Uncle, Please Take Me In~

"Ding! Host, remember your persona! Your persona! Go easy on him!"

The system's mechanical voice rang out, tinged with tears. Only then did Jiang Ze mercifully rub his hands, looking calmly at Jiang Zhengming, who had been beaten beyond recognition.

"That potion of yours works, right? His dear son was the one beating him up just now, not me. I didn't break character."

The system's tearful voice faltered. That did seem reasonable. It immediately changed its tune and replied enthusiastically.

"System-made products never disappoint!"

Jiang Ze nodded and headed straight upstairs to his room, ignoring the half-dead man on the floor.

Jiang Ze surveyed the room's sparse furnishings: a desk, a chair, and a single bed. In such an enormous villa, his room was shabbier than a maid's quarters. They had probably just cleared out a storage room for him.

He gained a better understanding of his predecessor's place in his own family. That couple really didn't treat him as their son.

"Ah!! Zhengming, Zhengming! Wake up!"

Jiang Ze had barely sat down when a shrill, miserable scream came from outside his room. Judging by the voice, it was probably his predecessor's vicious stepmother.

"Wenbin, hurry! Call an ambulance! A burglar must have broken in! Yes! Call the police and check whether anything's missing!"

Gu Rou called her son while looking at Jiang Zhengming, who barely looked human anymore. She didn't quite dare approach him, but the thought that something might have been stolen made her abandon him at once and hurry upstairs to check her hidden belongings.

Instead, she spotted Jiang Ze cowering behind the staircase.

"Jiang Ze! You're actually home?! Did you beat up your father?!"

Already pale from fright, the woman's beautiful, glamorous face twisted viciously. Seeing Jiang Ze at home made her eyes blaze with fury.

"N-no... it wasn't me..."

The young man seemed terrified. His small face was deathly pale, tears hovered in his eyes, and he shrank backward.

A trace of contempt crossed Gu Rou's face at his meek, cringing appearance.

But on second thought, that bitch's son had always been a coward. He never dared fight back when Jiang Zhengming beat him. How could he possibly have beaten the man this badly?

With that in mind, she stopped bothering with him. She shot him a glare and hurried upstairs to check her things.

Jiang Ze hadn't wanted to come out, but if the police got involved, things might become difficult to wrap up. He had no choice but to emerge and clean up the mess.

Just then, Jiang Wenbin hurried back from outside. The sight of Jiang Zhengming startled him as soon as he walked in.

"Dad! What happened to you?!"

Jiang Wenbin was dressed like a sleazy delinquent, as though he had just come from some nightclub. Several lipstick marks remained on his shirt, and his expression betrayed his irritation at being summoned home so abruptly.

Despite calling out, he didn't dare step closer.

Watching the mother and son, Jiang Ze sneered inwardly. Jiang Zhengming was still lying on the floor, and neither of them had even tried to help him up.

He strolled forward, putting on a frightened expression.

"Wenbin... why are you back again...?"

With terror in his eyes, Jiang Ze glanced at the impatient Jiang Wenbin, then at Gu Rou, who had just come downstairs. The corners of his mouth curved imperceptibly.

"Wenbin, don't hit Dad again! You nearly beat him to death just now!"

As he cried out, Jiang Ze slowly retreated behind a sofa, keeping some distance between himself and the other two. His voice was choked with sobs.

Gu Rou frowned at her unreliable son when she heard that.

"Were you here earlier?"

Jiang Wenbin looked equally bewildered. He stared at Jiang Ze in disgust. "What the fuck are you talking about? I only just got back!"

"Jiang Ze, did you see who beat your father? Someone came in and attacked him, and you couldn't even come out and take the blows for him?!"

Gu Rou also looked at Jiang Ze with disgust, then glanced at Jiang Zhengming, whose face had been beaten into a swollen mess. Worried something might really happen to him, she urged Jiang Wenbin to call an ambulance first.

Jiang Ze rolled his eyes inwardly.

Seriously? Getting beaten by you every day isn't enough? I'm supposed to take beatings from other people for you too?

This family really took shamelessness to a whole new level.

Despite his inward complaints, he still had to keep up the act. Jiang Zhengming had personally seen Jiang Wenbin's face earlier. No matter how suspicious he became, he would never suspect Jiang Ze.

"B-but it really was Wenbin who hit Dad..."

Jiang Ze glanced fearfully at Jiang Wenbin, as though he had only managed to speak after mustering all his courage.

Jiang Wenbin swung a fist at him. "What the fuck are you saying, you useless piece of shit? I told you I just got back!"

Gu Rou glanced at her son without stopping him. She didn't believe Jiang Ze either.

She had checked the house earlier and found no signs of anyone rummaging through it. With Jiang Ze home, it couldn't have been a burglar. But she absolutely refused to believe that her own son had beaten Jiang Zhengming.

Just as Jiang Wenbin's fist was about to land on Jiang Ze, Jiang Zhengming, who had been sprawled on the floor like a dead dog, suddenly began coughing, drawing all three pairs of eyes.

Jiang Ze quietly lowered the foot he had begun to raise. The old bastard had picked quite a time to wake up.

"Cough, cough..."

Seeing him regain consciousness, Gu Rou immediately rushed over. Two streams of tears appeared on her face as if by magic.

"Zhengming, you finally woke up... sob... what happened to you...?"

Wow. What a waste of acting talent. She should be in show business.

One look at her performance told Jiang Ze she had plenty of practice. This was probably how she had bewitched the old bastard into abandoning his wife and child.

Jiang Zhengming opened his eyes and stiffened at the sight of Jiang Wenbin standing nearby. He pointed a trembling finger at him and gritted out, "You... you ungrateful son!"

Jiang Wenbin had intended to show his face and express a little concern for his father. Instead, he was being cursed at before he had even said anything. He was completely baffled.

He didn't take it seriously, though. He assumed the beating had addled Jiang Zhengming's brain and made him mistake him for that useless Jiang Ze.

After all, beating and cursing Jiang Ze was an everyday occurrence.

Seeing Jiang Zhengming so angry that he struggled to breathe moments after waking, Gu Rou hurried to rub his back. "Zhengming, have you mistaken him for someone else? This is our son, Wenbin!"

Jiang Zhengming's breathing eased a little, but her words only enraged him further. With her support, he shakily made his way to the sofa and unleashed a torrent of abuse at Jiang Wenbin. Eventually, he even grabbed something beside him and hurled it at him.

Gu Rou cried out and tried to intervene, while Jiang Wenbin kept backing away and begging for mercy.

Jiang Ze happily watched the show for a while, then slipped silently out the back door while they were caught up in the chaos.

That little drama would keep the family busy all night.

He wandered aimlessly along the streets until the night's chill had seeped into him, then stopped at a twenty-four-hour convenience store to buy a cup of milk tea.

"Host, host, why are you wandering around outside instead of finding somewhere to stay?"

After watching him stroll around for nearly an hour, the system couldn't help feeling puzzled.

Jiang Ze scoffed. "What do you know? This is preparation for playing the devoted admirer!"

He cleared his throat, then leisurely took out his phone and dialed a number.

The phone rang more than a dozen times before someone answered.

"Hello?"

A familiar, deep male voice came from the other end. It was Meng Zhiyuan, the powerful villain he had parted ways with not long ago.

"Uncle Zhiyuan, my dad kicked me out, and I have nowhere to go. Could you take me in for the night...?"

The young man sounded aggrieved, his voice so soft and tender that it tugged at the heart.

Meng Zhiyuan remained silent for a long while. Just as Jiang Ze thought he wouldn't agree, that deep, resonant voice finally sounded again.

"Where are you now?"

In an excellent mood, Jiang Ze gave him the convenience store's name. Still wearing the clothes the man had given him, he sat outside the store and waited to be picked up.

"My host is truly brilliant! It hasn't even been a day, and you've already found two chances to get close to the target!"

Deeply impressed by his audacious maneuvers, the system showered him with extravagant praise.

Before long, a black Bentley appeared outside the convenience store. Its window slowly lowered, and a pair of deep, cold eyes fixed directly on the slender young man by the entrance.

Meng Zhiyuan saw him huddled on the steps, still wearing the clothes he had given him, looking pitiful as he drank his milk tea.

He frowned and said in a low voice, "Get in."

Jiang Ze's eyes lit up at his arrival. He quickly brushed the dirt from his backside, tossed his empty milk tea cup into the trash, and jogged over to get into the car.

He settled into the passenger seat without hesitation and quietly fastened his seat belt.

Seemingly a little frightened, he gave the man a shy glance and murmured, "Uncle Zhiyuan, thank you for coming..."

The man gave a cool hum of acknowledgment. Without so much as looking at him, he started the car and drove off.

Jiang Ze didn't mind. He shifted into a comfortable position.

Oh my god, he got here so fast. I was freezing to death.

Autumn had only just begun, and the weather was gradually turning cold, with the occasional chilly gust. Wearing nothing but the shirt Meng Zhiyuan had given him, Jiang Ze had been freezing for quite a while.

He had barely finished that thought when something dark landed on his head.

"Oof!"

He grunted at the impact and instinctively reached for whatever was covering his head, only to discover that it was the jacket of the man beside him.

The man continued driving silently.

Feeling the lingering warmth in the jacket, Jiang Ze contentedly draped it over his still-chilled body.

Sure enough, he's cold on the outside but warm on the inside. This jacket is so cozy. Best of all, it smells like him!

The car abruptly braked just as he finished that thought. Jiang Ze turned his head in confusion, but seeing the same expressionless look on the man's face, he paid it no mind and continued his inward commentary.

I wonder how those lunatics at home are doing. Too bad I didn't install a camera. I could've enjoyed watching those dogs tear into each other. What a shame.

As he drove, Meng Zhiyuan quietly observed the young man beside him.

Seeing him grow drowsy beneath his jacket, muttering something under his breath, his expression softened.

He had already had someone investigate the Jiang family. Jiang Ze's situation at home was abysmal. The couple didn't treat him as their son at all, only as the family's punching bag. Beatings and verbal abuse were commonplace.

That was why he hadn't questioned Jiang Ze's explanation. And because there was something different about Jiang Ze, he had agreed to come.

Judging by his inner thoughts, however, what had happened earlier probably wasn't quite what Meng Zhiyuan had imagined. It seemed the little fellow hadn't come out on the losing end either.

Meng Zhiyuan hadn't even realized that, in the space of a single day, he had already begun looking out for Jiang Ze.

Before long, they arrived at the Meng family villa. As the car pulled into the parking area, Jiang Ze woke up. Naturally, it was the system that had woken him.

"Mm... we're here?"

Meng Zhiyuan glanced at him. "Get out."

"Oh..."

Jiang Ze got out groggily and followed Meng Zhiyuan, still making sure to look around at his surroundings.