Chapter 403 Heavenly Master 110
Lu Tianxing naturally could not allow his son to waste time in such a manner. He first pressured Lu Lei to give up the pet center and work at the company. If he refused, Lu Tianxing would freeze Lu Lei's bank account. Without the family's money flowing in, the pet center definitely wouldn't be able to operate!
Lu Lei was obedient, readily agreeing to work at the company, and he performed quite well, bringing in significant profits. Initially, Lu Tianxing was very pleased to see his son's capabilities. But soon, his satisfaction vanished when he discovered that his son was still continuously investing money into the pet center. The only reason he dutifully took over the company was to prevent his funding from being cut off, which would halt the pet center's operations.
Enraged, Lu Tianxing furiously scolded Lu Lei and issued an ultimatum, demanding that Lu Lei close the pet center. Otherwise, he would relieve Lu Lei of his duties at the company and kick him out of the house to live with those animals!
Lu Tianxing believed that by saying this, Lu Lei would surely compromise. But to his surprise, Lu Lei actually resigned from his company position and went to the pet center. Lu Tianxing, true to his word, cut off Lu Lei's financial support entirely.
Without the family's money, the pet center struggled to operate. Lu Lei had no choice but to start accepting donations, but he listed detailed accounts of where each donation was spent online for everyone to see.
Lu Lei was truly talented. Without any external aid, he managed to keep the pet center running successfully. Without the constraints of the family company, he was even more able to do as he pleased. During his efforts to rescue small animals, he also found love.
It was a girl who, like Lu Lei, loved small animals and was willing to devote herself to them. Her name was Tian Rui. Although her family was not as wealthy as Lu Lei's, they were quite well off, with her parents running a chain of small supermarkets. Even though Tian Rui couldn't be called a particularly wealthy second-generation, she came close.
Tian Rui's parents spoiled her terribly. Yet, under such spoiling, Tian Rui didn't grow up warped. Instead, she became very compassionate!
Their initial interaction began when Tian Rui donated money to Lu Lei's pet center and volunteered there.
Later, Tian Rui grew to love the feeling of being surrounded by affectionate animals at the pet center. Although it wasn't without exhaustion, she sometimes felt sad when she saw injured animals or when she couldn't save an animal that died. But she often saw small animals being saved and surviving, finding new owners, and living happily ever after.
This atmosphere moved Tian Rui, and she began volunteering at the pet center regularly. Anyway, there was no need for her to work for money at home. Her parents adored her and fully supported her involvement in animal rescue, allowing Tian Rui to follow her heart completely.
After regularly staying at the pet center, she naturally interacted more with Lu Lei, which led to her developing feelings for him. Initially, this fondness was merely sympathy because Lu Lei lived very frugally to take care of the animals. He would avoid buying clothes if possible, and his meals were as simple as they could be. But he never felt it was tough, always smiling brightly every day.
Tian Rui pitied Lu Lei for working so hard to care for the animals and liked his sunny personality. She often brought delicious food to share with Lu Lei at the pet center and gave him nice clothes on holidays.
Of course, Tian Rui didn't flaunt her wealth by giving Lu Lei branded clothing but chose moderately priced clothes that looked good.
Lu Lei wasn't insensitive. He naturally felt Tian Rui's concern. As they spent more time together, with shared interests and compatible views, falling in love was a natural progression. Although Tian Rui's parents didn't know Lu Lei's background, they were very supportive of their daughter finding such a compassionate partner.
Just when everything was going well, Lu Lei's father, Lu Tianxing, intervened! Lu Tianxing had just one son, Lu Lei, so he could not really let him run a pet center outside and give up inheriting the company.
Most importantly, Lu Tianxing already had an ideal candidate in mind for his son's wife, a girl with a family background and status comparable to Lu Lei's. In Lu Tianxing's mind, his son's wife could not be the daughter of a merely moderately wealthy family.
Lu Tianxing first spent a lot of money to buy the land of Lu Lei's pet center, forcing the landlord to drive Lu Lei away even at a loss.
Then Lu Tianxing found his way to Tian Rui's home, threw down a sum of money to get her to leave his son, and said many unpleasant things. He even deliberately misled Tian Rui's family, suggesting that it was his son's idea, that his son was a rich playboy just playing with Tian Rui.
These words drove Tian Rui to tears, and she really believed Lu Lei was just toying with her. Tian Rui's mother was so angry that she almost fainted!
Given such slander from Lu Tianxing himself, it's understandable that Tian Rui's family firmly believed it without any doubt. Thinking they had seen Lu Lei's true colors, their previous affection turned to intense dislike!
The result was as expected. The pet center couldn't continue, and without it, the animals would be left homeless, a prospect Lu Lei couldn't bear. At the same time, his mutually affectionate girlfriend considered him a jerk playing with her feelings. She refused even to see him and insisted on breaking up!
Faced with so much despair, Lu Lei did not do what Lu Tianxing expected. He did not compromise, return to the Lu Family, and follow Lu Tianxing's plans for getting his life back on track. Instead, he jumped off a high bridge into the rushing river below, choosing to end his young life.
Although people on the shore rescued Lu Lei in time, he had already lost his breath. When Lu Tianxing heard the news of his son's death, he collapsed to the ground and fainted. When he saw his son's body, Lu Tianxing cried bitterly, never having imagined he would drive his son to death!
At that moment, the sky seemed to fall for the Lu Family. While crying, Lu Tianxing's wife blamed him for driving their son to death, and Lu Tianxing himself was utterly despondent.
But then something bizarre happened! As Lu Tianxing and his wife kept vigil over their son's body, overwhelmed with sorrow, they both distinctly felt the stiff body of their son slowly becoming soft again!
Then the cold hands, feet, and body warmed, and there was a pulse and breathing! The person who was clearly dead came back to life as if merely asleep!
In such a supernatural event, Lu Tianxing and his wife's first reaction was not fear but overwhelming joy that their son had come back to life!
To avoid anyone suspecting something unusual about Lu Lei, Lu Tianxing and his wife lied to outsiders, claiming that their son's body had never grown stiff or cold since he was rescued from the water, so they had sensed something was odd and discovered their son wasn't actually dead!
Such cases, although rare, are not particularly unheard of. These days, there are often news stories of people declared dead by doctors, only to revive in the mortuary. Besides, Lu Lei had attempted suicide and swallowed a lot of water, which could lead to a state resembling death. As for the coma, it was easy enough to explain: staying in the water too long had injured his brain, which sufficed to account for it. The human brain is complex and not yet fully understood by current medical science.