May I ask what company is under Miss Sang’s name?”
Sang Miao chuckled lightly.
“A newly registered company.
If you’re confirming the source of funds…”
Shen Shuhe, who had been listening on the side, was quietly pondering.
The name “Sang Miao” felt oddly familiar.
After a while, while they were deeply engaged in conversation and not paying attention to her, Shen Shuhe couldn’t resist secretly taking out her phone and looking it up.
The first search result was an announcement on the Meng Corporation’s official website, confirming the marriage of its current executive director and actual head of the family.
Meng Peisheng’s marital status was important company information that needed to be publicly disclosed, and the name of his spouse wasn’t a secret.
The spouse listed in the announcement was Sang Miao.
The wife of the head of the Meng Corporation…
Wouldn’t that make her Sang Rui’s sister?
Shen Shuhe’s heart skipped a beat.
This name… Could it really be just a coincidence?
Although there were no publicly available photos of Sang Miao online, judging by her aura and the large-scale investment she was making, the likelihood was quite high.
Shen Shuhe steadied herself, closed her phone, and suddenly put on a broad yet formulaic smile.
“May I ask, Miss Sang, is Sang Rui your younger sister?”
This question had nothing to do with their business discussion.
Although her expression remained polite, Sang Miao keenly sensed a subtle shift in her attitude.
“Does Miss Shen know Sang Rui?”
“Oh, I wouldn’t say we know each other well.
We’re just in the same industry, so we’ve crossed paths a few times,” Shen Shuhe replied with a smile, though she inwardly wanted to curse.
How could it be such a coincidence that she ran into her?
The way she said it made it sound like their history wasn’t particularly pleasant.
Sang Miao’s expression remained unchanged, but she became more cautious.
She smiled casually and said in a seemingly nonchalant tone, “That is quite the coincidence.
Our family usually doesn’t interfere much with Sang Rui’s career in the entertainment industry, so I haven’t really been keeping up with her recent situation.
I hope she hasn’t caused any trouble.”
Shen Shuhe observed her carefully, as if trying to assess something, then simply smiled without directly answering.
“You and your sister don’t look very alike.
I didn’t recognize it at all at first glance.”
Hearing this, Sang Miao was almost certain that something unpleasant had happened between them.
But without more details, she had no way of knowing exactly what it was.
She decided to deflect and said, “Miss Shen and Mr. Shen, on the other hand, look quite similar.
You must have a great sibling relationship.”
Shen Xingxia, noticing the subtle probing between them, remained silent and listened.
Sang Rui…
Wasn’t she the actress who had taken his sister’s role?
And Miss Sang was her older sister?
What a coincidence…
As he was lost in thought, Shen Shuhe suddenly patted him on the shoulder and casually changed the subject.
“Him?
He just plays video games all day.
But to be fair, he’s pretty good at making them.”
Sang Miao agreed.
“I’m a player of Ghost Island myself.
I’m interested in the new project because I genuinely like the game.”
Hearing Shen Shuhe’s half-joking self-promotion, Shen Xingxia touched his nose and chuckled awkwardly.
Then, he smoothly changed the topic.
“Why don’t we go have a meal first?
We can talk while we eat.”
Since Shen Shuhe was a public figure, they had reserved a private dining room.
Before the food arrived, Sang Miao excused herself to go to the restroom.
Because of Shen Shuhe’s subtle probing earlier, Sang Miao felt a bit suspicious.
She quickly searched online for any recent interactions between Sang Rui and Shen Shuhe.
It was easy to find.
Shen Shuhe had debuted earlier than Sang Rui.
With her outstanding looks and a well-received breakout role, she currently has a decent amount of popularity.
She was one of the younger actresses with great potential, just a hit project away from reaching the top tier.
However, being young and relatively new in the industry, she still had a lot of room to grow.
Among her peers, she had already made remarkable achievements, though her resources often didn’t quite match up.
If the role had been chosen purely based on qualifications, it should have gone to Shen Shuhe.
Looking at just the actresses’ profiles and career standing, there was no reason for the role to be given to Sang Rui instead.
Clearly, other factors were at play.
From the controversy surrounding the casting change and the subtle implications in PR statements, Sang Miao could already make some educated guesses.
Meng Corporation had vast capital and was involved in many industries.
The entertainment companies were just a small part of one of its subsidiaries’ investments.
Such matters were unlikely to even reach Meng Peisheng himself.
Even if no one from the Meng family intervened, it wasn’t impossible that someone below would take matters into their own hands out of respect for that connection.
It wouldn’t be difficult to find out the truth.
However, for this particular drama that had its lead actress replaced, considering the production team revealed during the early stages, it was indeed a decent project.
But it wasn’t at the level that would require Sang Rui to go out of her way to fight for it.
If Sang Rui really intended to use her ties to the Meng family to secure resources, there were certainly better choices.
Why did she insist on taking this one?
…
Inside the private room, Shen Xingxia asked Shen Shuhe in a low voice, “Sis, just now…?”
Shen Shuhe knew exactly what he was asking.
“I was just testing her out.”
“They’re sisters, you know!
If they’re really close, and I happen to have issues with Sang Rui, wouldn’t that affect this collaboration?”
She glanced toward the door, lowered her voice even more, and whispered, “Even if there’s no conflict now, what about in the future?”
She pursed her lips.
“If there really is a problem, it’s better to back out now while we still can.
It’s not like we lack investors.
If she becomes a major shareholder, then half the project will be in her hands.”
“And do you even know who her husband is?
Meng Peisheng!
The entertainment companies have a lot of capital backing from the Meng Corporation, and even the gaming industry has their involvement…”
“If he’s the kind to protect his own, then it’s not just me.
You might also be affected,” Shen Shuhe continued in one breath.
She murmured, “If we can’t afford to offend her, we can at least avoid her.”
Hearing Shen Shuhe mention “her husband,” Shen Xingxia took a moment to process it.
His emotions were a bit complicated.
As for his sister’s concerns about how it might impact his studio, Shen Xingxia didn’t think it would go that far.
After a pause, Shen Shuhe looked at him with curiosity.
“You’re really determined to collaborate with her?
Weren’t there a few other investors you were in talks with?
Why did you choose her?”
He hesitated for a second before explaining seriously, “It’s not just about the money.
Other investors could provide funding, but only by working with her can I create exactly what I want.”
“You mentioned her background yourself.
If she were merely involved in the project without any investment, she probably wouldn’t be that interested.”
Shen Shuhe couldn’t help but sigh what a tangled fate.
She was silent for a few seconds.
“Fine.”
“Then, sis… you really don’t mind?”
Shen Xingxia looked at her seriously.
“Does it even matter if I do?
Honestly, if Sang Rui couldn’t even handle the negative PR I secretly arranged against her, then if the Meng family were really backing her, things wouldn’t have been this quiet.”
“We need to find out the full situation first.
Anyway, we haven’t signed the contract yet.
At the very least, we need to confirm that no matter what happens with her sister, it won’t affect our collaboration.”
“If she genuinely isn’t aware of the situation, she’ll naturally look into it.
But if she doesn’t react at all and just lets it slide, then… this partnership might not go smoothly.”
Shen Xingxia smiled reassuringly at her.
“I understand.”
When Sang Miao returned to the private room, some of the dishes had already been served.
The three of them continued their meal as usual, chatting as they ate.
Shen Shuhe was still polite, but she was no longer as warm as before.
After the meal, Sang Miao called her cousin.
She mentioned her meeting today and brought up Sang Rui as a potential complication.
She originally wanted him to investigate whether Sang Rui had really used her connection with the Meng family to forcibly take someone else’s role.
She didn’t expect her cousin to already know about it.
According to him, the rumors online were indeed true.
Thinking back on Sang Rui’s past years in the entertainment industry, Sang Miao recalled some details as well.
When Sang Rui first entered the industry, she had used the Sang family’s influence to gain some resources.
But since the Sang family didn’t have deep ties to the entertainment industry, the resources they could provide were limited.
They certainly wouldn’t have engaged in cutthroat competition like this.
Now that the Sang family had declined, Sang Rui might have struggled in the industry recently.
Wanting to secure better resources was understandable.
Her usual approach would have been to cry to the family and have them figure something out for her while she waited for the issue to be solved.
But this time, she had directly leveraged the Meng family’s resources.
She hadn’t even come to Sang Miao for help first, which was unusual.
Perhaps Sang Rui thought that in this arranged marriage, Sang Miao had no authority over Meng Corporation’s businesses.
She might have assumed that Sang Miao couldn’t help her, so she simply tricked those who weren’t aware of the situation.
Yet, this strategy had actually worked.
Sang Miao wasn’t sure whether to call it luck or something else.
Regardless, Shen Shuhe was a future business partner and also Shen Xingxia’s sister.
Sang Miao frowned.
Having such an underlying conflict was indeed a hidden risk.
From the moment she agreed to the arranged marriage and later backed out, to now somehow getting into a dispute with her future business partner, she truly had a knack for getting herself into trouble.
Not long after the start of the new school term, a special occasion arrived.
Today was February 14th, Valentine’s Day.
It was also the day Yuli High School dismissed students for the weekend.
For Sang Miao, it was just an ordinary day, though it brought a bit of minor concern.
Although business collaborations were based on mutual interests rather than personal feelings, and offending someone wasn’t directly her problem, it was unlikely the partnership would be canceled over this issue.
However, to ensure a smooth working relationship in the future, she still needed to show some sincerity.
The problem was that the drama was nearly finished filming.
She couldn’t just return the role to Shen Shuhe or compensate her with resources that was out of the question.
She wasn’t about to ask Meng Peisheng for help over this either.
For now, there wasn’t a good way to resolve the issue.
The coursework for first-year high school students was much lighter compared to third-year students.
Unlike seniors, who had classes on Saturdays, first-years had a more relaxed academic atmosphere.
For the third-year students, this semester was their final one.
Those preparing for college entrance exams were in the final sprint, while others who weren’t taking the exams were making arrangements to study abroad.
Meng Shuci returned home before dinner.
With him were Ji Zhuoran and Xu Songyue.
Sang Miao had also just arrived home not long ago.
She was sitting in the living room, focused on something, when she suddenly heard them noisily coming in through the front door.
Naturally, the one making a fuss wasn’t Meng Shuci.
Nor was it Ji Zhuoran.
She saw Xu Songyue following closely behind Meng Shuci, looking visibly displeased.
Even the way she greeted “Auntie” was perfunctory and indifferent.
Sang Miao didn’t mind.
She continued with what she was doing and responded just as casually.
Seeing that Meng Shuci was about to head upstairs straight to his room, Xu Songyue, ignoring Sang Miao’s presence, followed him and called out, “Meng Shuci, wait a minute!
Why are you taking those things back to your room?”
Sang Miao had no idea what was going on at first.
But hearing that, her attention naturally shifted to them.
Xu Songyue’s attitude was somewhat unusual today.
Sang Miao switched to a more entertained expression, watching the scene unfold with interest.
Aside from his usual backpack, Meng Shuci was also carrying a small paper bag packed full of something unfamiliar.
It must be what Xu Songyue was referring to.
Meng Shuci noticed Sang Miao’s gaze and suddenly looked uneasy.
He was even more reluctant to stay there any longer and quickened his pace upstairs.
Xu Songyue panicked and blurted out, “If you take those back to your room to look at, I… I’ll tell Auntie!”
Sang Miao raised an eyebrow.
What was it?
Tell me more!