The Vanishing Beauty - Chapter 9 - 4
Chapter 9 - 4
The drama wrapped up its filming, and the moment they stepped down from the set, Huang Qi proposed to Yu Qi. Yu Qi accepted on the spot. Yu Rui turned green with rage, yet she could do nothing about her sister and Huang Qi.
Toward Yu Qi, Yu Rui felt a mix of pity for her misfortune and anger at her lack of fight. Wasn't her target Bai Yuankai? How did he turn into Huang Qi in the blink of an eye? A civet cat swapped for a prince! In this big city, what could Huang Qi possibly give you? You fool!
Toward Huang Qi, Yu Rui wanted nothing more than to slap him twice across the face. Yes, he was handsome, stylish, and possessed a certain charm, and even if he were just dating Yu Qi or acting as a special friend, she could grit her teeth and let it slide! But how could they get married?! That was for a lifetime!
Deep down, Yu Rui felt a tinge of jealousy—Huang Qi had never proposed to her.
She tried reasoning with both sides to no avail; instead, Yu Rui ended up being brainwashed by Yu Qi. Yu Qi's theory was: I don't love those who don't love me, and my heart belongs only to those who love me—and she believed Huang Qi loved her.
Yu Rui argued fiercely, "Do you even know what kind of person he is? His ambitions are so wild and grand, he wants to be Tony Leung, Li Yifeng, and Lu Han rolled into one! Do you think you're Carina Lau?!"
"That's in the past," Yu Qi replied calmly. "Now that we know the difficulty and understand the depth of things, we want to settle down. Sis, sometimes dreams are just things to think about; they don't all have to be realized. In another two years, after making some money, we might just head back to the provincial capital. People change, and you have to learn to yield—to yield to life."
Stunned by her younger sister's lecture, Yu Rui felt a bit dazed. Yield? Perhaps Yu Meng's path wasn't the only route for a beautiful woman; Qi had chosen a different path—would Qi end up turning into another Sister Jia? Maybe not. Huang Qi was tired; he had reined in his ambitions, stepped into marriage, and after a few years of being worn down, he might just turn into an overweight guy, kept domestically by Yu Qi. They would become an ordinary, stable couple. They would undoubtedly bicker constantly over daily trifles, but that wouldn't stop them from carrying on with life.
Yu Rui felt she could never live that kind of life. Deep down in her bones, she was actually someone far more stubborn than Huang Qi! She still hadn't found what she wanted in the big city... She wasn't ready to make peace with life yet.
As soon as Monday arrived at the company, Yu Rui noticed that many people were acting strangely, including Ye Cha, who wore a furtive, sneaky expression. Yu Rui chided, "Can you stop squirming around? Do you have needles stuck in your backside? You can't sit still for a second." Ye Cha shot her a meaningful glance, but Yu Rui didn't understand the underlying message. A moment later, someone came over to deliver some documents that needed Chairman Han's signature. Ye Cha said, "Just leave them there." The person was tactless and insisted it was an urgent matter.
Impatient, Ye Cha snapped, "No matter how urgent, the person has to be here!" The junior clerk slunk away. It was all far too abnormal.
Yu Rui asked Ye Cha with a smile if she had just experienced a breakup.
"You don't even know?!" Ye Cha looked as if the Qing dynasty was about to collapse.
Looking around in bewilderment, Yu Rui said, "What's wrong? If the sky falls, the tall guys will hold it up."
Ye Cha said gravely, "The problem is that the tall guys are gone!"
"Spell it out." Yu Rui stood up, holding her coffee cup.
Ye Cha lowered her voice dramatically. "Director Han... has lost contact..."
Lost contact? Yu Rui could never have imagined that phrase being applied to Han Guang. Reflexively, Yu Rui picked up the desk phone receiver, intending to dial the number she had long since committed to memory. Drawing out her tone, Ye Cha said, "Don't bother calling. If calling worked, it wouldn't be called losing contact." An ominous premonition washed over Yu Rui. Had he lost his phone? Or gone mountain climbing where reception was bad—Old Han loved to climb mountains. Or perhaps he'd been kidnapped? That wasn't entirely outside the realm of possibility. Yet her intuition told her the matter wouldn't be so simple.
Thinking about it carefully, she and Director Han hadn't been in touch for five days. If he were climbing, barring a fatal accident, communications would have been restored by now. If he'd been kidnapped, the kidnappers should have made contact with demands by now. Everything remained eerily quiet.
At noon, Weng Yue called, and Ye Cha answered. Weng Yue instructed Ye Cha to organize the various departments to maintain internal public opinion stability within the group. In short: no wild gossip! Ye Cha immediately pledged her loyalty. In the afternoon, Yu Rui received a call from Yu Meng. The moment she picked up, Yu Meng anxiously asked, "Has Old Han shown his face yet?"
A storm was brewing. Yu Meng had already caught the scent of abnormality, and she worried that Old Han's "loss of contact" was merely a signal of a larger tempest to come, after which a domino effect would inevitably strike and impact her Moon City project. Her "golden age" could transform into an "iron age" in the blink of an eye! When Yu Rui asked Yu Meng what on earth was going on, Yu Meng only told her she would explain later before hanging up.
Because of Old Han's disappearance, Weng Yue and Yu Meng made their first phone call since their fallout. It was initiated by Weng Yue. Yu Meng immediately put aside their disputes to face the problem together, as they shared mutual interests when it came to Old Han. Weng Yue brought back highly reliable news: an "old friend" had been sentenced to eighteen years. Weng Yue had only found out through a roundabout way that Old Han had been walking so close to this "old friend."
Yu Meng asked if he could have gone over to Xiqian's place. Weng Yue answered decisively, "I asked; no, he should still be inside the country." Upon learning that her father had "lost contact," Xiqian wanted to return to China. Weng Yue firmly put her foot down, telling her niece to stay put abroad and wait and see how things developed, terrified that while coming back was easy, getting back out would be difficult.
Hearing this made Yu Meng realize the gravity of the situation, and she immediately contacted Haoyu and Zhengyu, demanding they keep their distance from Xiqian. When Haoyu asked why,
Yu Meng offered no explanation. "I said keep your distance, so keep your distance! This is a major issue! Mom isn't joking with you."
Haoyu mumbled his assent, while Zhengyu was even more struck dumb with fear. Across the Pacific Ocean, they could feel the seriousness of the situation just as keenly. Their mother rarely acted so arbitrary and flew into such a rage.
Weng Yue and Yu Meng planned to visit the Xin family together to fish for information. Since the Xin family sat at the upper reaches of the information source, they should know more than anyone else. Only by getting a clear picture of the problem could they apply the right remedy. However, the moment their car arrived at the Xin family's gates, the residential estate security guards immediately blocked them out.
The reason given: no one was currently home at the Xin residence; they were reportedly away traveling.
They were clearly dodging them.
Weng Yue received word that this sentencing of the "old friend" was a case of pulling up the radish and bringing up the mud with it, and several Xin family enterprises were also affected. Mr. Xin had resigned from a company's board of directors just last month to prove his innocence. Deep-rooted though their tree might be, in the face of the overarching tide, everyone was holding their breath in silent dread.
Soon, Yu Meng received news that Mrs. Xin had already pulled out of the Moon City project. With the Xin family making a move, Moon City was left hanging by a thread, and two other major shareholders also wanted to withdraw their capital, rendering all of Yu Meng's impassioned arguments completely useless. At this stage, the only entity capable of propping up Moon City was the group itself. Yet Han Guang had gone and "lost contact" again. Yu Meng felt as though her hair was turning white from anxiety.
Most of her personal fortune was sunk into Moon City. What was she going to do?! What was she going to do... Pacing back and forth in her home like a leopard, Yu Meng was at her wit's end.
It was already close to ten in the evening when Yu Rui came over to find Yu Meng. The moment the stock market opened, the group's shares had suffered another sharp plunge. Resignations kept rolling in, and rumors that the group was about to collapse ran rampant. Right now, the greatest mystery of all was why Han Guang kept hiding away. Dead or alive, seeing a body or a person, such rumors dealt a devastating blow to the group.
Not even Yu Meng could provide any answers. She knew no more than Yu Rui did.
After briefly exchanging what information they had, the two sat facing each other in silence, utterly speechless. At that exact moment, they shared a simultaneous, chilling sense of dread, as if a catastrophic flood was about to sweep over them while they remained stranded, unable to board Noah's Ark.
They could only wait. Wait for Han Guang to return, or confirm that he never would. Yet Moon City couldn't wait; the Myanmar side demanded that Yu Meng's camp maintain continuous capital injections to allow construction to proceed. If they stopped, all previous efforts would be wasted, and the prior investments and hard work would go down the drain. If they continued—where would the money come from? In this kind of macro-environment, who would dare pump money into a group project spearheaded by Han Guang? It was completely absurd. Yu Meng felt like crying without tears. Truly, success came because of Han Guang, and failure followed suit because of Han Guang!
The news spread like wildfire, eventually reaching Bai Yuankai as well. He wanted to check on the situation with Yu Rui, but the company's front desk informed him that the deputy director hadn't shown up for a week. Yuankai called Yu Rui, and she picked up, with Yu Qi staying by her side.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," she forced herself to sound upbeat. She understood now that even if you lost in life, you could never admit defeat.
"Reach out whenever you run into trouble," Yuankai said.
Deeply moved, Yu Rui felt that just hearing those words made her crush on him worthwhile.
Although they didn't live far apart, Yu Jia was constantly busy with her restaurant business and remained oblivious to the developments. It was only when Yuankai came over and brought it up that she learned of the interconnected relationships and current predicament involving Han Guang, Yu Meng, Yu Rui, and Weng Yue. Yu Jia sighed, "Some things are just untouchable." She added, "Not things ordinary folks like us have any business touching."
Yuankai launched into another analytical breakdown. Having just returned from abroad, this was his first time experiencing the fierce and breathtaking drama of shifting tides at such close quarters. After all, having spent so many years by Di Liren's side, Yu Jia could parse the underlying maneuverings with just a brief listen. Impressed by her insights, Yuankai immediately asked Yu Jia to serve as a company consultant.
With a chuckle, Yu Jia replied, "I'd rather stick to cooking my meals."
Yuankai gave an awkward, sheepish laugh.
Looking at the Bai Yuankai standing before her, Yu Jia felt a sense of quiet reassurance; their relationship remained safely within bounds. She refused to cross that line. No, she would not. She told herself that the present Yu Jia was fully devoted to her career, her heart as tranquil as still water. Yet, never in her wildest dreams could Yu Jia have imagined that the very next day, relevant departments from Di Liren's former work unit would call her, stating they wished to inquire about some matters concerning Comrade Di Liren prior to his passing. Instinctively, Yu Jia felt that something was amiss.