit frightening. She quickly drove this terrifying thought from her mind's eye.

Old Master Mu had already prepared the share transfer agreement, submitting it for a vote at the shareholders' meeting consisting of the three of them.

Under equal conditions, other shareholders had the right of first refusal. If Ye Ling wanted to buy Old Master Mu's shares, the terms she offered naturally had to be superior to theirs.

Wen Zhengyu took the share transfer application handed to her and looked directly at the transferee and the transfer price.

Transferee: Ye Ling. Price: fifteen million.

In black and white, Arabic numerals plus traditional Chinese characters—there was no way for Wen Zhengyu to claim she'd misread it.

Half a month ago, Old Master Mu had acquired these shares for ten million. With one flip, Ye Ling was going to buy them for fifteen million.

Given the current valuation of her art studio, those forty-five percent shares simply were not worth fifteen million. Buying at this price, Ye Ling would be taking a loss of several million the moment she acquired them. With the studio under the operation of a newcomer like her who had just stepped into the business world, whether they could even earn those several million back was hard to say.

Wen Zhengyu did not believe that someone as shrewd as Ye Ling would engage in something with such high investment, high risk, and low return. Yet Ye Ling was doing precisely this. Then her earlier speculation that Old Master Mu had been brought in by Ye Ling was very likely true. This five million was, in fact, a facilitation fee Ye Ling was giving Old Master Mu. Ye Ling was simply putting this expense on the table openly. She was willing to pay an extra five million to buy these shares, and Old Master Mu was willing to earn that five million handling fee. An above-board business transaction—no one could fault either of them.

Wen Zhengyu's heart felt deeply uncomfortable.

Her collaboration with Old Master Mu existed because he was her grandfather's old friend, with a relationship spanning decades of acquaintance with her grandfather. With one flip, Old Master Mu had sold them out for five million. If Ye Ling had come to her to discuss collaborating on this art studio, she would never have agreed. So, they had gone in circles and put on this performance.

Her father's business had collapsed; the family had no money. During this period, she had seen all kinds of people, and had witnessed behavior far worse than Old Master Mu's. Whether she felt hurt or not, the matter was already settled.

Given the current value of the studio, those forty-five percent shares could sell for a maximum of twelve million. Beyond this price, the two of them would waive their rights. The fifteen million Ye Ling offered happened to be at the upper limit, thirty percent above that valuation. Not exceeding the thirty percent threshold meant it could not be classified as an unreasonable offer.

She and Wen Li could not match this price, nor could they find any regulatory flaw in Ye Ling's offer. They had no grounds to refute it.

Wen Zhengyu carefully examined the terms. Seeing no issues, she softly spoke a single word: "Pen."

Ye Ling handed her a fountain pen.

Wen Zhengyu swiftly signed where she needed to sign, then noticed everyone looking at her with great surprise. She asked: "Is there a problem?"

She looked toward Ye Ling.

Ye Ling shook her head and said: "No problem."

She looked toward Old Master Mu.

Old Master Mu coughed somewhat awkwardly and said: "It's good that you agree."

Wen Zhengyu then looked at Wen Li.

Wen Li shrugged and also signed. She rose and said: "Alright, I have another appointment. I'll take off first." She asked Wen Zhengyu: "Shall we leave together?"

Wen Zhengyu nodded.

Ye Ling said to Wen Zhengyu: "There will still be some related change-of-registration procedures requiring your signature. Once I have everything prepared, I'll come find you." She stood, extended her hand toward Wen Zhengyu with a smile, and said: "Pleasure doing business."

Wen Zhengyu felt no pleasure at all in her heart. However, whether out of etiquette or for their future collaboration, she could not very well refuse, and shook hands with Ye Ling. She said: "Miss Ye, there is one matter I believe needs to be made clear."

Ye Ling said: "Please, go ahead."

Wen Zhengyu said: "Counting this meeting, this is the fourth time we've met. I feel that there is still a considerable distance between us before we become close confidantes who can talk about anything. I hope we can have a pleasant collaboration." She silently added in her heart: Limited strictly to business partners. Don't bring up being close confidantes again.

Ye Ling nodded and said magnanimously: "Regarding the earlier promotional matters, I was presumptuous. I offer my sincere apology." Having apologized to Wen Zhengyu, she extended her hand toward Wen Li and said: "Pleasure doing business."

Wen Li smiled and said, half in jest and half in earnest: "To be honest, it's a little less than pleasant." As she spoke, she shook hands with Ye Ling.

Ye Ling said: "I would like to play host and treat you all to a simple meal, first to thank Elder Mu for his graciousness in helping fulfill my wish to collaborate with a painter I admire; second, to apologize to Zhengyu for my earlier presumption; and also, since we will all be partners going forward, I'd like to connect and build some rapport."

Wen Zhengyu didn't particularly want to have a meal with Ye Ling, but Ye Ling's words were phrased in a way that made refusal a bit awkward. She was just about to find an excuse for herself when Old Master Mu already accepted. She couldn't help but glance at Old Master Mu. So the level of thick-skinnedness reached by more than just Ye Ling. She said: "Since Elder Mu has agreed, then I can only comply respectfully." She could only consider it a farewell meal with Old Master Mu; from then on, their paths in the world need not cross again.

Ye Ling then warmly extended the invitation to Wen Li.

Wen Li expressed helplessly: "Since you've all agreed, can I still refuse?"

Ye Ling glanced at the time on her wristwatch and said: "If we head over now, we'll arrive just in time for the meal hour." She signaled, asking if they should leave now.

Since she had put it that way, Wen Li and Wen Zhengyu naturally couldn't voice any objection and nodded in agreement.

Wen Zhengyu keenly noticed that compared to the calm and reserved demeanor of their previous two meetings, Ye Ling was markedly more enthusiastic this time, even seeming faintly excited and happy. She thought to herself: Is this my imagination? Or is Ye Ling just being polite?

Get instant access to all chapters now.

Previous Table of Contents Next