Cheng Leyan had no idea that with just one sentence, the little cub Zhuozhuo had already found a new label for his billionaire dad: poor ghost.

After having KFC with the little cub, Cheng Leyan felt a bit closer to him and thought it was a good opportunity to educate the baby and help him get rid of the dog cage troubles. So he said, “Baby, there’s no such thing as a free lunch in this world. Today, your stepdad is going to teach you some life lessons.”

Zhuozhuo pursed his lips silently, his big eyes focused on him.

Cheng Leyan said, “The first big lesson—baby, look at that uncle!”

He pointed to a middle-aged man at the next table. The man had a pack of cigarettes by his side, but due to the indoor smoking ban, he didn’t smoke, just occasionally touched the cigarette pack and lighter.

Cheng Leyan asked, “Did you notice anything?”

The little cub shook his head.

Cheng Leyan continued, “Look at that uncle, his teeth are so yellow! Baby, stepdad is teaching you that smoking will make your teeth yellow, so it’s best not to smoke. Otherwise, if you like someone in the future and start talking to them, suddenly showing a mouthful of yellow teeth, how embarrassing would that be?”

Although the “liking someone else” part left Zhuozhuo with a head full of question marks, since he was only three years old, he did think the smoking part made sense.

Yellow teeth were secondary; his family was full of poor ghosts, so in a poor ghost family, it’s better not to waste money on cigarettes.

Cheng Leyan continued with his teachings, “Baby, the second big lesson stepdad wants to teach you is the sum of all the life philosophies I’ve realized up to now. It’s very important, so listen carefully.”

“It can be summed up in one sentence: those who seek money thrive, those who seek love end up with nothing. Love and affection are so mundane! What’s the use? What’s the most important thing? It’s money!”

The little cub listened, half-understanding, and concluded: because our family is a poor ghost family, we must earn a lot of money.

Hmm, once he accepted the “poor ghost family” setting, everything suddenly made sense.

The little cub nodded seriously, deeply agreeing.

Cheng Leyan didn’t expect Zhuozhuo to accept his words so readily.

A child that can be taught!

He used himself as an example, “Sigh, like stepdad, I was blinded by lard and had my head caught in an iron door, actually pursuing ‘love’! And what happened? I got scammed out of 9.82 million! Is it easy for stepdad to save some money? That bastard Xiang Jingzhou…”

He omitted a bunch of curse words, cursing with heartache.

Coincidentally, Cheng Leyan’s phone rang at this moment, the screen showing “Jingzhou my love.”

Cheng Leyan almost gagged, immediately changing it to “Jingzhou my puke,” because it really made him want to puke.

Calculating the time, he had told Xiang Jinglin to get lost yesterday, so it was about time for Xiang Jingzhou to call and demand an explanation.

When he answered the call, sure enough, 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 mom is furious! I really don’t know what you’re thinking all day, can you stop doing stupid things? If you still want to be with me in the future, how do you plan to get past my mom!?”

Cheng Leyan: Ah, big sword man!

Bastard big sword man!

He knew that when talking to such a big sword man, the most important thing was four words: don’t self-justify.

So he completely ignored what the other party said and directly said, “Rong Wangzhi’s mom knows about us.”

With one sentence, he regained control of the conversation.

Xiang Jingzhou was stunned, and after a few seconds, when he spoke again, his tone had softened a lot, “Yanyan, did you tell her? What’s the situation now?”

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

Xiang Jingzhou was anxious, “What? How can she do that!? You guys signed a contract back then!”

Cheng Leyan: “Yeah, so I’m not completely kicked out. She said she’d give me another chance.”

Xiang Jingzhou breathed a sigh of relief, “I get it, Yanyan, you did this for us, for me, that’s why you let Jinglin go, right? Yanyan, you’ve… you’ve sacrificed too much for us. You’ve been wronged. It’s all Jinglin’s fault, he caused you trouble, I’ll talk to him properly. And my mom, why is she causing trouble at a time like this? Don’t worry, our future is in our own hands!”

With just a few words, Cheng Leyan had calmed Xiang Jingzhou down, and the latter even found excuses for him, saying, “You’ve been wronged.”

The system was amazed: [Host, have you done any related work before!?]

Cheng Leyan: […What kind of work would match this, a pig slaughtering scam? System Father, just wait and see, I’ll make this bastard cough up all the money sooner or later.]

The system clapped like a seal: [Waiting, waiting!]

Xiang Jingzhou said a bunch of nice things to Cheng Leyan, ending with several “I miss you” before hanging up.

As the city lights came on, Xiang Jingzhou sat in his office’s leather chair, looking at the thousands of lights outside the floor-to-ceiling window.

He had been in Singapore recently, looking for financing opportunities, unable to return to the country for a while. Originally, he felt relieved not having to face Cheng Leyan, but now he felt a strange sensation:

Regarding the phone call just now, he even felt a bit—unsatisfied.

In the past, calling Cheng Leyan was something he did while holding his nose. He didn’t feel grateful for the money Cheng Leyan gave him; instead, he felt shame and disgust every time he thought about it.

This time was different.

Cheng Leyan didn’t say much; it was mostly him talking, but he really felt it was different. The last “I miss you” was obviously nonsense, but the feeling of being unsatisfied was real.

What’s going on? He wondered, constantly recalling, trying to grasp the fleeting feeling in his heart.

But before he could think more, his phone rang, it was his mom. Xiang Jingzhou was genuinely impatient, frowning.

On the other side, Cheng Leyan hung up the phone and saw Zhuozhuo reaching out to gently take the toy from the tray—a Pikachu that came with the kids’ meal Cheng Leyan bought.

Seeing Cheng Leyan’s gaze, Zhuozhuo instantly became timid, not daring to move.

Stepdad had been very gentle just now, but…

The little cub was ready to have his hand slapped by stepdad. Just like before, when grandma sent gifts, if he wanted to take them, stepdad would slap his hand and take the gifts away. Some things stepdad wanted, he kept for himself, and some he didn’t want, he threw on the ground.

But this time, he wasn’t slapped. Stepfather smiled with his eyes and said, “Baby, this is a baby meal, and you’re a baby, so this is your toy.”

Zhuozhuo finally breathed a sigh of relief, timidly opened the box, took out the Pikachu, and held it in his hand.

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

This wasn’t something left over.

This was… uniquely his own.

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

Even when he went to sleep, he was still holding it.

Because he was suspicious of Aunt Zhang, Cheng Leyan personally took care of bathing and changing clothes, and then played with Zhuozhuo for a while. Later, he sat by the bed, watching the little cub hold the Pikachu and quietly close his eyes.

After a while, his breathing became even, and he fell asleep.

Cheng Leyan couldn’t help but marvel: this child is too easy to take care of!

Is he an angel baby? He’s totally an angel baby!

Seeing how precious the little cub held the Pikachu, his heart ached again, and he decided to take Zhuozhuo to the mall tomorrow to buy him lots of toys.

Lots and lots of toys.

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

Zhuozhuo must have them all!

All of them!!!

He tucked the little cub in, turned off the lights, and left.

After that, the little cub opened his eyes, quietly sat up from the bed, took out a phone from the teddy bear, and sent a safety message to Brother Gu Qin.

He couldn’t help but share: [Brother Gu Qin, I saw dad today. Cheng Leyan even took me to eat KFC, it was so delicious. He gave me a Pikachu, I want to give it to you.]

Gu Qin replied: [!!! Why is he suddenly so nice!]

[Oh no, could Cheng Leyan really be planning to kidnap you and sell you?]

Zhuozhuo: [Ah, because our family is a poor ghost family, so they want to sell me for money?]

Gu Qin: [Poor ghost!?!?!? Who said you’re from a poor ghost family? If your family is a poor ghost, what are we considered!!]

[Was it your stepdad who said that? Zhuozhuo, he’s definitely lying to you!]

Zhuozhuo: [Is he lying to me? But he said he’s not the previous stepdad, he’s a new stepdad, different from the previous one.]

Gu Qin: [How is that possible, this isn’t a novel, he can’t time travel. Zhuozhuo, you have to be careful!]

Zhuozhuo pursed his lips.

Brother Gu Qin didn’t know, stepdad had really changed a lot.

He didn’t know if stepdad was lying to him, but he seemed to… kind of like his new stepdad.

If only stepdad was always this “new stepdad,” not the previous stepdad, that would be great.

Today’s “Grudge Book,” he didn’t draw a big pill for stepdad.

He didn’t want to give stepdad a big pill anymore.

Later, he lay back down on the bed.

No longer was there the unbearable hunger, no longer the cold, sometimes even wet blanket, no longer the fear that “if I fall asleep, I might not wake up.”

Now he was full, warm.

He just held a Pikachu and quietly fell asleep.

*

After coaxing Zhuozhuo to sleep, Cheng Leyan returned to his room, and something bizarre happened:

Aunt Zhang actually came to ask him for money.

And she was asking for a lot, 500,000.

Her words were somewhat suggestive, constantly mentioning “I was the nanny who raised the Eldest Young Master, Madam listens to me the most,” and “there are some things I want to keep to myself, not tell others,” and so on.

It was nothing more than the original owner’s mess, and Aunt Zhang wanted to be paid to keep her mouth shut.

Dream on.

He chuckled, “Aunt Zhang, here’s the thing, in my house, I make decisions for anything under two yuan, anything over two yuan, I have to discuss with my husband. As everyone knows, my husband is in a vegetative state, so there’s no discussion.”

Aunt Zhang: “But—”

Cheng Leyan: “We’re the same age, doing the same job, you have no money, why do you think I would?”

Aunt Zhang: “Then you—”

Cheng Leyan: “It’s not a money problem, the problem is I have no money. As long as it’s a problem that can be solved with money, I can’t solve any of them.”

In the end, he made Aunt Zhang so angry that her forehead was throbbing, and she turned and left.

Before going to bed, Cheng Leyan pondered, with Aunt Zhang’s situation, he really couldn’t let her stay here.

He had to think of a way.

Who knew that the next morning, something unexpected happened.

Cheng Leyan got up early, planning to make some fries and mini burgers for Zhuozhuo. But as soon as Zhuozhuo sat in the high chair, Aunt Zhang and Sister Sun started arguing, and even Butler Li couldn’t stop them.

The two were accusing each other of breaking Zhuozhuo’s most beloved toy.

When Zhuozhuo heard this, his face turned pale, but when he reached into his pocket, his expression became strange.

He took out a small Pikachu from his pocket.

The little cub was puzzled: this is his most beloved toy, and it’s not broken.

Ah, could it be the teddy bear he uses to store his phone that’s broken!?

Without that phone, he wouldn’t be able to contact Brother Gu Qin!

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

Aunt Zhang said, “It’s that tin man, the one our young master bought for the little young master, the little young master treasures it the most! It was bought at Atlantic Department Store, just one little figure costs two thousand.”

Zhuozhuo: …Ah. Not the teddy bear.

He was relieved but also a bit sad: he really liked that tin man. Sometimes when he missed dad, he would look at it.

The little cub’s head drooped down.

Seeing Aunt Zhang and Sister Sun about to argue again, Cheng Leyan said, “That tin man was bought at Atlantic Department Store, right? Zhuozhuo, we’ll go buy another one later.”

He had planned to take Zhuozhuo to buy more toys anyway, so this was perfect.

He reached out and patted Zhuozhuo’s head, smiling, “Baby, stepdad is going to buy you lots and lots of toys, whatever you want, we’ll buy.”

“Whatever others have, our baby must have! Whatever others don’t have, our baby must also have!” Cheng Leyan confidently declared.

Zhuozhuo’s heart raced, but the next second, he saw stepdad turn to ask Butler Li, “By the way, Butler Li, my mom said Zhuozhuo’s expenses are covered by you, can I get reimbursed when I come back?”

The intense heartbeat slowly calmed down.

He thought: Can our poor ghost family really buy so many toys?

But… it made him a little happy.

The little cub held onto the Pikachu, and in a place where no one could see, he gently smiled.

So, after breakfast, Cheng Leyan took the little cub to drive to Atlantic Department Store.

Today was some “member’s day,” and there were quite a few people. Cheng Leyan held Zhuozhuo’s hand, planning to go upstairs to the fourth-floor children’s area.

Rong Wangzhi rarely took Zhuozhuo to crowded places like malls, so Zhuozhuo was very curious, looking around.

But before they could get on the escalator, an accident happened: a pregnant woman in front of Cheng Leyan was bumped, exclaimed, and fell to the ground clutching her belly.

Cheng Leyan quickly went forward, helped her up, and settled her on a nearby chair.

The pregnant woman was fine, and Cheng Leyan breathed a sigh of relief, but when he turned around…

Zhuozhuo was gone.

Behind him, the crowd surged, people walked by in large strides, and he couldn’t see the little cub anywhere.

Zhuozhuo was gone.

In that instant, Cheng Leyan was engulfed by a sudden fear, cold sweat soaking the back of his shirt.

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

What to do?

The crowd was surging around, so many people, how to find him?

The other party was clearly prepared, and by the time the police arrived in a few minutes, who knows where Zhuozhuo would be taken.

The system spoke urgently: [Host!! Zhuozhuo has a little genius watch on him, I can connect it to your phone to check his location… Ah, he’s being taken to the west gate! What to do? The west gate is far, we still have time!]

Far away? That means someone is waiting there.

His brain worked quickly: he absolutely couldn’t let them take the child out of this building.

Cheng Leyan: [Can you connect to the internet? I’ll give you permission, check the map, tell me where the mall’s security control room is, guide me, quick, quick, quick!]

System: [Two seconds… Okay, it’s right behind the first-floor customer service center, run forward! Turn left! Keep going, yes, that way!]

With the system guiding him, he quickly ran to the customer service center behind the mall and saw the “Control Room” sign.

When he worked part-time at a jewelry store, he had a good relationship with the mall’s floor manager and often helped out in the mall’s back office on his days off, so he was familiar with the control room.

Seeing it was a frosted glass door that required a card to enter, Cheng Leyan said: [I also need a golf club, or something similarly hard, where can I find one?]

System: […Hard? As long as it’s hard, right? I have one in my little warehouse, but what do you need it for?]

Cheng Leyan: [Just give it to me!]

System: [Coming!]

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

He didn’t have time to look closely, he just swung the object in his hand a couple of times.

Great, it felt pretty handy.

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

Inside, there were staff members screaming, and someone shouted, “Who are you? What are you doing!?”

Cheng Leyan ignored them. Calm, calm, he told himself. Fortunately, the equipment in this mall was similar to the one he had worked at before, the door control used a lever, and there were text labels, Cheng Leyan directly reached out and pulled down the lever representing the west gate.

Cheng Leyan: [Is Zhuozhuo still in the building?]

The system was almost crying with joy: [Just in time! Host, we were almost too late!! Luckily they were heading for the west gate, which is farther away!]

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

By the way, the thing the system gave him was quite useful.

Huh, what’s going on? Why are the people’s eyes around him so strange?

As someone who had just smashed a door and barged in, being looked at a few more times was normal, but at this moment, the gazes of the people around him were a bit, not quite right.

Everyone was looking at him, but it seemed they were also looking at—the object in his hand.

Cheng Leyan looked down, carefully examining what exactly the object in his hand was.

Cheng Leyan: …

Cheng Leyan: ……………

Cheng Leyan looked at the unidentified object in his hand, so shocked that his voice trembled: [What is this thing!? 419, come out, tell me what this is!???]

419 weakly said: [It’s just… it’s just… the Jinjiang mascot, the flying big ding|ding… rubber version.]

The voice got lower and lower.

Cheng Leyan: This is a scam!!!

Yes, the thing he had just been swinging around was a super large, super hard, super powerful ding|ding.