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

Pengcheng.

The night was deep and all was quiet.

In the master bedroom on the second floor of the villa, only a warm yellow reading lamp by the bedside cast a tranquil glow.

The air was filled with the fresh scent of moist shower gel and the unique warmth of rising steam.

Lu Yang leaned against the soft, wide headboard, holding a thick martial arts novel in his hand. His gaze seemed to be fixed on the pages, but his thoughts were wandering far away.

The bathroom door was gently pushed open, and a cloud of warm steam flowed out.

Yin Mingyue walked out silently, her bare, white feet stepping onto the cool, smooth floor.

She was only wrapped in a nearly transparent gauze bathrobe, and water droplets slid down her smooth neck and disappeared into the deep cleavage.

Her long, wet, jet-black hair cascaded over her shoulders, making her skin appear even more like jade, radiating a lustrous glow in the dim light.

She walked to the dressing table, about to sit down and comb her long hair.

As if telepathically connected, Lu Yang closed the book in his hand the moment she sat down and casually placed it on the bedside table.

He stood up, walked behind Yin Mingyue, and silently picked up the hairdryer that had been prepared beforehand. The warm, gentle breeze, accompanied by a low hum, softly caressed her damp hair.

Her slender fingers deftly moved through the hair, her movements gentle and focused, drying each strand of her cascading black hair.

In the quiet space, only the sound of the hairdryer and the faint, sweet fragrance of steam filled the air. A warmth that needed no words flowed between the two.

Yin Mingyue closed her eyes, enjoying her husband's rare tenderness, and her tense nerves gradually relaxed after a long day.

A few minutes later, the hair was dry and fluffy.

Lu Yang turned off the hairdryer, and the low hum stopped abruptly, plunging the room into an even deeper silence.

Yin Mingyue slowly turned around and looked up at Lu Yang. Her clear eyes were now filled with dependence and some indescribable complex emotions.

She didn't say anything, but simply stretched out her arms and gently hugged Lu Yang's lean waist, pressing her cheek against his firm chest.

Lu Yang naturally embraced her back, gently patting her back with his large hand.

"Husband..." A muffled voice sounded from his arms, tinged with a hint of caution and a weak plea, "...Mom is an elder, can you please stop being angry with her?"

Lu Yang paused slightly.

He knew that Mingyue was referring to her mother, Ma Xiulan.

Yin Mingyue raised her head, her delicate eyebrows slightly furrowed, her eyes filled with confusion and a hint of heartache: "When I went to Shanghai to see Mom this time, I felt... she was acting a little strange towards me. It wasn't the natural intimacy and casualness we used to have. Instead... she seemed a little cautious, as if she was afraid of upsetting me. Her words and actions were all polite and... distant. I felt... quite uncomfortable."

She sighed and buried her face in Lu Yang's arms again, her voice lowered, filled with reminiscence of the past: "It's always been like this since I was little. My mother endured all the scorn from my grandparents in the village to protect my sister and me, especially me. I stuttered when I was little, which made my mother feel ashamed... Later, my father was away... That woman came to our door with her illegitimate child, and my parents divorced... My mother still risked her life to protect us..."

Her voice choked up: "When I gave birth to Xin'er, my mother took care of me day and night... Xin'er was not even half a year old yet, and she always slept with her maternal grandmother, giving the two of us a lot of time to ourselves... Although there was a small conflict with Aunt Ye later because of taking care of me during my postpartum period, those were all minor things, but now that my mother is like this... it hurts my heart to see her like this."

This shouldn't be how a mother and daughter should behave.

As Lu Yang listened to his wife's heartbroken outpouring, he tightened his grip on her arm.

He lowered his head, gently brushing his chin against the top of her head, his voice low and gentle: "Silly girl, what are you thinking about? When did I ever say I hated Mom?"

That's the truth.

Initially, Ma Xiulan felt stifled living in Shenzhen, especially with the complicated relationship between her two daughters. She always carried a knot in her heart when facing Lu Yang, which is why she insisted on leaving to help her eldest daughter start her own business.

It wasn't Lu Yang who drove her away.

“But…” Yin Mingyue lifted her head in his arms, her bright eyes flickering with worry, “Mom must think…”

"Alright." Lu Yang interrupted her reverie, cupped her face in his hands, looked directly at her with his deep gaze, and made a solemn promise, "I promise you, if Mom ever wants to come back, I will never give her a hard time, and I will make sure she comes home happily and comfortably, okay? There will always be a place for her here."

His words were clear and powerful, carrying a comforting quality.

A gentle kiss landed tenderly on Yin Mingyue's smooth forehead.

"Mmm..." Yin Mingyue's nose tingled slightly, and she nodded heavily, her heart full of emotion turning into a soft response.

She buried her head deep into Lu Yang's warm embrace once again, drawing comfort and reliance from it.

Lu Yang felt a slight stirring in his heart as he felt the warmth and softness in his arms.

He bent down and easily picked up Yin Mingyue in his arms.

Yin Mingyue gasped in surprise, her slender arms instinctively wrapping around his neck.

Lu Yang carried her and walked a few steps to the bedside, gently placing her on the soft mattress.

Just as Lu Yang leaned down to kiss those alluring red lips, Yin Mingyue stretched out her soft hand and gently pressed it against his chest, her palm warm.

"Wait a minute..." Her cheeks flushed, "Aren't you going to ask me if my trip to Shanghai went well? Did I... see my sister?"

Lu Yang stopped moving. He looked at the cautious probing in Yin Mingyue's eyes and a knowing yet slightly wicked smile appeared on his lips.

He didn't answer her question. Instead, he quickly lowered his head and placed a burning kiss on her soft palm.

"Giggle... Stop itching, it tickles..." Yin Mingyue's palms tickled from his kisses, and she couldn't help but laugh and twist her body, trying to pull her hand back and avoid his close face.

Lu Yang, however, persisted and easily grabbed her wrist as she tried to escape with his other hand.

Yin Mingyue turned her face away, saying with a hint of coquettishness, "Don't be in such a hurry, let me finish what I have to say, I... sob sob..."

The unfinished words were abruptly sealed.

Lu Yang lowered his head and precisely captured her slightly parted red lips, with an undeniable force and a longing for a long-awaited reunion.

His kiss was passionate and lingering, as if trying to steal all the oxygen from her chest. Yin Mingyue initially offered a token resistance, but quickly became lost in the familiar and suffocating kiss, her arms weakly climbing up his neck, responding awkwardly.

After a long while, until Yin Mingyue felt she was about to faint from lack of oxygen, Lu Yang reluctantly raised his head, his lips still glistening with tears.

He looked at his wife beneath him, her face flushed and her eyes glazed over as if she were drunk, and a mischievous glint flashed in his deep eyes.

"You're trying to tell me," his voice was hoarse and low with lust, yet it clearly conveyed an all-knowing control, "that dear sister of yours not only resolutely refused to see you, but then, the moment you left Shanghai, she immediately 'recovered' and was discharged from the hospital, taking back control of Pearl Media from our mother, right?"

Yin Mingyue's eyes widened suddenly, her face still flushed with surprise: "How could you..."

As soon as she said it, she immediately felt it was perfectly reasonable.

Yes, what could possibly escape his notice?

Thinking of her sister's cold rejection and her mother's haggard appearance, caught in the middle, a deep sense of guilt and helplessness welled up inside her.

"Honey..." She tightened her arms around Lu Yang's neck, her eyes pleading, "You're not... upset again, are you? Let's... let's not hold a grudge against my sister anymore, okay? Mom... she's really in a difficult position..."

What she feared most was that Lu Yang's anger had not subsided and that he would continue to suppress Mingzhu Media.

That would only add fuel to the fire, driving her and her sister further apart, and putting her mother in a very difficult position. This family would probably never be the same again.

Lu Yang did not answer immediately. His deep eyes stared at her intently, filled with complex emotions, as if he were weighing something.

The room fell silent for a moment, with only the sound of their intertwined breathing clearly audible.

Yin Mingyue's heart raced as he stared at her, and his silence made her uneasy.

She bit her lower lip, mustered her courage, and lowered her voice even more, with a hint of cautious humility: "Honey, I know... I shouldn't interfere in your business decisions. Whatever you do, you must have your reasons, but... but the other day, the retirement home called..."

Her voice choked with sobs, "My dad... my dad's health is getting worse and worse... I've seen him myself, and it's exactly as the doctor said... He... he really doesn't recognize me anymore, he doesn't respond when I call him... Seeing him like that... I'm so scared... I'm afraid he'll suddenly..."

Lu Yang was fully aware of the situation of late-stage Alzheimer's disease.

He understood the fear that Yin Mingyue didn't voice. She was afraid that when her father suddenly passed away, the three of them—mother and daughters—would be unable to gather together to send him off on his final journey due to hatred and estrangement. Some of them might even refuse to come back to see their master one last time.

Seeing the tears silently sliding down his wife's cheeks, the last trace of coldness in Lu Yang's heart caused by Yin Mingzhu was finally melted away by those tears.

That's it.

He sighed silently.

No matter what her father-in-law did in the past, he was still Mingyue's father and had also been her...master.

This blood relation and the bond between master and disciple cannot be erased.

"Alright, stop it." Lu Yang reached out and gently wiped away the tears from the corners of Yin Mingyue's eyes, his tone soothing. "I didn't say I disagreed."

He paused for a moment and then made a decision: "How about this, I'll make some time tomorrow and go with you to the nursing home to see Dad."

"Mmm!" Yin Mingyue nodded vigorously, her heart finally settling down. Overwhelmed with gratitude and relief, she hugged Lu Yang tightly around the waist again.

Lu Yang sensed her dependence and the rare tenderness she showed at this moment, and the flame in his heart that had been temporarily suppressed instantly reignited.

He leaned closer again, his hot breath spraying onto her sensitive neck.

Yin Mingyue reached out her small hand again, this time accurately covering his lips as he leaned in. Her cheeks were as red as ripe tomatoes, and her voice was barely audible: "Wait...you...you turn off the light..."

Lu Yang was taken aback at first, then burst into laughter.

They've been married for so long and have two children, yet she's still so shy.

However, her shy and timid appearance stirred his heartstrings more than any deliberate seduction.

"Okay." He chuckled softly, his voice full of affection.

With a long arm outstretched, his fingertips precisely pressed the light switch on the wall above the bed.

"Clap."

A soft sound.

The warm yellow light inside the room instantly went out, leaving only the hazy moonlight from outside the window filtering through the gauze curtains, casting an ambiguous silver glow over the room.

In the darkness, only the rustling of clothes and increasingly rapid breathing could be heard...

As dawn broke, the thin mist that had drifted in from the sea over Shanghai dissipated.

Inside the president's office on the top floor of Mingzhu Media, the air was as still as frozen ice.

Outside the huge floor-to-ceiling windows lies a bustling, awakening city, while inside, the air pressure is so low it's suffocating.

Yin Mingzhu, dressed in a sharp dark suit, sat upright behind a large desk.

Despite her exquisite makeup, she couldn't hide the deep weariness and a sickly pallor hidden in her eyes.

Her back was ramrod straight, like a fully drawn bowstring, exuding an almost sharp tension. The coffee in front of her hadn't been touched and was already ice cold.

Today was the day originally scheduled for a private pre-trial mediation with Sifei Media.

The agreed time had long passed.

"Attorney Liu," Yin Mingzhu's voice wasn't loud, but it pierced the silent air like an icicle, carrying a clear sense of suppressed impatience, "Where are they? Why haven't they arrived yet?"

Standing to the side of the desk was a middle-aged man in a sharp suit and gold-rimmed glasses, none other than Liu Tianyi, a renowned lawyer in Shanghai.

At this moment, a light sheen of sweat appeared on his forehead, and his expression was somewhat embarrassed and solemn.

“Mr. Yin.” Attorney Liu bowed slightly, his tone professional and composed, yet unable to conceal a hint of unease. “I have contacted the opposing lawyer multiple times, but… their response today was somewhat… ambiguous.”

"Ambiguous?" Yin Mingzhu's voice suddenly rose, her sharp gaze piercing Liu the lawyer as if it were a physical object.

"What do you mean by 'ambiguous'? The mediation schedule was finalized two weeks ago, and the time and place were confirmed via email the day before yesterday! Is this how Tianyi Law Firm handles things?" Her question was merciless, carrying the imposing authority of a superior.

Attorney Liu's face immediately turned ugly.

He held a prestigious position in Shanghai's legal community and was usually treated with great respect. However, being questioned so bluntly at this moment made him feel somewhat embarrassed.

But he knew the temperament and weight of the female CEO in front of him, so he suppressed his displeasure and said in a deep voice, "I'm sorry, President Yin, it was my oversight. I will contact the other party's law firm and its client immediately to find out the situation."

"No need!" Yin Mingzhu abruptly waved her hand, interrupting Lawyer Liu.

She abruptly stood up, walked to the huge floor-to-ceiling window, turned her back to the office, and left everyone with a cold and tense silhouette.

The bright sunlight outside the window seemed unable to warm her in the slightest.

After a moment of deathly silence, the cold voice rang out again: "It seems we've all been made fools of."

She turned around abruptly, her face no longer showing the excitement from before, but only a cold calm that came from seeing through everything. But beneath this calm, a storm was about to break out.

"Attorney Liu, you may leave." Her voice regained its usual calmness, but carried an undeniable decisiveness. "Prepare all the court documents. Since the other party has no sincerity and insists on pursuing this case, then let's fight them hard! I want everyone to see that Mingzhu Media is not so easily bullied!"

Her gaze shifted to her assistant, Yu Li, who had been standing quietly in the corner. Her command was clear and ruthless: "Xiao Li, immediately notify the public relations department to be on standby! Closely monitor all media platforms, especially those associated with Sifei Media! If, before the formal court hearing and verdict, any statements or press releases are found to be disseminating information about our 'plagiarism' or 'imitation' of their programs, regardless of their size, immediately activate the highest-level public opinion contingency plan! Collect and secure all evidence of such dissemination as soon as possible!"

Her eyes were sharp as knives: "They can sue us for 'plagiarism,' and we can sue them for 'commercial defamation and unfair competition.' If we're going to play this game, let's muddy the waters completely. I want to see who will give in first!"

"Yes, boss! I'll arrange it right away!" Yu Li was intimidated by the powerful aura emanating from her boss at that moment, so she quickly responded and strode out of the office to assign tasks.

In the huge office, only Yin Mingzhu remained.

The sunlight shone on her, outlining her solitary and stubborn silhouette.

Her chin was slightly raised, her eyes burning with the fury of being slighted and mocked, and a resolute determination to burn her bridges.

“Du Yuanyuan…” she murmured the name in her heart. The real helmsman of Sifei Media, the mother of her “old classmate” and “best friend” Xu Siqi, born into an official family, with an ex-husband who was a mayor, and an arrogant woman who had served as the deputy director of a provincial TV station before going into business.

A cold smile froze on Yin Mingzhu's lips. (End of Chapter)