Who Wouldn't Want to Be a Wealthy Stepparent? - Chapter 5

The toddler was absolutely shell-shocked by this explosive method of “bringing luck,” but Cheng Leyan remained perfectly composed.

Ridiculous news was interesting! He definitely had to share more of it with his Sugar Daddy.

After ten stories, he finally paused and glanced toward the door. “Huh, why hasn’t the caregiver come back yet? Let’s go find them, baby. We need to ask about my husband’s condition, then we’ll come back and continue the broadcast. Oh, husband, I bet you love hearing this, don’t you?”

Zhuozhuo: No! Your news stories are weird! Daddy won’t like them at all!!!

Wait, Daddy is a vegetable. Daddy can’t hear anything!

But what he didn’t know was.

The moment Cheng Leyan’s voice rang out, Rong Wangzhi’s brain actually experienced a spark of activity.

Rong Wangzhi had suddenly regained consciousness.

It felt as though his awareness had been locked in a sealed, pitch-black space, and now, he had finally seen the light again.

It had been a year since the accident, but to him, it felt like only a very short time had passed. The fear and pain from the crash still lingered in his mind.

The next second, he heard a vibrant, energetic voice right by his ear: “Yo-ho! A loud crash from the sky, and your old servant makes his grand entrance! Husband, I shall be the guardian of your health!”

Rong Wangzhi: ?

Who are you?

What is all this nonsense?

Husband? What husband? Who is your husband?

His consciousness was colorful and chaotic, but it soon threatened to sink back into darkness.

It was like a drowning person finally breaking the surface for a gasp of air, only to be dragged back down by the weeds tangled around their feet.

He was about to fall back into that sunless deep sea, unable to resist.

But very quickly, the voice rang out again: “Husband, next I will broadcast today’s news for you. Item one: A man in Qingdao was diving and got caught by a fisherman who thought he was a giant fish. After being released, he moved to a different spot and got caught again. Hahaha, hahahaha!”

Then came a second ridiculous news story.

Then a third.

Rong Wangzhi’s consciousness actually became clearer and clearer, and a giant question mark slowly floated through his mind: ?

After the ten-part broadcast, the voice mentioned going to find the caregiver. After that, no one spoke again, and the outside world fell into silence.

Suddenly, Rong Wangzhi heard another voice inside his head.

This voice was extremely excited, shouting with wild joy: Host! Host, you’re conscious! AHHH, the heavens haven’t abandoned me! You’re actually conscious!!! Host, Host, I am your system, Serial Number 250! As long as you listen to me and we do missions together, you can obtain supreme wealth, status, and glory!

Rong Wangzhi thought: There is something inside my brain.

System 250: No, no, no, I’m not a “thing.” I’m a high-tech product, and I’m your future helper and partner. Don’t worry, Host, with me here, you will definitely return to the peak! This time, you will take back everything that belongs to you!

Rong Wangzhi quickly grasped the key points: There was something in his brain, likely a nano-AI capable of crossing the blood-brain barrier. Any thought presented in the form of language within his mind would be captured by that thing.

From that moment on, the thoughts he wanted to hide became non-linguistic flashes.

250 suddenly noticed the Host’s thoughts had gone silent and couldn’t help but ask: Host, Host, why did you stop talking?? Did you hear me???

Rong Wangzhi gave a lukewarm, indifferent reply: Mm.

250: Okay, Host! Our future is definitely bright, but we’ve encountered a small situation—you became a vegetable after the accident! This is very detrimental to our missions.

Rong Wangzhi: Mm.

250: And there’s another small issue. I was originally in the Drama department, but I somehow ended up in the R-18 department. The missions in this category are all very bizarre, Host. They require at least some physical movement. Can you perform any movements, Host?

Rong Wangzhi: Mm.

250: No, what do you mean “Mm”? Say something normal, Host!

Rong Wangzhi: Ah.

250 was going to go crazy.

It was one thing for the host to be a vegetable, but he was being completely uncooperative!! And how were there so few thoughts in this man’s head?? It was like his mind was a complete void.

What is he? A wizard who practiced Occlumency?

250 said urgently: Host, we have to hurry and finish at least one mission! Completing missions gives you points, which can be converted into Health Points to speed up your recovery! That’s the only way you’ll wake up! Don’t tell me you want to be a vegetable for the rest of your life??

Rong Wangzhi: Ah.

250 was about to start cursing. What is wrong with this guy! It’s just ‘Mm’ and ‘Ah’ over and over. Say a word! If you keep this up, how are we supposed to—

Wait?

The system was suddenly shocked to discover that its host had somehow, inexplicably, completed a mission.

The mission content was: You can no longer make any other sounds; the only words you can speak are “Mm” and “Ah.”

What kind of hellish mission is this? Are all R-18 missions this sick?

But such a hellish mission could actually be completed??

250 cried tears of joy and shouted: Host, the mission is complete!! You finished the “Mm-Ah” mission! Let me see… oh, the reward is… uh… points! Great job, Host! But, but… well, there’s an extra bonus buff.

250’s voice got lower and lower, until it was barely a whisper: This reward will give you the most charming lip color, like the stain of crushed rose petals. They’ll also be “plump and pouty,” making your lover want to kiss them intensely.

The system was practically speechless by the end and could only give a dry, hollow laugh: Aha… ha… I guess this is just the R-18 department’s style, right? Hahaha… it’s actually quite nice, isn’t it? Hahaha.

Rong Wangzhi: “…”

He spoke his longest sentence to date to 250: Mr. 250, may I ask what it would take for you to leave my body?

250 was ready to cry.

I want to know too, big brother!

Why did a Drama department system like me end up in the R-18 department?!

These missions are too weird! Great Lord of the Systems, I want to go home!

It was at this moment that Cheng Leyan returned.

He had tried to find the caregiver to ask about Rong Wangzhi’s condition, but they were nowhere to be found. The nursing home staff told him to wait, so he brought Zhuozhuo back into the room.

When he saw Rong Wangzhi’s face, Cheng Leyan froze.

He then said blankly, “Is someone crazy?! Who put lipstick on my husband?”

He looked closer, his head filled with question marks. “Damn, putting on lipstick is one thing, but they gave a vegetable ‘plump pouty lips’? Have they lost their minds?!”

After staring for a few more seconds, he muttered, “Wait, why do these pouty lips actually look kind of tempting? What is this nursing home playing at? What do they think my husband is a lip model? Zhuozhuo, come look at your dad’s pouty lips!”

Rong Wangzhi: “…”

Ugh.

Zhuozhuo is here too.

I want to die.

Cheng Leyan was truly bewildered.

To be fair, his benefactor husband had an exceptionally superior face: a high bridge to his nose, deep-set eyes, sharp features, and perfect bone structure.

His lips were thin, conveying a sense of indifference and coldness.

However, because he had been lying there so long, his skin was deathly pale, and the veins on his neck showed blue.

And now, on that almost pathologically white face, there were suddenly red, almost decadently lush lips.

You really couldn’t look too long. If you looked a few times, you’d start feeling like you wanted to kiss him, which made Cheng Leyan feel like a total pervert.

It definitely wasn’t like this just a few minutes ago!

Is everyone crazy? Did someone sneak in during the few minutes I was out just to apply lip balm to him??

For what purpose? I’m asking you!

Do the vegetables in your nursing home have makeup needs? Do they have a dress code? Do they have to look pretty??

419 spoke up timidly: Wow, those lips look like they were stained with crushed rose petals. I know there’s a buff in our department exactly like that. Don’t they look incredibly kissable?

Cheng Leyan: Stop being a creep! What are you trying to do to a vegetable?

He couldn’t help but reach out and rub the other man’s lips, trying to wipe the color off.

He rubbed twice, but it didn’t come off. Instead, the lip color became even more vivid, to the point that Cheng Leyan inexplicably swallowed.

Zhuozhuo stood to the side, watching him silently, and then silently shrank back a little further.

Cheng Leyan: “…Dammit.”

Cheng Leyan: “What do you take your step-father for, baby? I’m not a pervert, okay?”

Zhuozhuo: …Really?

The caregiver still hadn’t arrived. Cheng Leyan felt that this person was extremely unreliable. Care for a comatose patient is vital; if the caregiver is incompetent, bedsores can develop easily.

He decided to just check for himself.

Cheng Leyan said to Rong Wangzhi, “Husband, I’m going to check your body, okay? Don’t mind me.”

He then tugged up the legs of Rong Wangzhi’s trousers and pulled up his shirt.

His expression darkened instantly. On Rong Wangzhi’s body were several bruises that had mostly faded—they looked like they had been caused by someone pinching him. There were also bedsores on his back and legs. It was obvious he hadn’t been cared for properly at all.

This nursing home looked very high-end and was incredibly expensive. Logically, these kinds of problems shouldn’t exist.

Has the money my ‘Mom’ paid been fed to the dogs?!

Just then, a man in a caregiver’s uniform jogged into the room. He bowed and scraped toward Cheng Leyan, saying sycophantically, “Young Master Cheng, you’re here.”

He then winked and whispered sleazily, “Don’t worry, the security cameras in this room have all been turned off. Feel free to do whatever you like.”

Cheng Leyan’s heart skipped a beat.

He said, “Well, you finally showed up, Mr. Caregiver. Let me ask you—how much does my husband’s stay here cost per month?”

The caregiver blinked. “It should be the top-tier package, 188,000 yuan a month.”

Cheng Leyan nearly exploded. “188,000? 188,000?! And this is the service we get for 188,000? Let me ask you, what happened to these marks on my husband? How do you have to ‘care’ for someone to produce these bruises? Look at this spot—this was clearly pinched by a hand, wasn’t it?”

The caregiver’s face changed. “Young Master Cheng, don’t pin this on me! Weren’t these… weren’t these done by you… yourself? Last time you smashed a chair, I even helped cover for you when the doctors were doing their rounds.”

Cheng Leyan: “…”

Dammit, the original owner was a monster! The bruises on Rong Wangzhi were his doing!!!

To commit such violence against a helpless vegetable—the original owner was a pure piece of trash.

And this caregiver was “Trash Number Two.”

How could he let his Sugar Daddy stay in a place like this?!

Without hesitation, he pulled out his phone and called Mrs. Rong’s Assistant Chen. He stated that the matter was urgent and concerned Rong Wangzhi, and the assistant decisively transferred the call to Mrs. Rong.

Mrs. Rong sounded a bit impatient: “What is it? This had better be important.”

Cheng Leyan: “Mom! I just came to see Mr. Rong, and this nursing home is a disaster! It’s a huge problem! Mr. Rong has bedsores can you believe it? We’re paying 188,000 a month for this; Mom, we’re being scammed!”

Mrs. Rong’s voice turned serious immediately. “Wait for me for half an hour. I’m driving over.”

Cheng Leyan: “Also, they’ve lost their minds and put lipstick on Mr. Rong. They gave him ‘pouty lips’.”

Mrs. Rong: “…Wait for me for 10 minutes. I’m coming by helicopter.”

Support Who Wouldn’t Want to Be a Wealthy Stepparent?