The Art of Teasing - Chapter 178

Chapter 178

Wen Zhengyu picked the nearest auspicious date, then selected several good dates for the wedding, and busied herself with arranging the betrothal.

For her maternal relatives, she invited her Eldest Uncle and Youngest Uncle to accompany her when she went to present the betrothal gifts. On the Wen family side, she asked her Second Aunt to come along.

Ye Ling was tied up with work, so Wen Zhengyu took charge of everything herself. She left Zhan Cheng at home to manage the household inside and out, and brought Zhuo Yao and Ma Lu along to help run errands. She went to the capital a few days early, first staying at the Lian family's residence in Beijing, where Uncle You, who managed internal and external affairs there, assisted with the arrangements.

Once in the capital, she went first to visit Ye Zhan.

Since Ye Zhan and his father-in-law were next-door neighbors—the courtyard wall between them even had a gate cut into it, so they didn't need to go out the main door to visit and even ate meals together—Wen Zhengyu took the opportunity to pay a call on Ye Zhan's father-in-law as well.

Nowadays, she could neither authenticate nor paint; unable to concentrate on tasks for long periods of time. Even when practicing calligraphy, she could only manage an hour before getting dizzy. Her physical condition had been assessed as a level-ten disability. A body like this was, in truth, a burden on Ye Ling. Any family that truly cared for its children would not want them to marry someone who was a burden. Going to propose marriage, she inevitably lacked a certain confidence.

When she paid her visit, she brought an especially generous gift.

The father-in-law did feel like giving Wen Zhengyu a bit of a hard time, but then, Ye Ling wasn't his daughter; he couldn't very well interfere too much. Besides, the two of them were both willing, their family backgrounds were well-matched, and Wen Zhengyu was extremely considerate. So he just chuckled cheerfully, ready to drink the wedding wine.

As for Ye Zhan, facing the fact that Wen Zhengyu wanted to marry his sister, he wore an expression that seemed to say he didn't know what to make of it. Whether in terms of presence or capability, it ought to be his sister doing the marrying. Wen Zhengyu could neither shoulder a load nor lift a hand, spoke in a voice as soft as a fine drizzle, and gave off a delicate air that even a mosquito could bully—and yet she wanted to marry his sister. The problem was, his sister was utterly happy, had called long ago with an air of impatiently waiting to be married off, and had given a thousand instructions and ten thousand warnings, deathly afraid that he, the elder brother-in-law, might give her "husband-to-be" a hard time.

If the heavens decree rain and the younger sister decrees marriage, then so be it—she's getting married!

Having been charged with this task by his sister, Ye Zhan looked at Wen Zhengyu's delicate state and couldn't bear to make things difficult for her—it would save people from saying he, a grown man, was bullying. He let his wife entertain Wen Zhengyu.

His sister-in-law took the two's affairs very seriously, asking Wen Zhengyu in meticulous detail about the preparations and busying herself with her own arrangements. Ye Ling now only had her brother as a relative, so as the sister-in-law, it was only natural she would take extra care.

Wen Zhengyu settled on the betrothal gift presentation date with Ye Zhan and his wife, got everything ready, and then brought gifts to visit familiar families. On the way, she went to Qi Wei's place to reclaim those two paintings.

Qi Wei was so angry she grabbed Wen Zhengyu by the ear again and called her biased.

Wen Zhengyu, beaming with delight, answered with a simple "Mm." Ye Ling was her wife; it was only natural to be biased toward Ye Ling.

Qi Wei had just been a little angry, but hearing that "Mm" made her so furious she didn't even want to talk to Wen Zhengyu.

When Wen Zhengyu saw her Second Aunt, she noticed she had grown much more haggard, several fine lines added at the corners of her brow. She asked, "Has something been troubling you?"

Wen Shishu gave her a faint glance and said, "It's all right. Just some messy nonsense." She didn't keep it from Wen Zhengyu and briefly told her what had been happening lately.

Lao Kang was willing to give up his assets, but his older sister and nephew were making a huge fuss. Not only did they stir things up themselves, they also egged Kang Bai on to make trouble with her. They came to her company to cause a scene; she, naturally, didn't stand on ceremony and had security throw them out. They then took the commotion to her home; she hired bodyguards, so they got nowhere. Later, they spread rumors everywhere about her, saying she'd hooked up with her driver-cum-bodyguard, and even hung banners in her residential compound calling her shameless. Kang Bai had also come several times to pick a fight with her.

Wen Zhengyu asked, "Kang… tacitly condoned it?"

Wen Shishu nodded lightly.

Wen Zhengyu said, "They're pushing it a bit, treating you like that." She suspected that Lao Kang was a little unwilling to see the money he'd toiled a lifetime for go down the drain. Kang Bai was his Second Aunt's own son; no matter what, his Second Aunt would have considerations for Kang Bai and wouldn't do anything, so they indulged them in making trouble, trying to force her to pay up to settle things.

Wen Shishu's voice remained light. "It's all about money. I packaged and sold all my businesses to Qi Wei. The share belonging to Lao Kang was transferred to his account. As for how he explains it to the Discipline Inspection Commission, that's his own business."

Wen Zhengyu frowned slightly. "You won't be affected by this?"

Wen Shishu said, "The assets and account books from my operations over the years have all been submitted to the Discipline Inspection Commission for review. The accounts pertaining to Lao Kang's share were also passed along." Afraid Wen Zhengyu might worry, she added, "I've long been divorced from Lao Kang, and the scope of my business operations has no connection to his work."

Wen Zhengyu understood that as a public official, Lao Kang's direct involvement in investments was a disciplinary violation. His Second Aunt meant to bring her ex-husband down. If the ex-wife reported him, this time Lao Kang was inescapably doomed. She figured Kang Bai must have been deeply involved in it, and that his Second Aunt was so thoroughly chilled to the heart that she was ready to fight to the bitter end. A whole life, and in the end, even her only son had turned against her—all for money. Her two aunts, in their entire lives, had never been short of money.

Wen Shishu said, "Enough about them. Let's talk about your wedding."

Wen Zhengyu had everything ready; she was just waiting for her Second Aunt and her two uncles to go together to deliver the betrothal gifts.

Wen Shishu smiled. "This is a happy occasion." Even though the Ye family had been chaotic before, the Ye family second branch had now been uprooted, and the household was peaceful again. Ye Ling was someone solid and capable, genuinely and wholeheartedly good to Wen Zhengyu. Seeing them together put her at ease.

Wen Zhengyu was riding the high spirits of a happy event. She had even, with particular extravagance, made herself a set of fine clothes: the fabric embroidered with gold thread and the buttons made of jadeite, making her look both joyful and exquisitely noble.

She was going to Ye Ling's to present the betrothal gifts. Ye Ling, for her part, did make a show of reserve: the night before, she stayed with Wen Zhengyu until past eleven, dashing back to her brother's home before midnight, waiting for her to come deliver the betrothal gifts the next day.

Ye Ling, all her life, had managed everything herself. Regarding the matter of her own marriage, she habitually prepared to take charge personally again.

Her sister-in-law was so anxious she cried, "Show a bit of restraint!" The way Ye Ling looked, it wasn't like she was waiting for someone to marry her; it was more like she wished she could throw herself over and deliver herself to the door, dowry in hand.

Ye Ling laughed so hard her eyes curved into slits. "There are no outsiders; who am I being reserved for? What I'm like—Zhengyu's family has long since scrutinized it eight hundred times over. Don't worry, they can't possibly be dissatisfied."

Sister-in-law had long trained herself to a state of obliviousness regarding her young sister-in-law's self-confidence and thick skin. Still, this wasn't up to Ye Ling alone. She said, "But there are still the matchmakers."

Just looking at whom Wen Zhengyu had brought along to deliver the betrothal gifts, she could tell the attitude of her family.

Since they couldn't get a marriage certificate, many people, upon hearing about their situation, laughed behind their backs: What marriage? You can't even get a license, it doesn't count for real. Who knows, one day the feelings might fade, a few words of quarrel, and it's over.

In truth, what Wen Zhengyu and her people were doing was extraordinarily grand, a proper formal proposal, far more meticulous and impressive than many other families. Although theirs was a same-sex marriage without a certificate, they were still following every step of the formal wedding process. Because they couldn't get a marriage certificate, property issues wouldn't be protected by marital law. Before the wedding, a property agreement had to be drafted. The matchmakers served as witnesses, and both sides had invited people of considerable standing from each family to serve as witnesses.

Sister-in-law knew Wen Zhengyu's family fortunes were not slight, and that her intention to marry Ye Ling was sincere; the betrothal gifts she prepared wouldn't be meager. But when she saw the gifts and the inventory, she was still stunned. She only recovered after several seconds, casting a glance at Ye Ling, who had entirely abandoned all reserve and couldn't even close her mouth from smiling, before handing the list to her husband.

When Ye Zhan saw the betrothal gifts Wen Zhengyu had prepared, he felt her sincerity was sufficient, and his slight displeasure over marrying off his sister eased a tiny fraction.

Both Wen Zhengyu and Ye Ling had considerable assets, and they weren't managing them separately; Ye Ling was already running the household. If they continued to get along happily, naturally everyone would be pleased. But they also had to guard against any unexpected developments. That made property a major issue. This wasn't a paltry sum of a few thousand or a few tens of thousands—many families over several generations couldn't amass the combined wealth these two possessed.

They settled on the wedding date and the details of the ceremony, then discussed their respective assets. All sorts of details were written into the property agreement, signed by Ye Ling, Wen Zhengyu, Wen Zhengyu's two uncles, Ye Zhan, and the two matchmakers. If anything were to happen to the two of them that they couldn't or couldn't attend to personally, Ye Zhan would serve as Ye Ling's proxy, and Wen Zhengyu's two uncles—or their legal successors—would serve as hers; the two matchmakers were the witnesses. After the agreement was finalized, Wen Zhengyu and Ye Ling each kept a copy, as did her uncles and Ye Zhan, and one copy was filed at the notary public for the record.

The wedding was set for three months later.

Ye Ling's wedding dress hadn't been made, her dowry hadn't been prepared, their wedding photos hadn't been taken, and invitations still needed to be sent out. All things considered, three months was tight.

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