In public, the word “brother-in-law” isn’t something one can just call out randomly.
Sang Rui should only have one older sister, right?
Their parents had passed away years ago, so it wouldn’t be possible for some unknown illegitimate daughter to suddenly appear during this period.
At that moment, the scene of her last meeting with Meng Peisheng appeared in her mind.
The contract, the marriage agreement… She saw herself signing her name.
“……”
Was that system-like voice really not mistaken?
Did he not mix up her name with Sang Rui’s? For example, was she the real female antagonist?
Sang Miao, filled with suspicion about the unreliability of this world, pieced together the fragments of recent events from her memory.
Okay, he wasn’t wrong.
It was Sang Rui who had actively agreed to the marriage but suddenly had second thoughts.
It was still the same as before; if she didn’t want something, she just pushed it onto her.
Sang Miao wasn’t surprised.
As mentioned before, people might deviate from the set storyline based on their experiences and choices.
This meant that how the plot unfolded still depended on her choices.
Sang Rui had experienced something that led her to make a choice completely different from the original character’s.
Zhou Jun, based on the reactions of people around them, found Meng Peisheng’s group and said, “Looks like something’s happened.
Let’s go check it out.”
She pulled Sang Miao along, getting closer to the group.
Sang Rui called out “brother-in-law” and felt uneasy.
They hadn’t had much interaction before, so she had been a bit rash in speaking.
However, she knew that with Meng Peisheng’s ingrained manners, he wouldn’t ignore her directly.
Charles looked at her curiously and asked, “Who is this?”
Meng Peisheng introduced her: “The second miss of the Yun’an Sang family.”
That was enough of an acknowledgment.
Sang Rui sighed in relief, put on a polite and sweet smile, and followed with an introduction: “Hello, I’m Sang Rui.”
Charles responded politely and then turned to Meng Peisheng, asking, “You’re getting married??”
Meng Peisheng just smiled faintly and explained, “It’s still in preparation.”
This wasn’t the right occasion for this conversation, so although Charles was surprised, he only asked a couple of questions before changing the subject.
However, just those few sentences revealed enough information, and everyone in the room was stunned.
Big news!
Seeing the shocked expressions of the people around her, especially the look on An Ying’s face, Sang Rui finally felt relieved and her frustration lifted.
Even if the Sang family was temporarily down, she wasn’t going to let these people bully her.
If it weren’t for the plot, how would she and Meng Peisheng have ended up in such a situation…
Now, their relationship was different.
Sang Rui’s fear of the past life’s outcome had lessened significantly.
As they spoke, Meng Peisheng noticed a familiar figure out of the corner of his eye and realized she was also present.
At that moment, his future wife, upon seeing him, seemed to pretend she didn’t see him, clearly not wanting to get involved with the current topic.
Meng Peisheng lightly shifted his gaze.
Compared to the Sang family’s second miss in front of him, he found Sang Miao more suitable.
That was why, when the Sang family switched people, he hadn’t said anything.
Sang Miao knew he had seen her.
Yes, thanks to his tacit understanding of ignoring her.
That night, as celebrities competed on the red carpet, the major media outlets and fans fought online, but in the end, the topic was hijacked by a bombshell news.
The fact that Sang Rui had called out “brother-in-law” wasn’t a secret.
That night, news of Meng Peisheng’s marriage alliance with the Sang family spread like wildfire, causing a huge stir online.
The fact that the Meng family would hold shares in Yun’an was originally an internal piece of information known only to a few, but now, without the need for financial analysts to leak the news, netizens could already guess that these two families must have some big moves planned.
Looks like the Sang family is using the Meng Peisheng tree to pull themselves back from the brink
Great! My stocks are saved!
So what is Meng Peisheng after? He has so many rich family daughters to choose from, why marry into the nearly bankrupt Sang family?
Doesn’t he already have a son? Maybe the rich young ladies didn’t want to be a stepmother?
Not really, there’s a long queue of aristocratic families lining up for a marriage alliance with the Meng family.
The Sang family, with so much debt, wouldn’t even be considered.
Don’t say that, Sang Rui is quite good-looking.
Maybe her sister is even prettier!
You think this is a beauty contest?
Sang Rui is really impatient, she’s been getting more irrelevant lately.
She must be rushing to create some buzz.
It’s not even her marrying, she’s acting like she’s marking her territory.
Finished. Meng Peisheng’s sister-in-law, won’t she be walking all over the entertainment industry from now on?
Okay, okay.
The rich young lady is going to bring her resources back and dominate the entertainment industry.
Unfortunately, the netizens knew nothing about Sang Rui’s older sister, so there was nothing to discuss.
Beicheng had already entered winter, with temperatures below freezing.
For Sang Miao, who had just experienced extreme cold, this place felt almost like spring.
She got home late last night and had slept in until she woke up naturally, feeling much better.
Standing on the balcony, Sang Miao gazed into the distance from the third floor.
The trees, the grass, the sky… everything looked perfectly normal.
The air, though filled with smog, still felt refreshingly clear.
She glanced at the silver tabby Maine Coon cat she was holding in her arms…
Animals were normal too!
In that world, there were hardly any newborns, but there were occasionally some unlucky souls coming from other worlds, like a banished place in the cracks of time and space.
She was one of them.
Disasters kept coming one after another, and many couldn’t survive, but the number of people didn’t seem to decrease, popping up like mushrooms in waves.
After a night’s rest, Sang Miao found that her memory had almost fully recovered.
The villa she now lived in was the old house of the Sang family, and the chairman of Yun’an Group was her uncle.
Their father was a teacher at a university in the southern province, while their mother was the second miss of the Sang family.
The Sang family had deep roots in Beicheng and held a place in the aristocratic circle.
When their mother rejected a family marriage alliance and insisted on being with their father, their grandfather was furious and eventually severed ties with the family.
However, when she was six years old, both of her parents died in a car accident on their way home.
Her father’s relatives were few, and they couldn’t afford to support her and Sang Rui.
Her uncle, despite her grandfather’s objections, brought her and Sang Rui back to the Sang family and raised them like his own daughters.
All the care and attention they received were on par with their biological son, their cousin.
To the outside world, they were both considered the Sang family’s young ladies.
Her uncle was a kind man, but he lacked business acumen.
Over the years, the Sang family had already fallen significantly, and this time was a particularly heavy blow.
The issue was with the real estate investments, but Yun’an, which had started with the hotel business and some cultural industries, was still profitable.
Those with an eye for business could tell that, with time, the Sang family was not without a chance of revival.
However, due to excessive debt, there was a lot of capital wanting to acquire Yun’an’s core business, preferring to swallow it rather than invest in it.
Selling off these key assets and business operations would barely cover the company’s debts, but it would leave them with nothing.
Starting over would not be easy.
Until the end, her uncle and cousin didn’t intend to give up their family’s assets so easily.
They were still looking for a way to raise funds.
Her cousin, Sang Yichen, was of the same age as her, graduated from a prestigious school, and was highly capable.
However, by the time he took over the company, the problems were already present.
It was through his efforts that they secured the financial support from Meng Peisheng.
Meng family, being large and influential, likely saw both Sang Yichen’s abilities and the competitiveness of Yun’an’s hotel business.
They opted to hold shares without interfering with the operations, thus allowing the Sang family to keep its major shareholder position.
At the same time, Meng Peisheng proposed a marriage alliance.
The marriage alliance was beneficial for the Sang family.
With this relationship, the financial market would have more confidence in Yun’an, making it easier to execute many projects.
Her uncle didn’t have any daughters, and her aunt’s daughter had only just entered university.
So, the only possible candidates for the marriage alliance were her and Sang Rui.
However, her cousin never urged or hinted at them to agree, despite the benefits the marriage could bring to Yun’an.
Two months ago, Sang Yichen only relayed this matter to them.
It was Meng Peisheng’s idea, and the whole thing was based on their personal willingness.
Whether the marriage took place wouldn’t affect the subsequent cooperation.
“Sang Miao” thought for a while, feeling that this would help resolve the family and company crisis, and she had no reason to refuse.
Moreover, she was the older sister.
Her uncle had raised them for so many years with great care.
If there was something she could handle, she should take responsibility.
But before she could speak, Sang Rui had already voluntarily agreed to it.
After their parents passed away, Sang Miao, as the older sister, had always felt responsible for taking care of her younger sister.
Even before unexpectedly entering another world, she had always followed through on that responsibility.
Although her self-awareness had detached, what remained here might just be a pre-programmed NPC, but the sense of responsibility never changed.
It was almost a programmed obedience.
Thus, “Sang Miao” went to find Sang Rui to confirm her intentions.
If it was for the family’s sake, she shouldn’t force herself; some things didn’t need to be shouldered by her.
Sang Rui remained unmoved.
During that period, she acted like she had something against her, unwilling to listen to any of her advice, and had a defensive attitude.
Since she was genuinely willing, “Sang Miao” didn’t press further.
But one day, Sang Rui suddenly came to find her, crying in fear and saying: “Sister, I don’t want to marry Meng Peisheng.
I don’t want to be a stepmother. Please help me.”
Her sister’s character had always been like this.
“Sang Miao” thought she hadn’t figured it out at first, but now she regretted it.
Sang Rui cried and complained to her, and in the end, “she” talked to her cousin about this matter, asking him to arrange for her to marry the Meng family instead.
After meeting Meng Peisheng, she learned that it was due to some family reasons that he proposed the three-year marriage contract.
The pros and cons were clearly written in black and white, like a business deal in the marketplace.
He had shown ample sincerity; it was just up to her whether she was willing to cooperate.
When Sang Miao returned, she was handed this hot potato.
The contract had already been signed…
But thankfully, she and Meng Peisheng weren’t really married; the contract lasted only three years.
Even if it was a real marriage, if she wasn’t satisfied, divorce was always an option.
Sang Miao looked at her current assets, which consisted only of a meager salary.
Whether in the apocalypse or here, while money wasn’t everything, it was impossible to get by without it.
In the years before the Sang family fell, her uncle had given her and Sang Rui generous allowances.
She hadn’t spent much, and over the years, she had saved a few million.
Although it was a drop in the ocean, when her cousin went to resolve the financial issues, she had also taken some of her savings and used it to help the company.
At this moment, although Sang Miao felt some pain, she thought to herself that if it were the present version of her, she would still do the same.
Money was important, but sometimes it wasn’t everything.
This was truly poorer than when she was in the apocalypse…
Sang Miao looked at the balance in her card and was about to sigh when suddenly she thought of something…
The contract!
In the bedroom, the cat jumped back onto the bed, found a comfortable position, yawned, and lazily laid down, watching her search through the drawer.
Sang Miao opened the marriage agreement she had signed not long ago and quickly skimmed through it.
She had to admit, Meng Peisheng was generous.
The villa, apartment, winery, and office buildings would gradually be transferred into her name after they obtained the marriage certificate.
A portion of the cash would be transferred monthly, and another part would be paid upon the contract’s completion.
She wouldn’t have to do much just move into the villa, live together as his wife, not fulfill the duties of a spouse, and attend family banquets and public events.
This wasn’t a marriage agreement at all; it was completely a high-paying employment contract, the kind where she could lie back and relax.
She vaguely remembered what the plot said the male protagonist, Meng Xici, didn’t have a close relationship with his father.
One was boarding at an elite school, and the other was often traveling for business.
Even if they lived together, most of the time it would just be her and the servants.
What a vicious female antagonist…
This stepmother wasn’t that bad…!