The Vanishing Beauty - Chapter 4 - 1

Chapter 4 - 1

Bringing a plunger to a gathering was required—Sisi was going with her mother, and Yujia had to fulfill her "promise." It just looked terribly unseemly to bring such an item to a dinner party, so Yujia could only wrap it tightly in courier paper and place it inside two respectable plastic bags.

It ended up looking like a gift.

Sisi saw right through her mother's thoughts and remarked, "Even you know how out of place this is."

Yujia gently patted her daughter's arm. "Speak less when we get there, and eat more."

When they arrived, the other three were already waiting. Seeing there was a gift, Yurui eagerly took it. Yujia distributed the items, saying one was for Shuang and one for Rui. Yumeng asked why there wasn't one for her. Yujia could only reply, "You don't need it." Yushuang wanted to unwrap it right away. Yujia quickly stopped her, "Open it when you get back."

Everyone had arrived. It was time to eat, except there were five people at the table. Both Yumeng and Yurui were currently in relationships and had to remain vigilant about their figures, constantly letting the words "losing weight" slip from their lips. Yujia was feuding with Liren, so she had neither the mood nor the appetite. Sisi naturally had a small appetite to begin with, and now that she was a growing girl, she had also started caring about her appearance. She usually held back during meals, and tonight's dinner was kept to an absolute minimum—eating too much made the mind foggy and affected her studies.

Consequently, Yushuang was the only one at the table tucking in with gusto.

After a short while, Sisi finished eating and excused herself first; her English class couldn't be missed.

Shuang hadn't stopped using her chopsticks yet. Yumeng knew Shuang was straightforward, so she rushed to tease her, "How are things with that Doctor Chestnut?"

Shuang replied, "Just friends."

"What does that mean?" Yujia was also curious.

"I don't want to get married right now, so we're just seeing each other first. He agreed."

Yumeng gasped, "Bold!"

Yujia smiled. "Usually it's the men who don't want to get married and the women pushing for it. You've got it backward."

Yurui kept silent. She knew about this situation with Shuang. Her own understanding was that Shuang held the advantage of a good job, assets, education, and superior looks, giving her the capital to "drag things out" and "pick and choose." Nowadays, men were also happy to start from practical realities when looking for a wife—finding someone with money who wouldn't drag them down made life easy and saved years of hard struggle.

Once they got older and established themselves, the men might get a divorce or go find a confidante—this was a mistake men under heaven constantly committed.

Of course, there were those who remained devoted from start to finish. But they were rare.

Yumeng once had a perspective that she often propagated among her sisters: "Good-looking guys cheat and ugly guys cheat too, so you might as well go for the good-looking ones. Otherwise, when you wake up at night and look over by the light, you've got a pig's head sleeping next to you—what's the point of that?"

Indeed, when it came to a beauty of Yumeng's caliber, she could "exploit her gorgeousness" when she was young. The man she found, Luan Chengyun, might have been a bit dark and had a bit small eyes, but now he happened to belong to that uniquely charming breed of man. However, even though Mengjie had reached the sunset of her youth, when she picked men, she still seemed to pick presentable ones among fifty-year-olds. For a man of that age to look pleasing to the eye required the reinforcement of "success."

Some handsome men, having failed to achieve their ambitions, turned dejected and awkward by the age of knowing one's destiny. Not to mention potbellies and baldness, they lost simply on aura alone. On the other hand, some men who were utterly plain (or even ugly) in their youth, backed by success, money, and power, and through disciplined self-cultivation (fitness, golf, calligraphy, hiking, and mountaineering), wound up forming the unique charm of mature men—hitting whatever target they pointed at and wielding power with effortless authority.

Yurui had been burned before and didn't dare casually touch a man of that age again. Any man who reached that age and achieved success had been sifted through a thousand waters and possessed a millennium of cultivation. Ordinary women were no match for them. Someone at Mengjie's level might be worth a try.

Yurui was lost in thought when Yumeng patted her. "I'm talking to you, what are you daydreaming about?" Yurui hurriedly asked what was going on. Yujia asked, "What are your plans for the Lunar New Year?"

Yurui said, "I'm staying right here. My younger sister is coming over." Her sister, Yu Qi, was still studying and was also a little beauty. Yujia said that was good, and then asked Yushuang.

Shuang said, "I might go to my younger brother's place." Her younger brother Yuching had a whole family.

Yumeng asked, "Is Kanglong going?"

Shuang replied, "Why would he go? He has a dad."

A phone call came in. Yumeng went off to the side to answer it. The topic was broken. Yujia didn't probe deeper because she was afraid of touching upon Yushuang's painful memories. Shuang's mother had passed away and their nuclear family had scattered; whenever the New Year rolled around, Yushuang didn't even have a place to go. Going to her brother's place meant just dropping by for a visit, seeing as he was her only living relative in the world. Yet everyone knew how things were over at Yuching's side: a wife, a son, a daughter, and two elderly parents—he had to support five people all by himself. The pressure was truly immense. Yujia figured Shuang must have thought about letting her younger brother come to the big city for the New Year, but if he came, what then? Would they all lean on Shuang? Putting everything else aside, if her sister-in-law saw Shuang's big apartment, she'd probably start eyeing it. Free housing was too good to pass up.

Seeing a look of desolation cross Yushuang's face, Yujia immediately added, "We're only going back to our hometown for a few days. Come over on the fifth day of the New Year, and we'll welcome the God of Wealth together." Shuang said, "Sis, don't worry, someone will keep me company." Yujia guessed it was Kanglong. As if reading Yujia's mind, Shuang added, "Not just Lao Kang, but Lao Bai too." Oh, Bai Yuankai. Listening from the side, Yurui felt an electric jolt run through her skin. To this day, hearing the name Bai Yuankai still caused abnormal reactions in her.

"Is he not going home for the New Year?" Yujia asked.

Shuang said Bai Yuankai's parents were both abroad and already separated; he was the only one in the country. Yujia asked again, "Does he not have a girlfriend?" Shuang said it seemed he didn't. Yujia pondered this. It was incredible that such an outstanding talent didn't have a female companion. Yurui shifted in her seat, waiting to hear Shuang's breakdown.

"He used to have one, but now he's just being picky." Yushuang picked up her chopsticks and kept eating. "When he was abroad, he said he wasn't picky about his food. Chinese food, Western food, white food, black food—he'd tasted every kind of food out there."

Yujia didn't understand what that meant.

Yurui understood and gasped in amazement, though she immediately felt it was only natural. For a man like Yuankai, you couldn't expect him to be a blank slate waiting for you to paint on.

"What do you mean 'not picky about his food'?" Seeing Yurui smile, Yujia tilted her head and asked her.

"He's dated women of all different races," Yurui explained.

Goodness. That world was far too distant for Yujia.

Yumeng finished her phone call and walked back. Yujia asked her about her New Year plans. Just as Yumeng opened her mouth to speak, her phone rang again. This time she didn't step away, answering it right in front of her sisters.

It was faintly possible to hear a man's voice.

Yurui was sitting close. After listening to three or four sentences, it sounded somewhat familiar, but she couldn't place it right away. For every long speech the man made, Yumeng only gave a brief reply: "I'll look back at it... Not sure... I have a meeting... I need to check my visa... I'm allergic to Japanese food... I've got things to do..." Mixing truths with lies better reflected Yumeng's methods and the nobility of her status. Half-true and half-false, men always fell for her routine. The three women stared at her, waiting for her "explanation."

Yumeng swept her gaze across everyone, smiled, and helplessly spread her hands. "They're all asking me out..." With Shuang and Rui present, Yujia found it inconvenient to press further. "Walls have ears," and she had to leave Mengjie some face. Some things could only be discussed in private.

Yujia asked about her New Year plans a second time. Yumeng said, "My son isn't coming back, so I have to go over there." Luan Chengyun had "arrangements" for the New Year and couldn't go see their sons. Yumeng suspected that within a few months, she'd hear news of him remarrying. She knew Luan; he couldn't live without a woman.

Yujia didn't press further. She suddenly thought of the matter of getting beauty treatments. Since she was going back home for the New Year soon, Yujia also wanted to look a bit younger in front of her relatives and friends. Since she had come to the big city, going back should look like "returning home in glory"—it was for herself, and also to save face for Liren.

Yujia reached out to touch Yumeng's face. "Is this real?"

"Of course it's real!" Yumeng looked unexplainably startled. "Factory original."

Yurui smiled with her lips pressed together.

Yushuang said, "Sister Jia, Mengjie's face is very expensive."

Yumeng stroked her own face. "That's right. I make my living with my face." Yujia smiled. "Xiaorui is the one who makes her living with her face." Yurui was an actress, so her face was literally her career.

Yurui joked, "This meal ticket is not easy to eat."

Yumeng reached out again to pinch Xiaorui's cheek, telling Yujia, "This all requires an investment. The frame has to be maintained, and the fat has to be melted away." She patted her own face. "My masseter muscles are naturally huge, so neurotoxins are an absolute must."

Botox—Yujia had heard of it, but she had never thought about undergoing it herself.

"Is it safe?" Yujia still had her worries. Yumeng smiled and told her she needed to open her mind: it was safe, what could possibly be unsafe? She carefully examined Yujia's condition and said, "You just need a water-shine micro-injection, get your masseter muscles treated, and get those lines between your eyebrows done."

There weren't many days left until the New Year. Yujia was afraid that getting it done would make her look unnatural. Yumeng persuaded her that the doctor was fantastic—just tell him to be gentle, and there would be completely no problem. Yujia asked Yurui. Yurui also said that medical aesthetics had advanced a lot nowadays, and since Mengjie recommended it, it should be trustworthy.

"Are we really doing injections?"

"I'll make an appointment for you." Yumeng picked up her phone; she was very familiar with the doctor—she went there often to deliver money. "Wrinkle-removal injections, water-shine injections, face-slimming injections," she muttered.

They were all needles. Yujia was terrified of needles.

"Wait a minute!" Raising a hand, she hesitated.