Only when a person is utterly powerless do they think of entrusting their hopes to the divine.
Begging the gods with kowtows is, in fact, quite absurd.
But when one is truly helpless, any method, no matter how ridiculous, is worth a try.
Steward Wang placed a vase down and left.
Looking at the dying Zhang Meiyu, Tang Zhongcheng felt a surge of inexplicable hope.
He had wronged Zhang Meiyu, and he truly wished for her to wake up.
Thus, Tang Zhongcheng did something incredibly absurd.
High in the sky, it was the tallest mountain in the magical city.
Because the mountaintop had a vertical crevice a hundred zhang long, a wondrous phenomenon occurred at sunrise.
It had been developed into a scenic spot, attracting a great many people to climb the mountain daily.
For an ordinary person to climb from the base to the summit would take over ten hours.
Therefore, those who went climbing brought their own tents and food, prepared for camping out.
Tang Zhongcheng, wearing slacks and a shirt, arrived empty-handed, carrying nothing.
He reached the foot of Sky Mountain, climbed up three steps, knelt down, touched his head to the ground, and kowtowed three times.
After that, he stood up, climbed up another three steps, and kowtowed three more times.
He repeated this process.
...
The people climbing the mountain were of all sorts.
Some paid others to carry them up.
Some, to exercise their bodies, climbed upside down.
Others used advanced technology to assist their ascent.
By plane, cable car... all kinds of methods were employed.
But like Tang Zhongcheng, with his kowtows and earnest climbing,
Few were seen.
Tang Zhongcheng's actions drew the curiosity of the climbing crowd.
Someone even asked him, "Sir, why are you kowtowing?"
Tang Zhongcheng replied indifferently, "My... my ex-wife is critically ill, and I've come to pray for her."
His ex-wife was gravely ill, and he came here to kowtow.
Such deep affection and loyalty were truly moving.
"Sir, your devotion is profound. If your ex-wife knew, she would surely be deeply touched."
Zhang Meiyu despised Tang Zhongcheng.
Tang Zhongcheng didn't expect his affections to move her or earn his forgiveness.
As long as Zhang Meiyu could wake up, whether she cursed him or hit him,
He wouldn't care.
As long as she woke up and was safe.
...
Tang Zhongcheng ignored the gazes of others, resolutely continuing his kowtows, climbing step by step.
More and more people became interested in Tang Zhongcheng, taking photos and posting them online, even starting live streams...
With Tang Xiaomin's instigation, Tang Zhongcheng suddenly became famous online.
Following this were analyses of his actions.
Cheating with the housekeeper, bringing his illegitimate child into the Tang family as a foster daughter... a history of misconduct?
Tang Zhongcheng's reputation was utterly ruined.
"Tch, only now he's pretending to be affectionate. What was he doing when he was cheating! Ptooey!"
"Tang Zhongcheng is a scumbag of the century, utterly disgusting."
"If I met a scumbag like that, I'd cut him without a second thought!"
"Why isn't the person on the brink of death this damned scumbag? He deserves to die, what a pity for Ms. Zhang, deceived by a scumbag!"
"Go die, you bastard, don't defile the steps of Sky Mountain."
...
The curses online were endless.
Upon learning of Tang Zhongcheng's notorious deeds, the climbers no longer admired him.
On the contrary, they detested him to the extreme.
Some extremist individuals even threw tissue paper at him as he kowtowed.
They threw water bottles, and garbage.
...
Tang Zhongcheng's path of prayer had effectively become his nightmare.
However.
People seemed to have underestimated Tang Zhongcheng's determination for Zhang Meiyu to wake up.
He did not stop the attacks and insults from strangers.
Instead, he silently endured them, not even offering a defiant glance.
The kowtows continued.
If the punishment of the world could cleanse the mistakes he had made,
He would gladly bear ten times such humiliation.
...
Tang Yiyi returned home and tearfully recounted to Li Xue how Tang Zhongcheng had hit her.
"My father is too much. It was Tang Xiaomin who ruined his birthday banquet, yet he took his anger out on me."
"Wuwu... he even hit me."
"He even said he would have preferred not to have me. Does that mean he wishes I were dead right now!"
Li Xue was shocked by Tang Yiyi's words.
She had wisely stayed away from Tang Zhongcheng's birthday banquet,
Fearing trouble and incurring Tang Zhongcheng's displeasure.
Despite her caution, she couldn't prevent that little vixen, Tang Xiaomin.
"Yiyi, don't overthink it. Your father was just angry for a moment, he won't be angry later. It'll be fine."
Tang Yiyi was now beside herself with anger.
"Everyone is cursing me now, how can I hold my head up and live!"
"Yiyi..."
"It's all because of you. Why did you have a child out of wedlock? You've made me carry the burden of being an illegitimate child's mother for my entire life, I hate you!"
"I hate you all!"
Tang Yiyi ran back to her room in anger.
Li Xue didn't know what to say.
Just as she was anxiously waiting for Tang Zhongcheng to return so she could poison his ear,
She saw the news on television about Tang Zhongcheng kowtowing on Sky Mountain to pray for Zhang Meiyu.
Li Xue's heart skipped a beat.
She knew Tang Zhongcheng's deep affection for Zhang Meiyu.
But she had never imagined that Tang Zhongcheng would do something so irrational for Zhang Meiyu at this time.
When Li Xue saw people throwing garbage at Tang Zhongcheng, and he was still engrossed in his own actions,
Li Xue's heart sank to the bottom.
What about her and Tang Yiyi? What would their future be?
...
Meanwhile, the four brothers of the Tang family, after seeing the news about Tang Zhongcheng, also put down their affairs and headed to Sky Mountain.
Tang Yu bought water and some bread and went to Tang Zhongcheng's side.
"Dad, eat something. Why are you putting yourself through this?"
Several hours had passed, and Tang Zhongcheng had only climbed one-fifth of the way.
The pace of kowtowing was painfully slow.
Tang Zhongcheng's clothes were already soaked with sweat, and his hair was dripping wet.
His forehead was bruised from his repeated kowtows.
At this moment, Tang Zhongcheng felt a dual torment, both physical and mental.
Even so, he only took a few sips of water before resuming his kowtows.
There were many onlookers.
With his four sons guarding him, no one dared to openly throw garbage at Tang Zhongcheng anymore.
...
As dusk approached and the sun set,
The door to the Xianfu Group's lounge finally opened.
Yan Jue rubbed his sleepy eyes and awoke to stretch.
Due to his profession, he couldn't sleep at night and couldn't wake up during the day.
After dinner, Tang Xiaomin suddenly suggested,
"There's something exciting to see on Sky Mountain tonight, let's go join the fun."
Yan Jue never asked Tang Xiaomin for reasons when she wanted to go somewhere.
Even if he didn't particularly want to go, as long as Tang Xiaomin needed him to accompany her, he would go.