The Art of Teasing - Chapter 94

Chapter 94

The curve of Ye Ling's lips grew wider and wider, her smile utterly irrepressible. "It's not Zheng Yu," she said.

Wen Zhengyu turned to look at Ye Ling with confusion in her eyes. The moment she saw the smile on Ye Ling's face, a thought flashed through her mind. She shifted her gaze away again, staring at the stone path beneath her feet as she walked along the long eaves of the side hall.

Worried Wen Zhengyu might misunderstand, Ye Ling explained, "Zheng Yu and I have some business dealings. We get along well enough—I'd say we have some rapport. She had some interest in me, but she's not someone I'm attracted to, and I've never considered her that way." She trailed off, thinking of the person she did like, and couldn't help but glance at Wen Zhengyu. She took in the fair, faintly blushing profile and the plump, lustrous earlobes like polished pearls, her eyes holding undisguised affection.

Wen Zhengyu noticed Ye Ling's gaze and turned to look at her. Faced with this version of Ye Ling, she had no idea what to say, so she simply continued walking forward.

Ye Ling quietly kept pace beside Wen Zhengyu. Once they passed the eaves before them and reached the flower bed within the temple grounds—where long benches sat waiting for weary visitors—she brushed away the fallen leaves, wiped the seat clean with a tissue, and gestured for Wen Zhengyu to sit.

Leaning back against the bench, she gazed at the parasol tree. In autumn, the wutong leaves had already yellowed; the autumn breeze swept through, sending the leaves still clinging to the branches spiraling slowly to the ground. Wen Zhengyu loved wutong trees deeply—they appeared often in her paintings.

Being with Wen Zhengyu, even doing absolutely nothing, just quietly watching the scenery and the people, put Ye Ling in an especially good mood. It made her feel particularly at ease.

Ye Ling turned to look at Wen Zhengyu and said, "About upsetting you last time… I'm sorry."

Ye Ling's voice was soft and gentle, trailing into a lingering, sincere tone. The words "I'm sorry" somehow made Wen Zhengyu's ears feel weak. Her thoughts churned, and "it's in the past" circled the tip of her tongue several times, yet never left her lips.

When Ye Ling heard no response from Wen Zhengyu, she knew the matter still weighed on her. She also understood that if Wen Zhengyu hadn't truly cared, she wouldn't have said those things to her at all. She fell silent for several seconds before speaking slowly. "With someone you like, because you care, you can't treat them the same way you treat people who don't matter. With people who don't matter—if you get along or there's mutual benefit, you interact more. If you don't like the look of them, you tell them to go cool off somewhere else. And if that doesn't work, well, teaching them a lesson is always an option."

Wen Zhengyu turned to look at Ye Ling. She had the distinct feeling that she was exactly the person who had been told to go cool off somewhere else.

Ye Ling glanced at Wen Zhengyu and continued, "But with someone you like, even when you're furious enough to choke, there's nothing you can really do to them. All you can do is bottle it up and stew in your own resentment."

Wen Zhengyu knew Ye Ling was talking about her. She felt incredibly awkward and lowered her head to stare at her toes. "What do you mean, 'nothing you can do to them'?" she asked.

Ye Ling replied, "In my past relationship—when my ex and I got angry at each other, we used to throw cups and plates at each other…" She lifted up the hair at her temple, revealing a now-faded scar. "Here. A flying plate got me."

Wen Zhengyu stared in shock, her mouth half open. She reached out and touched the scar—several centimeters long—on Ye Ling's temple. It took her several seconds to recover.

"Of course, she didn't come out of it much better," Ye Ling added. "You've probably never seen someone so furious they act like a complete shrew—straddling someone, yanking their hair, slapping them across the face. Bleeding all over my face, I still managed to beat her face into a swollen pig's head before we finally went to the hospital for stitches."

The half-open mouth of Wen Zhengyu now seemed incapable of closing.

Ye Ling glanced at Wen Zhengyu again. "But someone like you—never really suffered any grievances, never even argued with anyone, someone the wind could blow right over—facing someone like you…" Her tone shifted. "Have you ever been cursed out?"

Wen Zhengyu thought about it. "When I ranked last in my exams, Wen Shiyi jabbed his finger at my nose and yelled, 'You've thrown away all my face.' Or the time he said raising a pig would've been smarter than raising me." She paused. "I painted him a picture called 'A Loving Father and Filial Son.' It showed him leading a pig by the hand, saying to the pig, 'Son, bring your old man some glory.' The pig had a fat head and big ears, its face all plump and long—an exceptionally long face."

Ye Ling laughed so hard her shoulders shook. What a little devil.

Wen Zhengyu glanced at Ye Ling, then rested her hands on the bench and quietly watched the tourists passing back and forth before her, her thoughts drifting idly. After a moment, she asked, "So… why did you and your ex break up in the end?"

The smile gradually faded from Ye Ling's face. She considered the question, and when she finally spoke, her voice carried a trace of self-mockery. "We were fighting every other day. It became a habit. Then our careers started colliding. It escalated to the point where she wanted to beat me to death, and I wanted to strangle her. Living under the same roof, we had to guard against each other rifling through our computers and documents. We were both dead set on crushing the other, making the other submit and yield. The ego clash spiraled to the point where it was destroying our lives and our work. Eventually, she gave way—stepped back—and I dug up my first pot of gold in life. But by then… we were already done."

Wen Zhengyu didn't quite understand. If someone had already yielded, why still break up?

Ye Ling explained, "Both she and I are fiercely stubborn. If we'd stayed together and continued down that path, either she would've destroyed me, or I would've destroyed her. Better to part while there was still a shred of feeling left, while there was still some ground between us. Go our separate ways. Live our own lives in peace."

Wen Zhengyu lifted the hair at Ye Ling's temple again to look at the scar. She simply couldn't comprehend two people in love fighting so violently they'd batter each other bloody.

"With you," Ye Ling said, "I feel at ease."

Wen Zhengyu looked at Ye Ling, confused.

Ye Ling clarified. "You're too weak. Forget fighting—you can't even argue."

Wen Zhengyu gave Ye Ling a long look but found she couldn't refute the statement. After a moment, unwilling to let it go, she said, "I have bodyguards." Even if it came to a fight, Wen Jing and Ma Jun were there—she didn't need to lift a finger.

Ye Ling smiled. "I own a security company."

The implication in Ye Ling's words made Wen Zhengyu wonder: was Ye Ling only interested in her because she seemed easy to push around? Was she overthinking this?

"From now on," Ye Ling said, "I won't bottle up my resentment with you anymore."

Wen Zhengyu thought about what Ye Ling did instead of bottling up resentment—arguing and hitting people—and nearly broke into a cold sweat. Please, she thought, just bottle it up. But then, stewing in silence and giving someone the cold shoulder wasn't good either. After a brief hesitation, she said, "If there's an issue, just talk about it." She glanced at Ye Ling, who was sitting right next to her, and had the strong urge to scoot away and put some distance between them.

Ye Ling answered softly, "Mm." The sound was very light, but it was a genuine acknowledgment.

Agreed that quickly? Wen Zhengyu looked at Ye Ling with suspicion.

Ye Ling looked at Wen Zhengyu, then shifted her gaze back toward the wutong tree, saying nothing.

Wen Zhengyu thought to herself, So this was Ye Ling's way of apologizing? She thought it over, then asked, "What if I make you angry one day… what… what would you do?"

Ye Ling's lips curved. She leaned in close to Wen Zhengyu and said through gritted teeth, "Grab you and give you a good beating."

Wen Zhengyu considered this—unable to tell if this half-joking, half-serious statement was a real threat—and decisively scooted further away.

Laughing, Ye Ling reached out, took Wen Zhengyu by the arm, and pulled her back. "I'm teasing you," she said. "If I'm angry, you just need to coax me a little. Don't leave me half-dead with frustration while you act like nothing's wrong and pay me no mind at all."

It dawned on Wen Zhengyu then. "Uh…" she started. "We're… not exactly… that…" She tripped over the words, feeling awkward even saying them. But the truth was, she and Ye Ling weren't dating yet, weren't girlfriends. There was no reason for her to take Ye Ling to heart like that.

Ye Ling leaned in ominously. "Exactly what?"

Wen Zhengyu guiltily glanced over her shoulder at Wen Jing and Ma Jun standing guard not far away. Instantly emboldened, she declared, "We're not in a romantic relationship."

Ye Ling was thoroughly amused by Wen Zhengyu's gesture. "Such courage," she teased, her mood exceptionally good. If Wen Zhengyu truly had no feelings for her, she wouldn't be sitting here talking with her for so long—asking about her ex-girlfriend, even discussing at length how they might resolve conflicts between them. This was already considering a future together, thinking about how they'd live with one another.

Wen Zhengyu felt a bit embarrassed. Seeing Ye Ling's expression, which looked like she might be misunderstanding something, she reiterated with great seriousness, "We genuinely are not in a romantic relationship."

Ye Ling reined in her smile and responded with great earnestness, "Yes."

Did that "yes" mean "you're right," or "yes, we are in a relationship"? Wen Zhengyu couldn't be bothered to wrestle with Ye Ling over word games. She scooted a little further away, then looked pointedly at Ye Ling's hand still firmly locked around her arm. "CEO Ye," she said, signaling her to let go.

Ye Ling tightened her grip on Wen Zhengyu's arm and refused to release it, looking at Wen Zhengyu with an expression that said, What are you going to do about it?

"CEO Ye," Wen Zhengyu said, "please let go."

At times like this, Ye Ling thought, Wen Zhengyu really did make you want to grind your teeth. She released her grip. "If I let go and it makes me unhappy, should I express that?"

Wen Zhengyu choked. She stared at Ye Ling blankly, genuinely unsure how to answer. After a moment's thought, she said, "I… we… we should maintain an appropriate distance."

Ye Ling asked again, "If you demand distance and it makes me very unhappy, should I express that?"

Wen Zhengyu stared at Ye Ling in a daze, completely stumped by the question. She felt her brain had turned into a pot of thick porridge; her IQ was no longer sufficient. "CEO Ye," she said, "let me think about this."

"Alright," Ye Ling replied gently, continuing to hold onto Wen Zhengyu's arm.

Two minutes later, Wen Zhengyu finally sorted out her thoughts and realized she'd nearly been talked in circles by Ye Ling. "First," she declared, "we are not in a romantic relationship. Whether you're happy or not is your own affair. I have no obligation to manage your emotions. Second, our current relationship is solely that of business partners, and at most, relatively close friends. This kind of closeness… it's not appropriate."

"Friends can link arms," Ye Ling countered. "Holding hands and linking arms are within normal bounds. My unhappiness has a direct cause and effect with your decisions and actions—you can't wash your hands completely clean." The sight of Wen Zhengyu, with utter solemnity, trying to straighten out the messy accounts of emotional entanglement, made Ye Ling's insides knot with suppressed laughter. She had to maintain a perfectly serious expression as she earnestly debated with Wen Zhengyu. Wen Zhengyu already had one foot in the door and still wanted to pretend she was uninvolved. Ye Ling figured she didn't even need to say much—Wen Zhengyu would talk herself right into the trap.

Wen Zhengyu drew a deep breath, suppressing her emotions. "CEO Ye, one shouldn't be shameless."

Ye Ling nodded in full agreement. "Mm. Let's be reasonable." She made a "please proceed" gesture toward Wen Zhengyu.

Wen Zhengyu clenched her teeth. "Please let go."

Ye Ling spoke with earnest gravity. "Zhengyu, we must be reasonable about this."

Sweat beaded on Wen Zhengyu's forehead. Who was the one clinging to whose arm and refusing to let go? Who was being unreasonable here?

Seeing Wen Zhengyu's face flushed red with frustration and her forehead glistening with sweat, Ye Ling pulled a tissue from her pocket and handed it over. "Wipe your sweat. Look how worked up you're getting."

Now Wen Zhengyu was truly angry. She'd never encountered someone like Ye Ling—so utterly unreasonable yet so self-righteous. "CEO Ye," she said, "excuse me." She stood up and walked away. She hadn't gone far when her phone chimed with a text message. She pulled it out and saw it was from Ye Ling: "You get angry, then just abandon the person and storm off." She squeezed the phone hard in her hand, took a deep breath to steady herself, then turned around and walked back. She gave Ye Ling a long, hard look—she really wanted to see what other tricks Ye Ling could pull.

With Ye Ling here, a place of tranquility was no longer tranquil.

"I heard the vegetarian food here is excellent," Ye Ling remarked.

After waiting for Ye Ling to come out with that, of all things, Wen Zhengyu felt a surge of heat rush to her chest. If her constitution weren't so good, Ye Ling would have made her cough up blood by now. "It's decent," she said flatly.

"Then let's have lunch together," Ye Ling suggested.

There was only one dining hall, and meals were served at fixed times. Even if she didn't want to sit at the same table as Ye Ling, Ye Ling would simply bring her tray over and join her. Wen Zhengyu made a quiet sound of assent.

"I also heard the sunrise on the mountain is beautiful," Ye Ling added.

Wen Zhengyu understood. There was a spy at home. But something puzzled her—when she came to stay at the temple, what did her family mean by passing along her whereabouts to Ye Ling? Given their genders, the fact that her family didn't object was already remarkably open-minded. Actively playing matchmaker seemed a step too far. "Speak plainly," she said.

"Let's watch the sunrise together tomorrow," Ye Ling proposed.

Wen Zhengyu thought for a moment. "Who told you I was at the Daoist temple?"

"At dinner last night, I overheard Lian Xi and Qi Wei talking about it. They said you were living quite comfortably here. You don't mind me dropping in to join the fun, do you?"

Wen Zhengyu very much wanted to ask, Can I make you leave? What she said instead was, "The temple isn't my family's private property."

Ye Ling burst out laughing. She stood and pulled Wen Zhengyu up by the hand. "Take a walk with me. I've only been to the Hall of the Three Pure Ones to offer incense—I haven't seen the other halls yet. You've been staying here a while; you must know the place well?"

Wen Zhengyu replied, "The temple has a receptionist Daoist."

"With this many tourists and so few Daoists, the priests are too busy to attend to everyone," Ye Ling countered.

"You're welcome to help yourself," Wen Zhengyu said. The moment the words left her mouth, she saw Ye Ling cut a sidelong, menacing glance her way—threat practically dripping from it. Unintimidated, Wen Zhengyu tightened her expression and made to head toward Daoist Priest Yan. But then Ye Ling's voice drifted over, airy and ghostlike: "You get angry and just abandon people and ignore them."

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