The Vanishing Beauty - Chapter 1 - 6

Chapter 1 - 6

Then someone approached the entrance. He wore a western suit, a parted hairstyle, and stood quite tall. He looked to possess a somewhat youthful boyish charm, but upon a closer look, one could tell he was certainly older. He handed over his monetary condolence gift. Without raising her head, Yu Jia quickly counted it and reported the sum to Yu Rui.

Yu Rui jotted the figure down in her notebook, and only then did she lift her face to look at the visitor.

Her heart skipped a beat. "Your name?" she asked directly.

"Bai Yuankai," he replied, then added, "Yu Shuang's senior."

A senior—what a seductive title. This person gave off a comfortable vibe, Yu Rui thought. Yu Jia looked up, cast a glance at Bai Yuankai, and out of politeness, gave a slight nod in acknowledgement. The money he gave counted as being on the generous side.

Yu Yi followed up by handing over a yellow chrysanthemum.

Bai Yuankai stepped inside to pay his respects.

Yu Meng was also captivated by the unique aura he radiated. However, as far as she was concerned, Bai Yuankai was far too young. She had never considered tangling with a younger man for her second marriage. Her target was a man around fifty years old—mature, wealthy, and the most compatible match for her. Of course, that had to be a well-maintained fifty—she refused to accept any decrepit old codgers.

Weng Yue sidled up to her and chuckled with a smile, "That right there is a prime bachelor."

"Hmm?" Yu Meng didn't catch her meaning.

"A diamond-encrusted bachelor."

"A second-generation rich kid?" Yu Meng had seen plenty of those.

Weng Yue smiled and said, "He's the hottest figure in the industry right now."

"What industry?" Yu Meng assumed she meant the banking sector.

"Big Data." Weng Yue stood at the cutting edge of the times.

Yu Meng didn't quite understand, feeling thoroughly bewildered and lost in a fog.

"Elite school background, majored in electronic and computer engineering, earned his Ph.D. from the University of Cincinnati in the United States, and was selected as one of the most influential outstanding young youth leaders of the future in the American manufacturing industry before the age of thirty. He works on the industrial intelligent transformation of enterprises and holds quite a few patented technologies in his hands—a truly aspiring youth." Weng Yue reeled it all off in a single breath.

Filled with absolute admiration.

His ideals were two entirely different things from Yu Meng's ideals.

Looking at Weng Yue's enchanted expression, Yu Meng felt a tinge of pity for her. Because she knew that someone like this "Big Data" gentleman would probably never develop any intimate relationship with a middle-aged woman like Weng Yue.

Oh wait, there was a relationship—making money off you was fine, though.

She didn't believe Weng Yue's appreciation for this engineer man was purely artistic admiration.

She looked over at Yu Shuang again. Her complexion was heavy, looking as haggard as a woman in her forties. Yu Meng couldn't help but sigh mournfully for her good friend.

What a terrible waste of natural resources. Surrounded by piles of resources, yet she remained utterly blind to them. With a grand feast all around her, she insisted on subsisting day in and day out on her own plain millet porridge and clear, watery soup. Who could she even reason with?

Weng Yue and Yu Meng weren't the only ones interested. The moment Yu Rui got back, she searched up Bai Yuankai's name. He really existed. Yet the more she searched, the more despondent Yu Rui felt. It wasn't because Bai Yuankai failed to live up to his reputation, but rather because he was far too thoroughly "living up to it."

A fine upbringing, excelling from childhood all the way through, participating in various campus activities back in her undergraduate days—there were brief reports made by student organizations online—he had even served as the student union president and reformed the student union system. He was fiercely independent, yet always used his genuine strength to win the respect of others. Tall and athletic, he had won first place in the department's 10x80-meter relay and went abroad to visit and study at foreign universities as early as his freshman year. His overseas academic experiences were the ultimate role models for younger students. His idol was Einstein, and he had already achieved numerous accomplishments while pursuing his doctorate. Every single achievement was dazzling. He was like a small sun, firmly rooted in reality while simultaneously romantic and filled with sentiment—possessing a touch that felt like thirty-eight degrees Celsius.

Even the things he said felt so inspiring to Yu Rui: "One must maintain a zero-reset mindset and dare to cast away what one already possesses"; "Among mediocre people, they often believe that the tangible, graspable things in their hands at the moment determine their future—perhaps a certificate, a degree, or some high-sounding title. Yet in truth, the starting point for acquiring these things and the beliefs and habits one possesses are the decisive factors behind any choice brought forth"; "When people simply wish to steadfastly complete every task at hand and continuously polish themselves through those processes, the bonuses of fate naturally follow along as a byproduct."

Were they all things he said? That didn't matter. What mattered was that all these sentences were tied to him. Yu Rui deeply realized that Bai Yuankai was a human being entirely different from all the actors around her or anyone she had ever known in the past.

She felt she wasn't worthy of him.

Because for the most part, she lived in a gloomy, even sordid environment. She was afraid she would cast a shadow over his sunlight.

Of course, Yu Rui still wanted to understand Bai Yuankai more deeply—not to claim him as her own, but purely from a perspective of appreciation. She believed that if such a person existed in this world, they could give people confidence and make them willing to believe that the world was beautiful.

Right now, however, Yu Rui had no spare time to indulge in her teenage daydreams; reality was too chaotic. Yu Shuang was experiencing a severe mental breakdown, and there was no way Yu Rui could bring herself to probe her for gossip about Bai—even if she asked, Shuang probably wouldn't say anything, or wouldn't be able to make things clear at all.

She had to comfort Yu Shuang. Huang Qi had called her to say that their lease was expiring, and that the couple they shared the apartment with—who were Yu Rui and Huang Qi's college classmates—planned to move out and rent a place on their own. The landlord intended to raise the rent, so they would likely have to look for a new place.

Staying at Shuang's place was fine for the present moment. But with Huang Qi in mind, Yu Rui harbored intentions of continuing to room with him. Over their four years of university, they had served as acting partners for three of those years; sparks had inevitably flown. Yu Rui had given her first time to Huang Qi. Huang Qi claimed it was his first time too. Yu Rui didn't believe him. He was far too seasoned, slick, and smooth. Later on, she discovered that all this seasoned confidence of his was put on, acted out—at his core, he was even simpler than she was.

They never became lovers for a very simple reason: they couldn't see any hope in each other. They were the exact same kind of people—gold-rushers who had come to the big city. They could comfort each other and support one another through thick and thin, but they couldn't give each other the status, position, or—to put it vulgarly—the money the other wanted.

As time went on, Yu Rui and Huang Qi devolved into mere roommates, living in peaceful coexistence.

Huang Qi's ambitions were far greater. His dream was to become an A-list actor, outshining even Huang Xiaoming and drawing more adoring followers than Lu Han or Li Yifeng. He wanted to win a Best Actor award, perform on the Spring Festival Gala, shoot major magazine spreads, and land commercial endorsements. He wanted a single appearance fee to be enough for a person to live off for a lifetime. He wanted to make a glorious and prominent name for himself.

Regrettably, after drifting about for several years, his progress had been sluggish; neither he nor Yu Rui had ever managed to land a proper, decent role. Many of their classmates had changed careers. Just like the couple sharing their apartment, the woman taught classes at a gym while the man did art exam training, and as for messy side businesses like selling Putian sneakers or acting as micro-agents for yogurt, they had tried them all.

Yu Rui couldn't keep going and began thinking of other methods. Huang Qi, however, still went to the gym every day, met people, ran around film sets, and occasionally scored some tiny bit-part, traveling thousands of miles away to shoot it. He was the type of person who wouldn't give up until he hit a brick wall. Occasionally, he and his roommates would sigh over a single cucumber or carrot: Should we eat it? Or not? Staying in shape is crucial. To this day, he still maintained his eight-pack abs.

The rental apartment was in complete disarray. The couple had already moved out, and Huang Qi was packing his things into suitcases.

"Until the day after tomorrow," Huang Qi said when he saw Yu Rui step through the door.

Yu Rui asked, "Didn't we have a month's advance notice?"

Huang Qi replied, "The landlord agreed, but management didn't allow it—they won't allow group rentals."

Yu Rui wanted to argue that this wasn't a group rental and didn't count as a partitioned cubicle. But she knew talking was useless; fortunately, they didn't have many belongings—just a few suitcases, traveling light.

She asked Huang Qi, "Have you found a place yet?"

"A buddy helped me sort one out."

"Where?" Yu Rui's conversations with him were always brief.

"You must have somewhere to stay by now," Huang Qi guessed, noting Yu Rui hadn't been back for days.

"Not rooming together?" she asked.

Huang Qi named an address. Far away. The suburbs of the suburbs. Yu Rui knew that place—it consisted of self-built rural housing with small single rooms, equivalent to the countryside on the outskirts of the city. Quite a few minor actors lived out there. Yu Rui suddenly felt a wave of grief for his misfortune and anger at his lack of drive.

How important living conditions were! Even when renting, one should treat oneself a bit better. As an actor, they already ate very little, leaving their oral desires unfulfilled, and if they lived in conditions this poor, what was the point of coming to struggle in the big city?

Huang Qi glanced at her, looking slightly apologetic as he explained, "Are you coming or not? There are still single rooms available, with places to shower and cook."

Yu Rui stayed silent.

He knew she had high standards. But given his current situation, he had to economize.

"I'm landing a gig soon, lasting three months. If luck is on my side, I won't even spend many days there during the year—just treat it as having a place to crash," Huang Qi said.

Renting something expensive wasn't cost-effective. Seeing him confess so openly, Yu Rui forgave him. After struggling for years, she had originally thought things would gradually get better and that the two of them would end up together. Who would have guessed they would instead drift further and further apart.

She couldn't save him, and he couldn't save her. Lost in the vast sea of humanity, they had no choice but to part ways with dignity, wish each other well, and head off in separate directions to scrape by and survive.

Packing was mostly done. Huang Qi sat atop a large suitcase and lit a cigarette. "What are you going to do?"

Yu Rui asked for one as well. After taking a few puffs, she said, "Find a job. If all else fails, go back home."

Huang Qi had nothing to say. He couldn't stop Yu Rui from making her choice. He could only demand things of himself. Either way, as long as he had breath in his lungs, he was going to grind it out down this path.

"Hit me up anytime." The cigarette burned down to the filter, and Huang Qi pulled Yu Rui into a brief embrace.