The Art of Teasing - Chapter 160

Chapter 160

After dinner, Wen Li came over. She had come regarding the matter of Wen Shiyi.

Wen Li had been involved in this matter ever since Wen Shiyi first approached her. During the time Wen Zhengyu was hospitalized in the imperial capital, with Ye Ling and Lian Xin also there, the commercial operations targeting Hongtu International had been led and executed by Wen Li.

Although Wen Li also felt that the things her third uncle had done were truly despicable, her third uncle was not the mastermind. One could even say he was one of the victims; he had simply transformed from victim to perpetrator in the process. Because Wen Zhengyu had reported to the police in time, she had not suffered direct losses, and since the two were biological father and daughter, if Wen Zhengyu was willing to offer forgiveness or withdraw the complaint, Wen Shiyi might very well avoid a prison sentence. As for Wen Zhengyu being struck, that was Zhao Si's doing and could not be pursued against Wen Shiyi.

Wen Li was well aware of the crux of the conflict between Wen Zhengyu and Wen Shiyi. She did not waste words appealing to emotion or reason, trying to persuade Wen Zhengyu not to press charges, much less did she invoke that nauseating father-daughter relationship between them. She said: "My father and his generation, after all, grew up together with third uncle as paternal cousins. To some extent, they cannot help but feel some sympathy. His intention is to hire several lawyers for third uncle and do everything possible to fight for the best outcome. Third uncle's case is proceeding through public prosecution procedures. You can attach a civil lawsuit on your side. If you do not pursue other liabilities, we can petition the court to release you from your obligation to support third uncle. I will take responsibility for settling third uncle properly and ensure he does not come out to cause trouble again."

Wen Zhengyu's sole demand regarding Wen Shiyi was that she never have the slightest entanglement with this person again. Her paternal uncles' willingness to hire lawyers for Wen Shiyi was truly a matter of kinship sentiment, and it was not her place to interfere too much. She said to Wen Li: "Mr. Wen Shiyi and I have already severed all contact. His affairs are not convenient for me to intervene in. Regarding my claims, I will inform my lawyer to convey them in court, and I also hope for an outcome satisfactory to both sides."

Wen Li nodded gently, said no more about Wen Shiyi's matter, and asked how Wen Zhengyu's injuries were healing.

Wen Zhengyu said: "Much better already. Tomorrow I will go to work at Ye Ling's company and learn about doing business."

Wen Li shot Wen Zhengyu a look of surprise, then glanced at Ye Ling, who was standing outside the house making business calls, and then glanced back at Wen Zhengyu once more. She said nothing, merely smiled meaningfully with a touch of helplessness, rose, and took her leave. "I still have matters tonight, I'll be off."

Wen Zhengyu rose to see her out.

Wen Li looked back and said: "No need to see me off, I'm not an outsider." She waved at Wen Zhengyu, and as she passed through the courtyard, she exchanged a greeting with Ye Ling, who was on the phone, and then departed.

If it had been anyone else from the Wen family coming about Wen Shiyi's matter, Ye Ling would have inquired further, but with Wen Li coming, she had no cause for worry whatsoever. Still, she was concerned it might affect Wen Zhengyu's mood; after all, this was the biological father under whose roof Wen Zhengyu had lived for over twenty years.

Ye Ling finished her call, returned to the house, and drew close to Wen Zhengyu, scrutinizing her carefully. She asked: "You're not upset?"

Wen Zhengyu said: "No." Seeing Ye Ling seemed somewhat unconvinced, she said: "The most difficult time has already passed. And since childhood, vaguely, there had always been some contradictions between us. My relationship with him was never close. The only connection was this bit of blood relation and Grandfather. Now that Grandfather is gone, that connection is severed too."

Ye Ling, still uneasy, admonished: "Just don't bottle it up and feel miserable inside."

Wen Zhengyu gave a soft "mm" and sent Ye Ling, whose voice was a little hoarse, back to rest.

That night, Wen Zhengyu was woken by Ye Ling's coughing. She rose, poured a spoonful of cough syrup into Ye Ling's mouth, and only then climbed back into bed.

Ye Ling had taken cold medicine and was extremely drowsy, yet when someone fed her syrup during a coughing fit, even though she could barely keep her eyes open, she still couldn't help smiling. Afraid of passing her cold to Wen Zhengyu, she dared not kiss her, yet still couldn't resist pulling Wen Zhengyu, who had burrowed back into the covers, into her arms.

The next morning, when Wen Zhengyu woke, she sensed that Ye Ling's body temperature felt slightly elevated. She went to find the thermometer and took Ye Ling's temperature.

She looked at the temperature reading on the thermometer of 38.5 degrees and asked Ye Ling: "How about we rest at home today?"

Ye Ling rose, tousled Wen Zhengyu's head, got out of bed, and headed straight for the bathroom to wash up. Her voice drifted out from the bathroom, saying: "Other than you, I've never met a second person who doesn't need to work when they have a cold."

Wen Zhengyu immediately had nothing left to say. She obediently got up to wash up and changed into her work attire.

Ye Ling emerged after dressing. She first examined Wen Zhengyu's earrings, then Wen Zhengyu's necklace, then the bangle on her wrist, and said: "As an assistant, you're dressed more extravagantly than me, the boss. Are you planning to make me, the boss, look like a ditch-dweller?"

Wen Zhengyu: "..." She looked at Ye Ling with surprise. Although she didn't understand exactly why, since Ye Ling said so, she still removed her earrings, necklace, and bangle.

Ye Ling selected a watch for Wen Zhengyu from her jewelry box, then chose platinum fashion stud earrings and an understated platinum chain necklace. She said to Wen Zhengyu: "Dress in the shabbiest way you can manage." As she spoke, she also slipped off the expensive gemstone ring from Wen Zhengyu's finger. Seeing that Wen Zhengyu didn't really have anything too inexpensive in rings, she selected one of her own small flower rings and put it on Wen Zhengyu's hand as decoration. She then circled Wen Zhengyu once. Wen Zhengyu's clothes were all custom-made by a local garment studio—not some widely recognizable international designer label, fitting appropriately but very understated. She said to Wen Zhengyu: "Your job is to be my personal aide, responsible for my daily affairs. I'll add a small desk for you in my office. Some trivial miscellaneous tasks will be assigned to you, and if there's anything you don't understand, it'll be convenient for you to ask me."

Wen Zhengyu glanced at Ye Ling and asked: "Did your previous assistants share an office with you?"

Ye Ling said: "Of course not."

Wen Zhengyu said: "Then I'd rather share an office with your other assistants, so no one says I'm your little secretary."

Ye Ling said: "You are my little secretary."

Wen Zhengyu suddenly really didn't want to go work at Ye Ling's company.

Yet Ye Ling, perfectly smug, linked her arm through Wen Zhengyu's, grabbed Wen Zhengyu's satchel with her other hand, and pulled Wen Zhengyu out the door. Ye Ling tugged Wen Zhengyu toward the main courtyard's dining room, talking as she walked: "The first step into the workplace is to let you experience firsthand what it's like to work for someone else... ahem... only then will you have a clear sense in your heart of what your subordinates need, what kind of treatment they require. Working for someone... ahem... many times it's not just about salary, bonuses, and promotion prospects. Compensation and benefits are one aspect... ahem ahem..."

Wen Zhengyu turned her head and glanced at Ye Ling, who was coughing continuously, and thought: A cold and a hoarse voice still can't shut Ye Ling's mouth. After she and Ye Ling finished breakfast, as they were heading out, she grabbed a box of throat lozenges and put it in Ye Ling's jacket pocket so Ye Ling could take them when her throat felt uncomfortable.

After getting into the car, Ye Ling opened her laptop and got busy.

Wen Zhengyu had nothing to do. Whenever Ye Ling coughed, she handed her water to moisten her throat and replenish fluids.

The car drove for over half an hour and was still going. Wen Zhengyu recalled Ye Ling's actions that morning and asked: "You replaced all my jewelry this morning. Was it to assert dominance?"

Ye Ling glanced at Wen Zhengyu with amusement and said: "It's just to prevent them from knowing you're the boss lady and fawning all over you. Whether a project makes money or not, internal management and operations are extremely important. What price a project is acquired at and what price it sells for—these are visible. But what gets eroded in the operational process is often invisible. Any abnormal wastage during operations impacts the profits. Whether a project is profitable or not involves many factors, but if operations are handled well, losses can all be artificially avoided. If handled poorly, then losses are very likely. Trying to earn an extra cent is very difficult, but if you want to lose money, you don't even need to do anything—just be lazy and not bother managing things, and that will do it."

Wen Zhengyu instantly felt personally targeted. She looked at Ye Ling, strongly suspecting Ye Ling's last sentence was directed at her.

Ye Ling laughed and said: "I wasn't talking about you."

Wen Zhengyu turned her head to look out the window, truly not wanting to speak with Ye Ling.

Ye Ling offered an appeasing smile: "Honest advice grates on the ear, honest advice grates on the ear. Look at it this way: it's simply that I like you more than your money. Otherwise, I would've drained your family fortune dry long ago."

Wen Zhengyu said: "You're not that kind of person."

Ye Ling asked: "Then what kind am I?"

Wen Zhengyu wanted to say that she felt she mattered more to Ye Ling than money, but then thought saying such a thing would just be bragging about herself, so she simply ignored Ye Ling.

The car left her home and drove for a full hour and a half before arriving at the office building of Ye Ling's company.

Wen Zhengyu knew Ye Ling very well, but she didn't know much about Ye Ling's business, only understanding vaguely that it fell within the realm of capital operations.

Ye Ling's company was a holding group corporation, and the two of them had come directly to the headquarters this time.

Wen Zhengyu had never had any contact with such large enterprises; she had rarely even set foot in office towers. Before Wen Shiyi's fall, she had never even been to Wen Shiyi's company. As for other companies, she had only browsed Wen Li's office a few times when she went to find her.

The moment she stepped into the company building, her first impression was that this place, just like Ye Ling herself, exuded a sense of grandeur and formidable financial strength in every aspect.

Her home was quite far from Ye Ling's company. They had left the house just before eight o'clock, and by now it was nearly nine-thirty; everyone at the company was already busy at work.

She followed Ye Ling into the elevator, then walked through the spacious, brightly lit office, and then entered Ye Ling's office. Ye Ling's office was larger than the guest hall at her home—it was practically the combined total area of her and Ye Ling's offices at her art studio, then tripled, divided into several sections: a work area, a reception area, a tea room, and a rest area. Looking at Ye Ling's office, she suddenly felt that Ye Ling's coming to work at her studio had been a terrible injustice.

Wen Zhengyu pushed open the door to Ye Ling's rest area. She scanned this room, which was the size of a standard bedroom, and then thought about how, at her studio, she had provided Ye Ling's office with a folding bed for afternoon naps. She pressed her hand to her forehead in deep embarrassment.

Ye Ling caught sight of Wen Zhengyu's gesture and asked with a sardonic smile: "Has your conscience finally awakened? Do you at last realize just how badly you've shortchanged me?"

Wen Zhengyu turned her head and gave Ye Ling a silent look, inexplicably feeling that Ye Ling at this moment had an air of a liberated serf singing at the top of her lungs. Looking at the layout of Ye Ling's office, she realized that Ye Ling's secretaries and assistants did not work in the same room as her. She then asked Ye Ling where she would be working and what her work would be.

Ye Ling pressed the intercom and called in her chief secretary. She told the chief secretary: "This is Wen Zhengyu, newly arrived. She's my personal aide. First have her work in the secretarial division and see to the arrangements." Having said this, she handed Wen Zhengyu over to the chief secretary.

Wen Zhengyu hadn't expected that Ye Ling really intended to have her do grunt work. She thought: This is probably what learning from the ground up means.

The chief secretary looked at his own boss, then at the boss lady, and the expression on his face nearly cracked. Seeing that the boss had no further instructions, he politely escorted the boss lady to the adjacent Chairman's Secretariat. Before pushing the door open, he asked: "Miss Wen, your... identity should be kept confidential?"

Wen Zhengyu gave an "mm" and said: "Thank you for your trouble." She recognized Ye Ling's chief secretary; this secretary, like Dong Yuan, had followed Ye Ling for many years. Dong Yuan was the special assistant, meaning Ye Ling's personal aide, handling all affairs surrounding Ye Ling, while the chief secretary handled official business matters. Previously, when Ye Ling's office had been set up at the art studio, the chief secretary had made no few trips shuttling back and forth between the two places.

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