Who Wouldn't Want to Be a Wealthy Stepparent? - Chapter 7

Cheng Leyan had no idea that, in the span of a single sentence, the toddler Zhuozhuo had already assigned a new identity to his billionaire father: a “poor guy.”

Having shared a meal at KFC, Cheng Leyan felt significantly closer to the boy. He saw this as the perfect opportunity to educate the child and steer him away from the path that led to the “dog cage” ending. He began, “Baby, there’s no such thing as a free lunch in this world. Today, Daddy is going to teach you some life lessons.”

Zhuozhuo pursed his lips silently, his large eyes focused intently on him.

Cheng Leyan: “The first major lesson—Baby, look at that uncle over there!”

He pointed to a middle-aged man at a neighboring table. A pack of cigarettes sat by the man’s hand, though he wasn’t smoking due to the indoor ban; he just occasionally toyed with the box and the lighter.

Cheng Leyan: “Notice anything?”

The toddler shook his head.

Cheng Leyan: “Look at his teeth—how yellow they are! Baby, Daddy’s teaching you now: smoking makes your teeth yellow. It’s best not to smoke. Otherwise, when you fall in love with someone in the future and try to talk to them, you’ll suddenly show a mouth full of yellow teeth. How embarrassing!”

Although the phrase “fall in love with someone” left Zhuozhuo with a head full of question marks after all, he was only three the part about smoking made sense to him.

Yellow teeth were one thing, but since his family were “poor guys,” it was probably better not to waste money on cigarettes.

Cheng Leyan continued his hands-on teaching: “Son, the second big lesson Daddy wants to teach you is the sum of all the life philosophies I’ve realized so far. It’s very important, so listen carefully.

“It can be summarized in one sentence: Those who chase money thrive; those who chase love end up with nothing. Things like ‘affection’ and ‘love’ are vulgar! What use are they? What’s the most important thing? Money!”

The toddler understood about half of it. His final conclusion was: Because we are a family of poor guys, we must work very hard to make money.

Once he accepted the “poor guy family” setting, everything became very easy to explain.

The toddler nodded solemnly, looking very convinced.

Cheng Leyan never expected Zhuozhuo to be so receptive to his words.

What a teachable child!

He then used himself as an example: “Sigh, take your Daddy for instance. My heart was clouded by greed and my head was stuck in a metal door—I actually went and pursued ‘love’! The result? I got scammed out of over 9.82 million yuan! Do you think it’s easy for a corporate slave like me to save up? That damn bastard Xiang Jingzhou…”

What followed was a long string of insults clean ones delivered with heartbreaking sincerity.

As fate would have it, Cheng Leyan’s phone rang at that exact moment. The screen displayed: “Jingzhou, My Love.”

Cheng Leyan almost gagged. He immediately changed the contact name to “Jingzhou, My Vomit,” because it really made him want to puke.

Judging by the time, he had kicked Xiang Jinglin out yesterday, so it was about time for Xiang Jingzhou to call and demand an explanation.

He answered. As expected, Xiang Jingzhou’s tone was irritable and impatient: “What’s going on? Jinglin said you fired him and even took back his previous salary? My mother is furious! I really don’t know what you’re thinking all day. Can you stop doing stupid things? If you want to be with me in the future, how do you plan to get past my mother!?”

Cheng Leyan: Ahhh, what a tool!

Absolute bastard tool!

He knew that when dealing with this kind of person, the most important thing was not to offer self-justification.

So, he completely ignored everything the man said and stated bluntly, “Rong Wangzhi’s mother found out about us.”

With one sentence, he regained control of the conversation.

Xiang Jingzhou choked. When he spoke again a few seconds later, his tone was much softer: “Yanyan, did you tell her? What’s the situation now?”

Cheng Leyan: “She found out on her own. The villa is being transferred back to her name, the loan is completely dead, and I’m about to be kicked out on the street.”

Xiang Jingzhou said urgently, “What? How can she do that?! You guys signed a contract!”

Cheng Leyan: “Yeah, so I haven’t been kicked out completely yet. She said she’d give me one more chance.”

Xiang Jingzhou breathed another sigh of relief. “I see. Yanyan, you did this—you let Jinglin go for us, didn’t you? Yanyan, you… you’ve sacrificed too much for us. You’ve been wronged. This is all Jinglin’s fault for causing trouble for you; I’ll give him a good talking to. And my mother… why is she adding to the chaos at a time like this? Don’t worry, our future is in our own hands!”

With just a few sentences, Cheng Leyan had stabilized Xiang Jingzhou. The latter had even invented excuses for him and said, “You’ve been wronged.”

The system was amazed: Host, did you… did you work in some related field before?

Cheng Leyan: What kind of job would cover this? Professional scamming? System-Dad, just wait. Sooner or later, I’ll make this bastard spit out every cent.

The system gave a seal-like applause: I’m waiting, I’m waiting!

Xiang Jingzhou said a whole lot of sweet nothings and ended with several “I miss yous” before hanging up.

Dusk had fallen. Xiang Jingzhou sat in his leather office chair, looking at the city lights through the floor-to-ceiling windows.

He had been in Singapore lately looking for investment opportunities and couldn’t return home for a while. He had originally felt relieved to not have to deal with Cheng Leyan, but now a strange feeling emerged:

He actually felt… a bit unsatisfied that the call had ended.

In the past, he had to hold his nose just to call Cheng Leyan. Even though Cheng Leyan gave him money, he didn’t feel grateful; instead, he felt only shame and disgust.

This time was different.

Cheng Leyan hadn’t said much—he had done most of the talking but he felt things were very different. The “I miss you” stuff was obviously a lie, but the feeling of lingering interest was real.

What is happening? He thought, trying to grasp the fleeting sensation in his heart.

Before he could think further, his phone rang again—it was his mother. Xiang Jingzhou felt a wave of genuine annoyance and frowned.

On the other end, Cheng Leyan hung up and saw Zhuozhuo reach out and gently pick up the toy from the table. It was a Pikachu that came with the kid’s meal.

Seeing Cheng Leyan’s gaze, Zhuozhuo immediately grew timid and froze.

His step-father had been acting very gentle, but…

The toddler braced himself to have his hand slapped. In the past, whenever Grandma sent a gift and he tried to take it, his step-father would hit his hand and take the gift away. Some things the step-father kept for himself; the things he didn’t want, he threw on the floor.

But this time, his hand wasn’t hit. His step-father’s eyes curved as he said, “Baby, this is a kid’s meal, and you’re a kid, so this toy is for you.”

Only then did Zhuozhuo breathe a sigh of relief. He timidly opened the box, took out the Pikachu, and held it in his hand.

He felt a strange sensation in his chest: he felt this toy was different from all the toys at home.

This wasn’t a leftover.

This was… exclusively his own.

After finishing KFC, Cheng Leyan took him home. Zhuozhuo held onto the Pikachu the whole time.

He even held it while he slept.

Since he was suspicious of Auntie Zhang, Cheng Leyan handled the bathing and dressing himself. He then spent some time playing with blocks with Zhuozhuo. Later, he sat by the bed and watched as the toddler clutched the Pikachu and quietly closed his eyes.

A moment later, the boy’s breathing became steady; he was asleep.

Cheng Leyan couldn’t help but marvel: This child is way too easy to look after!

He’s an angel baby, a total angel baby!

Seeing the boy clutching the Pikachu so dearly, he felt another pang of sadness and decided to take Zhuozhuo to the mall tomorrow to buy him lots of toys.

Lots and lots of toys.

Everything he had wanted but couldn’t have as a child, he would buy for Zhuozhuo.

Zhuozhuo must have it all!

ALL OF IT!!!

He tucked the toddler in, turned off the light, and left.

After that, the toddler opened his eyes, quietly sat up, pulled his phone out of the teddy bear, and sent his daily safety text to Brother Gu Qin.

He couldn’t help sharing: Brother Gu Qin, I saw Daddy today. Cheng Leyan also took me to eat KFC. It was so yummy. He gave me a Pikachu, and I want to give it to you.

Gu Qin replied:  Why is he suddenly so nice!

Oh no, do you think Cheng Leyan really wants to kidnap you and sell you?

Zhuozhuo: Ah, is it because we are a poor guy family, so he wants to sell me for money?

Gu Qin:  Poor guys!?!?!? Who said you are a poor guy family? If your family is poor, then what are we!!

Did your step-father say that? Zhuozhuo, he’s definitely lying to you!

Zhuozhuo: Is he lying? But he said he isn’t the old step-father; he’s a new one, and he’s different.

Gu Qin: How is that possible? This isn’t a novel; he can’t just transmigrate. Zhuozhuo, you have to be careful!

Zhuozhuo pursed his lips.

Brother Gu Qin didn’t know; Step-father had really changed a lot.

He didn’t know if Step-father was lying to him, but… he seemed to… like his new step-father a little.

If only Step-father could stay this “new step-father” forever.

In today’s “grudge notebook,” he didn’t draw a giant medicine pill for his step-father.

He didn’t want his step-father to have to take a pill anymore.

Later, he lay back down.

There was no more unbearable hunger, no more cold blankets that were sometimes even damp, and no more of the panic that “if I fall asleep, I might not wake up.”

He was full and warm.

And so, clutching his Pikachu, he fell into a quiet sleep.

Cheng Leyan returned to his room after coaxing Zhuozhuo to sleep, but a very bizarre thing happened in between:

Auntie Zhang actually came to him to borrow money.

And she had the nerve to ask for 500,000 yuan.

She spoke with heavy implications, constantly mentioning how she was “the nanny who raised the Eldest Young Master” and how “Madam listens to me the most,” as well as “there are some things I’d rather keep to myself.”

Basically, she knew the terrible things the original owner had done, and she wanted him to pay her “hush money.”

In your dreams.

He gave a dry laugh. “Auntie Zhang, here’s the deal: regarding my family’s money, I decide on anything under two yuan. Anything over two yuan has to be discussed with my husband. As everyone knows, my husband is a vegetable, so there’s no room for discussion.”

Auntie Zhang: “But—”

Cheng Leyan: “We’re the same age and doing the same job. You don’t have money, so why do you think I would?”

Auntie Zhang: “Then you—”

Cheng Leyan: “It’s not a question of money; the problem is I don’t have any. Any problem that can be solved with money is a problem I can’t solve.”

He eventually made Auntie Zhang so angry her forehead was throbbing as she turned and left.

Before sleeping, Cheng Leyan pondered that given Auntie Zhang’s attitude, he really couldn’t let her stay.

He had to find a way.

But something went wrong the next morning.

Cheng Leyan made a point of waking up early to make some fries and mini burgers for Zhuozhuo. Just as the boy sat down in his high chair, Auntie Zhang and Auntie Sun started a screaming match that even Butler Li couldn’t stop.

The two were accusing each other of breaking Master Zhuozhuo’s favorite toy.

Hearing this, Zhuozhuo’s face went pale instantly. But when he reached into his pocket, his expression turned strange.

He pulled out a small Pikachu.

The toddler was confused: This is my favorite toy, and it clearly isn’t broken.

Ah, wait, did the teddy bear I use to hide my phone break?!

Without that phone, I can’t contact Brother Gu Qin!

Cheng Leyan said, “Stop, stop, stop! Don’t fight! Which toy is it?”

Auntie Zhang said, “That tin man! The one the Young Master bought for him! It’s his most precious possession! It was bought at the Atlantic Department Store; that little thing cost two thousand yuan.”

Zhuozhuo: …Oh. It’s not the teddy bear.

While he felt a sense of relief, he was also a bit sad: he really liked that tin man. Whenever he missed his daddy, he would look at it.

The toddler’s head drooped.

Seeing Auntie Zhang and Auntie Sun about to start fighting again, Cheng Leyan said, “That tin man was from the Atlantic Department Store, right? Zhuozhuo, let’s go buy another one later.”

He had already planned to take Zhuozhuo toy shopping anyway, so this worked out perfectly.

He stroked Zhuozhuo’s hair and said with a beaming smile, “Baby, Daddy is going to buy you lots and lots of toys. You can buy whatever you want.”

“Everything other kids have, our baby will have too! And our baby will have the things other kids don’t have!” Cheng Leyan declared with absolute confidence.

Zhuozhuo’s heart hammered against his ribs. But the next second, he saw his step-father turn to Butler Li and ask: “By the way, Butler Li, Mom said you’re in charge of Zhuozhuo’s expenses. Can I get a reimbursement from you when I get back?”

The boy’s rapid heartbeat slowed back to normal.

He thought: Can our poor guy family really buy that many toys?

But… I’m a little happy.

Clutching the Pikachu, in a place where no one could see, the toddler gave a tiny smile.

And so, after breakfast, Cheng Leyan took the boy and drove to the Atlantic Department Store.

Today was some kind of “Member’s Day,” and it was quite crowded. Cheng Leyan held Zhuozhuo’s hand, intending to go to the children’s section on the fourth floor.

Rong Wangzhi rarely took Zhuozhuo to crowded places like malls, so the boy was looking around with intense curiosity.

But before they could get on the elevator, disaster struck: a pregnant woman in front of Cheng Leyan was bumped. She cried out, clutching her stomach, and fell to the ground.

Cheng Leyan rushed forward, helped her up, and settled her into a nearby chair.

The woman was fine. Cheng Leyan breathed a sigh of relief and turned around, only to find…

Zhuozhuo was gone.

The crowd behind him was surging, people walking by in a hurry. The toddler was nowhere to be seen.

Zhuozhuo was missing.

In that instant, Cheng Leyan was submerged in a wave of sheer terror. Cold sweat instantly soaked the back of his shirt.

The original novel did mention that the villain had been kidnapped as a child, but that happened when he was four. Cheng Leyan never expected it to happen now.

What do I do?

The crowd was overwhelming. How could he find him in this sea of people?

The other party was clearly prepared. By the time he called the police and they arrived a few minutes later, there was no telling where Zhuozhuo would be.

The system said urgently: Host!! Zhuozhuo is wearing a ‘Little Genius’ watch! I can link it to your phone and see his location… ah, he’s being taken toward the West Gate! What do we do? The West Gate is far; we still have time!

Far? Then there must be someone waiting to pick them up there.

His brain worked at lightning speed: I absolutely cannot let them take the child out of this building.

Cheng Leyan: Can you connect to the network? I’m giving you permission. Check the map and tell me where the mall’s security control room is! Point the way, now, now, now!

System: Two seconds… Okay, it’s behind the first-floor customer service center! Run forward! Turn left! Keep going straight, yes, over there!

With the system guiding him, he soon reached the back of the customer service center and saw the sign for the “Control Room.”

When he worked in the jewelry store, he had been on good terms with the mall management and had even worked part-time helping out in the logistics department on his days off. He knew exactly how control rooms worked.

Seeing it was a frosted glass door that required a card to enter, Cheng Leyan said: I need a golf club or something similar and hard. Where can I find one?

System: Hard? Anything hard will do? I have something in my little storage space, but what are you going to do with it?

Cheng Leyan: Give it to me!

System: Coming up!

The next second, Cheng Leyan felt something in his hand.

He didn’t have time to look. He swung the object twice.

Good, it’s got a nice weight.

He aimed at the frosted glass door and smashed it with the object in his hand. After a few hits, the glass shattered. Cheng Leyan ran inside and saw the control panel.

Staff members inside screamed. Someone shouted, “Who are you?! What are you doing!?”

Cheng Leyan ignored them. Calm down, calm down, he told himself. Fortunately, the equipment this mall used was similar to the one he had used before. The door controls used a joystick and were labeled. Cheng Leyan reached out and pulled the joystick for the West Gate to the ‘Close’ position.

Cheng Leyan: Is Zhuozhuo still in the building?

The system was almost crying with joy: [We made it! Host, one more second and it would have been too late!! Luckily, they were headed for the West Gate, which is quite far away!

The crisis was temporarily averted. Cheng Leyan finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Come to think of it, the thing the system gave him was quite useful.

Wait, what’s going on? Why is everyone looking at me so strangely?

As a man who had just smashed a door and barged in, being stared at was normal. But right now, the looks people were giving him were… a bit off.

They were looking at him, but they also seemed to be looking at—the object in his hand.

Cheng Leyan looked down to see exactly what this object was.

Cheng Leyan: “…”

Cheng Leyan: “…”

Cheng Leyan looked at the unidentified object in his hand, his voice trembling with shock: What the hell is this?! 419, come out! Tell me what the hell this is!

419 said timidly: It’s… it’s… the rubber version of the Jinjiang mascot, the Flying Giant Dck.

Its voice got quieter as it spoke.

Cheng Leyan: What a total scam!!!

That’s right. The thing he had just been swinging around was a massive, extremely hard, and very powerful d*ck.

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