"I'm sorry, we've done all we could."
The man in the bed was pale and silent except for the continuous "beep, beep" from the monitoring equipment, there were no signs to show he was still alive, Xia Lu could hardly believe this was the same man who mere hours ago had been sitting beside her, full of life and laughter, her newlywed husband.
"Luo Fan, wake up, Luo Fan!" She leaned over the bedside, desperately shaking the person before her, "You promised to be with me for a lifetime, how could you go back on your word after just a few days? You're not this kind of person, Luo Fan! Wake up! Wake up!"
But no matter how hard she shook, Luo Fan did not wake up.
The nurse helped Xia Lu up, "Miss, please try to calm down."
"Wuuu... please, wake up... Luo Fan..."
An immense pain surged from her abdomen to her throat, Xia Lu felt as if she was struggling to breathe, she opened her mouth wide, gasping for air, but it felt more and more suffocating.
"Huff! Huff! Huff!" She woke from the nightmare and brushed away the object in front of her face, which turned out to be a round cushion, turning her head, Zhou Mingchen was sitting next to her, reading a magazine with an expressionless face.
"No need to thank me." He took the cushion and tossed it aside.
Xia Lu was momentarily stunned, still not fully awake from her dream and not yet recalling her current predicament.
Turning her head, outside the window was the vast high sky, she was actually sitting on Zhou Mingchen's private plane.
"Luo Fan... Luo Fan..." Suddenly, she remembered her husband, who was also about to become her ex-husband, "Where's Luo Fan?"
Zhou Mingchen finally lifted his head to glance at her, "He's in the back, but I advise you not to disturb him now."
"The doctor said he needs to rest."
How could Xia Lu listen to him? She stood up and walked straight towards the rear cabin.
"Beep, beep, beep..." The monitoring equipment was still emitting the sounds from Xia Lu's dream, only now this was all real, not a dream.
Luo Fan was still motionless on the bed, the two medical personnel standing guard stepped aside when Xia Lu entered, making a little space for her.
"Luo Fan..." Xia Lu grabbed Luo Fan's hand, which was still warm, how could he not wake up?
"Miss, your husband's brain has been deprived of oxygen for too long and has now slipped into a deep coma, and it's very likely he will remain in this condition for a very long time, perhaps for life," the doctor said, "This is what we often refer to as a vegetative state."
"Vegetative state? How could this be? How could Luo Fan become a vegetable..." It took Xia Lu half an hour to reluctantly accept this fact, and a new problem was already before her.
"I can arrange for him to be transported back home, and I will bear all the subsequent treatment and care costs, as long as you reach an agreement with me," Zhou Mingchen, with his arms crossed, volunteered.
"What agreement?"
"You'll know later," Zhou Mingchen did not tell her right away.
"If you don't tell me what the agreement is, I can't agree to it," Xia Lu did not hesitate this time, she had already sacrificed her own happiness for the rest of her life, was that not enough? Heaven knows what else this man wanted her to sacrifice.
"Then you figure it out by yourself," he was as indifferent as always.
Xia Lu looked at Luo Fan, who was unconscious on the hospital bed, and fell into deep thought.
Both of them were only children from comfortable homes; before marriage, they had just managed to make the down payment for a new house with the help of both their families, with a mortgage to pay off for the next twenty years, both families had already given their all, now that such a tragedy had occurred, it was undoubtedly a lethal blow to everyone involved.
Even just trying to transport the comatose Luo Fan back to his home country had left her completely at a loss.
After much hesitation, she sought out Zhou Mingchen again.
"I agree to your terms."
"Miss Xia, President Zhou asks that you come to the front," Qiu Cheng suddenly entered the rear cabin and said to Xia Lu beside the sickbed.
"Oh, okay." Xia Lu carefully tucked Luo Fan's hand under the blanket, then stood up to adjust the corner of the cover before she reluctantly walked out.
"Take a look, and if there are no issues, sign here," Zhou Mingchen handed a document to Xia Lu.
Xia Lu opened the document, and several bold characters caught her eye—Confidentiality Agreement.
"I can cover all of Luo Fan's treatment and care expenses according to our previous agreement, but you, apart from agreeing to marry me, must also keep this matter absolutely secret. As for the nature of our relationship and the history of our acquaintance, I've written it down completely in the contract. You must memorize it thoroughly before the wedding. If there's any mistake, our agreement will be terminated on the spot."
The agreement spanned ten pages, with regulations detailed to the extreme, covering every aspect of life. It had taken Xia Lu quite a while just to finish reading it.
"Can I raise an objection?"
"No," Zhou Mingchen said without even looking at her.
"So this is an overbearing clause?"
"Yes."
Xia Lu looked at the man in front of her and found the conversation absurd beyond belief. Not just this conversation—all the events of the day felt like a premeditated nightmare she was deeply trapped in and unable to wake from.
"I still don't know who you are."
Zhou Mingchen put down the magazine he had been holding and looked at Xia Lu, making her skin crawl.
"My name is Zhou Mingchen, I am the President of Fengguang Group," Suddenly, a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth—it was the first time Xia Lu had seen him smile that day, yet it made her hairs stand on end, "You only need to know so much for now. We'll have plenty of time together in the future, no need to rush."
"Why are you doing this?" This was actually the question Xia Lu truly wanted to ask the most.
"You happen to lack what I have; it's no different from a transaction in the marketplace."
Equating human life to transactions in the marketplace shocked Xia Lu, who had just stepped out of school.
"Do you really think everything can be traded?" Her voice trembled slightly.
"Hahaha," Zhou Mingchen couldn't help but laugh out loud at her naive appearance, "You need Panda Blood, I give you Panda Blood. You need money to solve problems, I help you solve them with money. In return, you naturally need to pay a corresponding price. What's so hard to understand about that?"
He spoke with such conviction that Xia Lu was momentarily left speechless.
"Any more questions? If not, I need to rest. We have a long journey ahead," Zhou Mingchen stood up, ready to head back to rest.
"Wait, I have one more question," Xia Lu stopped him, "Do you really think everything can be bought with money, that everything can be achieved through transactions?"
Zhou Mingchen stopped, "What money can't buy for me, you can't achieve by other means either." He paused, "By the way, I recommend you take the time to memorize the contents of the agreement. Wasting time on such foolish questions won't help your future life at all."