The Vanishing Beauty - Chapter 5 - 1

Chapter 5 - 1

Shi Tongguang had undergone a noticeable change: he now dared to fart in front of Yu Rui. What is more, he did it quite unashamedly, letting out a bubbling, watery emission.

Yu Rui felt this was far from a good omen.

This "symptom" more or less implied that Shi Tongguang’s infatuation with her was fading. While being head over heels in love always felt like a temporary madness, it was bound to sober up sooner or later; she simply hadn't expected him to wake up quite so fast. They say that relying on physical beauty to serve others means that once the beauty fades, the love wanes. The problem was that her looks hadn't even faded yet.

Marriage was looking less and less likely.

During both the Qingming and Dragon Boat festivals, Shi Tongguang had neither taken her to pay respects to his ancestors nor introduced her to his living family members. Yu Rui found the whole situation pointless and held no confidence in this union. Furthermore, the crux of the matter was that she didn't even want to marry him anyway. Originally, she had approached the idea with the grim resolve of someone facing a firing squad—clenching her teeth, squeezing her eyes shut, and thinking, Forget it, I'll just settle down with a steady man like this, walk into marriage, and get my life over with. Who could have foreseen that he would drag his feet and lack any sense of decisiveness?

Yu Rui began plotting her exit strategy, guided by a single principle: she could not afford to lose both her person and her money.

She wouldn't spell things out too bluntly. Through all her past breakups, she had always preserved her partners' dignity and left room for maneuver on both sides, all for the sake of staying on good terms so they could still cross paths and remain friends in the future.

Even so, Yu Rui decided to test old Shi one last time: when Huang Qi returned from out of town, Yu Rui brought old Shi along to treat her old classmate to dinner. Amidst the laughter, banter, and horseplay during the meal, Shi Tongguang remained virtually unresponsive. Yu Rui finally understood completely that this man wanted to break up as well. He was likely just waiting for her to bring it up.

"We can't always go on like this," Yu Rui remarked out of the blue one day.

"Like what?"

"I'm saying I can't just keep staying at home like this."

"Go run your sales team."

"If I'm gone for months at a time, could you handle it?"

Shi Tongguang stayed silent.

"I've thought about it for a long time and looked into it. Opening a beauty salon right now can still turn a profit. If I hire two people to help, I can still look after the home and look after you," Yu Rui said with a smile. "It's like having a home base where we can drop by whenever we want."

"Why work so hard?" Shi Tongguang said. "In this day and age, not spending money recklessly is making money."

Yu Rui was displeased. What was that supposed to mean—spending money recklessly?

"I'm going out to make money."

"Is your living allowance not enough? I can add more."

Yu Rui cut him off sharply, "It's not about the money. I need to realize my own value. If I wanted to be a housewife—getting married, raising kids, popping out two or three of them—where would I even go to do that? Do you have any idea how much agony I'm in?"

Silence hung in the air for a few seconds.

The problem had effectively been tossed onto the table, and it was up to see how Shi Tongguang would catch it.

"Let's see," he said.

A vague brush-off.

Yu Rui didn't press her advantage. She would give him time. She wanted one million. In her mind, this figure represented Shi Tongguang's absolute ceiling, an amount that would require him to summon a great deal of resolve to part with.

Three days passed. True to form, Shi Tongguang asked her how much she wanted. Yu Rui stated her number right then and there, without ambiguity. Since there was no future between them, there was no point in saving him money.

"You'll be registered as a shareholder and get dividends," Yu Rui said with a playful smile.

Another few days went by. Shi Tongguang told her to wait, explaining that the company's financial cash flow was currently a bit tight and that he would invest the money as soon as they collected some overdue accounts. Yu Rui let out a noncommittal hum. While she was extremely unhappy inside, she didn't let it show on her face.

If that was how it was going to be, they would just drag it out and wait.

When she met Yu Shuang over the weekend, Yu Rui poured out her vexations to her good sister. Among the Four Beauties, Shuang was the one she trusted the most. Jia was too conservative, Meng was a bit catty, and only Shuang had a big heart and a tight zipper on her mouth.

Yu Rui announced her intention to break up with Shi Tongguang.

"Weren't you guys getting married?" Yu Shuang asked in astonishment.

"He has no such plans whatsoever."

"Why? On what grounds?"

"Who knows, heh." Yu Rui drew a breath. "Maybe he's looking to find a wealthy woman with her own house like you."

Yu Shuang spat out a curse, "What the hell kind of man is that! Utter bullshit!"

Her stance was crystal clear. She was firmly on Rui's side.

"It's like he has someone else on the side," Yu Rui lied smoothly.

"Damn it!" Yu Shuang shot up from the bed, looking ready to punch a hole through the ceiling. "He's not satisfied with someone like you? What else does he want?!"

"Zhang Peina," Yu Rui said as she lit a cigarette. Yu Shuang stared blankly. Rui explained further, "Take that sexy star, for instance—doesn't her husband still patronize prostitutes?" She let out a scoff and continued, "Sister Meng is right: handsome men steal away and ugly men steal away too, so why not just pick a handsome one? A wife isn't as good as a concubine, and a concubine isn't as good as a stolen affair. Shuang, I really admire you for letting Lao Kang roam free like that."

"He wouldn't dare," Yu Shuang waved a hand dismissively. "He's too honest and meek."

"You can know a person's face, but not their..." She swallowed the word heart.

"Is something going on?"

"No." Yu Rui felt a bit awkward. She couldn't spell things out too clearly, and she certainly couldn't throw Sister Jia under the bus. "Are you really not planning to get married?"

"Isn't it just a piece of paper? What use is it? If someone's really going to cheat, does having that piece of paper stop them? Look at Carina Lau and Tony Leung..."

Yu Rui couldn't bear to hear that example and cut in, "Didn't they end up getting married in the end?"

"That was still over a decade or two later."

"Insane," Yu Rui gave a bitter laugh.

Yu Shuang remarked, "You can't go around worrying about men; you have to make men worry about you."

Yu Rui corrected her, "Men and women are different."

"I don't see much of a difference."

"A man can father a child after a single night of romance, but a woman has to labor for ten months. No difference?"

Yu Shuang had no counter to Yu Rui's point. As for her relationship with Kang Long, it currently resembled a suspended pendulum, doing nothing more than swinging back and forth from one end to the other in an infinite loop. Sometimes Yu Shuang also wondered whether there was love between her and Kang Long. He claimed there was. She wasn't sure—wasn't love supposed to be a kind of madness? But she wasn't crazy enough, and their relationship—right, it was an attachment, not a passion—hadn't muddled their minds enough to walk them into marriage.

After her mother passed away, Yu Shuang believed that aside from bearing a shred of collateral sympathetic responsibility for her younger brother, she no longer needed to be accountable to anyone else in this world. She was only responsible for making herself happy. Yet, when Yu Rui brought up the idea of men being fickle, Yu Shuang still felt a twinge of crisis. Even so, she didn't like to bottle things up or let them weigh on her mind.

She brought it up directly with Kang Long.

Kang Long came over for dinner and boiled some dumplings. Yu Shuang said, "Lao Kang, if there are any changes on your end, let me know at any time."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm just saying hypothetically—if you fell in love with someone else, I could step aside. No problem."

"There's nothing of the sort right now." Kang Long wasn't very adept with chopsticks; with one clumsy pick, a dumpling mischievously bounced back into his bowl.

"You don't need to carry any burden."

"Sounds like you've eaten a lot of vinegar," Kang Long joked.

"Between the two of us..." Yu Shuang was about to explain further when Kang Long cut her off. "Was it Sister Jia who told you this?" Yu Shuang asked what that had to do with anything. Kang Long said that when he was eating in the cafeteria with a female colleague, he had spotted Sister Jia a few times. He hadn't managed to say hello in time. Perhaps there was some misunderstanding.

"There is no misunderstanding."

"Reminding me like this means you suspect me," Kang Long shifted the blame. "It makes a person feel very uncomfortable."

"I'm just telling you not to carry any burden."

"What about you then? Don't you talk to male colleagues?" Kang Long countered. "You spend all day mingling among a bunch of men—I feel uncomfortable about that too. Aren't I putting up with it?"

"That's required for work."

"Me eating with a female colleague is also required for... work-related social needs. You can't just refuse to show solidarity with your colleagues."

"I said this has nothing to do with eating meals."

"Shuang, between us, we need to draw some clear lines and spell out our rights and obligations. Sure, we aren't married; we have a loose relationship without legal binding constraints. But that doesn't mean there aren't red lines in each other's hearts."

"State your red lines then," Yu Shuang said briskly.

"I cannot accept you doing things without giving me a heads-up."

"For instance?"

"For instance, when you go out on short notice, or have dinner with colleagues, or go on a business trip, or go anywhere—no matter where, no matter what," Kang Long said in one breath. "Since we don't live together right now, I feel it's my obligation to keep track of your whereabouts and your situation." Yu Shuang started to speak, but Kang Long raised a hand to block her, signaling her to pause while he continued. "This isn't about trying to control you; it means we keep lines of communication open with each other. Who can guarantee the safety of a single woman living alone? What if..." Kang Long didn't finish his sentence. It was a terrifying mental image.

Yu Shuang automatically filled in the blank, "What if I get into a car accident, get murdered, get kidnapped, or die of carbon monoxide poisoning alone at home, so that you can be the first one to rush over and collect my corpse?" She gave a light, nonchalant laugh. "That makes sense. Request granted. From now on, I'll report my whereabouts at any time and use you as my personal memo."

She paused for a moment. "My turn now."

"Please speak."

"I don't want to keep hearing topics about Lizi all the time. I'm not your thesis advisor."

"My fault."

"I'm hoping for a bit more variety."

"Variety?"

Yu Shuang gave a cough. "In certain aspects... we are... too monotonous."

"What aspects?" He still didn't get it, dense as wood.

"On the bed," Yu Shuang retreated behind English, playing the part of an open-minded girl.

Kang Long refused to concede this point. He put down his chopsticks. "I was just afraid you wouldn't be able to handle it." Having formed the habit of working out, he fancied himself quite robust. He walked over, planted a kiss on Yu Shuang, and attempted to sweep her up horizontally in his arms.

Before she could even process it, Yu Shuang slapped him right across the face. Kang Long made no sound. In his mind, this slap was simply part of the playful foreplay.

True to their agreement following this negotiation, Yu Shuang did indeed report her movements to Kang Long from time to time. Typically, the messages went: "Heading out," "In a meeting," "Meeting's over," "Leaving work now," "Eating with colleagues," "At the hospital (accompanying Rui)"... Kang Long's standard replies usually consisted of three shorthand characters: oh, oh, oh.

Between the lines, the two of them appeared to harbor very little emotional warmth. Yet, Kang Long genuinely and tangibly felt the actual presence of affection. He felt a deep sense of fulfillment inside, as if he were a commanding officer and Yu Shuang was reporting to him at a moment's notice. It gave him a sense of control, reassuring him that they were still a single entity.

Yu Jia paid Yu Shuang a visit, bringing along a set of musical scores that she had treasured for many years. She asked her to hand them over to Bai Yuankai. Yu Shuang was puzzled. "Don't you have his contact info?" Yu Jia explained that since they lived far apart, making a special trip just for that would be a hassle, and she happened to be passing by her place today so she just brought them along on the side. Yu Shuang replied that she didn't see him very often either.

Yu Jia remarked, "If you don't see him, Xiao Kang probably does." That was when Yu Shuang finally connected the dots. The two of them chatted idly for a bit. Yu Shuang didn't mention Rui's plan to break up, keeping her promise of confidentiality. Nor did Yu Jia mention Meng's birthday banquet; she too was bound by absolute secrecy.

On the day of the birthday banquet, Yu Jia asked Liren for leave, explaining the situation. Liren didn't say much. Sisi's application was showing signs of progress, and her entire mind was consumed by thoughts of going abroad, leaving her with zero interest in attending the banquet—nor could she be allowed to go, as this was strictly an adults-only gathering. Yu Yi was still busy helping his nephew's daughter.

Yu Jia fretted over what clothes to wear. Naturally, she couldn't dress in a way that drew too much attention; since it was Yu Meng's grand birthday, the birthday girl had to be the center of focus. At the same time, she couldn't look too shabby either; as a supporting leaf, she had to blend in just right.

Eventually, she settled on a suit jacket paired with a trench coat. The evening wind was bound to be strong.

"Don't wait up for me," Yu Jia said as she was about to leave.

Neither Sisi nor her father responded. They hadn't planned on waiting up for her anyway.

Pushing open the restaurant door, Yu Jia's mind went blank with a sudden roar, and in an instant, she understood why Yu Meng had invited only her.