The next morning Zhang Wei woke up, and before he could realize where he was or what was going on, someone called him.
Uncle, you are finally awake,” said Ming Rusheng, who sat in the chair beside the patient’s bed and sensed the movement.
With his eyesight, a bit blurry, Zhang Wei looked at Ming Rusheng, “W-Where am I?”
“Inside your grave. You silly, old man. Why did you do it?” Ming Rusheng couldn’t control himself as he felt emotional.
It was the first time that Ming Rusheng faced being scared to lose someone dear to him and hated it.
Zhang Wei looked around the room and realized he was in the hospital. “Who brought me here?”
“Who else can be? I was the one who got the shock of his life,” Ming Rusheng replied.
“I am sorry, Rusheng,” said Zhang Wei.
“Yes, you should be sorry for what you did. How can you….” Ming Rusheng stopped as he sighed deeply. “You are still patient, so I will go soft on you. Let me call the doctor first.”
“I am fine,” Zhang Wei countered.
“Don’t be stubborn, uncle.”
Warning his uncle, Ming Rusheng, called the doctor. The doctor checked Zhang Wei and informed them he could be discharged till the evening. It was a suicide attempt, so police visited him to get the information and getting answers, they left as Ming Rusheng asked them to keep it low.
Zhang Wei insisted on going back home as soon as possible, but Ming Rusheng didn’t allow him. Zhang Jei came to the hospital with Ming Yusheng to visit the patient and send their son home to let him take a break.
“I will be back soon. Don’t try to pull any more stunt,” Ming Rusheng warned his uncle as he left and believed his mother would take care of his uncle.
Once Ming Rusheng left, Ming Yusheng left for the office once he visited Zhang Wei, leaving the brother and sister alone.
Zhang Wei didn’t know what to talk to his sister, while Zhang Jei looked in no mood to soften for her brother, who tried to kill himself.
“Do you think by doing this, you can be free from your sins?” Zhang Jei asked as she sat in the chair; her words carried no sympathy for her younger brother.
Lying in bed, Zhang Wei heard it, “I don’t have any other way left. You don’t even allow me to confess it to uncle Ming, and I can get punished for it.”
“I won’t allow you to kill one more person in my family, so you better keep your mouth shut,” came the cold warning from the sister.
Zhang Wei looked at his sister, “Seems like I am not your family now, sister.”
“My only family, my brother, died the day when he killed one innocent girl.” Came the emotionless and mocking reply from the sister.
Tears rolled down Zhang Wei’s eyes, and his sister spoke, “You should be glad that my son treats you as his family, so stop acting pitiful. Even if you cry lying on my feet, I won’t ever forgive you.”
For Zhang Wei, his sister’s cold behavior was more tormenting. Decades passed by, but she was still the same.
“This is more hurting from actual punishment. I..I don’t want to live, sister.”
“Living is your punishment, Zhang Wei. If you really wish to get punished, then continue living, remembering the heinous crime you committed and spend every moment of your life tormenting yourself with it.”
“I have been tormenting myself since that day. Isn’t it enough for me to leave this world now,” he asked.
“I would have allowed you to do so, but I can’t. If you die, my son would be sad. As you have ruined my father-in-law’s one dream, you have to take responsibility to cherish his other dream.”
“What is it?”
“My son Rusheng. He is my father-in-law’s dream, and you have to take responsibility to protect him. You have to look after Rusheng all your life and take care of him always. If he ever committed any mistake, you would be responsible for it, as my son always followed you. His happiness or sadness, you would be responsible for it. You have to be with him like a shadow, always protecting him from everything, even if it means to put your life in danger.”
“Even if you won’t say it, I had done it as he is like a son to me,” Zhang Wei countered.
“I did my job to remind you again. Don’t fall sick and take care of yourself as my son has a long way to go. Also, never let my son know what you did in the past,” Zhang Jei instructed.
“Hmm!” he agreed.
Warning Zhang Jei left. On the way, she remembered her childhood days that she spent with her brother, the person she loved the most. Her heart still breaks for her brother, and why not? He was her brother, and they shared the same blood, but she didn’t want it to show.
The sins of his crime were heavier than the love she felt for her brother. She could do anything but never forgive him, as doing so would be betraying the innocent girl who lost her life, the girl whom Zhang Jei considered as her sister and had decided to always look after her. But she failed to do so just because of her brother.
In the evening, Ming Rusheng took his uncle back home and decided to stay with him.
Since that day, Zhang Wei had decided to be with his nephew and fulfill the promise he made with his sister.
Ming Rusheng continued to climb the new heights of success, making his name everywhere that made his grandfather, elder Ming proud.
Ming Rusheng stopped getting into the business field that Lu Corporations led and followed his grandpa’s rules that he set in the past. This way the Mings and the Lus were at peace.
