The Vanishing Beauty - Chapter 1 - 7

Chapter 1 - 7

The mother-in-law's medical checkup results came out, and there were no major issues. The doctor advised her to smoke less. After lingering at her son and daughter-in-law's place for a few days, Liren's mother set off to return to her hometown.

With the alarm lifted, Yu Jia breathed a sigh of relief. According to their original plan, since her mother-in-law was fine, she didn't leak a word of it to Liren. She understood her mother-in-law's intentions. The elderly woman was simply afraid of causing her son worry. All was calm and quiet. If it was to be kept a secret, then a secret it would stay.

As soon as her mother-in-law left, Yu Jia finally began to settle back into a peaceful family life. Over on Yu Shuang's end, the major matters had been settled. Shuang's mother was laid to rest in peace, and Yu Qing had already gone back home. As for Yu Shuang, she had Meng and Rui keeping her company. There was no need to worry. Yu Jia judged that Shuang wouldn't go so far as to commit suicide; the sorrow in her heart could only be smoothed over gradually by the passage of time.

Right now, there were two matters that needed to be tackled. The first was her own job. Liren had promised to pull strings and arrange something. Discussions had begun even before they arrived, but up until now, there had still been no movement.

Yu Jia felt a bit anxious. She believed that she should still have a job of her own, participating in social life. Regardless of how much money she made, at the very least it would allow her to keep pace with the times and give her some common ground to share with her husband. Liren had less and less to say to her. He didn't even look her properly in the eye anymore, and even when speaking, his gaze would often drift away or fixate entirely on some random spot.

Recently, Yu Jia had also been busy "cramming." While she could afford to take things easy back in her hometown, arriving in the big city made her acutely feel the pressure—heightened pressure. She was currently the wife of a junior leader; what if she became the wife of a senior leader in the future? Her qualities across all areas needed to be elevated. Yu Jia began paying attention to financial news, occasionally watched the evening news broadcasts, and cared about what was happening in the world. That way, whenever Liren brought something up, she could at least keep the conversation going. Her scope of knowledge could by no means remain restricted solely to her own major—the field of Chinese literature—where having studied it was practically no different from having not studied it at all. True, she could write a fine hand and even sing Kunqu opera, but alas, she had no arena to showcase those skills. Still, managing their small family well already brought her a sense of contentment.

The second issue was Sisi's education. After arriving in the big city, their daughter had gone straight into the experimental high school, something countless people envied. However, regarding the direction of Sisi's future development, she and Liren held divergent views.

Sisi ate fast. The moment she pushed her bowl away, she retreated to her room to study. Having just arrived in the big city, Sisi also felt under pressure. She was afraid of failing to keep up with the coursework, afraid her classmates would look down on her, and desperate to shed the demeanor of a small-town girl as quickly as possible. Because of this, she worked extra hard.

Pretending to be nonchalant and acting as if nothing was the matter, Yu Jia brought it up in passing: "How is that job of mine coming along?"

Liren immediately frowned. "It's not that easy." After pausing for a few seconds, he added, "It's best to find an iron rice bowl."

Yu Jia remained silent, looking as though she would defer to whatever he wished.

Liren continued, "I've entrusted Elder Sister Zhao to see if she can squeeze someone into the university press."

Ah, the university press—the haven that fed professors' wives.

Yu Jia disliked the word "squeeze"; it sounded grating to the ear, as though she were some kind of worthless piece of trash.

"Ride the donkey while looking for a horse," Yu Jia chimed in.

"It's also not strictly necessary for you to go out and work," Liren said, keeping his eyes averted from his wife while his chopsticks kept moving. Yu Jia said understandingly, "With you working all by yourself, it's too exhausting."

Di Liren set down his chopsticks and looked straight into Yu Jia's eyes.

Something major was coming. Yu Jia could sense it.

"It's best for Sisi to go abroad after all," Liren said solemnly. "Taking the college entrance examination domestically involves fierce competition, and at her current rate, she'd cap out at getting into a tier-two university at best. It's better to head straight overseas."

"The child is too young," Yu Jia said.

"That's why someone has to accompany her," Liren immediately replied. Pausing for two seconds, he proceeded to make his case—this was his specialty: "First go abroad to study a foundation course, and then apply directly to schools out there. Play to our strengths and avoid our weaknesses. You can go abroad to accompany her and handle the logistical support."

Yu Jia knew Liren's state of mind. He was ambitious; many of his colleagues already had children studying abroad. It had been like that back in the provincial capital, and now that they had arrived in the big city, the surroundings were practically swimming with little "sea turtles." He could not afford to fall behind.

Furthermore, in their eyes, this was a shortcut. Bypassing the brutal domestic college entrance examination to snap up a prize overseas. Liren's preference was the United States or Britain; France and Germany counted as second-best options, and if all else failed, New Zealand or Australia would do. He forbade Sisi from going to Japan due to heavy nationalistic sentiments.

Yu Jia did not agree with her husband's arrangements. For one thing, she felt that times had changed from a decade or more ago, and foreign degrees were no longer worth all that much more than domestic ones—at least when it came to job hunting, they sometimes even proved to be a disadvantage. There were simply too many returnees. When something becomes abundant, it loses its value. In the reality of the domestic climate, success ultimately relied either on connections or on sheer, absolute strength.

She believed Sisi fell somewhere in between the two.

Given their current household financial situation, sending their daughter abroad was tantamount to staking their entire fortune. They had just arrived in the big city; although their housing was secure, there were numerous places where money flew out the door. To force a trip abroad just to keep up appearances would lead to losses that outweighed the gains.

If she went abroad as an accompanying mother, it meant they would once again be separated across long distances. Previously, while he was stationed in the provincial capital, husband and wife had already spent several years living apart, and now that they had finally reunited, they were facing separation once more. Yu Jia found it somewhat unacceptable.

Smiling, Yu Jia went over to refill Liren's rice bowl. As she handed it to him, she said, "Let her study domestically first. If she wants to advance further down the line, it won't be too late to go abroad then."

A sudden flash of anger ignited in Liren. The bottom of the bowl slammed against the tabletop with a sharp crash. "You can't be so selfish! During a crucial period, if we don't step up, who will? A child's lifelong happiness is at stake—what's wrong with enduring a few more years? Can't you handle it? As parents, sometimes you just have to make sacrifices!"

Yu Jia's head spun. Selfish? It was the first time she had ever heard Liren accuse her of being selfish. Yes, he had given a tremendous amount; she knew better than anyone else what it took for him to struggle out there for all these years. Climbing the career ladder did not come without a price. He had lost quite a bit of hair, gained quite a bit of waistline, aged quite a bit, and grown quite a bit more weary in his heart. But she had been no different. She managed the children, took care of the household, went to work herself, and still had to look after the elderly. From Luan's younger sister courting to getting married and giving birth, Yu Jia as a sister-in-law had planned and arranged everything from start to finish, even going to serve her through her confinement month for a whole week... How could she possibly be counted as selfish? Shouldn't the evaluation she received be selfless dedication? Even without credit, she had still put in the toil! What kind of world was this?!

Without arguing or kicking up a fuss, Yu Jia began clearing away the dishes and chopsticks. Only after the anger flared out did Liren realize he had spoken out of turn. After a long silence, he offered a patch-up remark: "My point is that we both need to make sacrifices. Only with sacrifice will there be a reward." Yu Jia looked at him and said, "You've sacrificed, and I've sacrificed too." Liren stood up and walked back to his room.

Yu Jia felt that her husband was deliberately avoiding her. In her bedroom, her daughter was reading English aloud at the top of her lungs. In the past, Yu Jia would have found it gratifying, but today, she felt those foreign utterances were exceptionally grating.

She suddenly felt that she had somehow turned into the legendary faded yellow-faced wife. Her daughter found her annoying, and her husband blamed her. She didn't even need to do anything—her mere existence had become a mistake. Having accompanied her husband for so many years, he was now constantly racking his brains to ship her off elsewhere. Heh, if Liren was like this, what about her daughter? The seedlings of impatience were already sprouting, and sooner or later, she would be kicked away without a second thought.

Standing by the kitchen sink, Yu Jia's mood plummeted so heavily it felt like rain. The faucet rushed loudly, sounding precisely like rain—a torrential storm at that. She truly shouldn't have let Liren bring her to the big city. If back then she had... Ah... there were no "ifs."

A mantis trying to stop a chariot—completely overestimating one's capabilities.

Yu Jia deeply realized that sharing wealth and prosperity versus sharing hardship and adversity were both exceedingly difficult as long as the hardship came second. She had no choice but to slowly adapt. Fine, get a job—she needed to find a job right away. She pulled out her mobile phone, intending to submit her resume and try her luck.

Yu Rui had temporarily moved in to stay at Shuang's place. Upon learning of this, Yu Jia had Yu Yi drive over to help move her things. Naturally, Rui knew Sister Jia's underlying meaning—she was manufacturing opportunities for her younger brother to have more contact with her—and Yu Yi was more than happy to be of service, running around her beck and call. Yu Rui had no choice but to accept this favor—behind Yu Yi stood Yu Jia, and behind Yu Jia stood Di Liren.

Face had to be given.

Yu Rui treated Yu Yi with springtime warmth, yet still maintained her distance. Yu Yi was the same age as her, but she had always viewed him as a younger brother. Girls matured early, and she possessed that much more social seasoning. Yu Yi didn't carry much presence in Yu Rui's eyes, though after meeting Bai Yuankai, Yu Yi finally acquired a presence—existing strictly as a point of comparison. Compared to Yuankai, Yu Yi fell far too short. That kind of gap wasn't about tangible educational background or knowledge, but rather a kind of bearing.

A man's bearing, temperament, and aura. They were terribly important.

Yu Rui had always believed that a man needed to make a woman feel a tiny bit of awe or adoration. A boy like Yu Yi only knew how to be good to a woman; his worldview was naive and simple, blindly believing in reciprocity. Yet this rule of thumb often failed and proved inapplicable when applied between men and women. If you treated a woman very well, would that woman necessarily treat you well in return? Believing that effort equaled reward was quite literally a monumental misunderstanding.

Broaching romance was nothing like farming; even farming had natural disasters and man-made calamities to contend with! Because of this, Yu Rui felt a trace of pity for Yu Yi.

Once everything was packed and settled, Yu Yi wanted to treat Yu Rui to a meal. The usual routine.

Yu Rui said she needed to stay and keep Sister Shuang company. Shuang's morale had hit rock bottom, plunging into despair and refusing to bounce back; she couldn't be left alone.

Yu Yi said, "Then I'll head down and buy it to bring back, saving us the trouble of cooking."

The enthusiastic offer was hard to turn down, so Yu Rui could only smile in consent and let him go. Yu Rui briefly checked her suitcases; the count was correct. Then she pushed open the door to Yu Shuang's room. "Sister Shuang, let's eat something in a bit."

Yu Shuang was lying on her side facing the wall with her legs splayed apart—one foot still wore a sock, while the other was bare. Her entire body radiated an aura of absolute hopelessness.