The Art of Teasing - Chapter 183

Chapter 183

Ye Ling discovered that Lu Rongrong possessed a natural talent for business, and the thought of taking on a disciple began to form in her mind.

That evening, she accompanied Wen Zhengyu to escort Rongrong home. She brought up her wish to take Rongrong as a disciple to Old Master Lu. If Wen Zhengyu had been the one to make the suggestion, Old Master Lu would have had to consider whether Rongrong would become a burden to Wen Zhengyu again. But since it was Ye Ling who wanted to take Rongrong as a disciple, he felt at ease.

Ye Ling conducted the disciple-taking ceremony according to the same protocol established when Wen Zhengyu had previously taken Old Master Qi as her teacher. An auspicious day was chosen, close friends and relatives were invited to bear witness, an incense altar was set up, and the two young disciples—Lu Rongrong and Ye Min—were formally accepted into her tutelage.

Lu Rongrong and Ye Min officially changed their form of address, calling Ye Ling "Master" and Wen Zhengyu "Master's Wife." They took up residence in the courtyard where Wen Shiyi had once lived.

Wen Zhengyu picked up her brush to write a new plaque to hang in the main hall of the courtyard. Her hand still trembled when she held the brush, and the calligraphy suffered greatly for it, but it was a gesture from her heart. She brazenly had the imperfect characters made into a plaque and hung it anyway.

Rongmin Hall. The name was taken from Lu Rongrong and Ye Min. The main hall would serve as a shared living room. The rooms to the left and right of the main hall were assigned one to each of them as bedrooms. Of the wing rooms in the courtyard, each took two—one to be used as a storeroom, the other as a study. This arrangement allowed them to share a courtyard while still maintaining their own personal spaces. They would be close enough that a few steps would bring them within sight of each other, yet without mutual disturbance.

Wen Zhengyu assigned Wen Jing to Rongmin Hall, and allocated an additional bodyguard to both Ye Min and Rongrong to ensure their safety. The courtyard had originally included one household staff member responsible for cleaning and hygiene; Wen Zhengyu now added a nanny to look after their daily needs.

Ye Ling was busy. After working with Wen Zhengyu to draft a curriculum for the two children, she delegated the matters of the two children, the household, and the wedding arrangements entirely to Wen Zhengyu.

Wen Zhengyu had no experience raising children, and no one to teach her how. Fortunately, she herself had once been a child. Whatever her grandparents had done when raising her, she did for the two little ones. In truth, there was no special method—she simply taught them according to the curriculum she and Ye Ling had devised. If she had to go out on business, whenever it was possible to bring the children along, she did so, allowing them to meet more people and see more of the world.

The two children rose every morning at five-thirty, had half an hour to wash up, and then trained with Zhuo Yao from six to seven, learning self-defense techniques. From nine to eleven in the morning and three to five in the afternoon, Monday through Friday, was their designated study time.

With two more children in the house, Wen Shishu was utterly delighted. She loved children and loved a lively household. Before, the sight of the family—its numbers dwindled, a house that no longer felt like a family—had been deeply distressing to her.

Now that Wen Shishu had returned and Wen Zhengyu was able to go out and about, visitors coming to call grew more frequent.

Wen Zhengyu gradually began accepting invitations to gatherings centered on calligraphy, painting, and antiques, occasionally purchasing pieces for her collection. When she acquired an antique, she would teach the children about it the same way her grandfather had once taught her. She didn't limit the lessons to connoisseurship; she would meticulously detail the provenance of each piece, its historical development and evolution, the relevant historical knowledge, and the figures and stories associated with it. Many of the books she had once amassed had been sold. To teach the children, she needed reference materials she now lacked, sometimes searching online, sometimes needing to go to the library.

Reading characters was difficult for her. A magnifying glass was an immense help.

When Ye Ling learned that Wen Zhengyu frequently used a magnifying glass to read, she took Wen Zhengyu to see an ophthalmologist.

The doctor arranged an examination and informed them that Wen Zhengyu's condition was called diplopia. In Wen Zhengyu's case, the symptoms were caused by nerve damage resulting from a previous brain injury. Her tendency towards fatigue, dizziness, and inability to correctly judge distance were all strongly connected to this condition. The doctor offered two options: the first was wearing glasses to alleviate the symptoms; the second was surgery.

They considered Wen Zhengyu's history of head trauma, the fact that she was still on medication, and that she was in a recovery phase. Surgery was temporarily ruled out. Wen Zhengyu got a pair of glasses and returned home.

Once she put on the glasses, the double vision she experienced when reading characters was resolved. Reading was no longer affected, and she no longer tired or grew dizzy so easily. However, she still frequently suffered from headaches, and the hand tremors showed no sign of improvement; she could only rely on slow, steady exercise and recovery on her own. Although the tremors affected her painting skill, she still picked up her brush. Whenever she had a spare moment, she would paint a few strokes.

As the wedding day drew near, the household began its decorations. Wen Zhengyu's aunts-in-law and cousins' wives frequently came to her home and the hotel to help arrange wedding matters. The house was bustling with warmth and activity.

She and her second aunt had severed all contact with the Kang family, but the relationship with her cousin's wife remained unbroken. A week before her wedding, her cousin's wife arrived with her child, saying she wanted the child to take advantage of summer vacation to visit her grandmother.

Though her cousin's wife was wearing makeup, Wen Zhengyu still noticed faint finger marks on her face. Her expression, too, held a trace of something out of the ordinary. She suspected her cousin's wife might have quarreled with Kang Bai. However, other people's domestic affairs were not for her to pry into. She feigned ignorance and arranged for her cousin's wife and young niece to stay in her second aunt's courtyard.

Her niece, Kang Qin, was a few years younger than Rongrong and Minmin. Small children love to play with those slightly older than themselves. When the two girls had their lessons, Kang Qin tagged along. Wen Zhengyu taught her along with the others.

When Ye Ling finished her work and business for the day, she returned home and went to the Painting Hall in search of Wen Zhengyu. What she found was this: three sets of small desks and chairs had been added to the hall. Ye Min and Lu Rongrong were earnestly practicing calligraphy. Wen Zhengyu was bent over Kang Qin's side, guiding the child's hand as she taught her how to hold the brush. Wen Zhengyu wore rimless glasses, which added a further three degrees of scholarly elegance. Her slender figure, the cascade of hair like a waterfall, the murmured words as soft as a sigh—that smiling visage exuded an utter tenderness. It was deeply moving. It stirred in Ye Ling the same heart-pounding sensation she had felt upon first meeting Wen Zhengyu. She stared, momentarily lost.

Wen Zhengyu heard Ye Ling's footsteps approach, then stop at the doorway. She looked up to find Ye Ling gazing at her. Their eyes met, and a smile, born of irrepressible emotion, bloomed on her face. She checked the time, stepped out the door, pulled it gently shut behind her, and whispered to Ye Ling, "Give me half an hour."

Ye Ling hummed softly in assent. She removed Wen Zhengyu's glasses and gazed at her beloved's face. Though Wen Zhengyu looked lovely in glasses, the thought of her impaired vision brought a pang to Ye Ling's heart. Deeply, she wanted Wen Zhengyu to undergo corrective surgery to heal her eyes, yet she feared the risks inherent in any procedure.

Wen Zhengyu asked softly, "What is it?"

Ye Ling whispered back, "I love you."

Wen Zhengyu pursed her lips in a soft smile. She retrieved her glasses from Ye Ling's hand and returned to the Painting Hall to continue teaching the three children to write.

Ye Ling followed her in, heading towards the desk to sit down. A single glance at the desk stopped her. A painting lay there.

In a world of absolute darkness, there was a hazy, mist-like glow in a human shape. Below this glowing human figure lay a little sprite, its eyes closed in death. The glowing human figure was drifting out from the departed sprite's body—as if it were the sprite's soul.

Ye Ling understood the painting's subject in a single instant.

This was the Bottomless Abyss. The Phoenix Bird, fallen here after battling the heavens, and the little sprite, keeping vigil over the dead phoenix. Keeping vigil until the phoenix had crumbled to ashes, vanishing into absolute nothingness. After the fallen phoenix disappeared, the little sprite died too.

It occurred to Ye Ling that the endings in Wen Zhengyu's paintings never seemed particularly happy. She asked, "Zhengyu, do you think the Phoenix Bird, the Kunlun Goddess, and the little sprite... do you think they had any regrets?"

Wen Zhengyu looked up at Ye Ling. Her lips moved, but she didn't know what to say.

Seeing Wen Zhengyu's hesitation, Ye Ling added: "Only the paintings. The world within the paintings."

Wen Zhengyu was silent for a few seconds. Then, in a slow voice, she said: "Even gods cannot escape the seas turning to mulberry fields, the partings in life and death. When I paint these scenes, I always feel as though they truly occurred in another world. But the Kunlun Divine Mountain has collapsed. Kunlun is gone. Nothing can ever return to the way it was."

Ye Ling felt the endings of Wen Zhengyu's paintings were too bleak. So, she made a suggestion. "If there were a next life, and the little sprite and the Phoenix Bird were both reincarnated, and they met each other again, and they were just about to get married..." As she spoke, she looked up at Wen Zhengyu, a smile spreading across her face. "For your next painting, paint their wedding. Give them a perfect ending."

Wen Zhengyu understood what Ye Ling meant, but she didn't quite agree. "A wedding," she said, "is not the same as a perfect ending." Her mother and Wen Shiyi had fallen in love, married, and even given birth to her. But in the end, they both met with tragedy.

Ye Ling said, "True. There are still decades left to live together. So paint their daily life. For instance, the Kunlun Goddess has become a little artist, and then, quite tragically, she's been injured and can only stay cooped up at home, teaching three little brats..." Before she could finish, Wen Zhengyu had crossed the distance in two swift strides and was right in front of her. She had never seen Wen Zhengyu react so quickly. Startled, Ye Ling swallowed the rest of her words.

Wen Zhengyu picked up a paintbrush and pressed it into Ye Ling's hand. She moved the half-dry painting on the table aside, clearing a space for Ye Ling, and even laid out a fresh sheet of paper for her.

Ye Ling breathed a silent sigh of relief. Then, realizing she had actually been intimidated by Wen Zhengyu, felt a small loss of face. She gave a dismissive "hmph." "Fine," she said. "I'll draw it myself." She raised the brush, but her skill was far too poor. Under Wen Zhengyu's watchful gaze, she simply could not set the brush to paper. She could only offer a placating smile and return the brush to Wen Zhengyu. "Paint whatever you like," she said.

Wen Zhengyu cast her a deep, meaningful glance and set the brush back in its place.

Ye Ling wrapped her arms around Wen Zhengyu's arm and wheedled. "But I still love seeing happy things." She gave Wen Zhengyu's arm a little shake, looking at her with an ingratiating smile. The expression was like a child begging for candy.

Wen Zhengyu gave Ye Ling a long, profound look, then turned her head towards the three children who had looked up to watch them. She whispered to Ye Ling, "Don't be a bad influence on the children."

Lu Rongrong and Ye Min exchanged a glance and then bowed their heads to continue writing, occasionally stealing a sidelong peek at the two of them.

Kang Qin was still young. She hadn't understood what she saw and simply resumed gripping her calligraphy brush to practice her characters.

Ye Ling said, "The children are diligently practicing their calligraphy." She continued her coquettish wheedling, pressing her demands. "Something happy. A wedding portrait. I want a wedding portrait of the Kunlun Goddess and the Phoenix Bird. The Nine-Tails must not be in it."

Although Wen Zhengyu found Ye Ling's behavior terribly childish, her resistance to Ye Ling's displays of affection was practically nonexistent. So, she gave a soft nod.

Ye Ling's laughter was irrepressible. She even had the nerve to tease, "Where are your principles? Your principles? Don't agree to everything just because I use a little charm."

Wen Zhengyu seriously considered picking up her brush and smearing pigment all over Ye Ling's face, just to give her some color to look at. But this was something she simply could not bring herself to do. She could only take Ye Ling by the hand and lead her out of the Painting Hall. Then, she released Ye Ling's hand, turned around, went back inside, and shut the door. For good measure, she slid the interior door bolt—which had always served a purely decorative purpose—firmly into place. She then ignored Ye Ling completely and went to teach the children calligraphy. She heard the sound of Ye Ling's footsteps moving to the window. She turned, shut the window as well, and drew the curtain. Then, she returned to the children's side to guide their writing.

A few minutes later, the sound of Ye Ling's footsteps faded into the distance.

Wen Zhengyu suddenly felt that locking Ye Ling out had been a bit too much. It made her seem as though she couldn't take a joke. Her thoughts inevitably drifted towards Ye Ling. She kept checking the time. When the children's calligraphy session was over, she helped them tidy up their desks and chairs and dismissed them for the day. She returned to their small courtyard and found Ye Ling standing in the yard, gazing up at the sky. She walked over. "Are you angry?" she asked.

A smile that was not quite a smile played on Ye Ling's lips as she cast a sidelong glance at Wen Zhengyu. "Would I dare?"

"She really is angry," Wen Zhengyu thought.

Ye Ling made a heavy "hmph" sound. "Close your eyes."

Wen Zhengyu guessed Ye Ling was definitely going to get even. Still, she closed her eyes.

Ye Ling took Wen Zhengyu's hand and led her towards the house. "No peeking."

Wen Zhengyu gave a soft "mm" and followed Ye Ling's pace slowly.

Seeing that Wen Zhengyu truly had not opened her eyes, simply allowing herself to be led, Ye Ling asked, "Aren't you afraid I might sell you off?"

Wen Zhengyu said, "You wouldn't."

Ye Ling raised a brow. "Not necessarily." She reached the steps. "Watch the step," she warned, afraid Wen Zhengyu might trip or fall, and supported her up the stairs.

"Not necessarily," Wen Zhengyu thought sarcastically to herself. She couldn't help but laugh.

Ye Ling gave another emphatic "hmph." "Still laughing. There will be plenty for you to cry about in a moment. Don't say I didn't warn you."

Wen Zhengyu hummed softly again. She knew Ye Ling was just teasing her. The smile on her lips deepened. Then, her foot caught the raised threshold of the main hall. She tripped, her balance lost, pitching forward—only to be caught instantly and safely by Ye Ling.

Ye Ling let out two heavy "ha ha" sounds, looking down at the two hands tightly gripping the collar of her shirt. "If you fall again, I won't catch you."

Wen Zhengyu steadied herself and stepped inside. Only then did she realize her heart was pounding wildly. She had been genuinely startled.

Ye Ling was beyond speechless that Wen Zhengyu still kept her eyes closed even after nearly falling. She led Wen Zhengyu into the main hall.

Wen Zhengyu felt Ye Ling come to a stop. She heard a faint rustling sound, as if Ye Ling had picked up something from nearby. Then, a light, fleeting kiss was pressed to her lips and withdrawn. A faint floral fragrance drifted to her nose. She opened her eyes to find Ye Ling standing before her, holding an enormous bouquet, her face radiant with a smile.

The flowers framed the person. The person made the flowers lose all their color.

Wen Zhengyu softly said, "You are more beautiful than the flowers."

Ye Ling raised a brow, smug. "Obviously."

Wen Zhengyu found herself utterly without a suitable retort. She simply accepted the flowers in silence and went to find a vase in which to arrange them.

Ye Ling followed her. She wrapped her arms around Wen Zhengyu from behind, then let out a long, melancholy sigh. "At the crack of dawn tomorrow, I have to go home."

Wen Zhengyu's hands stilled. Her immediate, reflexive assumption was that Ye Ling meant she was returning to the capital. The question flew from her lips: "Why must you go back?" The wedding was the day after tomorrow. The ceremony hall was already being decorated.

Seeing that Wen Zhengyu's expression had visibly changed, Ye Ling laughed. "To prepare for my wedding procession, of course."

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