The Vanishing Beauty - Chapter 10 - 5
Chapter 10 - 5
Aside from waiting, there was no other way.
Yu Rui had also inquired everywhere and tried to figure out a path forward, but Han Guang's situation was too distant and too massive for her, completely beyond her control. After a while, as the "news" faded, even Weng Yue rarely called. Yu Rui's understanding was that perhaps Han Guang had long sensed that trouble was coming and had thus "entrusted his orphans" in advance; after all, Weng Yue was Xiqian's maternal aunt and could look after her.
Pondering it further, wasn't Han Guang's previous "cutting ties" with Weng Yue also no coincidence? He knew—he knew everything, which was why he was anxious. She still remembered what he had said to her in the car: telling her to leave by next week—the human resources department had indeed proposed compensation to lay her off. However, the choice was entirely up to her. Yu Rui made up her mind: as long as the company hadn't collapsed, she would sit right there forever. Waiting it out to the bitter end. Another wave of news arrived, this time through the grapevine. It was said that Han Guang was going to be sentenced to twenty years. Just like that "old friend." Hearing this, Yu Rui felt dazed. Twenty years—how old would he be then, and how old would she be? She didn't dare to imagine it; her entire life was folded into the void.
Ye Cha called, purely out of concern. "Little girl, what's the game here?" Their personal relationship was quite good. After resigning, Ye Cha went to work as a senior executive at another listed conglomerate, in charge of the group's entire clerical work.
"Go away!" Yu Rui didn't pull her punches with him.
"Still refuse to get off the ship? It's a matter of life and death now." He urged with an earnest tone.
"To each their own aspirations."
"Truly fallen in love?"
"Keep talking nonsense and I'll come after you."
"Little sis," Ye Cha changed his style—he used to be cosmopolitan, but now he was thoroughly folksy, all because the current leadership of the new group loved that style—"Big brother advises you this: don't drag yourself into this. It's simply not—worth—it."
Hearing him say that, Yu Rui knew that Ye Cha could be considered a life-and-death confidant. He was pouring his heart out. Stationed on the front lines, the duck knows when the spring water warms first; how could she not understand or see things clearly? Yet, she also had to follow her heart. Thinking about it closely, she felt she was being ridiculous. What was she, anyway? An assistant who was advised to resign yet refused to leave, not even a lover. His legitimate family and child had fled abroad; what right did she have to be "unwaveringly loyal" to him? Was there any meaning to it? But she couldn't escape her feelings for Old Han. She couldn't simply label it as love or not; this emotion contained many complex elements—love, respect, and a sense of chivalrous loyalty. She admired Han Guang, feeling that he was worth following and worth waiting for.
In the worst-case scenario, he would be locked away. In that case, she would simply have to start from scratch and build a new life; but as long as he could ever walk out, she would surely accompany him to make a comeback. Wasn't that what that someone-or-other Chu did? And that person was even older. To live, a person had to carry a spark of inner drive. She loved Han Guang's richness, loved his twisting, turning fate, and loved the projection and condensation of the entire era upon his person. Being with Han Guang made her feel as though she were stationed in some secret epicenter of the era, living every single day to the fullest.
After sitting there for yet another day, at dusk, Yu Rui came down from the skyscraper and dropped by Sister Jia's shop to check in. Yu Jia was busy packing takeout orders. She asked Yu Rui if she was hungry. Yu Rui only asked for a drink.
There weren't as many customers at night as there were at noon. Yu Rui sat in the corner facing the door, tilting her head to watch Sister Jia bustle about. She admired Yu Jia for being able to pull through such massive upheavals; this could be considered her second spring, couldn't it? Casting Liren aside, Sister Jia had instead managed to live life for herself. Yu Rui thought of Bai Yuankai again; she had long since known this "secret"—that Bai Yuankai held a bit of a torch for Yu Jia. Yet, would it ever blossom and bear fruit? Hard to say. Therefore, it remained uncertain.
Such was life. Where on earth was there any stability in life? After rushing around for a while, Yu Jia stole a moment of leisure to sit with Rui. She asked about matters at the Group, and Yu Rui gave a brief summary, leaving Yu Jia troubled. She was always capable of empathy, putting herself in others' shoes. "You can only wait," Yu Jia said. She could also sense Yu Rui's romantic feelings for Han Guang through her words. Yu Rui nodded. Yu Jia added, "Perhaps it's a blessing in disguise." Yu Rui blinked in bewilderment, failing to understand. Yu Jia smiled and quoted a lyric: "Once you've seen through wind and rain, who is left to watch the steady stream with you?"
Yu Rui understood in a second. Yes, it was an opportunity. Yet she had never thought of scheming; she would simply follow her heart and let nature take its course. Three people walked through the front door. Yu Rui felt they looked familiar.
It was Liren's younger sister! Before she even had a chance to reach out and greet her, Liren's sister uttered a single command: "Smash!" Two brawny men immediately swung iron bars, creating a deafening clatter as they began wrecking the place.
Customers scattered in all directions. Shocked, Yu Jia spun around to intervene, but accidentally tumbled to the floor.
Yu Rui blocked the way in front, screaming, "Stop right there! I'm calling the police!"
Fearing that her piercing voice would draw a crowd, the thugs paused temporarily. Liren's sister took a few steps forward. Two cooks—an older woman and a young man—ran out from the back kitchen, gripping kitchen knives and holding them aloft.
Yu Jia scrambled to her feet, wedging herself in the middle. "Nobody move!" Yu Rui reached for her phone, intending to dial. Yu Jia grabbed her hand and stopped her. "Don't call!"
Glaring at Yu Jia with bitter hatred, Liren's sister demanded, "Do you know where you went wrong?"
Yu Jia said with a sorrowful ache, "Little sister, you can't be so unreasonable—" dragging out the tone.
Liren's sister snapped, "Reasonable? Whether you want a civil or a martial contest, I'll accompany you to the very end. You ruined my brother's reputation; getting smashed ten times over is what you deserve!" Yu Rui stepped forward to reason with her, but Yu Jia stopped her with a wave. Showing no trace of fear, Yu Jia walked right up to Liren's sister. "Little sister, while your brother was alive, I was his wife. After his death, I still am. Through everything, I have stuck to a single principle: conceal the bad and praise the good."
Liren's sister laughed with bitter mockery. "Blowing the whistle and making denunciations—is that how you conceal the bad and praise the good?"
Yu Jia retorted, "Before the organization, I cannot lie! Your brother proposed a divorce to me while he was still alive. As for whether he sought out someone else or what the circumstances were, I neither knew nor understood, nor did I care to find out. Even if he did have someone on the side, and the organization deemed it serious, I wouldn't argue over it. When a person dies, the lamp goes out; what's the use of being angry at a dead man? As for the final verdict—whether his merits and demerits balanced out, or whether his faults outweighed his contributions—that's not for me to decide! That is the judgment of history. Little sister, I believe you are a reasonable person. We are both women, and I have no wish to air your sister-in-law's miseries to you; I only want you to let the truth be known, so you can weigh things in your own heart and see what right and wrong, merits and faults truly amount to! I opened this shop not just for myself, but also for Sisi. She will be returning to China soon. I hope she can have something to lean on in the future!"
While Yu Jia was speaking, Yu Rui rapidly typed out a message on her phone.
The moment her voice trailed off, Bai Yuankai walked in with three other men, ready for "armed resistance." Yu Jia looked at Yu Rui, realizing she was the one who had called him. Fearing a real brawl would blow things out of proportion and become impossible to clean up, she cried out, "Bai! Go back!"
Yuankai was caught in a dilemma. Liren's sister sneered, "Oh look, bringing in backup! Hmph, I can take three by myself!" She clearly had practiced combat sports.
"What a coincidence, I can take five—two more than you." Yuankai still retained his sense of humor.
Yu Jia barked, "This is a family matter! Go back!"
Yuankai didn't budge, standing in a standoff against Liren's sister and her companions.
"There are still people watching from the company," Bai Yuankai played psychological warfare.
Liren's sister scoffed, "You're always sticking your nose into this! You've got guts!" Turning back, she barked an order to retreat, swiftly leading her people away. In an instant, the tension drained from Yu Jia's muscles, and she collapsed limply into a chair. The two cooks lowered their knives.
Yu Rui spat toward the direction of the door. "A family of bandits!" Yu Jia was simultaneously exasperated, ashamed, and heartbroken. This was a shop she had painstakingly built from scratch; getting smashed up like this meant it would take a while just to recover its vitality. Since Yu Rui was like a sister, it was easy enough to brush off. But for Xiao Bai, this was the second time witnessing the chaotic state of her former husband's family. An ignorant, reckless, willful, and savage younger sister-in-law bringing people to smash up a shop—it was simply the stuff of fantasy.
She felt somewhat annoyed that Yu Rui had called Xiao Bai over. Bai Yuankai, Yu Rui, and the chefs began cleaning up and putting everything back in its place one by one—the chairs, the toothpick holders scattered on the floor, the salt shakers, the shattered vinegar bottles, and the soy sauce jars. Both Bai and Rui wanted to comfort Yu Jia, but Yu Jia waved them off. "All of you, go back." Bai Yuankai still wanted to ask a few more questions. Firmly, Yu Jia repeated, "All of you, go back." She would handle the mess herself.
Yu Rui and Yuankai exchanged a helpless glance and had no choice but to leave first. Then Yu Rui's phone rang; it was Yu Jia's. Checking the caller ID, she saw it was a call from Yu Meng. She pressed answer and asked in a weak, drained voice, but upon hearing the trembling, subdued voice on the other end, she managed to grasp the gist of what was being said. Yu Jia sprang to her feet and jogged over to the entrance. "Don't leave!" she called out to Yuankai and Yu Rui.
The situation was critical. Even she lost her composure; in all her years, she had never encountered anything like this. Liren's sister's primitive weapon-smashing pale into absolute insignificance compared to what Yu Meng was facing. Bai Yuankai and Yu Rui turned back.
Stumbling over her words, Yu Jia explained the situation. Though disjointed, the core meaning was clear enough. Yu Rui was similarly dumbfounded. Bai Yuankai bit his lip. "Should I go over there?"
"No! You can't go!" Yu Jia blurted out instinctively. She couldn't let Xiao Bai go throw himself into such danger. Yet, Yu Meng was currently trapped in a perilous situation, hanging by a thread. What to do? What to do, what to do?! Anxious to the point of blinking rapidly, Yu Rui watched as Bai Yuankai frantically scrolled through his phone, searching for anyone who could help. "I'll contact the embassy," he said. That was an option. But it was probably too late. Feeling her temples throb violently, Yu Jia took a deep breath and picked up her phone once more. At this point, she believed this person had the right to know Meng's plight.