Chapter 97 I want to marry her.

Wen Heng recalled that month again.

He had just transferred Wen Chu to a private hospital and placed her under strict protection while he was away when Lu Ming called.

He hung up and blocked them immediately, not wanting to waste any more words or watch them put on a melodramatic show.

When he returned to his old house from the company to be with Yang Lan, he was surprised to find her kneeling in his yard.

Wen Heng was startled. He looked up and met Yang Lan's gaze from afar. Yang Lan's eyes were also full of helplessness.

"What are you doing?" Wen Heng strode over and questioned him with a gloomy face.

Lu Ming lowered his head, his voice low and deep: "I want to see her."

"She's lying in a hospital bed, unable to move or say a word. What's the point of you pretending to see her? I've already said I won't cause you any trouble; this is her stubborn choice!"

Lu Ming raised his eyelids: "I want to take care of her until she wakes up."

"What if she never wakes up! The doctor said the chance of her waking up is less than 10%!" Wen Heng shouted.

Upon hearing the following words, the man seemed to tense up even more, but still said, "Then I will always take care of her."

"Don't you think it's ridiculous to say this now? What were you doing when she was jumping around in front of you, following you around all day long? Now it's not your turn to take care of her!"

"If she hadn't met you, she could have lived a carefree and happy life. She could have become anything she wanted to be, but she would never be like this now, lying in bed expressionless, a vegetable with a ventilator! Lu Ming, I've been very sensible by not pursuing your responsibility. Don't come to my house to do this again and disgust me! Even if you kneel until you have a hole in your knees, I won't appreciate it! Someone, take him out!"

The maid hesitated for a moment, then stepped forward and helped Lu Ming up.

Lu Ming was pushed all the way to the door, but he didn't leave. He knelt down at the door, completely disregarding how passersby would see him.

He raised his eyes, bloodshot, and knelt down to bow to the man: "I know it's all my fault, I hurt her. I couldn't see my own heart clearly, which is why I've become like this... Please let me see her. Since she became like this because of me, I must take responsibility for her. I can't stand idly by."

Wen Heng scoffed coldly, "I'm not her, and I won't give you chances again and again. If you want to kneel like this, then kneel."

He ordered the gate to be closed.

Seeing this, Yang Lan frowned and walked over, coughing twice. The successive loss of two close relatives had taken a great toll on her health, but fortunately she was resilient by nature; otherwise, she would have been bedridden long ago.

She said with a worried look, "He has been kneeling for hours. I told him to get up, but he refused. I told him I didn't know where Wen Chu was, but he just wouldn't believe me. You should try to persuade him."

"Don't mind him, he deserves it! Even if he breaks his leg from kneeling, it's still more comfortable than Wen Chu lying in bed breathing through an oxygen tube, right?" Wen Heng helped her sit down on the sofa. "Didn't I tell you to rest in bed more? The weather has turned cold recently, be careful not to get sick again."

"I can't sit still. Let me go see Chu Chu."

"Don't go! You'll just cry again. Wen Xue is taking care of you over there. I'll go see you whenever I have time. The doctor said you can't have any more emotional ups and downs right now." Wen Heng subconsciously reached for the cigarettes in his pocket, but then withdrew his hand.

Yang Lan looked at her son's dark circles under his eyes, the stubble on his chin, and how his clothes were no longer as stylish as before. Her heart ached, and she sighed. She knew she shouldn't distract him anymore; he had already silently endured too much.

The next day, when Wen Heng got up, he could see through the cracks in the iron gate that the other person was still kneeling at the door. This guy had actually been kneeling outside all night.

It's already late autumn, and the nights are still quite cold.

The other person was wearing only a single layer of clothing, kneeling there motionless, like a withered, rotten piece of wood.

Wen Heng clenched his teeth, walked past the person with a cold face, and then called Wen Xue, telling her to come back and take him away immediately.

When he returned, the courtyard was empty. He wasn't surprised, assuming the man had finally given up, but Yang Lan told him that Lu Mingxiao had sent people to forcibly take him away.

Wen Chu's suicide was completely covered up by the combined efforts of Ke Ming, Bai Yue, and Xie Rui, and did not cause any ripples or public opinion in the outside world.

It only caused a small uproar within the industry.

Lu Mingxiao had personally visited Wen Chu at the hospital the day after the incident, but he didn't mention a word about making Lu Ming take responsibility. He only said a lot of polite words to express his heartache and regret. Wen Heng sneered inwardly, thinking that he was obviously afraid that they would try to extort money from his family.

It was precisely because of this attitude that Wen Heng became even more determined to keep to himself and the Lu family separate.

He thought the farce was over, but a week later, Lu Ming appeared at his door again, kneeling there.

Wen Xue stood helplessly to the side. Although she knew the hospital's address, and Lu Ming must have found it as well, entering the hospital required Wen Heng's authorization, so she couldn't help him.

After a week apart, Lu Ming had lost a lot of weight and seemed to have lost his ability to speak. Whenever he saw Wen Heng, all he could say was, "Please let me see her."

Seeing how disheveled and grotesque the man was, being judged and pointed at by passersby, Wen Heng felt no better.

He just felt sorry and resentful.

If Lu Ming had treated his sister with even one percent of the same attitude he has now while she was alive, things wouldn't have turned out this way by such a twist of fate.

If only he had spoken up a little earlier, even just a tiny bit sooner, this tragedy might have been avoided, and Wen Chu would still be by his side, full of life and energy.

He had never understood the meaning of that sentence so deeply—"Late-blown affection is cheaper than grass, so cheap that it makes his teeth itch, so cheap that he would not feel satisfied even if he skinned the person alive."

He told Wen Xue to ignore him and to have the servants in the house treat him like he was invisible.

And so, Lu Ming knelt at the entrance of the Wen family mansion for two days and two nights without eating or drinking, which was almost at the limit of human endurance.

The story spread like wildfire within the industry, causing quite a stir. Some were astonished, some sighed with emotion, and some treated Lu Ming as a joke.

However, several people who were close to Lu Ming began calling Wen Heng to inquire about the situation. Seeing his brother suffering so much and almost driven to despair, Zhou Jiayang called him every day to persuade him, telling Lu Ming not to use such an extreme method to beg for help, and urging Wen Heng to soften his heart and let him go to see Wen Chu.

Wen Heng was extremely annoyed. He also learned from Zhou Jiayang that in the week after Lu Mingxiao forcibly took Lu Ming away, the two had completely broken off relations. Lu Mingxiao was very angry about Lu Ming's act of kneeling down in public, disregarding his reputation, and planned to control his movements and demand that he immediately stop these foolish behaviors. However, Lu Ming quietly began to sell off his Baiyue shares at low prices as a threat.

He didn't engage in a verbal battle with Lu Mingxiao; he simply expressed his protest in a seemingly calm but extremely rebellious and outrageous style.

Lu Mingxiao was shocked by Lu Ming's obsession and madness. He was so angry that he almost fainted. In order to prevent the group that Lu Ming had spent twenty years building from changing hands in such an absurd way, he had no choice but to back down and stop interfering in Lu Ming's affairs.

Wen Heng was secretly amused and annoyed when he heard this.

Looking at his equally haggard reflection in the rearview mirror, he felt for a moment that he and Lu Ming had been competing to see who was more miserable, so as to prove who cared more about Wen Chu.

Finally, the less-than-optimistic outlook for Wen Heng's recovery at the hospital, the fermentation of rumors within the industry, Yang Lan's softening heart, Wen Xue's repeated pleas for leniency, Lu Ming's persistent appearances at his doorstep after collapsing from dehydration and being admitted to the hospital, and Zhou Jiayang's endless chatter in front of him all contributed to Wen Heng's emotional outburst.

He stormed to the door, grabbed Lu Ming by the collar, roughly pulled him up from the ground, and shouted, "What the hell are you trying to do? You said you'd take care of her for the rest of your life? In what capacity? Do you expect to bring your whole family to take care of her after you get married and have kids, disgusting her, disgusting me, disgusting your future wife? Or are you simply out of touch with reality and think she'll wake up soon?"

"I've consulted no fewer than ten top doctors in their respective fields, and the results all say the chance of him waking up is no more than 10%. Do you think I'm joking with you? Put away your self-righteous kindness! Don't let it backfire later!"

Lu Ming said without hesitation, "I want to marry Wen Chu." His lips were pale and cracked, and he hadn't spoken for many days, making his voice sound strained and unpleasant.

Wen Heng paused, his hand gripping the man's clothes. Yang Lan and Wen Xue were even more stunned when they heard this.

Lu Ming added, "If she doesn't wake up, she will be my one and only fiancée in this life. I will never break my promise and will never go back on my word."

Wen Xue immediately frowned and stopped him, saying, "Lu Ming! Don't be so impulsive... We are all in pain because of Xiao Chu's condition, but you don't need to bear such a heavy responsibility! In fact, we all bear some responsibility..."

Yang Lan sighed and tried to dissuade him, saying, "Lu Ming, to be honest, I've resented you too, but it's really not necessary. Our family isn't unreasonable. Let's keep things separate. Just go back and live your life properly. Don't come back again."

“It’s not about responsibility. I love her, I’m sure of that. I will definitely find a way to wake her up, as long as there is even a glimmer of hope.” Lu Ming bowed deeply to Yang Lan and Wen Heng. “Please give me this opportunity. I want to marry Wen Chu. I’m serious, and I will take responsibility for every word I say.”

After a long pause, Wen Heng laughed. He loosened his grip on Lu Ming's collar and said coldly to everyone, "Fine, you all heard that. He said it himself, and I agree. Whether Wen Chu wakes up or not, you can never have another woman in your life. You'll stay by her side. If you go back on your word, or if I find out you're doing something behind her back, saying one thing and doing another, I'll have someone kill you. I mean what I say."

Zhou Jiayang stood to the side and moved his lips, but after seeing his brother's dazed look, he turned his head away, squinted his eyes, and closed his mouth.

"Thank you." To ask someone with emotions and desires to sacrifice the rest of their life to guard a withered flower that will never bloom again is clearly asking too much of a person. But upon hearing Wen Heng's words, Lu Ming instantly regained a bit of vitality. His Adam's apple bobbed, and he bowed solemnly to the man again: "Thank you."

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Author's Note: I finally have some free time today, so I'm rushing to add an extra chapter! [Poor me]