The Vanishing Beauty - Chapter 3 - 1

Chapter 3 - 1

Through Yu Jia's introduction, Di Liren had a phone call with Bai Yuankai. There was indeed room for cooperation.

Yuankai was polite and dedicated, quickly contacting a friend who started a business in data annotation. Through remote task distribution, they improved the work efficiency of employment for people with disabilities. Meanwhile, Yuankai also introduced the artificial intelligence he was currently working on. Liren integrated the relevant enterprises in the development zone, and Yuankai went to set up a demonstration, starting with small-scale pilot projects to help shipping, wind power, and rail transit enterprises with intelligent optimization and improved production efficiency. This move was welcomed by the enterprises, and Liren was praised by the leadership for his contribution to the integration.

The leadership gave him a four-word assessment: Keep pace with the times.

This was virtually the highest commendation Di Liren had received since being transferred to the metropolis.

Revolution has no order of precedence, and official positions carry no distinction of noble or humble; they are all important. Yet Di Liren had always wanted to change positions, as his current one made it very difficult to stand out. He brought it up once, but the leadership refused, advising him to work hard. Now that some achievements had suddenly popped up, Liren believed the foundation had finally been consolidated. In the future, during peak years, his chances of transfer would increase. Therefore, he was all the more grateful to Yuankai. The two men had met once at a meeting and kept things strictly professional. Ever since the Eight-point Regulation, Liren rarely ate or drank outside. Once everything was settled, Liren insisted on inviting Yuankai to his home for dinner. Yuankai expressed worry, saying that if they really wanted to treat him, they could set a table outside; why bother making trouble at home?

Liren's expression changed slightly. "What do you mean? Is my home not fit to be seen? It's just the home of a plain public servant, and it's not ugly!" Yuankai hurriedly said she didn't mean that. She had no choice but to start preparing. Inviting Yuankai alone seemed a bit strange, so Yuankai invited Yu Shuang to accompany them. Shuang agreed immediately. With Yu Rui moving out and Yu Meng never staying home all day, Yu Shuang's workload had decreased. She didn't need to work overtime on weekends, and Kang Long hadn't returned from Israel yet. She was bored.

Yu Jia was a bit nervous. This was the first time she was hosting an "outsider" since coming to the metropolis. She thought hard and tried her utmost to maintain dignity. After cleaning up neatly, she even remembered to buy a bunch of chrysanthemums and placed them next to the television. This was a home; it had to be simple and cozy.

All morning, aside from cooking, Yu Jia was tidying up in the living room.

Liren found her bustling about annoying. "Can you stop wandering around? Is all this fuss necessary? It's not like we're welcoming a heavenly deity." He had seen all kinds of grand spectacles. Yu Jia said, "We still have to give people a good impression. We'll be cooperating in the future, and it will help your work too. He's someone who will come in handy." Liren said, "Like a vegetable peddler beating a gong, it's a one-shot deal. Am I going to manage disabled people forever?" Yu Jia couldn't reason with him, so she went back to her own tasks.

When the time came, Yu Shuang and Yuankai arrived together. Yuankai had picked up Shuang.

As soon as they entered the door, Liren joked, "Oh, a pair."

Yu Shuang hurriedly waved her hands, saying no, no. Yu Jia awkwardly chimed in, "Xiao Shuang has a boyfriend, a Ph.D." Liren remarked, "President Bai is also a Ph.D., after all." Bai Yuankai laughed and said, "Ph.D.s are everywhere. A degree is just an experience; you have to do practical work." Sisi came out of her room. She loved leaning close to Yuankai and asked to take a photo together. Yuankai wasn't wearing his glasses today. Sisi said he looked like the South Korean star Gong Yoo.

Yu Shuang went into the kitchen to talk to Yu Jia about the changes at home. The men were talking in the living room. Sisi continued with her homework.

"Where did Xiao Rui move to?" Yu Jia asked.

"She didn't say in detail, just that it's not far."

"Didn't you ask?"

"Privacy."

"Living alone? Or sharing an apartment with those actor friends of hers?"

Yu Shuang said, "She didn't mention either. I wanted to go see, but she wouldn't let me." The fish head was boiling in the pot, and Yu Shuang reached out with chopsticks to poke it, then added, "Come to think of it, I saw Rui's classmate in a show a few days ago."

"Which classmate?" Yu Jia couldn't match the name. She didn't understand Yu Rui's private life as deeply as Yu Shuang did.

"The one who looks like Wang Kai."

"What did he play?"

"He played a Fire Tribe prince with a head of red hair."

Yu Jia lost interest in pursuing the topic and instead asked how Meng was doing. Yu Shuang only said she was also moving out soon and had been traveling abroad a lot lately. Yu Jia sighed. "Asking for trouble yourself—getting a divorce. Ah, is a divorce that easy to get?" Yu Shuang retorted, "Suppose, I'm just saying suppose, suppose you were Sister Meng, and your husband had affairs outside and then even raised a hand against you, would you divorce or not?"

Yu Jia was at a loss for words. Deep down, she held fast to the principle of not getting a divorce. Yet, being asked like this by Yu Shuang, it seemed a bit spineless not to divorce. She had no choice but to take a roundabout approach. "You can't just get a divorce the moment there's an inkling of trouble. Didn't Xie Xingfang also forgive Lin Dan? Acting on impulse to divorce only makes those who love you grieve and those who hate you glad. Violence is even harder to define; sometimes accidental slips can't be ruled out. We all consider Xiao Luan well, so he shouldn't be the kind of person who resorts to violence."

Yu Shuang bluntly stated, "You mean Sister Meng is making unreasonable a fuss?"

"I didn't say that either."

"What Luan Chengyun is like behind closed doors, we don't know either. Just like brother-in-law." Yu Shuang glanced outside the door. "Just like brother-in-law. Right now, he looks like a public servant, but behind closed doors, he might just be a wolf or a tiger." She let out a muffled laugh.

"Stop talking nonsense," Yu Jia gently objected.

"A wolf at thirty, a tiger at forty," Yu Shuang explained with a cheeky smile.

An unintended remark, yet it touched Yu Jia's sore spot. Where were the wolves, where were the tigers? Liren either worked overtime and stayed at the office these days, or slept in the study; they were basically living apart... But such things couldn't even be told to her mother-in-law, let alone outsiders. Yu Jia felt bitter inside. However, today Yuankai had come, and Liren was happy. It was rare for someone to be able to talk to him about Marx. Yuankai even brought wine. Lunch wasn't enough; the two of them drank and talked, moving from Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844, The German Ideology, and Wage Labour and Capital, to The Civil War in France, The Holy Family, then to The Poverty of Philosophy and Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right. Di Liren quoted extensively, his thoughts soaring freely, at times serious, at times laughing heartily. This release was something he had never experienced and could never have at work. Some of the knowledge even Yuankai didn't know, but fortunately his foundation was solid and he was clever enough, so playing the supporting role as a straight man was no problem at all.

Liren still ordered Yu Jia around, either telling her to serve dishes or pour tea, or occasionally snapping at her, "What do you know?" In front of outsiders, Yu Jia couldn't strip her husband of his dignity. Liren was drunk. She had to bear with it. From Liren's suddenly revealed unrestrained abandon, she deeply realized that her husband had accumulated so much pressure inside. Only with the help of alcohol, and with the help of Yuankai—an unrelated friend outside his circle—could it be released.

It was also Yu Shuang's first time seeing this side of her brother-in-law. Men all turned into bastards once they started drinking. She was dissatisfied with Liren ordering Sister Jia around. Yet Yu Jia's eager busyness left Yu Shuang with nothing to say. It was all willingly done.

They chatted and drank until dark. Red wine, baijiu, beer.

Liren was already so drunk that he lay on the bed sleeping heavily. Yuankai was vaguely conscious, but only enough to state his home address. Yu Shuang had drunk some red wine, and the alcohol fumes hadn't dissipated. Yu Jia felt she had a duty to send her guests home safely. Yu Shuang said, "Sister, don't bother sending him, just call a designated driver." Yu Jia wasn't at ease. The news had just broadcasted stories of designated drivers setting traps. "Stop talking, drive Xiao Bai's car back, so we won't have to come get it later." Yu Shuang asked, then what about you? Yu Jia said never mind about her. She intended to take the bus back no matter how far it was. The passengers were groggy; they arrived at Yu Shuang's place first. Yu Meng came down to meet them, continuously shouting and asking what was going on and who had forced them to drink. Yu Jia didn't explain much, only saying they were happy and had both had a couple of extra drinks. The second stop was Yuankai's residence. In the back seat, Bai Yuankai had completely sunk into dreamland.

The car reeked of alcohol.

Yu Jia felt a bit of regret. She had set up this gathering. She was the "culprit." Halfway through the journey, Bai Yuankai suddenly pounced forward from the back. Yu Jia was so startled she lost her bearings, and the front of the car swerved wildly, forcing her to slam on the brakes. The car came to a sudden halt on the roadside. Bai Yuankai bounced back into the back seat and resumed his sleep. Her heart still pounding, Yu Jia called out to him twice. There was no response. She straightened herself up and continued driving.

It was difficult enough getting to the destination. Only then did Yu Jia discover that Bai Yuankai lived in a famous high-end residential complex. The middle-aged women in her office would talk about nothing else but houses when they had free time—buying houses, changing houses, stepping up rung by rung, moving from ordinary to high-end, which was their life goal. One of them said, "When you buy a house, you're buying the location, but even more so, you're buying the neighbors." Another lamented, "That's why I never step outside in our residential complex. The neighbors are hateful, every single one of them. The mothers with children are ugly, every single one of them. I'm telling you, in a inferior complex, the wives those men marry are a bit uglier." Pausing for a moment, she added by way of clarification, "I'm an exception, having gone astray."

Getting him upstairs was another major challenge. Yu Jia wasn't tall, but Yuankai was strong and tall.

"Can you walk?" she asked him. He gave a vague grunt. She hoisted his arm over her shoulder. It was passable; he could walk. After much difficulty, she opened the unit access gate and got into the elevator. Half the mission was accomplished when, out of nowhere, Bai Yuankai threw up with a loud retch. Yu Jia hurriedly dodged, but some filthy matter still splattered onto her clothes. Seizing the opportunity, Yuankai started to collapse to the floor, and Yu Jia had to grab onto him with all her might. If he got dirty, she would have to help clean him up. God knows what time she would get to the end of her stops. Finally, they reached the front door.

Yu Jia fished in his trouser pockets for the keys. There were none.

Looking again, a ring of keys was hooked onto his belt loop. An old-fashioned way of hanging them. She reached out to take them. Only then did Yu Jia feel the awkwardness. A gentleman is cautious when alone; a woman must be even more vigilant against improper physical contact with men. Bai Yuankai struggled for a moment; he was still deep in his drunken stupor, but his shirt had ridden up.

His abdomen resembled a chocolate bar. He clearly spent plenty of time lifting weights.

Yu Jia felt a wave of heat rush to her face. In real life, she hadn't seen this sort of thing for a long time. She didn't go to the gym, and Liren's belly had long since merged into a single lump—like a sponge. Suddenly getting to see some meat made Yu Jia feel uneasy. Having eaten vegetarian for too long, her appetite was much smaller.

She swiftly removed the keys, pulled down his shirt, and tried the keys one by one in the keyhole to open the door. None of them worked, and she broke out in a sweat.

Bai Yuankai sat leaning against the corner of the wall, mumbling things she couldn't understand. Finally, she found the right one. Yu Jia unconsciously muttered to herself, talking about getting inside. She hoisted Yuankai up and pushed him inward. Just as she stepped into the foyer, a person was standing right in front of her, wearing an oversized T-shirt with bare legs, her hair disheveled.

"Where have you been!" Under the light, she couldn't open her eyes properly. Yu Jia was startled. She hurriedly shoved Yuankai into the woman's arms, placed the keys on the entryway table, said goodbye, and scurried off like a frightened mouse. The woman was still shouting behind her, "Don't leave! Just stay here, it's fine..."

Boarding the night bus, Yu Jia still felt her scalp tingling. Naturally, how could someone like Bai Yuankai not have a female companion? That bare-legged woman was eighty percent likely his girlfriend. Yu Jia somewhat regretted her "helping someone all the way to the end" deed from tonight—seeing things she shouldn't have seen. Never listen to what is improper, never look at what is improper, never speak of what is improper; she muttered this to herself in her heart. She felt this night was simply like being haunted by ghosts.

Who would have thought that the next day Xiao Bai would call, first to express gratitude, and second to specifically explain that the woman at his place the previous night was his cousin—who had grown used to playing around casually abroad and maintained her unrestrained style upon returning to China.

Yu Jia made no comment whatsoever. She only found it strange: such a matter, why bother bringing it up again?

Whether she was a cousin, sister, or female ghost, what did it have to do with her?

Over the phone, Yu Jia laughed. "Young people enjoying life is only right."

Her tone was like that of an elder sister. Only by hiding inside this identity did she feel safe.

Bai Yuankai said, "You don't believe it?"

Yu Jia had no choice but to go along with it and say, "A talented youth, it wouldn't do without someone to take care of him." Without waiting for Yuankai to argue further, she said she had things to attend to and hurriedly hung up the phone.