A Little Trick, the Scumbag Dad Can’t Hold the Knife After Understanding Love

"Uncle Lu, hello. My name is Ji Nian."

"I'm not lying to you. I truly am from the Ji Family."

"And what I said earlier—about having a way to help your son—is also true."

Ji Nian met Lu Zhi's scrutinizing gaze without flinching, her eyes burning with determination, her voice unwavering.

This was the kind of confidence that couldn't be faked. Over the years, Lu Zhi had spent a fortune keeping experts around, yet not one of them had the unshakable conviction this young girl now displayed.

And she was so very young.

"Words alone mean nothing. What exactly do you mean by 'help'?"

His gaze lingered on Ji Nian's distinctive emerald-green eyes, pausing briefly.

Yet he didn't ask about her connection to Ji Tingzhou.

Ji Nian: "I need to see Lu… Young Master's condition with my own eyes before I can give a concrete answer."

Of course, such a vague response wasn't enough.

A stranger suddenly appearing, not only aware of their family's secrets but boldly claiming she could change things—

If Ji Nian were in Lu Zhi's place, she'd have lost patience after a few sentences.

Still, she was grateful she'd arrived at seventeen rather than seven. A child's body would never have been convincing.

She prepared to sweeten the deal, planning to ask Lu Zhi for a laboratory to demonstrate her abilities.

But before she could, the man in front of her nodded. "Fine."

Her carefully prepared arguments went unused, leaving Ji Nian momentarily speechless.

Though she couldn't fathom why Lu Zhi had agreed so easily, she didn't press further. Instead, she nodded. "I won't betray your trust in me."

Lu Zhi smiled for the first time that day.

"Trust is too strong a word."

It was simply confidence in his own power.

If Ji Nian truly harbored ill intentions, he had a hundred ways to deal with her.

And besides…

Perhaps it was because she bore such a striking resemblance to someone he once knew, but Lu Zhi found her presence oddly familiar. He couldn't bring himself to distrust her entirely.

Ah, well…

She seemed around the same age as A-Huai. Even if her claims were just youthful exaggeration, she could at least keep his son company.

The thought of his boy darkened his eyes with sorrow.

As he led Ji Nian out, Lu Zhi glanced at her.

"You didn't come here without a reason."

"Is there something you want?"

His tone carried the indulgent air of an elder, as if he'd gladly grant her any trivial request.

It reminded Ji Nian of the Uncle Lu she'd once known.

"A type of ore."

She described its characteristics.

Lu Zhi listened, his expression calm as he nodded in acknowledgment.

But inwardly, he was stunned.

The ore she mentioned had been discovered years ago in the Lu Family's mining zone. Yet no one had ever deciphered its purpose, and over time, it had faded into obscurity.

This wasn't public knowledge—not even reported in the news. It was an internal family matter.

How did a girl from China know about it?

A girl shrouded in mystery, bearing the likeness of someone from his past.

That was Lu Zhi's first impression of her.

...

Following the original novel's plot as recounted by her system, Ji Nian had expected to see Lu Jinghuai in a sterile hospital room.

She'd braced herself for it.

Yet Lu Zhi led her to the garden instead.

The sky was a clear blue, scattered with wispy clouds. Amid a sea of flowers whose names Ji Nian didn't know, she glimpsed a figure at the center.

If it could even be called a figure.

A bed stood there, surrounded by a ring of high-tech equipment that clashed with the natural beauty of the blossoms. On it lay a small, frail form.

Just as Ji Nian had seen in childhood, the body was wrapped tightly like a mummy—no, even more grotesquely—utterly motionless.

She knew this was only the surface. If unwrapped, the ruined flesh beneath would be far worse than she remembered from Lu Jinghuai's younger years.

He might have been gazing at the sky. Or perhaps breathing in the scent of flowers. Trapped in a deformed body, his soul shattered by years of unrelenting pain.

Lu Zhi spoke quietly.

"His body is rotting. The wrappings are the latest antibacterial material, designed to slow the decay. Most of his organs have been replaced with lab-grown replicas, but the moment they're implanted, they begin to deteriorate."

For over a decade, Lu Jinghuai had existed like the dead—his body breathing, but little more than an empty shell.

He couldn't speak. Never responded to the outside world. If not for the faint rise and fall of his chest, he'd resemble nothing more than a vaguely human-shaped mass of flesh.

Objectively, his condition was better than she'd feared. The Lu Family had clearly spared no expense, pouring their wealth and resources into sustaining his life.

Yet hearing this, Ji Nian's heart twisted with agony.

She couldn't fathom how Lu Jinghuai had endured this for so many years.

Just the sight of him from afar sent tears spilling down her cheeks without warning.

In this world, she'd cried more than in her entire past life combined.

Lu Zhi had meant to ask for her thoughts. But when he turned and saw her face, the words died in his throat.

The ​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​‍raw anguish trembling on her lips—as if she, too, had suffered the same torment—was too genuine to fake.

Had he not known better, Lu Zhi might have believed this girl had known his son for years, bound to him by something profound.

"I…"

She steadied her breath before speaking again. "I need to get closer to examine him."

With her tear-streaked face, Lu Zhi couldn't refuse.

Ji Nian stepped forward, slowly approaching the boy who, just days ago, had called her, confessing his feelings with such insistence.

The figure on the bed gave no reaction to her presence.

Up close, her tears fell harder.

Even Lu Jinghuai himself might not recognize the tightly swaddled, barely-breathing 'person' before her as his own body.

A servant arrived then, urgently summoning Lu Zhi.

After a glance at Ji Nian, still transfixed by his son, Lu Zhi walked away, signaling the hidden guards to keep watch.

Ji Nian knelt beside the bed. Gently, she touched the place where Lu Jinghuai's hand should be.

"...A-Huai," she whispered.

There was no response.

Drawing a shaky breath, her red-rimmed eyes fixed on the figure before her. She knew he could hear her.

Leaning down, she spoke—to him, or perhaps to herself:

"I'll help you."

I'll help all of you.