Late Taiwanese Lyricist Li Kun Cheng, 66, Married His 26-Year-Old Girlfriend In The ICU 2 Months Before He Died From Cancer

Famed Taiwanese lyricist Li Kun Cheng (李坤城) passed away at age 66 from colorectal cancer on Apr 8.

His wife, Lin Jing En, who at 26 is 40 years his junior, took to her social media on Apr 9 to share the sad news, also revealing that Kun Cheng had been hospitalised for the past seven months.

According to reports, Kun Cheng and Jing En started dating in 2013, when the latter was just 17. Their relationship received plenty of criticism due to their age difference, but the couple remained unfazed by the comments.

In March 2022, Kun Cheng shut down rumours about his illness, saying: “I don’t have any of the 'three highs’", which refers to high blood pressure, high choloesterol and high blood sugar.

"Everything is normal. I know that I am old, so I pay a lot of attention to my health, and eat very little carbs," he added. 

He insisted that he was in good health, revealing that he exercised often and kept to a healthy diet, where he restricted his intake of oil, sugar and salt. He also gradually cut down on work over the years.

According to Taiwanese media, Kun Cheng and Jing En had a stable relationship, and weren’t planning to get married.

However, after Kun Cheng was hospitalised, Jing En realised that she couldn't sign off on his documents as they weren't considered family members. As such, the solution was for the couple to register their marriage.

Jing En later found out that Kun Cheng had long prepared the necessary paperwork as he already had plans to marry her.

According to Jing En, she donned hospital scrubs to marry Kun Cheng on Feb 1 when he was intubated in the ICU.

Sadly, his condition did not get better.

Jing En shared that Kun Cheng had fought hard, even undergoing a tracheotomy in hopes that his condition would improve.

By then, the cancer cells had spread to his other organs and Kun Cheng eventually succumbed to his illness. 

Remembering her late husband, a grief-stricken Jing En wrote: “I'm very thankful to him for always teaching me things. The past few months spent in the hospital were like a lesson which prepared me [for his passing].” 

Kun Cheng had two sons from a previous marriage. His younger son died in a car accident in 2004.

After Kun Cheng's passing, his older son, Li Zhuoxuan, shared on social media that his dad had apologised to him on his deathbed for not leaving any of his assets to him.

But he wasn't unhappy about it. “You have given me the chance to make my own money. What you have left me with is the ability to create my own happiness,” wrote Zhuoxuan in his post. 

Many netizens took that as confirmation that Kun Cheng had left all his assets to Jing En, which has gotten her plenty of hate. 

"She managed to make so much money at such a young age," was one of the many nasty comments Jing En had to face in the wake of her husband's death.

However, she is not letting all that cynicism get to her.

“I’ve been in a relationship with Kun Cheng for the past 10 years. When it comes to the things that netizens are saying, I don’t let myself get affected by their negativity. I don’t have to close myself off. I still have to go on with my life,” she said. 

As for her plans for the future, Jing En revealed: “Kun Cheng and I have never talked about money. I have my own plans for my life. I don’t need to, and don’t have to answer to anybody about the money. This has nothing to do with others.”

Among Kun Cheng's assets that Jing En inherited is a plot of land, his vinyl records, and his gramophone. 

When asked if she is looking forward to meeting someone new in the future, Jing En said: “As of now, I don’t think I will be able to find a soul mate who treats me as well. I often think about what Kun Cheng has brought [to my life]. Without him, who would I be?”

“I never regretted loving him. Age is not an issue, because we’re too similar to each other,” she added.

Kun Cheng had a storied career as a lyricist and produced songs such as Feng Fei Fei’s ‘Xin Gan Bao Bei’ (心肝宝贝) and Lo Ta-yu's ‘Train’ (火车) and ‘Qing Chun Wu Qu 2000’ (青春舞曲2000). 

He was nominated for Best Dialect Song Lyricist three times in the '90s, and was part of the Golden Melody Awards judging panel. He was known to have a collection of over 20,000 antique vinyl records, and was dubbed the “Godfather of vinyls”. 

Photos: HK01, Xuan.com.my