“Mom, I’m back.” A little boy’s voice rang in her ears. He placed a cup of soy milk and two steamed buns on the bedside table.

Then, he scurried over to the end of the bed and started dragging the overbed table out. Because he was so small, the task was clearly difficult for him. Just then, some family members from the neighboring bed entered the room, carrying breakfast. Seeing the boy struggling with the table, they kindly stepped in and helped him set it up properly.

“Xiaoguang, if you can’t move that next time, just call a nurse for help,” said the man carrying breakfast.

The little boy nodded, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and said, “Thank you, Uncle Sun, but it’s okay. I can handle it.” The nurses were busy, so he had to do his best on his own.

The man shot a cold glance at Xiao Yu before turning back to the boy. “If anything comes up, let Uncle Sun know.” With that, he walked over to the innermost bed, carrying his breakfast, never once speaking to Xiao Yu.

Xiaoguang carefully moved the breakfast from the bedside table to the overbed table. Then, with some effort, he ran to the foot of the bed and started cranking it to raise the headrest.

Xiao Yu slowly sat up, leaning against the bed, and stared at the soy milk and two steamed buns in front of her, momentarily dazed.

The little boy climbed back onto the bed, sat across from her, and inserted a straw into the soy milk. Stretching out his small arms, he handed it to Xiao Yu.

She lowered her head and took a sip. The soy milk was sweet. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the boy’s throat bob as he swallowed instinctively. Xiao Yu paused for a moment, then asked, “Have you eaten yet?”

The boy seemed stunned by the unexpected question. He froze, his wide, deer-like eyes staring at Xiao Yu. His mouth opened slightly, but after a moment, he said nothing and quietly closed it again.

Uncle Sun, sitting on the innermost bed, let out a mocking laugh. “Now you suddenly have the energy to care about your kid? How many days have you gone without eating?”

Xiao Yu turned to the little boy and asked, “Why didn’t you buy something to eat?”

The boy lowered his head, took out a steamed bun, and whispered, “There’s no money left.”

“You take this and eat it. I’m not hungry—I just want to rest for a bit,” Xiao Yu said, nodding toward the food on the table.

The boy glanced at her, looking a little incredulous, but he still said, “Mom, you should eat. You’re sick, and eating will help you get better.”

Xiao Yu shook her head and then closed her eyes.

The boy hesitated, watching her carefully. Once he was sure she really wasn’t going to eat, he finally picked up a bun and took a big bite.

Xiao Yu resumed her conversation with 404 in her mind: Didn’t you say I was supposed to be a rich young lady?

404 almost short-circuited. “I wasn’t lying! Xiao Yu is a rich young lady!”

Oh, really? A rich young lady in this kind of hospital room? Eating steamed buns? With a son who’s about to starve?

404 stammered, “W-Well… that’s because she used to be a rich young lady.”

Xiao Yu threw her head back and laughed, then said coldly, “Go ahead, tell me—how many more pitfalls are there? The rich young lady status is in the past, the wealthy husband is history, and now my body’s completely paralyzed from being hit by a car. What else?”

404 thought for a moment before replying, “Oh, right—your compensation money is almost gone too. You’ll be discharged from the hospital soon!”

Xiao Yu: “…” Excuse me, could you clarify whether that’s a normal discharge or being kicked out?

404 added cheerfully, “Host, do you have any other questions?”

“Oh, yeah,” Xiao Yu said. “You have a cheat code, right?”

404 puffed up with pride. “Of course! I’ve got a cheat code!”

“Great,” Xiao Yu said calmly. “Then go ahead and use it to cure me.”

404 made a series of whirring mechanical sounds, then proudly declared, “Host, you’re all healed!”

Xiao Yu tried moving but found she still couldn’t budge. Frowning, she asked, “Doesn’t seem like it worked?”

404 quickly explained, “Oh, that’s because we need to follow the principles of scientific progress. If you recovered all at once, it might scare people!”

Xiao Yu: “So?”

404 explained, “So, this cheat code has given you the chance to recover from your paralysis, but you’ll have to work hard and go through physical therapy to fully heal.”

Xiao Yu’s face was full of disbelief. “And if I don’t do the therapy?”

“Well, then you obviously won’t get better!” 404 chirped happily. “But don’t worry, Host! With the help of this cheat, as long as you do the therapy, you’ll recover in no time!”

Xiao Yu exploded. “How the hell am I supposed to afford therapy?! I’m practically about to be kicked out of the hospital, dude!!!”

Taking a deep breath, she calmed down and said lazily, “The original owner’s dream was to become a world-famous pianist, right? Okay, give me a piano buff.”

404: “…”

Xiao Yu: “??? What’s wrong?”

404 hesitated. “Uh… I do have a cheat code, but… just one.”

Xiao Yu: “…”

Suddenly, a loud wail echoed through Room 506.

“Ahhhhhh~~~ What kind of life is this?! What is even happening to me?!” Xiao Yu screamed in despair.

Xiao Ruoguang, the original owner’s 3-year-old son, stood nearby with a steamed bun clamped between his teeth. He blinked at Xiao Yu and softly called out, “M-Mom?”

“My… my son!” Xiao Yu cried tearfully. Meanwhile, in her head, she asked 404, If I make my son a world-famous pianist, will that count as fulfilling the original owner’s wish?

404 hesitated. “Uh… n-not really!”

Xiao Yu snapped, “Could you maybe be a little clearer about the fact that you only have one cheat code?!”

404 quickly tried to console her. “Actually, you can inherit some of this body’s skills, too. Don’t worry, Host, you’ll be fine…”

Before it could finish, Xiao Yu heard a burst of garbled mechanical noise in her head, followed by a sharp screech. Finally, 404’s voice came through, sobbing, “Host… I… I healed you… used up… all the energy… clunk…”

And then it went completely silent.

With that final clunk, Xiao Yu’s mind fell into complete silence. She sat there, utterly dumbfounded. What just happened?

Xiao Yu: “…”

What kind of useless system is this? What’s the point?! A cheat code to fulfill a wish—while being paralyzed? What’s the point of living like this?

I’ve taken over this body, but if I can’t fulfill the original owner’s wish, it won’t even stay mine. So what’s the point of doing rehab? Is this just a choice between dying sooner or later?

“Mommy, don’t cry. I won’t eat anymore—you can have it,” Xiao Ruoguang said softly, holding out the half-eaten bun to her. His voice had that tender, sticky-sweet tone unique to small children, making Xiao Yu’s heart melt on the spot.

Xiao Yu shook her head. “Eat it, son. Mommy’s not hungry. Mommy’s just… thinking about your dad!” She gazed at him with tearful eyes.

Oh, my dear son! Maybe… maybe we could try to get back in touch with your father???

Faced with the bleakness of her future, Xiao Yu nearly coughed up blood. Rehab cost money. Food cost money. Learning piano cost money. Only with money could she fulfill the original owner’s wish and earn her rebirth.

The problem? She had everything… except money.

Leaning against the pillow in a slouched, lazy sprawl, Xiao Yu sighed miserably. How did I end up with such an unreliable system? If she’d known from the start that there was only one cheat, she would’ve at least thought carefully about how to use it!

No, wait… from the very beginning, this had been a completely useless system. Just one cheat, just one wish… No matter how she looked at it, there was really only one logical option: to restore her body. Without that, she couldn’t have a healthy body to play the piano anyway.

Xiao Yu froze for a moment. The more she thought about it, the more frustrated she became. So, basically, the only real choice was to heal my body? How is that even a wish if it’s mandatory?

Why not just give me a healthy body from the start? That would’ve been much better! What’s the point of this cheat if I still have to do everything myself in the end?!

“Mommy, I… I’ll go ask Daddy for some money, okay?”

Xiao Yu turned her head and saw Xiao Ruoguang looking up at her with wide, innocent eyes.

“I saw other kids asking their dads for money yesterday,” he said softly. “So… I’ll go ask my dad, and we can use the money to pay for your treatment!”

Xiao Yu looked at him, her expression turning into a gentle, almost motherly smile. She patted his head and said kindly, “Sweetie, that’s a great idea. But first… we need to actually have a dad.”

Xiao Ruoguang blinked in confusion. “…” Wait. I don’t have a dad?”

=^_^=