The Vanishing Beauty - Chapter 4 - 11

Chapter 4 - 11

Yumeng had no sense of guilt whatsoever; she was entirely gunning for money and power without an ounce of burden, while Yurui still retained a tiny shred of "peculiar conscience." Yumeng was a ruthless conqueror who laid waste to everything in her path. And just like that, Zu Liangcai had entered her hunting grounds.

When Liangcai had first been involved with Yurui, his position was relatively low, but now he was a resounding, fiercely independent figure holding down his own corner of the world. Yumeng didn't mention it, Liangcai didn't bring it up, and Yurui had no business asking. The matter had nothing to do with her. Even so, Yurui couldn't help but worry for Sister Meng, because she knew that Liangcai would never marry anyone again.

The temperature rose rapidly, making it clear that skirts would soon be wearable.

Yumeng was in an exceptionally high-spirited mood.

Two factors were at play: First, she heard from Weng Yue that Luan Chengyun had run into some trouble in his business. A crucial link had failed to go through, leaving him stuck halfway with all his capital tied up, and in order to raise cash flow and keep things afloat, he had sold his villa.

Luan Chengyun was hoping to enlist the Xin family's help to smooth things over.

Yumeng arched her willow-leaf eyebrows and asked, "Did he ask you to tell me?" Weng Yue hurriedly protested, wondering where on earth her mind had wandered. Yumeng thought to herself that even if her mind had wandered, it was useless; she had no intention of helping him go beg Madam Xin for mercy. Now that they were divorced, her enemy's disaster was her own happiness.

Secondly, her relationship with Liangcai was, much like the weather, experiencing an El Niño phenomenon—abnormal and scorching off the charts. Yumeng genuinely felt that Liangcai was an extraordinary lover. He was magnanimous, refined, dependable, and most importantly, he was deeply attuned to romantic nuances. Every move and countermove resonated with her; it was truly a case of meeting one's match, a contest between true equals locked in a fierce, balanced duel.

Yumeng liked to compare Liangcai to a house; she currently held no title deed to him, but she possessed full usage rights. She deeply felt that this kind of casual command over a man was her prerogative as a beautiful woman—especially before stepping into marriage.

In the middle of the night, Yumeng would occasionally call Liangcai. More often than not, it was right as he was stepping out of his office, answering the call while driving.

"Get over here," she would say over the phone.

"I'll come find you tomorrow," he would reply, utterly exhausted. To keep his stamina up under the crushing weight of work, he had to keep slices of American ginseng tucked under his tongue.

"Come now. I'm feeling miserable," she insisted.

After a moment of silent hesitation, he would have no choice but to turn his car around and obey her command.

Squeezing a sliver of time away from one of the busiest men alive filled Yumeng with an overwhelming sense of accomplishment. However, on one particular occasion, she tried this old trick again, and Liangcai complied as usual. The only problem was that halfway through the script, an unexpected hitch occurred: Liangcai got into a car accident midway.

When his call came through, his tone was still breezy and unbothered, mentioning that he might arrive a little late.

"What's going on?!"

"I bumped into something."

"Where are you?"

"It's nothing, don't worry about it."

"Where are you?!" Yumeng demanded, frantic.

Braving the wind and rain, she rushed to the scene. The accident had already been dealt with. Without alarming the traffic police, Liangcai had settled matters privately with the other driver. Given his identity and status, it was inappropriate for him to register an incident at the traffic detachment. "Are you alright?" With no one else around, Yumeng stepped out of her car, hurried forward, and cupped Liangcai's face in her hands. "It's just a minor thing, I told you not to come," he smiled. His face felt small as a child's between her two hands. She threw her arms tightly around him, murmuring apologies over and over again. Her willful caprice had nearly ruined him. And all she had wanted was for him to come over and drink a bowl of the mung bean soup she had made.

"For you, dying would be worth it," Liangcai said earnestly. It sounded utterly cheesy. There were no pedestrians on the road, and very few cars. Yumeng gripped the steering wheel, acting as the designated driver to take Liangcai home.

Because of that single sentence from Zu Liangcai, Yumeng's heart felt bursting and complete. A man who was constantly swamped with countless affairs of state had suffered a car accident and nearly lost his life simply to come drink a bowl of mung bean soup, yet he remained utterly without regret or complaint. If that wasn't romance, what was?

It was intensely thrilling! It was wildly romantic! Yumeng was immensely satisfied.

On the flip side, however, Liangcai would occasionally test her with challenges of his own.

For instance, past midnight one evening, Liangcai called and asked her to come over and keep him company. After a moment of thought, Yumeng changed her clothes, applied a light touch of makeup, and headed over. Four men were playing mahjong. One was Old Zhao from the aviation industry, another was Old Lu in the energy business, and a third was a younger fellow named Xiao Liao, whose specific profession remained unclear. For the entire night, Yumeng sat quietly right behind Liangcai, speaking little, asking nothing, smiling until the muscles in her face grew stiff. Yet she persisted. They played mahjong the entire night.

Regarding this social gathering, Yumeng's feelings were a mix of joy and anxiety.

The joyful part was that being summoned to this gathering meant Liangcai already regarded her as one of his own. This public appearance was somewhat akin to introducing her into his inner circle, roughly equivalent to proclaiming to the members of his small clique: "This is my woman, look after her." The "breaking into higher social circles" that Yumeng had dreamed of for so long finally felt like it had made a breakthrough development starting from this single night.

From Weng Yue to Madam Xin, and now to Zu Liangcai, it was a step-by-step progression. She had scored a victory and had every reason to be happy.

The anxious part was that, as a result of all this, she felt a strong resemblance to a legendary "mistress." The men were playing mahjong while she sat quietly in the background. And it was at that hour—the dead of night—summoned on a moment's notice.

It felt somewhat lacking in respect.

Fortunately, Yumeng was a woman who had seen the world. After a bit of back-and-forth mental wrestling, she managed to talk herself around—if one wanted to catch a giant fish, these were all necessary paths to walk. She didn't yet possess the qualifications to directly sit at the men's gaming table, but being allowed to sit nearby and watch meant they were willing to let her play along. Getting her foot through the door came first; she could worry about the rest later.

Besides, the true extent of Liangcai's power and influence was something she still hadn't fully fathomed. The tangled web of his societal connections had only begun to reveal a tiny glimpse of themselves to her through this card game.

The tip of the iceberg.

Yumeng firmly believed that as long as she kept putting in the effort, promotion from lover and mistress to legitimate wife was just around the corner. He was divorced, with both his ex-wife and children living overseas, making him the quintessential golden bachelor—why wouldn't he marry? Having a woman by his side also made handling social obligations easier, and Liangcai's wife would naturally need to fill a political role. Yumeng believed she was completely capable of competent performance, even adding a touch of brilliance to the position. She could confirm that in this game, both of them had invested genuine feelings. At the same time, she understood that a man like Zu Liangcai, accustomed to superficial flings, couldn't have a couple of instances of genuine emotion represent everything. If she wanted to make him lose his head and walk down the aisle of marriage here, she would need to turn up the heat further.

Yumeng planned to make her move on her birthday.

After the holiday break, Yujia's household returned to its "normal routine."

Liren went to work and was exceptionally busy, essentially only coming home to sleep. The couple continued to sleep in separate beds. Yujia felt as though every day she was sleeping inside a tomb. Sisi was entirely occupied with her studies; her IELTS scores were in, and she had begun applying to schools. Liren had found an agent, and Yuyi had also come to help his niece out. To Yujia's relief, however, Liren had already asked someone to put in a good word with his doctoral supervisor, giving Yuyi a very strong prospect of passing his PhD entrance exams. Because of this, Yuyi worked all the harder to take care of Sisi's affairs.

Taking it all in, Yujia offered her younger brother a piece of advice: "You need to look out for yourself a bit more too. In terms of human relations and worldly affairs, you need to show some situational awareness and not rely entirely on your brother-in-law." Yuyi replied, "I know, but brother-in-law is also looking out for Sis's sake. Sis has made monumental, backbreaking contributions to the Di family."

Those were words spoken by her younger brother; Liren certainly had never uttered anything of the sort.

As the new year turned, conversations between Liren and Yujia grew even scarcer. It was practically like a dry well where you couldn't dredge up a single ladle of water.

Regarding "that matter," neither husband nor wife ever brought it up in the light or the dark; it seemed to simply have drifted into the past. Yet Yujia knew that a lump and a shadow still remained in both of their hearts, especially hers. She felt a lingering sense of self-blame. As a woman, figuring out how to spark a husband's sexual interest was truly a monumental puzzle. Yet who could she possibly discuss it with? Even with Yumeng, it felt too embarrassing to bring up. If she searched online, most posts were nothing more than armchair theories that Yujia doubted would have any practical effect.

Therefore, before any breakthrough materialized, Yujia decided to grant her husband a bit of "private space."

For instance, on Saturday and Sunday mornings when Sisi went off to tutoring classes, Yujia would also head out to buy groceries or wander around shopping malls. If she genuinely lacked the mood for either, she would find a KFC, sit down, and piggyback on their Wi-Fi.

Before heading out, she would typically stretch her neck toward Liren's room and shout, "I'm heading out! I'm going to buy groceries at the Xintai Market, I'll probably be back after eleven." He would give a vague grunt of acknowledgment in response. Fearing he hadn't heard her, she would repeat herself, "I'll be back after eleven!"

Liren would let out a hum. This time the volume was slightly louder, signaling he had received the message. Thus, from nine to eleven, Yujia carved out time and space to provide Liren with "free activity" hours. During these two hours, whatever he chose to do was none of her concern; if he wanted to video chat or resolve his physiological needs, she left it entirely up to him.

Call it an exhaust valve for their marriage.

She was terrified he might burst from pent-up frustration. At the same time, it offered her a brief buffer zone to fulfill her "obligations" as a wife.

This weekend followed that exact routine once again. Yujia sat inside a KFC, feeling exhausted from work. The lingering aftershocks of the higher-ups' inspection were still being felt; the leadership was busy with "self-inspection," and paperwork had piled up mountains high, leaving Director Zhang to dump the task onto Yujia. She didn't dare refuse. The crucial problem was that lunch couldn't even be guaranteed. The school had two cafeterias, one closed down for renovations while the other was packed shoulder-to-shoulder with people. Yujia and her colleagues couldn't squeeze in, and going to a small restaurant outside felt risky regarding hygiene. In the end, a colleague with remarkable resourcefulness managed to secure a card for the cafeteria of the neighboring school, and a group of them went over there to rough it out.

It was precisely in that cafeteria that Yujia saw something she shouldn't have—on both Wednesday and Friday, she had spotted Kanglong eating in the cafeteria with a woman, which made her realize that Kanglong's school was located right next to hers. Their behavior was intimate, and Kanglong even helped the woman carry her bag. Since he was a teacher, it was impossible for him to act this way with a student; could it be a colleague? Even so, they wouldn't display such intimacy out in public. What about Yushuang then? What stage had things reached between her and Kanglong?

How perilous it was to live together without marrying.

Holding her phone, Yujia hesitated. She wanted to call Yushuang directly, but worried it might be a misunderstanding. She dialed the number and then hung up before it went through. Yushuang called back and asked what was the matter. Flustered, Yujia stammered, "Wrong number, wrong number," before casually adding, "You must be out on a date with Xiao Kang, right?"

Yushuang replied, "He's busy, he didn't come over this week." That only heightened Yujia's worry.

Look at that—he wasn't even coming over anymore.

Should she mention it to Meng? Let her handle it. Yumeng possessed a thick skin for these things. But upon second thought, that wouldn't do either; Yumeng was far too direct and might end up triggering a negative counter-reaction.

What about telling Yurui? That seemed appropriate. Yurui was more gentle and possessed a certain shrewdness; if she could handle talking to her and offering a warning, Yujia wouldn't have to step forward directly. Thus, Yujia called Yurui and filled her in on what she had witnessed.

Yurui, however, viewed the situation from a man's perspective: "I've told Sister Shuang long ago that doing things this way wouldn't work. This kind of relationship is far too open; without any restraints or binding ties, who can guarantee someone won't end up striking a match and starting a fire?"

Yujia said, "I'm just afraid Shuang is being fooled." She also cautioned Yurui not to expose her involvement. Yurui reassured Yujia, telling her not to worry and promising she would think of a proper solution.

"What are you doing here?"

Yujia put her phone away, looked up, and saw Liren standing right in front of her.

He had come downstairs to buy cigarettes, felt a sudden urge to use the restroom, and borrowed the KFC's facilities.

"Um..."

"Where are the groceries?"

"I... I was just..." Yujia genuinely couldn't conjure up an excuse.

Liren had already turned around to leave.

"My stomach hurt," Yujia hurried after him. "Xiao Ri called again... she's having another spat with her boyfriend... I just had to offer a few words of advice... once I started talking I lost track of time..." She laughed awkwardly, her explanation coming out in jagged, disjointed pieces.

"That took way too long," he remarked, referring to the grocery shopping, as he walked ahead. "You don't need to hide from me, I can go outside. There's plenty to do at work."

"It's not..." He had completely misunderstood her intentions, yet she had no way to explain herself. What could she possibly say? Should she tell him she came out to give him "free activity" time to resolve his physiological needs? It was too embarrassing to voice aloud. Putting it too bluntly would only anger him further.

"Are you hooked on peer-to-peer lending apps?" Liren stopped in his tracks and asked.

"No, no, no..." Yujia quickly assured him, "How could I possibly touch that stuff... of course not... don't worry."

Liren stepped into the elevator.

Yujia hurriedly followed him in. "Um... I'll pay attention next time..." She rushed to acknowledge her fault to prevent any additional complications from sprouting, even though she had no clue what she was supposed to pay attention to.

"Let's order takeout for lunch, eating the same flavor every day gets old."

Yujia uttered a soft grunt of assent, indicating her agreement. She vaguely felt that Liren was speaking in double meanings; if you eat the same meal every day you grow sick of it, and people were no different. As the elevator ascended, Yujia's heart sank deeper and deeper. She was completely out of options.

Yumeng called just as Yujia reached her front door, and Liren shot a sideways glance at her. She had no choice but to cover the mouthpiece, murmur "It's Yumeng" to Liren, and then resume her conversation. Yumeng reminded Yujia that on the day of her birthday celebration, she absolutely had to show up to lend her support. It was mandatory.