The Vanishing Beauty - Chapter 3 - 6

Chapter 3 - 6

At the entrance of the concert hall, Yu Meng smiled like a blooming flower. Haoyu went inside first. Zhengyu had been assigned to follow his dad that day. Yu Meng only brought her eldest son to scout the venue.

A middle-aged man walked over, wearing a nondescript jacket. Yu Meng called out his name directly. The man extended his right hand to shake, while pointing a finger into midair with his left. "Yu Meng." Yu Meng hurriedly acknowledged, saying it was a pleasure to meet him.

She had already secretly done her background research. When making phone calls to notify those people, she had managed to search for photos of many of them online; they were prominent figures holding their own in society. Yu Meng matched names to faces, making her greeting work even more mesmerizing and leaving everyone feeling as though they were bathed in a spring breeze.

Of course, many more important guests had already entered early through the back door. Before the performance began, the Xin family rested in the VIP lounge. This brief window of time was exceptionally precious, and countless people scrambled to see them.

Yu Jia kept watch backstage. Solo performances were interspersed with ensemble pieces, and the host was the children's "senior schoolmate" Bai Yuankai. With a strong sense of punctuality, he had arrived early and was waiting on standby to ensure nothing could possibly go wrong. Yu Jia was still taken aback when she looked up and saw Yuankai. Having been busy for days, Yu Meng had actually failed to tell her that Xiao Bai would be there too.

Seeing Yu Jia around, Bai Yuankai also looked a bit flustered. "If I'd known you were here, I would've come earlier."

He had arrived early enough as it was.

The makeup artist stepped forward, holding a powder puff to dab at his nose and forehead.

"Go tend to your business," Yu Jia said.

"You have to come next time."

Yu Jia didn't understand what he meant.

"To shoot footage."

"I know," Yu Jia murmured softly. She didn't want people around them to know they were well-acquainted. For a middle-aged woman like her to be too close to a "senior schoolmate" was improper. The children began filing in noisily, and Yu Jia patiently maintained order. Sisi hadn't come; she had English tutoring that evening, and skipping class wasn't worth it. Yu Jia felt that such an occasion had nothing to do with Sisi. Even if she came, it wouldn't forge any "effective networking."

A gust of wind swept past. Yu Meng's eyes lit up.

It was Di Liren. By his side was a young, beautiful woman. Yet Yu Meng thought she looked like an absolute sluttery tease. One could tell just by looking at her miniskirt. Wearing a miniskirt in this weather? What was she playing at? Acting like raw meat on display?

Liren spotted Yu Meng as well. Failing to control his expression, he looked slightly startled. He adjusted instantly, turned his head to murmur something to the woman beside him, and the woman entered through ticket lane A. Liren walked up to stand before Yu Meng.

Yu Meng looked at him, smiling without a word.

"Sisi's English teacher," he explained. It sounded a bit like the thief protesting his own innocence with a sign reading "no silver buried here." "We ran into each other at the door," he offered a second explanation.

Yu Meng reached out her hand and asked, "Which row, which seat?" Liren presented his ticket.

"Over here," Yu Meng directed him toward ticket lane B. More people arrived, and Yu Meng stepped forward to greet them, leaving her no time to chat further with Liren. Since Yu Jia was staff, she didn't need a ticket. Yu Meng had given her two extra tickets, implying she should bring her family.

Who would have thought that Liren's "gracious presence" this time wasn't thanks to the light of his wife? He had just returned from a business trip out of town and had come to listen to the concert on the "tip" of a fellow townsman.

Yu Rui supported Yu Shuang as they arrived together. The moment they bumped into each other, Yu Meng half-jokingly criticized Yu Shuang, "Draw the line somewhere, you know. There's only one mother in this world, and only she can spoil you like that. Xiao Kang is not bad."

Not knowing how to respond, Yu Shuang felt awkward. Pursuing equality was too exhausting. More seriously, her world was self-contained and spun on its own axis; she didn't seem to need any external revolution. For instance, during the period when Kang Long stayed over, with each occupying a separate room, she didn't feel he had integrated into her life at all. At most, it was just the addition of a shared-apartment roommate, along with the annoyance of competing for the bathroom.

Yu Rui's analysis was, "That's because you haven't fallen in love with him yet."

Yu Shuang asked, "Are you talking about love at first sight? That's a bit tough at our age."

Yu Rui replied, "Even without love at first sight, feelings can be slowly cultivated. Humans are emotional animals."

Yu Shuang countered, "You're talking about familial affection, not romantic love."

Yu Rui had no choice but to shut her mouth.

Yu Shuang turned the tables and pressed on, "Do you love him?"

"Who?"

"Your man right now."

"He's all right."

"That means you don't love him."

"Stretching logic to its limits!"

"He's coming to pick you up tonight," Yu Shuang chuckled.

After the concert ended, Shi Tongguang was coming to pick Yu Rui "home." She had been staying at her maiden home for days now; if she stayed any longer, she felt like she'd end up breaking up with him. Yu Rui had no choice but to agree.

"Why that face?" Yu Shuang asked.

"What?" Yu Rui said. "I don't have a face."

"No expression is an expression." Yu Shuang analyzed, growing suddenly sensitive. "I can tell you just don't want to go back."

"I'm worried about you."

"Oh, come on!" Yu Shuang gripped Yu Rui's hand. "Come back anytime. I'll keep a room for you." As she spoke, she made as if to kiss Yu Rui. Yu Rui laughed. "Are you a lesbian?" Yu Shuang put on a cheeky grin. "Not right now, but I'll let you know when I am." Pausing for a moment, she added, "How did that little boss get so lucky anyway?"

"What does he have to do with it?"

"If I were a man, I'd want to marry you. You're smart, pretty, sensible..."

"Stop right there," Yu Rui called a halt. "Cross out the word 'smart'." It was undeserved. She had scored in the forties on her college entrance exam math test. Yet what Yu Shuang meant by smart wasn't the same thing.

Having greeted a wave of guests, Yu Meng turned back to chat with Shuang and Rui. Out of politeness, Yu Rui asked if Haoyu and Zhengyu were back. Yu Meng said Haoyu had already gone inside to wait for the performance to start. Yu Shuang and Yu Rui entered through ticket lane A; their seats were in the front row, and Yu Shuang felt quite pampered. Yu Rui remarked, "Look who arranged it."

It was Bai Yuankai who had given them the tickets.

Once seated, Yu Shuang stared at the stage. The dust on the floorboards was faintly visible. Truly, she had experienced being an important guest for once.

Yu Rui looked around, failing to spot Kang Long's figure. Searching further, she discovered Luan Haoyu sitting against the wall in the very last row. Exchanging a few words with Yu Shuang, she went over to greet Haoyu.

"Auntie Xiao Rui," Haoyu greeted her. Yu Rui suddenly noticed someone else sitting beside Haoyu—a young woman. Yu Rui merely glanced at her twice before Luan Haoyu explained, "My classmate."

The girl offered a greeting, announced she needed to use the restroom, and stood up to leave. Smiling, Yu Rui raised a single finger. "You and her?"

Luan Haoyu said, "Auntie, what are you thinking? I'm still a minor, my little sapling hasn't even grown yet." The two Luan boys were worlds apart; Luan Haoyu was outgoing, unafraid of strangers, and handsome, attracting girls who liked him since elementary school. Zhengyu, on the other hand, was introverted and weighed down by heavy thoughts, though academically superior to Haoyu.

Yu Meng had always said the eldest son took after her, while the second son took after his dad. After a brief chat, Haoyu suddenly asked, "Auntie Xiao Rui, let me ask you something." Finding it strange, Yu Rui smiled and told him to go ahead.

"My mom and my dad... are they having problems?" Haoyu asked directly. When he and Zhengyu returned to China, Yu Meng had been too busy and never found the time for the whole family to sit down and talk. To some extent, Yu Meng was also evading the issue. Delaying it for as long as possible—at least until the Xin family concert concluded successfully.

"That I wouldn't know," Yu Rui replied instantly and naturally.

"That means they are."

"Let nature take its course." Yu Rui didn't know how to smooth it over.

"My mom doesn't even live at home anymore."

"She's busy." What a pale excuse.

"I'm not against them... finding..." He cleared his throat. "...happiness."

Stumbling over his words. What an open-minded child.

Choosing not to speak, Yu Rui simply listened.

"I'm just afraid my mom won't live a good life."

Yu Rui's heart ached. Such a good kid.

"Your mom can take care of herself. Your mom is very formidable."

Haoyu chuckled. "You think so?"

"Of course. Your mom is the most formidable one out there."

A simple greeting had broken her out in a fine sweat. Cutting off the conversation, Yu Rui returned to her front-row seat. She found there was a difficulty in chatting with a kid like Haoyu: you treated him like a child, but his psychological state wasn't necessarily that of a child. Yet he still wore the disguise of youth—advancing to attack or retreating to defend at will. You were always exposed in the open, leaving you vulnerable to hidden arrows.

The moment Yu Rui left, the girl returned.

"Who was that?" she asked. "Your aunt?"

"Auntie."

"She's quite pretty," she praised.

"Still a bit short of my mom."

The girl had originally wanted to say they weren't of the same generation, but swallowed the words back just in time. A refined middle-aged man stepped forward, calling out across several rows of seats, "Xiqian!" The girl hurriedly stood up, whispered a quick explanation to Haoyu, "My dad's calling me," and followed the man toward the emergency exit.

The crowd was growing denser. The concert hall was bustling with noise. Most of the guests had already been welcomed in. Scanning the room, Yu Meng spotted her son sitting in the last row and immediately grew displeased. "Why are you hiding back here? Get to the front!" She was unsatisfied with her son's lack of activity. Yet as a young overseas student returning home who knew no one, who was he supposed to chat with?

Most other people, however, were chatting animatedly, standing in small groups of two or three with the radiant joy of meeting old friends in a foreign land. They had the Xin family to thank; if not for this violin concert, some of them probably wouldn't have made a separate appointment to meet face-to-face even if they lived to be old.

Meeting someone meant a show of civility. True or false aside—nothing could be guaranteed the moment they turned their backs. They appraised each other's status, learned of each other's circumstances, and then packed it all up to take home, analyzing and gossiping about it for an entire year.

Standing at the front of the auditorium, Yu Meng looked out toward the back. Suddenly, she noticed people continuously exiting through the middle doors. Oh—remembering it now, Yu Meng clicked her tongue, scolding herself for being foolish. How could she have forgotten to make an appearance in the VIP lounge? The performance had ended and it was getting late; the Xin family wouldn't linger much longer. Right now was the most crucial socializing time.

"Haoyu—" Yu Meng shouted.

Luan Haoyu turned around like a prairie dog, brimming with alertness.

Yu Meng called out again. In two or three strides, Haoyu reached his mother's side.

"Follow me," Yu Meng commanded, like an underground operative.