The more lonely, the more beautiful

Author: Murong Zixi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: They always have to hold their ground, refusing to age or become frail, using beautiful clothing to hint at their beauty. Because of loneliness, they are beautiful. Because of loneliness, they are alluring. This is the principle of women's lingerie. Ling Xiaotang—a columnist who listens to Murong and acts accordingly—always has sudden moments of startling confidence, stubbornness, and determination. When it comes to men and women, she possesses the skill of hitting the bull's eye from 100 paces, seeing through everything at once—not emptiness, but the balance between love and loss, understanding what matters most, and learning to hold back. When a woman is good enough, I mean, when friendships between women reach the point of sharing everything, the unable topic is sex and lingerie.
Legend has it that women with A blood type love to indulge in lingerie and pajamas, not for anyone, but just to see the soft, delicate fabrics that stir their hearts unexpectedly. Then, they spend money on them, often shocked by the price later. In reality, no matter how expensive the lingerie, over time, it will lose its shape, no matter how well you take care of it—just like a woman's youth and the love that doesn't last forever, there will always be a day when the moon sets and the crows cry. However, outerwear is for others to see, while lingerie is truly for oneself. To see how a woman treats herself, look at her lingerie. Among her many friends, those who have married and can maintain a decent appearance are usually well-dressed, but dig deeper, and their lingerie is all plain, comfortable cotton and basic styles—even if they can afford luxury brands, they never choose flashy colors or styles, pairing them with plain outerwear. Low-key and reserved is the attitude of a proper woman. Another meaning is that proper women, who are all dressed up, are hardly trying to attract anyone—husbands? No point in wasting energy. Over time, life becomes monotonous, like watching a hundred years in a single day, with no imagination or surprises. The indifference to lingerie seems to be a woman's abandonment of herself—same price, she can buy toys for her child or a shirt for her husband, but never waste it on lingerie that no one will see.
On the other hand, single friends are never stingy when it comes to food but never neglect themselves when it comes to clothing. Honesty is their attitude toward buying lingerie—always wearing beautiful lingerie, like their willingness to be jade rather than broken, understanding how to treat themselves well. Because they make their bodies beautiful, they know that in this world, only they can cherish, love, and care for themselves. It is a form of self-pity, but also self-admiration.
At a certain event where one needs to dress up, I saw a woman in the locker room, busy changing clothes. Her outerwear was appropriate and fitting, but once she took it off, her attitude toward herself was laid bare—some women wore mismatched lingerie; others, all their clothes, regardless of texture or color, were tossed in the washing machine year after year, resulting in this dull, grayish-brown hue, like leftover makeup clinging to a body clearly lacking care; only a few women wore shaping lingerie to accentuate their best curves. And those who dressed the best were usually the ones who were not married. They always had to hold their ground, refusing to age or become frail, always using beautiful clothing to hint at their beauty—in fact, they were beautiful. A decade later, it turned out that those who aged or became frail were usually housewives whose once-robust waists and indifference to their breath had faded. Only the women who still had the courage to remain single carried the same slender shadow as before, decade after decade. Only they had the time and ability to care about their lingerie and the colors of the season's eye shadow, blush, and lipstick. The barrier between them was no longer whether they were married or not. A friend told me she knew someone who wore shaping lingerie worth 6,000 yuan, said to adjust the body into perfect curves. Of course, this was a single woman. Because of loneliness, they are beautiful. Because of loneliness, they are alluring. This is the principle of women's lingerie.