Jin Yong’s famous novel The Smiling, Proud Wanderer has been adapted into over 10 different screen versions, yet it’s Lawrence Ng, the male lead of the 1996 TVB series, whom most viewers think best fits the original description, dubbing him the “most handsome Linghu Chong.” Online rumors have long claimed that at his peak, a rich woman was willing to offer HK$50 million (about RM25.59 million) to invite him for a meal and keep him as a lover, but he turned down the offer because his wife, Eileen Lai (Mak King Ting), was in a car accident while pregnant, miscarried, and he was determined to care for her for life. He later clarified: “Of course, that never happened. Now that I’m old, even with 50 bucks (about RM25.60)—no one wants me.”
Now 60 years old, Lawrence Ng was exactly 30 when he played Linghu Chong, the perfect age to be manly but not overly mature. Rumors once spread that a wealthy woman offered HK$5 million (about RM2.56 million) just to have dinner with him, and further, that if he agreed to date her, he’d get HK$45 million (about RM23.03 million). But Lawrence resolutely refused, because Eileen Lai had a miscarriage three months into pregnancy after a car accident and could never conceive again, so he decided to stay by his wife’s side through their hardships. He admitted there was never any rich woman trying to keep him, and that Eileen had already been in a car accident before they met.
He explained: “Most of my fans are actually men, they see me as a martial arts hero.” The stories circulating online are very melodramatic, but are not true. He only occasionally clarifies, and doesn’t go around making statements, joking: “They make me sound so devoted, I don’t deliberately try to shatter that image.” Eileen Lai humorously responded: “If any rich woman really did exist, just let her have you first, as long as I get half the money, ha! HK$50 million in the 1990s was a huge amount!”
Source: NOWnews Today