The Vanishing Beauty - Chapter 10 - 12

Chapter 10 - 12

As they were talking, someone suddenly collapsed on the other side of the lawn.

Yu Rui was the first to notice, hurriedly jogging over in her toasting gown. A crowd of onlookers quickly gathered around.

It was Weng Yue. She lay flat on her back, sprawled out in a wide star shape with her mouth slightly open, completely unconscious.

An ambulance was called, and several people from the venue prepared to accompany her, but the hospital required a family member to be present to make critical decisions in case of an emergency. Yu Rui nudged Han Guang and told him to go. Reluctant to do so, Han Guang suggested they send Xiqian instead.

Han Xiqian muttered under her breath, "Didn't Uncle come too? It shouldn't fall on me anyway."

Once an incident occurred, everyone suddenly remembered that Weng Yang was also in attendance. Consequently, Weng Yang and his daughter followed the ambulance to the hospital. Unwilling to sit back and worry—especially since this happened right at her wedding and their relationship needed to be maintained down the road—Yu Rui insisted on tagging along.

Yu Jia hurriedly intervened, "I'll go. You stay here."

This also provided her with a convenient way to evade Bai Yuankai.

With lightning speed, they arrived at the hospital. Emergency treatment was administered. The patient was revived. The doctor issued a stern warning: one must not drink alcohol on an empty stomach. Forcing a smile, Weng Yang apologized and promised it would never happen again. However, Weng Yue had no intention of saving face for her older brother. The moment she opened her eyes and saw Weng Yang's aging face, she snapped at him with a furious expression, driving him away. She simply could not accept her brother's "betrayal." All these years, whose coattails had Weng Yang ridden to success? Who had helped him manage his affairs and raise his daughter? A person could not simply cast aside gratitude and act without conscience!

Unable to stomach the humiliation in the hospital room, Weng Yang ended up shouting right back at his younger sister.

Yu Jia had no choice but to try and calm both sides down.

Weng Yang roared in frustration, "That's quite enough! If you want to put on airs, you'd better make sure people are actually willing to play along with your tune! If you hadn't constantly been meddling in the middle, I would have made a fortune ages ago!"

He felt deeply aggrieved as well, his grand ambitions still entirely unfulfilled.

With great difficulty, Yu Jia finally managed to coax Weng Yang and his daughter into leaving, returning to the bedside to keep Weng Yue company. Recovering some of her energy, Weng Yue murmured, "Big Sister, I'm fine. You can go."

Yu Jia urged gently, "Try to take things in stride and keep an open mind."

Overwhelmed by a sudden surge of grief, Weng Yue's eyes grew red once more. "How can I possibly keep an open mind? Everyone else has their lives figured out, and that good-for-nothing Yu Rui even had the nerve to intercept my husband midway. Is this leftover meal really that delicious..."

Unable to agree with her for fear of inflaming the tension further, Yu Jia tried a different angle to extinguish the flames, offering a cheerful smile. "Do you have any idea how many people envy you? You have a successful career, financial freedom, and you're right at the prime age to enjoy life. If I were in your shoes, I certainly wouldn't even consider remarrying."

Weng Yue did not hold back. "Save it, Big Sister. You have a trump card to fall back on, which is why you're feeling so confident."

A trump card? Did she know about it already? Yu Jia felt a jolt of alarm.

Weng Yue pressed on, "Anyone with eyes can see the way Bai Yuankai feels about you."

Yu Jia immediately defended, "We're just ordinary friends."

"People with a shared history always start out by calling themselves ordinary friends," Weng Yue sneered.

Anxious, Yu Jia protested, "I swear to heaven, there's absolutely nothing—"

"Relax, Big Sister, there's no need to make such heavy oaths. Even if you were together, so what?"

"The point is, there's nothing between us."

Without pursuing the topic further, Weng Yue let her head sink back against the pillow. "To tell you the truth, I don't care that Yu Rui picked up an old man, but I am fiercely jealous of Yu Meng."

Yu Jia smiled in silence.

"How can someone as utterly dreadful as her—self-willed, reckless, selfish, vain, and fiercely competitive, possessing every single flaw a woman should and shouldn't have—manage to hook every single man she meets? Is it just because of a face? Looking at her now, she's getting old too."

Yu Jia could only reply that different people had different tastes.

"As for that ghost of a project of hers, only Old Luan would be foolish enough to..." Weng Yue trailed off, leaving her sentence unfinished.

"What about Old Luan?" Yu Jia asked.

Back at the wedding venue on the lawn, following Weng Yue's departure by ambulance, the crowd gradually returned to a celebratory mood.

Xiqian tracked down her father. "Dad, I need to talk to you about something," she stated bluntly.

Dressed in his formal suit with beads of sweat dotting his forehead, Han Guang nodded for her to continue.

"I want to be with Bai Yuankai, and you need to help me."

"No nonsense allowed!" Han Guang put on his stern parental front.

"I supported your marriage, so you have to support mine—we scratch each other's backs." Xiqian stubbornly dug her heels in. Glancing around, she spotted Yuankai lingering nearby with his wine glass. Without hesitation, Xiqian marched over and hooked her arm through his. Caught off guard, Bai Yuankai spilled half his drink.

"Qianqian!" Han Guang felt mortified, holding back his rising anger. Emerging from the indoor hall and taking in the scene, Yu Rui hurried forward. After Han Guang whispered a few words to her, Yu Rui patted his shoulder reassuringly, told him not to worry, and walked over by herself with a warm smile, politely asking Yuankai to step away for a moment.

She escorted Xiqian over to the floral archway, stopping just beneath it before speaking. "Qianqian, whichever man you like, Auntie will support you."

"Really?" Xiqian's face lit up with joy.

Yu Rui continued, "But my support doesn't mean much on its own; the guy has to agree to it as well."

Xiqian deflated, rolling her eyes in frustration.

Yu Rui pressed on, "Do you know about that incident?"

"What incident?"

"Back when Old Luan was out there, some wealthy heiress wanted to recruit him as her husband, but he wouldn't do it."

"I know."

Pointing upward, Yu Rui remarked, "A man like Old Luan—to put it bluntly—has exceptional personal qualifications, keeps his sights set high, and has very strict standards."

"High standards?" Xiqian scoffed. "From where I'm standing, he's completely indiscriminate if he's willing to fall for some middle-aged—"

Beginning to understand the source of her frustration, Yu Rui cut her off. "Do you know how to sing Kunqu opera?"

Xiqian shook her head.

With a faint smile, Yu Rui let her in on a secret. "Let me give you a hint as to why Old Luan likes that person. It's because she possesses a classical grace—she can sing Kunqu opera, she's serene like a chrysanthemum, possesses an elegance like an orchid, the resilience of bamboo, and the fortitude of the plum blossom. She embodies the entire quartet of the plum, orchid, bamboo, and chrysanthemum." Pausing briefly, she added, "With your claws constantly bared and your fiery temper, do you really think Old Luan could ever fall for that?"

"Then I'll just be myself."

"Yes, you have every right to be, but people also have the right to not appreciate or like you." Wrapping an arm around Xiqian, Yu Rui coaxed, "Qianqian, there are a thousand ways to be ugly, but most people share a unified perception of beauty. If you want to pursue someone exceptional, that's fine, but you must first make yourself exceptional. Believing you're superior simply because you have hundreds of millions waiting for you to inherit—which you don't even have right now—is a delusion. True beauty radiates from the inside out, understand?"

Lost in thought, Xiqian gestured with her hands. "From the inside out."

Haosiyu wandered over. With a mischievous glint in her eye, Yu Rui teased, "Haosiyu, is Qianqian beautiful?"

"She's gorgeous," Haosiyu replied without missing a beat.

"In what way is she gorgeous?"

Bracing himself, Haosiyu blurted out, "Great figure, very pretty."

"What do you know!" Xiqian spat out in disgust. "True beauty comes from the inside out!"

Just as construction on the project began showing signs of fresh progress, another torrential downpour struck.

Once it started, the rain refused to stop.

With the streets completely submerged, Yu Meng and Luan Chengyun had no choice but to take refuge on the second floor.

Yu Meng insisted on renting a boat to venture outside.

Luan tried to talk her out of it. "Are you out of your mind? You'll get yourself killed!"

Yu Meng shouted back, "If this project goes under, what's the difference between that and being dead!"

After much effort, she managed to borrow a small boat from the landlord, paying a hefty sum to hire the landlord's eldest son as a guide. Donning life jackets and picking up the oars, the three of them rowed their small craft out of the town and headed straight toward the Moon City construction site. Wherever they looked, the landscape had transformed into a vast watery kingdom.

Raging torrents surged through the streets, the ground-floor structures were entirely sealed up, and the surface of the water was choked with massive amounts of floating debris and trash that blocked the drainage outlets.

The rain had eased slightly, though it had not fully cleared.

A snake struggled frantically in the churning waters as their small boat glided past it. Terrified, Yu Meng shrieked at the top of her lungs, desperately swatting at it with a plastic paddle to drive it away.

At the entrance to the mountain pass, several massive trees had crashed down across the road, completely cutting off traffic and leaving the area in utter disarray.

As they prepared to enter the mountain region, the terrain grew slightly higher, but the landlord's son flatly refused to accompany them any further. Luan Chengyun offered to increase his payment, but the young man still shook his head. Luan fully understood his hesitation—he was terrified of making a one-way trip.

Attempting to comfort her, Luan suggested, "Let's just consider the project gone."

"I need to see a living person or a corpse!" Yu Meng's obsession ran far too deep.

Moon City was her life's blood, her obsession, and her dream.

Luan Chengyun reached into his pocket for a cigarette, fumbling twice before coming up empty. It was only then that he realized both packs he carried had been swallowed by the floodwaters.

Seeing Luan Chengyun hesitate, Yu Meng felt a flicker of fear.

"Are you coming with me or not?" she demanded.

Concealed beneath her raincoat, Luan's face retained its usual carefree smirk. "I'll accompany you to the very end."

The mountain path was rugged and treacherous. Side by side, the two of them pressed forward with steady steps like fearless pioneers. The rain finally stopped completely. Her spirits lifting slightly, Yu Meng picked up her pace.

With a chuckle, Luan asked, "Is this damn thing really that important to you?"

"It's important, incredibly important, vitally important!"

"What if we end up dying out here?" Luan asked.

"Don't go jinxing us with that crow's mouth of yours!"

"Seriously though, what if only one of us makes it out of this trip alive?" Luan started, before trailing off.

"Then the one who survives will handle the funeral arrangements for the deceased!" Yu Meng declared loudly.

Luan raised a hand for a high-five.

Reluctantly, Yu Meng slapped his palm.

"And what if both of us survive?" he pressed further.

"If we survive, we survive." She looked at him in confusion.

A triumphant smile danced across his face. "If we survive, we remarry!"

Startled for a moment, she simply pushed onward.

"That won't do. If I survive, it has to be after my career succeeds, and only when I'm happy and willing."

"I'm being serious," his expression turned grave.

"Everything I say is serious."

He let the matter drop without a reply.

Refusing to let up, Yu Meng added, "Don't go attaching conditions just because you helped out a little. How about this—if this project succeeds, I'll give you equity shares. I, Yu Meng, am not someone who repays kindness with ingratitude." Luan Chengyun smiled without answering.

Passing through the mountain pass, they finally drew near the Moon City construction site. Yu Meng sighed heavily, heavy with dread. "I honestly don't dare look." Putting an arm around her to steady her, Luan instructed, "Just take a quick glance and we'll leave." Skirting around the slope, Moon City finally came into view, but try as she might, Yu Meng could not spot a single trace of it.

"Where is it?" she asked anxiously.

Luan Chengyun, however, had already grasped the cruel reality.

He stood in silence, offering a silent tribute.

The torrential rain had triggered a massive landslide, burying Moon City deep beneath a sea of mud. Only a few scattered, chaotic fragments of building materials poking through the surface served as proof that it had ever existed.

Rubbing her eyes, Yu Meng took in the sight and felt her legs buckle beneath her.

Luan caught her just in time. "Consider it a dream," he offered, still trying to maintain an optimistic front. But she could not. Tears burst from Yu Meng's eyes, pouring down faster than the rain itself! She had poured her entire fortune, her heart, and her soul into this project—it was complete success or absolute ruin! Heavens! Why was fate constantly conspiring against her? And those local officials—hadn't they sworn this place was as secure as an impregnable fortress, impervious to wind and water, an auspicious sanctuary that would never be affected?! How could a mere couple of rainstorms turn it into the Titanic, sinking it without a trace?

Collapsing to the ground in tears, Yu Meng wept uncontrollably as the rain began to fall once more.

Luan Chengyun urged gently, "Mengmeng, when one door closes, another opens. Let's chalk this up to an expensive lesson and head back to start over from scratch."

Refusing to budge, Yu Meng sat there as though mourning over the graves of the dead.

The rain intensified. Despite Luan's repeated entreaties, Yu Meng adamantly refused to leave, insisting on circling around to the other side of the mountain to check if any residual "ruins" remained. Having committed to helping someone all the way, Luan could only help adjust her raincoat before the two of them set off once more.

Soaked through by the rain, the mountain terrain had turned into a treacherous quagmire of deep mud. One of Old Luan's shoes got sucked firmly into the sludge and couldn't be pulled out, so he simply kicked the other one off and went barefoot. Walking for over half an hour, they finally reached the far side of the mountain, only to find Moon City buried as dead and deep as the ancient city of Pompeii, swallowed entirely by the mire.

Despair finally overtook Yu Meng.

In a daze, she staggered toward the edge of the cliff. Fearing she was having suicidal thoughts, Luan Chengyun lunged forward to grab her, but his bare feet lost traction. Stumbling forward, Yu Meng and Luan plunged down the slope together. Yu Meng landed flat on her back, while Old Luan went headfirst, plunging into the mud like a javelin with his feet kicking helplessly in the air.