Lu Jingyan was her son, and to say she didn't care would be a lie.
Yet caring could change nothing. Madam Lu knew better than anyone that that car accident wasn't merely a matter of her son losing the use of his legs.
Closing her eyes, she recalled how helpless and heartbroken she had felt when the doctor first told her that Lu Jingyan was suffering from erectile dysfunction as a sequela of the crash.
The mere fact that Lu Jingyan's legs were paralyzed had already sent countless media outlets scrambling to report on it.
If word got out that he also suffered from such a hidden ailment, there was no telling how rumors would fly, and by then, public opinion would surely target their entire household.
It was true they had two sons, but their abilities were worlds apart.
One was capable yet lacked the ability to continue the family line, making him unfit to inherit the company, while the other had the ability to continue the line but possessed a simple mind.
Therefore, from that moment on, Madam Lu had vowed to herself that she would never let anyone discover Lu Jingyan's condition.
To prevent any future trouble, she had no choice but to hastily arrange a marriage partner for Lu Jingyan.
The Gu family was a choice she had deliberated over thoroughly.
If she followed Lu Jingming's suggestion and married him off to a socialite from a family of equal standing, she could not guarantee they wouldn't be plotted against one day.
After all, people of that background were mostly deep-minded and backed by family influence.
As for the Gu family, their strength, status, and intellect made them easy to control.
Moreover, Gu Qing had grown up in the countryside; to put it nicely, she was naive to the world, and to put it bluntly, she lacked exposure.
Only someone like that could be controlled most easily.
Even if Gu Qing were to discover Lu Jingyan's condition one day, she had enough certainty to make her keep her mouth shut.
However, she had no wish to let Lu Jingming know about these matters.
Madam Lu let out a deep sigh. "You're still young and wouldn't understand even if I told you. You just need to focus on learning what you should at the company. As for your brother's affairs, that is something for him and me to discuss, and you are not allowed to meddle. That's all, I have a meeting to attend."
Before Lu Jingming could retort, the call was disconnected from the other end.
Staring at the hung-up phone, Lu Jingming was consumed by irritation. It was always these same words; every time, she spoke to him in the tone of lecturing a child.
An unnamed surge of anger welled up instantly, and he muttered a curse under his breath before tossing his phone aside.
He hadn't expected the phone to strike the steering wheel by mistake, causing the car to veer off course.
Seeing that he was about to hit a pedestrian, Lu Jingming hurriedly wrenched the steering wheel and swerved sharply, narrowly missing the person.
Having barely avoided the pedestrian, before he could even release the breath held tightly in his throat, the car violently slammed into the roadside guardrail.
The airbag deployed, but his head struck the car window from the sharp turn.
Lu Jingming felt a warm stream slide down his head before he lost consciousness.
The surrounding pedestrians were startled and hurriedly helped dial the emergency medical services.
Feeling bored, Gu Qing had driven out for a spin when she noticed several cars ahead of her coming to a halt. She rolled down her window to see what was going on.
Suddenly, someone by the road shouted, "Is anyone here a doctor? Is there a doctor here? Someone's been in a car accident!"
A car accident?
Gu Qing frowned, unbuckled her seatbelt without hesitation, and rushed into the crowd to check the situation.
The vehicle involved was a red Ferrari. Arriving at the scene, Gu Qing looked through the window and saw that the man in the driver's seat was unconscious.
Gu Qing quickly said to the surrounding crowd, "The front end of the car took a heavy impact, which might have damaged the fuel lines. There's a risk of spontaneous combustion, so please help pull the injured man out."
Hearing this, several tall, strong men immediately stepped forward to help.
Gu Qing reminded them, "Lay the injured person flat on the ground and make sure not to compress his chest."
Once the injured man was settled, Gu Qing knelt on the ground immediately and swiftly unbuttoned Lu Jingming's outer clothing until his innermost shirt was exposed.
She first lifted Lu Jingming's eyelids to inspect them, checked his breathing, and immediately began performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
After two cycles, seeing no response from the injured man, she continued the rescue efforts.
Her movements were steady and her demeanor extremely calm, which inexplicably brought a sense of reassurance to the onlookers.
Before long, everyone saw Lu Jingming's eyeballs twitch.
Gu Qing saw it too and let out a sigh of relief. That was wonderful.
Lu Jingming felt as though he had been having a nightmare, with a splitting headache.
He could only sense a pleasant voice by his ear pulling at him.
Even though that voice was reciting emotionless numbers, he still desperately wanted to see who the owner of that voice was.
After a bout of arduous struggling, he finally managed to pry his eyes open.
Seeing that Lu Jingming was fully awake, Gu Qing finally broke into a smile. "You're awake? How are you feeling, is anything uncomfortable?"
Her smile was gentle, and her soft-spoken words carried genuine concern.
Lu Jingming looked at her face, blinked blankly, and forgot to reply.
Thinking he had just regained consciousness and was disoriented, Gu Qing repeated, "Aside from your head, is anywhere else uncomfortable?"
Lu Jingming kept hearing the echo of her tender concern in his ears as he gazed stupidly at the woman before him.
A firm thought suddenly sprouted in his mind—this was what he imagined a sister-in-law should look like!
Beautiful, gentle, poised, and caring toward his younger brother.
Only a woman like this was worthy of his older brother!
Seeing him stare at her in a daze, Gu Qing figured he must have just been in a car accident, suffered a shock, and hadn't fully recovered his wits yet.
Just then, the ambulance arrived. Seeing the ambulance pull up, Gu Qing withdrew from the crowd.
Lu Jingming was just about to ask her name when he was hoisted onto the ambulance by several medical personnel in one smooth motion.
Gu Qing glanced at the departing ambulance. Was it her imagination? Why did this young man feel somewhat familiar?
It was as if she had seen him somewhere before.
-
Upon receiving the call from the hospital, Lu Jingyan immediately instructed someone to drive him there.
Arriving at the hospital ward, he saw Lu Jingming peeling a banana and leisurely shoving it into his mouth.
Seeing Lu Jingyan walk in, Lu Jingming hurriedly tossed the banana aside. "Brother, you're here."
Without answering him first, Lu Jingyan turned his head and instructed the assistant behind him, "Wait outside. I'll call you if I need anything."
The assistant nodded respectfully, then turned and stepped outside, pulling the door shut.
Lu Jingyan rolled his wheelchair forward and stopped in front of Lu Jingming.
His gaze fell upon the bandages wrapped around Lu Jingming's head, and his brow furrowed slightly. "What happened?"
Lu Jingming felt a pang of guilt. Their father had died in that car accident, and his older brother had lost the use of his legs as a result.
Ever since then, everyone in the family had been exceptionally careful about driving. If his brother found out that his condition was caused by a car accident, it would surely worry them all over again.
Lu Jingming forced a smile and brushed it off. "It's really nothing major, just scraped some skin."
Lu Jingyan remained silent, watching him quietly.
Lu Jingming knew that from childhood to adulthood, he could never lie in front of his brother.
Blinking, he averted his gaze. "I just accidentally bumped the front of the car into the guardrail. A minor concussion, nothing serious, just an accident."