The Vanishing Beauty - Chapter 1 - 5
Chapter 1 - 5
By the time Yu Jia rushed over, Yu Shuang's mother had already been pronounced beyond help.
Heart disease. The onset occurred in the middle of the night, coming on with extreme rapidity. The agony lasted only a few minutes, and she passed away quite peacefully.
Yu Meng had fled from her home, heading straight to Yu Shuang's place as her first instinct for refuge. Upon arrival, however, she found Shuang's household in complete chaos. Shuang was wailing to the heavens and beating her chest, while Rui was calling an ambulance. In truth, before the ambulance even arrived, Yu Shuang's mother had already ceased to breathe. Yet Yu Shuang still demanded that the doctors resuscitate her! Resuscitate her! Resuscitate her! With tears and snot streaming down her face, she sobbed, "No... You have to save her... Doctor... Please save her!" It seemed as though there might still be a trace of warmth left.
The paramedic stated, "The patient is already..." Before he could finish his sentence, Yu Shuang went hysterical. "No! You're talking nonsense! No! Hurry up and save her! If you don't save her, I'll sue you!"
The emergency personnel suggested contacting the crematorium. Yu Shuang looked ready to bash the man's head in. With no other choice once the rescue workers withdrew, the three of them—Shuang, Meng, and Rui—transported the body to a nearby hospital.
Still, there was no turning back the tides of heaven.
Yu Shuang knelt on the floor, cradling her mother, weeping with a particularly piercing and mournful cry. Anyone who heard that sound could not avoid being infected by the tragedy, shedding tears of their own. Yu Meng stood off to the side, her eyes and nose red. Her impending divorce suddenly shrank into a trivial matter in the face of life and death, yet the sudden passing of Yu Shuang's mother only served to solidify her resolve to divorce—she refused to spend a lifetime living with Luan Chengyun; she deserved a better life, a better man, and she was going to be a true wealthy lady.
Yu Rui hovered closely beside Yu Shuang, feeling a twinge of guilt. Why did Shuang's mother have to pass away precisely on the day of her visit? Knots tangled in her heart, as if the auntie's passing had something to do with her. Was she cursed with bad luck? Had she brought bad luck to Shuang and her mother? She couldn't help but reproach herself, and as a result, her weeping was exceptionally sincere and sorrowful.
Yu Jia felt a deep sense of sympathy for Yu Shuang. She knew what her mother meant to Shuang—a weight roughly equivalent to Shuang's own life! The auntie's sudden departure was tantamount to ripping out Yu Shuang's soul. As a fellow townsman, an older sister, and someone who had experienced the parting of life and death, Yu Jia felt it was her obligation to comfort Yu Shuang. Yet at this very moment, all verbal comfort appeared so pale and feeble. She could only walk over, squat down, open her arms, slowly embrace her, and weep together with her.
Although she had gone through her own father's passing, Yu Shuang's experience with handling funeral arrangements was still practically zero. In the past, her mother had always managed everything. Combined with her overwhelming grief, she was completely incapable of handling it. The body was transported to the crematorium and placed in cold storage. Yu Shuang's younger brother, Yu Qing, was rushing in from out of town to catch a final glimpse of their mother.
Yu Jia returned home and explained the situation to her mother-in-law and Liren. After a round of sighs, mother and son both agreed that Yu Jia should go and help out, instructing her to comfort Yu Shuang properly.
Her mother-in-law remarked to Liren, "Look at that, how pitiful. If I weren't around, you'd end up just like her—an orphan." Liren chided, "Mom, what are you saying? You have to live to a hundred; you haven't even enjoyed all your blessings yet." Hearing her husband make such an offhand remark, Yu Jia grew all the more worried about her mother-in-law's "medical condition."
Taking advantage of a gap while washing the dishes, she asked in a low voice, "Mom, how did it go?"
Her mother-in-law replied, "The results aren't out yet." Pausing for a moment, she added, "I have to quit smoking," sounding utterly resolute.
Yu Jia thought to herself: Just wait then, there's no rushing it. No matter what, her mother-in-law was bound to stay here for a while. Fortunately, she had a legitimate reason to help out at Shuang's place so she wouldn't have to stay home every single day; otherwise, she truly wouldn't know what to talk about facing her mother-in-law around the clock.
Liren's promise to help her secure a job hadn't materialized yet. Having previously worked only in administration, finding a good position wasn't easy. And yet it couldn't be too demanding either, since family had to remain her primary focus. Still, she needed to earn a bit of money, do some work, and integrate into society.
Yu Jia was terrified that one day she would have nothing left to talk about with her husband.
Yu Rui had no acting gigs coming in lately. Following the sudden passing of Shuang's mother, she accompanied Yu Shuang day and night, never leaving her side. To dodge Luan Chengyun, Yu Meng kept her phone turned off and vanished from the face of the earth, only occasionally conducting voice or video calls with her two sons far away in the United States at night to fulfill her maternal duties. Thus, she simply chose to stay at Shuang's place as well.
The three-bedroom apartment was spacious enough to accommodate them.
Furthermore, Yu Meng felt she ought to step up at a time like this. One of the labels she pinned proudly to herself was being loyal and chivalrous.
They were the Four Beauties of Yuying. They had to support one another.
Yu Shuang took a leave of absence from her company, her emotions plummeting rock-bottom. All day long, she would either hug her mother's pillow and sob bitterly, or lie rigidly straight upon the bed; if you leaned in close, you couldn't even hear her breathing.
The crematorium called to inquire about the cremation time—with too many people dying, they had to gradually clear up space. Yu Shuang flared up with emotion once more, protesting, "No burning! No cremation!" Terrified, Yu Meng muttered under her breath to Yu Rui, "Good heavens, she's acting like a corpse springing back to life. How can they not cremate? You can't possibly turn her into a mum—" swallowing the final syllable right down her throat.
Yu Rui felt Sister Meng's words lacked tact, but the crude phrasing held a grain of truth, so she could only say, "Let's wait for Xiao Qing to arrive. Matters like this still need to be discussed and decided by the siblings."
A few days later, Yu Qing arrived. The moment he stepped through the door, he got into a massive shouting match with his elder sister. He argued that his sister hadn't taken proper care of their mother—after all, it was always their mother taking care of her. Their mother had been worked to death. He gave examples: "How come Mom was fine over at my place? If it weren't for you being incapable of taking care of yourself and clinging to Mom day in and day out, and instead let Mom come stay with me to help look after the kids with a cheerful frame of mind, how could she have fallen ill?"
Yu Jia was forced to step in and mediate. "This isn't directly tied to one's mood, Xiao Qing. Don't blame your sister; it was an accident."
In truth, Yu Qing's resentment toward Yu Shuang had been brewing for a long time. Ever since she snatched their mother away to live with her, he no longer had any allies at home; facing two children, a wife, and his parents-in-law, he was fighting a completely solo battle. Furthermore, their mother's retirement pension no longer subsidized him either. Upon coming to the big city this time and seeing his sister living alone in such a massive apartment, his bitterness deepened even further. He always felt that before their mother passed away, she must have given all the family savings to his sister—and that his sister and mother must have had some kind of agreement: she would provide the family's nest egg, and in return, the sister would provide for her in her old age and see her through her final rites.
And now look at how things turned out—the end had arrived. His sister had pocketed the money securely and unlocked a life of freedom.
"Why do you have to be so biased!" Yu Qing complained.
What an unfilial disaster! A disgrace to the family lineage! Yu Shuang grew so furious she looked ready to beat her younger brother.
Jia, Shuang, and Rui hurriedly rushed forward, offering persuasion this way and that until they finally calmed her down. The dead could not return to life. The auntie up in heaven wouldn't want to see infighting. The most pressing priority was to lay her to rest in peace. They shouldn't ruin harmony over minor issues. Blood relations remained blood relations after all...
They had worn their tongues down to the bone. Yu Shuang finally grew calm. Although her younger brother advocated for a minimalist ceremony—keeping tightly in step with official slogans—Yu Shuang still decided to throw her mother a proper, respectable funeral. Lacking filial piety while she lived, she wanted to grant her the utmost pomp and glory in death, purely to comfort her mother's departed spirit and express her own profound grief and mourning.
The mourning hall was so bustling it resembled a busy street market.
Not only were Yu Rui and Yu Jia astonished, but even Yu Meng, who considered herself well-versed in grand social scenes, never expected so many people to show up for Yu Shuang's mother's funeral rituals. Connections. It was a sea of connections. And every single relationship was still active and relevant.
Yu Meng couldn't help but look at Yu Shuang in a completely new light. Yet what she couldn't understand was how a woman with such vast connections still hadn't managed to get married by now? Did she not want to, or... cough, cough... Yu Meng felt that thinking this way was a bit uncharitable of her... sigh... why worry about what she thought—the fact remained that none of these people, none of these men, had ever truly treated Yu Shuang as a woman.
A whole pond full of fish, yet Shuang refused to cast a single net. Yu Meng certainly couldn't guarantee she would remain as self-restrained as Shuang; with her divorce happening imminently, the moment she locked onto a target, she would cast out her hook.
Yu Shuang and Yu Qing stood before the mourning portrait to welcome guests, bow, and offer low words of gratitude. Yu Jia's younger brother, Yu Yiyi, helped hand out flowers at the entrance of the small ceremonial hall. Yu Jia and Yu Rui were entrusted with the heavy responsibility of sitting at the entrance to help collect monetary condolence gifts, with Yu Jia collecting the funds and Yu Rui logging them.
Yu Meng drifted around nearby, casting her gaze over the crowd, and unexpectedly spotted Weng Yue, an acquaintance from her past social circle. She walked over to greet her. Given the special occasion, it wasn't appropriate to smile too broadly, so she controlled her expression and asked, "You came?" Upon seeing Yu Meng, Weng Yue was even more astonished. Covering her mouth, she gasped, "Oh, Yu... you...?"
Yu Meng explained, "We just share a surname; we aren't related."
Weng Yue explained that she used to have business dealings with Yu Shuang's company, having once worked in educational training, and added that she owed Shuang a favor.
"Are you settled here now?" Yu Meng asked. Weng Yue replied that she was. Yu Meng then suggested they increase their social visits in the future and arranged an afternoon tea date in advance.
Yu Meng roughly understood Weng Yue's situation: divorced, never remarried, and currently serving as a director at a listed company. Entanglements definitely existed, but they were hidden deep, so she didn't find it convenient to probe into details. Even so, she always believed Weng Yue harbored a bit of guard against her; when it came to introducing people in social circles, Weng Yue always kept her cards close to her chest and never shared any leads with her.
Yu Meng's interpretation was simple: it was human nature. She was prettier than Weng Yue, so Weng Yue was jealous of her. Once men were introduced into a social setting, the moment she, Yu Meng, stepped onto the scene, Weng Yue would probably become entirely irrelevant. Therefore, two tigresses could not share the same mountain—especially not a fierce she-tiger.
Yu Meng stood there in absolute poise, her posture as elegant as a slender-necked vase. Gazing out across the entire hall, she waited for her next prey to walk right up to her door.