Return to 88: Starting from Marrying My Sister-in-law

The villa's lights streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows into the courtyard. Lu Yang stood in the entryway, his brows furrowed, his gaze falling on the familiar figure on the living room sofa.

"Who sent you this time?"

He emphasized his words, speaking in a questioning tone.

Yin Mingzhu slowly turned around, silently watching him approach, and then took out a bankbook from her bag and placed it on the table.

"What tricks do you want to play?"

Lu Yang had barely finished speaking.

With her large pregnant belly, Yin Mingyue got up from the sofa, "Husband..."

He seemed to want to say something but hesitated.

"Sister doesn't mean any harm this time. Let her finish what she has to say."

Although she wasn't entirely sure what kind of conflict her husband and sister had recently had, they were both her closest relatives. Even if she wasn't there, she had an obligation to stop them from clashing.

Surely we shouldn't throw the baby out with the bathwater and abandon our sisterhood of over twenty years just because we're afraid my sister and husband will rekindle their old flame?

She couldn't bring herself to be so heartless.

Lu Yang shook his head. "For Mingyue's sake, I won't hold it against you. But from now on, whether it's you or me, no matter what your purpose is, let's both keep quiet. I'll welcome you, and your sister will welcome you too. Let's not cause any trouble, understand?"

If it weren't for his superior skills and the undermining he pulled the rug out from behind, wouldn't this negotiation with Arctic Ocean soda have been nothing more than doing someone else's work for them?
Although he didn't suffer any actual loss, it was still disgusting!

Lu Yang took off his coat, tossed it onto the sofa, and got up to go upstairs.

"Wait a minute..."

Yin Mingzhu said in a trembling voice, "I never intended to use you. Whether you believe it or not, this is the 30 yuan commission that Mr. He from Beibingyang gave me. I'm returning it to you now, and from now on... we're even."

Yin Mingyue looked at her sister's actions in surprise.

His gaze fell on the bankbook on the table.

Is there 30 in there?
30 is nothing to their family. Not to mention that her husband is always talking about business deals worth tens of millions or more, even as the matriarch who manages the expenses of the villa, the allowance her husband gives her every month is more than that.

But for the older sister, this is definitely not a small amount.

CCTV program hosts do earn more than ordinary civil servants, but only to a limited extent. Unless they take on gigs, it would probably take several years to save up that much money.

"Sister, what are you doing?"

This money probably wasn't given to my sister by my husband, right? Judging from what my sister was saying, it seems to be related to some business deal my husband and sister had secretly gone out to discuss recently.

She didn't really know what had happened, but she was certain that since the money wasn't from her husband to her sister, her husband absolutely couldn't accept it if her sister took it out now. Otherwise, if the two of them got entangled, who knew what kind of mess it would end up in?
Not wanting her husband and sister to have a strained relationship is one thing, but allowing them to contact each other privately and keep seeing each other is another!

She can still tell the difference.

Lu Yang stopped halfway up the stairs, looking down at the two sisters and the bankbook on the table. "30? That's quite a sum. It seems our CEO He doesn't want to strain the relationship too much."

The deal fell through and the contract wasn't agreed upon. Logically, this brokerage fee shouldn't have been paid. But not only was it paid, it was quite a large sum. What does that indicate?
Yin Mingzhu, her face pale, said, "Don't use that tone. I admit, I wanted to make money, but I never imagined things would turn out this way. They're just using me, I..."

"You what?"

Lu Yang said with a mocking expression.

Yin Mingzhu lowered her head, remained silent for a moment, then raised her head, her eyes red as she looked at Lu Yang at the corner of the stairs: "I know this money... it's for you, not for me, so I'm bringing it back to you."

Her breathing was heavy.

That's right. She was busy with all sorts of things and even took a half-month vacation just to earn this brokerage fee in her bank account. But in the end, the other party never intended to cooperate. They were just using her, this fool, to spread the news of their cooperation with the guy upstairs. However, their ultimate goal was just to raise their own value and sell themselves for a better price elsewhere.

She only realized what was going on when she suddenly saw a news report in the newspaper that Arctic Ocean soda had reached an agreement with foreign group Pepsi to acquire shares and jointly establish a domestic "Pepsi-Arctic Ocean joint venture".

But by this time, the other party had already paid her all the agreed-upon fees, transferring the 30 yuan agency fee to her personal account as agreed.

She's not stupid.

If the headline in this news article were changed to "Pengcheng Century Group," then she could accept the brokerage fee with a clear conscience.

But what does it mean now?
Even though they hadn't reached an agreement, the agency fee was still paid. How could she possibly feel at ease with that?
If she simply accepted the money and pretended not to know anything about it, she might satisfy her desire for money, but deep down she would feel that she had joined forces with the bad guys in the newspapers and was deliberately scheming against the man in Pengcheng whom she should call her brother-in-law.

So after several sleepless nights, she decided to come to Shenzhen again to clarify everything.

There will be plenty of opportunities to earn money in the future, but if things aren't made clear, she may never be able to appear in front of this man she should call her brother-in-law with a clear conscience again.

Lu Yang was also quite surprised, "You don't want it? You're giving it to me? Have you thought this through?"

30 yuan was enough to change the fate of an ordinary person, after all, it was 1994.

Yin Mingzhu nodded emphatically with a nasal tone, "I've already said it once, this money isn't for me, it's compensation for you. They just want to appease you by appeasing me, since their motives aren't pure and they don't want to offend you, a billionaire."

Who is she?
He's nothing, just an ordinary person in the eyes of capital.

And the man opposite him, whom she should call her brother-in-law.

That's what makes the other party hesitant.

Otherwise, why should she be paid a commission when the deal didn't go through?

Is it because she's good-looking?
There are plenty of women in China who are prettier than her, and 30 is not a small sum. The reason the other party was willing to give it to her was simply because they were afraid that the guy upstairs would hold them accountable. Mr. He from Arctic Ocean, who knew he was in the wrong, was just treating it as compensation for his apology.

Don't assume she doesn't know.

Looking down at her from his elevated position, Lu Yang said, "You do have some self-awareness. But I don't want this money. Those guys dared to scheme against me, so they'd better be prepared for my retaliation. Didn't they set up a joint beverage company? Then let's wait and see how they fight it out in the beverage market."

He thinks he can get Lu Yang's forgiveness for a mere 30 yuan?
It's like a dream. And the two sides already had a grudge, although this grudge might not have anything to do with the Arctic Ocean soda factory, but who can blame them when it's now cooperating with Best Express?
By intercepting Tianfu Cola, Lu Yang had already captured a large share of the domestic cola market without doing anything. Instantly, he became a thorn in the side of foreign beverage giants like Pepsi and Coca-Cola. Pepsi, in particular, must hate him to the bone after being outmaneuvered by him.

If the two sides were to openly confront each other in the domestic beverage market and engage in a fierce battle, then the Beibingyang soda factory in Northern China, which Pepsi acquired a 51% stake in, would undoubtedly become one of Pepsi's bridgeheads in its war against Lu Yang and other beverage companies in the market.

To avoid making himself soft-hearted later, he definitely couldn't accept this mere 30 yuan, lest the other party cry and beg him to show mercy out of consideration for their compatriots.

Yes, that's right, Lu Yang is that confident. He's confident that he'll have the last laugh and that he'll win.

"Then I'll return them."

Seeing that Lu Yang resolutely refused to accept it, Yin Mingzhu got up, took the passbook, and prepared to leave with a face as cold as ice.

"Wait a minute."

Lu Yang called out to her.

Seeing her husband speak, Yin Mingyue quickly grabbed her sister's hand and said, "Sister, wait a minute, don't rush off. Mom has taken Xin'er out to play and hasn't come back yet. If she finds out you're here and we haven't even had a chance to properly entertain you before you leave, won't she be angry with us?"

The main reason is that Mom and my sister had a very unpleasant argument last time, and she is determined to keep my sister here this time to ease the tension between them. She doesn't want her biological mother and sister to never see each other again.

This not only makes the older sister uncomfortable, but also the mother. As the younger sister and daughter, she will also feel very uncomfortable being caught in the middle.

Yin Mingzhu was held back by her younger sister and didn't dare to struggle, afraid of upsetting her sister's pregnancy. She could only whisper, "I didn't say I was leaving. I just wanted to go see Dad."

The old man, Yin Mingzhu and Yin Mingyue's father, now lives in a retirement home for retired cadres, which is less than 500 steps away from this villa.

I chose to settle down here in Shenzhen because I liked the environment and the fact that it was close to the retirement home for senior citizens.

Yin Mingyue smiled mischievously and then let go of her sister's hand.

"Okay, okay, then I'll go with my sister later."

Yin Mingzhu shook her head.

She still had something to ask the man upstairs, so she looked up and asked, "Have you changed your mind now?"

If this guy changes his mind now, then she's still willing to hand over the 30.

Lu Yang shook his head and chuckled, "It's just a small amount of money, 30. It's not enough to make me, Lu Yang, change my mind. I just want to remind you that you don't need to return the money in your savings account. Returning it would just mean it would be embezzled by those parasites anyway. Or, if you feel it's too hot to handle and don't want it, you can donate it."

Lu Yang spread his hands, looking cheerful, and said, "There are people who are dirt poor everywhere these days. Just find a few who can't even afford to eat, and then share the money with them. If you really find that too troublesome, you can donate it to the Red Cross! Maybe someone will even erect a longevity tablet for you."

Of course, whether the people who erected the longevity tablets here are truly starving poor people or insiders of the Red Cross is unknown.

Whatever it is, the point is not to return it. Returning it would be aiding the enemy. Are you kidding me? He'll be fighting them to the death in the future, and they'll be fighting tooth and nail until they're envious. Returning the money would just be feeding the enemy. Wouldn't that be asking for trouble?
Although this mere 30 yuan is actually not very effective.

Yin Mingzhu bit her lower lip, silently put away the passbook, and then put it into her backpack.

"Little sister, come with me to see Dad. I haven't seen him in a long time."

No matter what, he was still her biological father, even though he was very prejudiced against her.

As for the money, whether or not to listen to the guy upstairs and donate it, she hadn't thought it through yet, hadn't made up her mind.

It took immense courage for her to travel thousands of miles by plane to come here and retrieve the savings book containing 30 yuan. But to donate it to strangers...

Well, let's just take it one step at a time and think about it slowly when we get back.

Yin Mingyue was also very happy that her sister had finally come to her senses and agreed to go with her to see their father.

Since their father's accident, my sister has only shown her face once. After our father moved to the Pengcheng Sanatorium, my sister has never appeared again. She knows that my sister still resents our father's infidelity.

My father did go too far back then.

He would rather have a mistress outside the marriage and raise the illegitimate child born to her than listen to the earnest advice of his daughter whom he had raised for 20 years.

Actually, she felt the same way. She also had grievances. If her father were still a normal person, she wouldn't want to talk to him anymore.

But now, Father has already paid the price for his mistakes and is in this terrible state. He can't speak, he can't walk, and he needs to be taken care of to eat and defecate. If we, his children, still can't forgive him now, do we really have to wait until he passes away before we forgive him?

"Hurry up if you're going, or I won't go when Mom comes back."

Both sisters knew that their mother harbored the deepest prejudice against their father, so even though Yin Mingzhu had a falling out with her mother, she still didn't want her mother to find out that she had forgiven the father who had cheated on her.

Yin Mingyue stuck out her tongue and took her sister's hand, saying, "Alright, alright, let's set off now."

As she spoke, she looked up and snorted softly at the upstairs: "Honey, aren't you coming down here to be our protector?"

Lu Yang said "Hey," and then hurriedly ran downstairs again.

Have no idea!

The daughter-in-law who is nine months pregnant is the oldest.

If the retirement home for senior citizens wasn't just in the next neighborhood, only a street away, he wouldn't have been so happy for his wife to go out with such a big belly.

He quickly stepped between the two, took his wife's hand, and helped her up himself.

Yin Mingzhu snorted and couldn't help but roll her eyes at this display of affection.

"You guys take your time, I'll go first."

As she spoke, without waiting for her younger sister to call her from behind and tell her not to rush and that they could walk together, she quickened her pace as if someone was chasing her.

(End of this chapter)