The Art of Teasing - Chapter 135

Chapter 135

Qi Wei came out of the hospital and went straight to see Zhao Yiyi.

Zhao Yiyi asked, "How is Wen Zhengyu?"

Qi Wei said, "She's awake, but not entirely lucid." She added, "As for going over to apologize, forget it. Bring a basin of water, shove Zhao Si's head in, and dunk him back and forth for half a day. That might cool her anger a little."

Zhao Yiyi saw how dark Qi Wei's expression was when she said this and hastily asked, "What happened?"

Qi Wei gave Zhao Yiyi a detailed account of everything Wen Zhengyu had suffered in the interrogation room, then said, "She didn't even struggle. She just took it."

Zhao Yiyi's heart was also completely blocked up. The family's reputation had been thoroughly ruined by her grandfather and Zhao Si.

Now whenever anyone mentioned her family, it was all about what the Zhao family had done. The moment any of them said something, their stepmother would rush out to make a scene, claiming that the three children from the first wife were bullying them. Her grandfather, ever since she could remember, had always spoken with a tone that said, my son this, my son that—Zhao Si had picked that up, one hundred percent. And then there was a pack of disreputable friends gathered around Zhao Si, fawning over him all day as "Fourth Young Master." Whenever anything happened, the old man was the first to jump out. If they tried not to get involved, the old man would make a scene at their workplace or go straight to the victim's house and throw a tantrum. Sometimes there was just no way to defend themselves. Even now, the stepmother was at home making a racket, threatening to hang herself, and her grandfather kept calling her until she turned off her phone. With this mess, if they didn't step forward to offer apologies and clean up Zhao Si's mess, people would say they were sacrificing the pawn for the chariot, afraid their own foundation wasn't clean and scrambling to cut off a limb to survive. If they did step forward to apologize and clean up after him, then it was the Zhao family using their influence to shield their own—officials protecting officials—and a hundred mouths couldn't explain it away. Invite the Discipline Inspection Commission to investigate, and people would say they'd bribed the Commission. If Zhao Si went out to invest or do business, others would say it was because of the Zhao family connections. The moment something went wrong, every time, they had to be investigated all over again. Since they hadn't touches those things, naturally nothing could be found, so people just said their methods were too skillful.

Qi Wei knew all too well the chaos in Zhao Yiyi's family. But if someone like Zhao Si had appeared in her own family, her grandfather would have personally grabbed a stick and broken his legs, making sure he couldn't even crawl out the door for the rest of his life. If their family had been saddled with a grandfather like that, they would have sent him straight to some countryside place to retire in comfort—fine food, fine drink—but let him stir up trouble? In your dreams.

She said, "Oh, let me give you a little heads-up. The reason someone was so willing to go to all that effort for your brother is because your brother promised them promotions and wealth. Straight up said, once so-and-so retires, you'll have them promoted. What they're holding isn't an audio recording—they secretly recorded video."

Zhao Yiyi's face instantly turned green.

Qi Wei looked at her with undisguised schadenfreude and added, "Serves you right. I told you long ago to deal with those two scourges."

Whether Zhao Yiyi knew or not, without Zhao Yiyi's face to trade on, those people wouldn't have gone to so much trouble for Zhao Si. If anything went wrong, Zhao Si would be the one taking the brunt; they'd at most be accessories. If nothing went wrong, this was leverage. No detention order, yet they dared to arrest someone—because Zhao Si had told them plainly: Go ahead and arrest her; if anything happens, I'll take responsibility. The paperwork is simple; once the person is caught, the proper orders will catch up. Zhao Yiyi wouldn't dare tell someone to arrest first and handle the paperwork later. Zhao Si dared—and there were people who dared to act on it.

If you can't break, then you're broken. This time, Zhao Yiyi had better first explain clearly how Zhao Si had used her name to swagger around and stir up trouble.

She honestly had no idea what Zhao Si was thinking. Seeing Wen Zhengyu giving gifts everywhere and immediately thinking "investigate for bribery"—Qi Wei wanted to spit in Zhao Si's face. She herself had never skimped on receiving gifts from Wen Zhengyu over holidays and festivals, from tea cakes, pastries, and crabs to thank-you gifts Wen Zhengyu sent. Every time she received a gift, she would more or less send something in return: mailed zongzi, mooncakes, and the like. This time, Wen Zhengyu had chosen a set of gemstone jewelry that had belonged to Aunt Huaijin and sent it to her. She had given Wen Zhengyu a jade bracelet of roughly equivalent value as a return gift. Did that count as taking bribes? Wen Zhengyu's gifts were always tokens of goodwill, and everyone who received them returned the gesture. If all human etiquette counted as bribery, then from now on, no one should associate with relatives or friends.

Qi Wei was absolutely furious. It was her grandfather's birthday celebration, a rare chance for old friends who hadn't seen each other in years to gather together, and Zhao Si had pulled this. If Wen Zhengyu had actually committed a crime and gotten investigated, then she deserved it—even if she was beaten, Qi Wei wouldn't have said a word. But what was this from Zhao Si? He'd disrupted her family's birthday banquet and trampled all over their faces. And even if he was going to trample on faces, if he had the guts to stomp on Ye Ling and Lian Xin's faces, she might have respected him—that would at least mean Zhao Si had some ability. But bullying a straightforward, honest kid who couldn't even fight back or struggle? She felt embarrassed for the entire Zhao family.

She said to Zhao Yiyi, "With the way your family does things, from now on, let's not associate either. No one behaves like your family. That business with Zhao Si—did Lian Xin and Ye Ling beat him wrongly? If this were any of my older brothers, whoever dared scheme against me like that, if we didn't castrate him, then the entire Qi family clan would change its surname to Turtle. They set her up once and it wasn't enough—they forcibly dragged her in and beat her into a concussion. Even bandits aren't as vicious as your family. Your grandfather still has the nerve to call my family and tell us to let it go for the sake of peace. And don't you dare tell me this whole mess at your workplace is something you only found out about afterward." She unloaded on Zhao Yiyi, firing off a string of curses, fell out face-to-face, then walked out.

Every family has its useless members. Lian Xi was a bit dim-witted himself, and after his grandmother gave him a harsh dressing-down and a beating, even now he doesn't dare have any private dealings with businesspeople. When you've indulged and bred a disaster yourself, now you come crying that you're being dragged down by it? Go bullshit someone else.

And they even said they'd already made Zhao Si turn himself in.

Qi Wei really wanted to swear. Right now Zhao Si was still bouncing over to his grandfather's side. If their family truly had the resolve to deal with him, they'd have personally dragged him to the police station long ago to surrender and confess. He didn't turn himself in; afraid he'd run, and with the detention order not yet approved, the police had to work overtime around the clock to tail him. Did they think police manpower cost nothing?

Qi Wei vented her pent-up anger through her heels, and then accidentally collided with several people pushing open the door. She was about to snap when she saw their uniforms and immediately asked, "Looking for Zhao Yiyi?"

The group sized up Qi Wei.

Qi Wei instantly transformed into a warm-hearted, model citizen, pointing the way for them: "Right inside, booth number three. Go on, they're waiting for you. No need to thank me."

The group shot her a speechless look and headed inside.

Someone quietly asked a colleague, "Who's that?"

One of them thought for a moment and said, "That angry, and yet that enthusiastic—probably a family member."

---

Wen Zhengyu lay on the bed, her expression tinged with bewilderment, looking somewhat vacant.

Ye Ling kept watch before the hospital bed. Her heart was unbearably heavy.

Wen Zhengyu's ears were filled with a persistent buzzing. Even if there were other sounds, she couldn't hear them clearly. Her vision was a blur; occasionally a shadow of a person drifted past. Her dizziness was severe, her mind dim and foggy. She wasn't sure if she was ill. She remembered being beaten, remembered being held underwater and choking on water. She had drifted between sleep and wakefulness, and then she had seen Ye Ling again. Everything after that, she couldn't recall. She guessed she was probably in a hospital, and there was someone staying by her side. She suspected it was Ye Ling. She didn't want to speak or move, because any speech or movement that jostled her head would make the dizziness worse, make her want to vomit, and then she'd be exhausted, sleeping endlessly.

She had seen similar reports on the social news before, and on forums and social media she had seen people crying out for justice. She had never imagined she would encounter something like this herself. But what was encountered was simply encountered—just like when she was down on her luck, there were good people who helped her and bad people who kicked her when she was down gleefully looting what they could. Even within the judicial system, there were good people and bad.

A pair of hands grasped her hand—Ye Ling's hands, gripping tightly.

Wen Zhengyu held Ye Ling's hand firmly and revealed a reassured smile. She knew Ye Ling was there, and she knew Ye Ling would definitely get her released on bail. She figured Ye Ling would also learn about how she had been beaten and then go after that policeman.

When Ye Ling saw the smile that bloomed on Wen Zhengyu's face as she grasped her hand, a sudden wave of bitterness surged through her. She said, "You can still smile." As she spoke, she saw Wen Zhengyu tilt her head slightly toward her, and then immediately retch again. Ye Ling hurriedly grabbed the spittoon to catch it, rubbing Wen Zhengyu's back, but only a little stomach acid came up.

Whatever Wen Zhengyu ate, she threw up. The moment it went in, it came right back out. Even slightly too large a movement would trigger vomiting.

After throwing up, Wen Zhengyu's throat was so raw she didn't want to say a single word.

Someone had tried to give her water before, but the moment the water reached her mouth, the strange sensation of choking on water surged up, and she couldn't help but vomit again.

After several attempts, no one tried to rinse her mouth with water anymore; they simply used tissues to wipe her lips.

Wen Zhengyu figured she probably looked pretty filthy. Her vision was still blurred, and she could never see things clearly. Whether or not she had vomited on the bed or the floor was hard to say. Her dizziness was so severe she could only lie in bed. She didn't know how long she had slept, but she certainly didn't remember any baths.

After throwing up, her head ached badly. Mindful that Ye Ling was beside her and afraid it would be painful for Ye Ling to watch, she forced herself to endure and lay back down. Soon, she was tired and fell asleep again.

She slept on and off, muddled and disjointed, for many days. Her vision gradually recovered, and the ringing in her ears slowly faded.

Every time she woke, she saw Ye Ling. She strongly suspected that Ye Ling had been staying with her in the hospital the whole time and hadn't left at all.

Many people came to visit: old friends of her maternal grandparents, elderly gentlemen and ladies she knew. Her grandfather came every day during the day; her maternal grandparents were frequently there, too. Her cousins and their wives all came by to visit, and Qi Wei was a regular fixture as well. During visiting hours, the hospital room was as lively as a market. There were also a few times when people showed up to see her and were beaten out by her grandmother's bodyguards.

Wen Zhengyu's heart was troubled. She felt as if she were a magnet for trouble, always causing problems for the people around her and making them worry. If Ye Che's kidnapping of her had been an isolated incident, now that this had happened again, it could hardly be called chance. She didn't know how to protect herself so she wouldn't fall into danger or get hurt, nor did she know how to strike back. For something like this, once it happened, naturally the judicial authorities would get involved, and they would cooperate with the investigation. She had been beaten, and there were injury assessments, compensation standards—everything followed a set procedure. The policeman who hit her had been dismissed from public service; it was said the investigation was ongoing and he would likely be prosecuted by the judicial authorities. She heard there were others involved suspected of disciplinary violations who were also under investigation. It seemed that apart from recovering and waiting for the outcome, there wasn't anything else for her to do.

She had been in the hospital for over a week, and the dizziness had rarely appeared anymore. She wanted to go home. She wanted to stay home and go nowhere. But at the same time, she thought it wasn't right to be like this. Even staying home and never going out, misfortune could still fall from the sky.

Ye Ling wanted to take Wen Zhengyu out for a walk.

Wen Zhengyu said, "I know you're busy. I'm much better. Don't worry about me, and you don't need to keep watch over me every day. I'm fine."

When Ye Ling heard these words, a deep sadness welled up inside her. Whether Wen Zhengyu was fine or not, she could see. Putting on a brave face, with a nature that already preferred quiet and didn't like to talk, she was even quieter now. Originally slow to react, she was now even slower. The doctor said it was a sequela of the concussion, that she would need time to recover slowly, and she'd be better after a few months.

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