The Vanishing Beauty - Chapter 2 - 12

Chapter 2 - 12

Bolstered by Bai Yuankai's backing, Yu Meng secured a vote of confidence and quickly gained entry into Mrs. Xin's social circle. Making connections was the main objective. Yu Meng discovered that Mrs. Xin was surrounded by quite a few political and business luminaries. Compared to them, Luan Chengyun could only be considered a third-rate, insignificant little boss.

Ha... hmph... bah!

Because of this, Yu Meng became even more convinced that her divorce had been brilliantly and utterly correct. With the vast world before her, why on earth should she continue putting up with a little boss's attitude, let alone endure a humiliating slap across the face—what was the big deal anyway? She had merely chimed in while they were discussing business. Was he right? Over all these years, he had plenty of romantic flings outside! She had simply turned a blind eye because she was weighed down by a child and had no way to assert herself; otherwise, she would have kicked him out long ago. However, having just stepped foot into Mrs. Xin's "territory," Yu Meng currently could only secure the "positions" of "chauffeur" and "doorman."

When an enterprise under the Xin family hosted a large-scale event, Yu Meng was called over to "help out," with her duties divided into two parts: picking people up and greeting guests. For instance, on this particular day, she was assigned to pick up a "leader" whose surname was Zu. The leader's car had broken down halfway, and Mrs. Xin had dispatched Yu Meng to save the day. Accepting the command, Yu Meng executed the mission exceptionally well. She introduced herself as a director of the Women Entrepreneurs Association and a good friend of Mrs. Xin. Of course, after picking him up, she conducted a comprehensive background check on the said Leader Zu: divorced, with a daughter studying abroad, in his early fifties, part of the rising young elite, with a handsome and upright appearance that resembled a certain male actor from a tonic commercial.

He won hands down over Luan Chengyun in every single aspect.

Yu Meng was in no rush; this pickup was merely her debut appearance. She acted with such reserve that she felt almost nothing like her usual self, asking only when spoken to, keeping her answers brief, and letting her poise, temperament, and beauty do the talking. Once they arrived at the destination, she escorted him inside. As for herself, she took up a post at the entrance of the grand hotel to help welcome guests.

Right as she stood facing the entrance, Luan Chengyun actually walked over.

Abominable! When on earth did he manage to board this massive ship? Shameless wretch! Yu Meng cursed inwardly. Her instinct was to duck away. But then she thought twice: what on earth did she have to be afraid of when it came to him?

So she continued to stand there with poised dignity.

As Luan Chengyun drew closer, she noticed his complexion was a bit more tanned, as if he had just returned from Southeast Asia.

"New job?" he asked in a provocative tone.

"Get lost!" Yu Meng kept her voice down while maintaining a smile on her face for everyone else. For Luan Chengyun, she had nothing left but fierce reprimands.

"Did Sister Jia deliver my message?" he asked again.

"I don't know you."

"I agree to remarry."

Yu Meng had no choice but to walk away since she couldn't shake him off. "I don't have time to play your games!"

Luan Chengyun pursued her closely, picking up his pace. "Taken a fancy to someone else? Do you need me to help you vet him? My two sons aren't easy to deal with." He still wore that cheeky grin.

"Shameless!" Yu Meng was successfully provoked into anger. When guests passed by her side, she instantly plastered a smile back on her face, awkward though it might be.

"You should go into Sichuan opera face-changing." Luan Chengyun reached out and waved his hand back and forth in front of his own face, mimicking sound effects under his breath: pa-pa-pa-pa, "Face-changing is your specialty."

Unable to bear Luan Chengyun's relentless teasing and pestering, Yu Meng hurried briskly into the banquet hall, where Mrs. Xin happened to be walking toward her. Grabbing onto Mrs. Xin like a drowning person clutching a straw, Yu Meng stepped forward. Mrs. Xin took Yu Meng's hand, praising her hard work and expressing her gratitude. Yu Meng hastily replied that it was only her duty. Meanwhile, Luan Chengyun stepped forward to greet Mr. Xin, as the two of them had crossed paths slightly in business dealings. Mr. Xin held a fairly positive view of Luan's work ethic.

Watching out of the corner of her eye as Luan Chengyun hobnobbed warmly with Mr. Xin, Yu Meng felt thoroughly displeased. The joy she had derived from latching onto Mrs. Xin's network seemed to instantly drop by half. Noticing Yu Meng constantly glancing in that direction, Mrs. Xin added a casual remark, "That's little Luan, a friend of my husband's. He does all kinds of business, a very capable man who just got divorced. I'll introduce you two later." With that, Mrs. Xin patted the back of Yu Meng's hand as if making a solemn promise.

Yu Meng muttered a couple of perfunctory acknowledgments, staring blankly.

"Miss Yu," someone called out. Lifting her head, she saw Leader Zu. He had come looking for her again. Yet Yu Meng desperately hoped this scene wouldn't be witnessed by Luan Chengyun, lest he pick up on the smallest clues and stir up trouble down the line.

Yu Meng hurried away, turning back at the last second to whisper to Leader Zu, "I'm so sorry, I'm a bit busy. My WeChat is my phone number." Glancing sideways with her peripheral vision, she noticed that Luan Chengyun was indeed looking in their direction.

Ever since the family gathering, Yu Shuang felt her attitude toward Kang Long was somewhat contradictory. Breaking up was out of the question. However, Kang's performance didn't entirely satisfy her. Shuang felt Rui's analysis was spot on: Kang Long was a virgin field. The advantage was his pure simplicity, but the disadvantage was also his sheer density.

She had to channel Pangu, splitting the heaven and earth apart before she could ever sort out their relationship.

With pleasing facial features and a scholarly temperament, he was precisely the type of man Yu Shuang favored. It was simply that this Kang Long occasionally made one feel as though he didn't care about you at all. Otherwise, why would he buy wife cakes and eat them himself, or actually enforce mahjong scores to the letter? He was utterly incapable of grasping those subtle interpersonal nuances—he was even further removed from worldly reality than Yu Shuang herself.

Yet, on the occasional moment, you would suddenly feel that he cared about you deeply. Otherwise, why would he insist on putting Yu Shuang's name as the beneficiary on his life insurance policy? Teasingly, Yu Shuang had asked him, "Aren't you afraid I'll harm you and then run off with the money?" To which Kang Long emphasized, "Didn't I say it's after we get married?" Bringing up marriage yet again, as if the entire future had already been mapped out. Yet he still hadn't managed a proper proposal. Over all these years, when it came to romantic relationships, Yu Shuang had always guarded a single bottom line: equality. Men and women had to be equals; a woman shouldn't wait on a man or spoil him. Yet, deep down in her heart, she couldn't help occasionally, unexpectedly, and faintly wishing that a man would spoil her just a little bit. In the past, this "position" had been filled by her late mother—who had been so dedicated and performed it so brilliantly that she made Kang Long look like a slacker who was uninvested, uncommitted, and just coasting through life. If he were an employee in her company, Yu Shuang would have fired him ages ago. But in a romantic relationship, that simply wouldn't do.

The standard of equality was one she had set herself.

Kang Long expressed his wholehearted agreement. "I love your awareness of equality."

He showered her with praise.

Yu Shuang felt a bit awkward hearing it.

Kang Long reasoned, "From the very beginning, the two of us were equal."

Yu Shuang didn't understand.

Kang Long explained, "My mom passed away, and your mom passed away too. That's equality."

Though Yu Shuang didn't quite agree that this constituted equality, their romance had indeed sparked due to this exact coincidence.

"You own an apartment, and I own an apartment too," he said, ticking them off on his fingers.

Equality again. Yu Shuang purposely tried to pick a bone. "You're a Ph.D., and I'm a Master's degree holder—that's unequal."

Kang Long hurriedly waved his hands. "No, no. Can you cook? I can't. A Master's degree holder who can cook is the equivalent of a Ph.D."

Barely passing as equal.

Yu Shuang continued picking faults. "Your dad is still alive, but my dad has passed away. That's unequal."

Kang Long rushed to counter, "No, no. You have a younger brother who's also male—he corresponds to my dad. That's equal."

"The ages are different."

"Your brother has two kids, which adds up to roughly my dad's age." How utterly absurd—even that counted as equality in his book.

However, the equality rule between the two of them was soon broken. During the Qingming Festival, Yu Shuang accompanied Kang Long to visit the graves. Upon returning, just as she planned to go pay respects at her own mother's grave, a delegation from Kang Long's school scheduled a visit to Israel. It was a rare opportunity that he simply couldn't miss. Yu Shuang had no choice but to temporarily compromise, though she harbored lingering resentment and couldn't help complaining to Yu Rui. Rui advised her, "I'll accompany you instead. Isn't this just a case of special circumstances requiring special treatment?" Yu Shuang retorted, "When it comes to his affairs, I brave wind and rain without fail, but when it comes to mine, it's special treatment? What kind of person is he?"

Yu Rui reasoned, "You can't calculate things that strictly. A man and woman in a relationship are partners, not parallel lines. If you demand absolute equality everywhere, you'll exhaust yourself to death."

Out of sorts, Yu Shuang snapped, "Well, I haven't seen him accommodating me yet! I'm a woman; shouldn't I be entitled to take advantage a little more?"

Yu Rui laughed. "That's just fake feminism of yours."

Just as they were talking, her phone rang. It was a call from Kang Long. Over there in his hotel room, he hadn't forgotten to help pray and make blessings for Shuang's late mother, intending to recite the Great Compassion Mantra over a video call.

"Go ahead and chant it then," Yu Shuang propped her phone up. She and Yu Rui went off to apply facial masks, as Yu Meng hadn't returned yet. With a smile, Yu Rui remarked, "Look at that, this isn't bad at all. He's chanting the Great Compassion Mantra for you right on Jesus's turf—what more could you possibly want?" Yu Shuang scoffed, saying he was just putting on a superficial show of formalism.

Yu Rui asked another question. "You two keep your finances separate, right?"

"Of course." To Yu Shuang, this was only natural. They hadn't reached the stage of financial integration yet.

"Talk about true equality."

"Are things even official between us yet?" Yu Rui looked at Shuang through the mirror. Yu Shuang didn't catch her meaning at first, so Yu Rui made a subtle hand gesture. Blushing furiously, Yu Shuang swatted at her. Yu Rui chuckled, "If you manage to maintain equality even at that stage, then I'll truly admire your skills." Yu Shuang laughed and retorted, "Even then it'll be equal, even if the heavens are turned upside down." Yu Rui burst into hearty laughter, and Yu Shuang joined in.

Once the laughter died down, Yu Rui gently took Yu Shuang's hand. "Thank you."

"What do you mean?"

"Sister Meng probably won't be staying with you much longer," Yu Rui said. "I can't hold you back either. When you talk things over with Kang, you need your private space."

"What do you mean?!" Yu Shuang guessed what Rui was hinting at.

"I need to move out," Yu Rui said.

"Aren't you afraid I'll jump off a building?" Yu Shuang panicked.

"I won't be living far away." Yu Rui stepped forward to give Yu Shuang a hug. Yu Shuang felt a swirling mix of emotions in her chest. "It's all his fault." Yu Rui offered a soft smile.

With her face still covered in skincare mud, Yu Shuang asked, "If you hadn't found him, would you have just stayed keeping me company all this time?"

"That wouldn't do either." Yu Rui offered a gentle refusal. She wasn't her mother. However, Yu Rui still kept a secret to herself: she had already accepted Shi Tongguang's confession and agreed to be his girlfriend.