The Art of Teasing - Chapter 125

Chapter 125

The two walked hand in hand back into the house.

Ye Ling pecked Wen Zhengyu lightly on the lips, then went to change into a comfortable, casual set of loungewear.

Wen Zhengyu was a little surprised. "We're not going out tonight?"

Ye Ling said, "No, we're not. Why?"

"Nothing," Wen Zhengyu replied. She added, "I thought you'd be going out to arrange things for people, or something like that."

Ye Ling knew Wen Zhengyu was referring to the matter with Wen Shiyi. "It's not that serious. With the public security department already involved in his case, we just need to wait for the investigation results. Dong Yuan will handle all the minor, trivial matters."

Wen Zhengyu asked suspiciously, "Trivial matters?"

"That's right," Ye Ling said. "As the legal representative of the victim's family, she'll inquire about the progress of the case with the public security authorities. If any new leads are discovered, she'll provide them promptly…" As she spoke, she noticed Wen Zhengyu's sidelong, skeptical glance slide over her. She guessed Wen Zhengyu had misunderstood. "I've never done anything illegal or disorderly." She helped Wen Zhengyu take off her coat and hang it up, then pulled her down to sit on the arhat bed. She embraced Wen Zhengyu as if she were a soft, human-shaped body pillow. "If you don't want anyone to get leverage on you, then don't give them any handles to grab. Dong Yuan follows my instructions and does everything by the book. If this time Wen Shiyi incurred his debts legitimately, then we can only honestly pay them off."

Wen Zhengyu didn't believe her at all. "From the very beginning, you've always seemed like you operate in a world of black-on-black dealings." She even quietly added, "Colluding with Brother Xin like two wolves in cahoots."

Ye Ling crooked her finger and flicked Wen Zhengyu on the forehead. "I'm such an upright and honorable person, and yet you think that of me. If Lian Xin heard you say that, he'd cough up three liters of blood."

Wen Zhengyu thought about it and realized it was true. If Ye Ling had really done something unspeakable, she would have been found out long ago.

Ye Ling gave her a meaningful look. "We just trail behind the public security authorities, picking up the scraps, kicking those lawbreakers when they're down. Those who don't know the details might actually think we're in collusion with the police. Even if there is some collusion, they'd have to give me a Good Citizen Award."

Wen Zhengyu laughed. She also suspected Ye Ling had some kind of understanding with them. But having spent a long time with Ye Ling, she understood that Ye Ling's methods were upright, or at least operated within the rules. Yet the way Ye Ling and Lian Xin would stare at a juicy piece of meat with gleaming eyes made it difficult to associate her with an entirely law-abiding person.

Ye Ling was very comfortable to lean on, so she simply relaxed and nestled into her arms. "How did you and Brother Xin bring down Wen Shiyi?"

Ye Ling knew it was purely out of curiosity, but still carefully observed Wen Zhengyu's expression and reaction. Seeing her look was normal, with no sign of unhappiness, she began. "Before I took over, Lian Xin had already laid out the plan and inserted an insider—that business partner who defected when Wen Shiyi went bankrupt. Wen Shiyi had done business with him before, but ended up swindling him…" She roughly explained the history of their grudge. "When that man was at the end of his rope, Lian Xin found him, provided capital in the form of an equity investment, helped him secure several orders, and that's how he rebuilt his business. After he got back on his feet, he deliberately approached Wen Shiyi again, gradually gained his trust. Since he could produce cash and looked like an easy mark, Wen Shiyi probably thought that if he could swindle him once, he could swindle him twice, so they partnered up. That partner became a shareholder, working inside Wen Shiyi's company to secretly audit his accounts. Wen Shiyi's taxes were also problematic; his business had quite a few minor defects, bits and pieces. Later, Lian Xin arranged for someone to goad him into inflating the company's stock price to siphon funds from the market. Wen Shiyi mulled it over and thought it was doable, so he raised capital to pump the stock. At that point, I brought in traders to trap all his funds in the stock market, draining his cash through stocks. Simultaneously, the shareholder turned on him, filed a report with all the collected evidence, while we let it slip to Wen Shiyi that the shareholder was Lian Xin's man. We also spread some rumors. Creditors and investors all came knocking, demanding their money. His funds were all lost in the stock market, and his capital chain snapped instantly. He saw it was the Lian family moving against him, panicked from a guilty conscience, and fled just a few days later."

"That matter, actually, wasn't a sure thing for us. If he could have pulled in new financing, he could have weathered it. But because it involved your mother, the Wen family was in the wrong. Plus, the old lady had communicated with Wen Shishu, so none of the Wen family intervened. Without the Wen family, after he'd already squeezed one round of financing by pumping stock, with debts piling up and creditors hounding him, internal and external crises erupting together, the whole building was on the verge of collapse. Naturally, he couldn't attract any more capital."

Wen Zhengyu chatted with Ye Ling, discovering she could talk about anything with her, without pressure or concerns. She could say whatever came to mind; it was very light and relaxed. She could sit, lie on her front, or recline, anything was fine.

Ye Ling seemed to have a touch of hyperactivity. As they talked, her hands never rested. She would run her fingers through Wen Zhengyu's hair, endlessly rub and toy with her earlobe, or trace her fingers across her face. From time to time, she'd lean in to press light kisses on her forehead, cheek, or the top of her head. Every gesture and glance was filled with deep affection.

Although Ye Ling's little movements tickled her face and the rim of her ears, it was sweet and warm. Wen Zhengyu thought: Perhaps this is just what being in love feels like.

She asked Ye Ling, "When you first got to know your ex-girlfriend, was it this lovely too?"

Ye Ling's hands paused for a moment.

Wen Zhengyu noticed the hesitation and turned her head to look at Ye Ling, puzzled.

Ye Ling crooked her finger and lightly tapped her on the forehead. "Jealous?"

Wen Zhengyu said, "Just curious."

Ye Ling's expression dimmed slightly. "I'd rather not say much."

Wen Zhengyu let out a soft "oh" and didn't press further. She wasn't worried that Ye Ling still harbored feelings for an ex; if there were any, there would be no place for her now. She felt she understood Ye Ling quite well. "If someday we aren't together anymore, I definitely wouldn't want to talk much about it either—ah…" Before she could finish, the fingers that had been gently kneading her earlobe suddenly applied force. The pressure, along with the earring stud pressing into her lobe, sent a sharp pain through her, making her gasp.

Ye Ling huffed angrily. "There won't be that day. With that 'rich, dumb, easy pickings' demeanor of yours, without me, wouldn't you just get bullied to death?"

Wen Zhengyu thought about its feasibility and felt it wasn't necessarily the case.

Ye Ling leaned in close, practically grinding her teeth. "You can say anything, joke about anything, except parting. That's not allowed."

Wen Zhengyu looked up and saw an emotion in Ye Ling's eyes and face she had never seen before. Ye Ling was genuinely bothered by her saying that. She gave a soft "mm" and understood that saying such a thing was probably truly not okay.

Ye Ling got up and stepped down from the arhat bed.

Wen Zhengyu asked, "Are you angry?"

Ye Ling gave two forceful "hmph" sounds, went to find the nail clippers, and sat back down on the edge of the arhat bed. She grabbed Wen Zhengyu's right hand, intending to cut her nails.

Wen Zhengyu called out, "Ye Ling," and curled her fingers into a fist, hiding her nails.

Ye Ling let out two more "hmph" sounds, grinding her teeth with an unmistakable threat. She had thought Wen Zhengyu couldn't resist avoiding the nail-cutting, but every time, Wen Zhengyu would go through all the foreplay, only to stop right at the step where trimmed nails were needed. She was being driven to the brink of eruption by Wen Zhengyu. If she didn't let Wen Zhengyu initiate foreplay, Wen Zhengyu would look at her with those adorably innocent, utterly guileless eyes. She always softened, and in the end, she was the one who suffered.

Wen Zhengyu hid her fingernails, and Ye Ling didn't dare forcibly pry her fingers open to cut them. Wen Zhengyu had a good temper, but if you truly provoked her, her fury was immense.

Ye Ling could only grit her teeth and coax, "There are benefits if you cut them." As soon as she said it, her own face flushed. In the past, they used to fight tooth and nail over who topped and who bottomed, getting pinned to the bed and still kicking the other one off. Now, instead, she had to first coax this oblivious one into cutting her nails.

Wen Zhengyu roughly understood why Ye Ling wanted to cut her nails. Hesitantly, she loosened her fingers and glanced cautiously at Ye Ling.

Ye Ling positioned the nail clipper on Wen Zhengyu's nail, but couldn't bring herself to cut.

Wen Zhengyu's fingers were exquisitely beautiful, her nails showing a healthy rosy flush and perfectly clean. The surface of each nail bore a pattern of elegant, understated flowers. Some people wear nail art that triggers trypophobia, but Wen Zhengyu's fingertips looked like exquisite bone china inlaid with refined plum blossoms, as exquisite as a work of art. If she snipped down, the pattern on Wen Zhengyu's nail would be split in two, instantly flawed.

Ye Ling sighed deeply. With how Wen Zhengyu looked, even if she were penniless, people would fight to snatch her away. Frustrated, she tossed the nail clippers aside, pressed down on Wen Zhengyu's shoulder, and took a deep bite. Her heart was filled with a smothering irritation.

Wen Zhengyu flinched from the bite, her eyes darting guiltily. During the time she'd been with Ye Ling, they'd done that kind of thing three times now. She'd learned quite a bit from Ye Ling and understood everything she needed to.

Afraid of actually hurting Wen Zhengyu, Ye Ling dared not use force. After biting her, she could only frustratedly rub Wen Zhengyu's head roughly and head to the bathroom to shower.

Wen Zhengyu watched Ye Ling disappear into the bathroom, then shifted her gaze back to the nail clippers, and then to her own nails. She'd kept them long for so many years; her daily life had long become accustomed to it. Cutting them off suddenly felt akin to cutting off long hair she'd grown out.

But cutting nails, unlike cutting hair, wouldn't drastically alter her appearance.

Two people together, some habits must change. She couldn't just because Ye Ling liked and doted on her, expect Ye Ling to always accommodate her.

Wen Zhengyu picked up the nail clippers Ye Ling had tossed onto the arhat bed. With a sharp "snip," her heart shuddered along with it, and a large chunk of her nail was cut away.

Wen Zhengyu felt a pang of heartache. Not long ago, she had pestered the old lady to squeeze out time specifically to get her nails done, and now, with one snip, it was all ruined. It would take ages to grow them long again…

Suddenly, she thought: With Ye Ling the way she is, will I ever be able to grow my nails long?

Her thoughts drifted momentarily to the notion of "thirty like a wolf," but she immediately felt it wasn't nice to think of Ye Ling that way and quickly pulled her mind back, focusing intently on cutting her nails. Each snip brought a fresh pang of heartache. Before long, all five fingers were shorn blunt.

Wen Zhengyu looked at her now bare fingertips, the half-severed flower stems and broken petals remaining on the nail beds, and suddenly felt an urge to cry but no face to do so—a helpless, tearless grief. Who cries over cutting their nails? If anyone found out, they'd laugh her to death.

She couldn't just cut the nails on her right hand and leave the left ones long. But placing both hands side by side for comparison, the contrast was even more heartbreaking.

Wen Zhengyu decided not to look too much. Snip, snip, snip—she cut the nails on her left hand as well, then meticulously filed and smoothed the edges. Her nails, along with the patterns on them, had lost a third of their original length, which triggered her obsessive-compulsive tendencies terribly. She had an intense urge to pick up a brush and repaint the missing floral designs, but there was no way to do that. The patterns were her own designs, which she had the nail artist paint on. It had taken an entire afternoon to complete all ten fingers.

She had brought the old lady with her, and the old lady had grown so impatient waiting that she complained: so fussy even just doing your nails.

When she later tried to schedule an appointment for the old lady to get her hair done, the old lady snapped at her: If just doing your nails makes me wait an entire afternoon, doing your hair would mean waiting all day. I'm not going!

Getting her hair done and getting her nails done actually took about the same amount of time.

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