Grumpy Esports God Becomes a Wealthy Family’s Stepmom - Chapter 9

Zhong Lu clutched his headphones tightly. His eyes were large, brows slightly furrowed, and those gentle, peach-blossom eyes held a shimmer that made their curve even more alluring.

It’s way too tempting to discipline.

A spark flared in Huo Zhehan’s palm, sudden and hot.

His sharp, calculating mind quickly filed this reaction under irritation—the same kind he would feel when he saw Huo Yu bobbing his head in noise-cancelling headphones, gaming while ignoring three dinner calls from Grandma. That kind of “itchy hands, want to beat the brat” feeling.

Usually, if he wanted to, he did. Before dragging Huo Yu into this villa to straighten him out, he would dish out more than a few beatings back at the family estate but here, he hadn’t laid a hand on him. One, because he was busy amd he’d hired an “educator.” Two, with Grandma out of the picture, Huo Yu would be all stick and no carrot. That would ruin their bond.

Zhong Lu, alert, noticed Huo Zhehan clench his fist. He instinctively took half a step back and braced himself, ready to retaliate.

This bastard… doesn’t hit his wife too, right?

Zhong Lu thought back to how the first thing Huo Zhehan said when he got home was “Where did you go?”. That, combined with his overbearing aura, made Zhong Lu wonder if the man was a full-on control freak.

So what if he was? Zhong Lu had never been afraid of a fight.

Orphaned at three, raised by his grandfather, always wearing dirty clothes and torn shoes—he had been bullied plenty, and fought back just as often. Before he started gaming at internet cafes, he fought on the streets. Even at the café, if he wanted a smooth-running machine, he had to fight for it.

So while he kept his eyes locked on Huo Zhehan’s hands and feet, in a lapse of concentration, his headphones were suddenly yanked off.

From a man with no weaknesses, he became one with a glaring, sensitive spot.

Huo Zhehan held the headphones in both hands and repeated, “Pick me up after work tomorrow.”

Then, perhaps annoyed by how much Zhong Lu was asking for it, he added without permission, “Make me a lunchbox too. I’ll bring it to the office.”

He was heading out on a business trip the day after tomorrow. These two requests were for show—mainly to keep Huo Yu from getting suspicious and ratting to Grandma. Huo Zhehan didn’t want to be dealing with family drama while working overseas.

Zhong Lu retreated another half-step, back against the wall, trying to widen the distance. His ears were faintly red, and even his glare lacked bite.

Seriously? Huo Zhehan had just made him agree to two things Abandon would never do.

Zhong Lu remembered an old interview. The host had asked if he would ever pick up a girlfriend after work.

He has no idea why they always imagined him in a relationship. Later, Zhuo Yin had hit the nail on the head, “Your face is always so cold. Fans want a fantasy where you spoil one girl only.”

Zhong Lu had replied, “I get off at 2 a.m. How would I pick anyone up?”

Host: That’s… very straight of you.

Then the host asked, “Pro players eat so irregularly. Have you ever wanted a girlfriend who would bring you lunch?”

Zhong Lu answered, “The team base has three essentials: Auntie, takeout, and instant noodles.”

The fans lost all fantasy material, but at least they were reassured—this guy was a lonely god, and that was comforting.

Yet now this nonsense was falling on his shoulders? Zhong Lu was too stunned to say no—and missed his window. Besides, Huo Zhehan’s tone brooked no refusal, and he looked ready to whisper something directly into his ear again, so Zhong Lu froze.

After giving the orders, Huo Zhehan glanced down at the stunned “educator” and said softly, “Good night.”

Then turned and walked straight to the study.

Huo Yu never came upstairs. He was only thirteen—simple-minded, all brawn no brain, with his whole heart tied to gaming.

Zhong Lu grumpily rubbed his ear. Since Huo Zhehan had gone to the study on his own, fine, he would let it go.

When the warmth in his ears finally faded, he realized Huo Zhehan had taken his headphones.

He punched the wall.

Relax. Technically, it was marital property. Let it go.

What, was he gonna storm in there and demand them back? Fuck.

Zhong Lu picked up his cup from the dispenser, downed one glass of cold water, then another, slammed the cup back down, and stomped away.

Back in the bedroom, he lay on the bed and opened the replay for this year’s Worlds matches. After watching a bit, he paused and called Ye Xianyun.

“Are you cooking breakfast tomorrow?”

“Yeah,” Ye Xianyun said. “Are you coming over? But don’t you sleep till eleven?”

Zhong Lu muttered, “Huo Zhehan wants breakfast. I don’t feel like making it.”

The truth was—he couldn’t cook.

Ordering takeout would definitely get noticed because the taste was nothing like homemade food.

Ye Xianyun chuckled. “Then I’ll make an extra.”

“Is it too much trouble?”

“Not at all. I was already planning to make some for Lu Ziming.”

Since Zhong Lu was streaming at his place, Ye Xianyun had banned Lu Ziming from showing up at night.

Lu Ziming thought they were having a crisis and negotiated it down to breakfast together then used an upcoming trip as an excuse to sweet-talk his way into a lunchbox too.

“Thanks. I’ll send a delivery guy to pick it up tomorrow.”

He had wanted to go himself, but 6 a.m. was too early. No chance.

The next morning, before Lu Ziming arrived, Ye Xianyun handed the lunchbox to the runner. As the guy was heading downstairs, Lu Ziming came up and asked, “Are you ordering errands this early?”

“Ran out of eggs,” Ye Xianyun said casually.

Lu Ziming didn’t suspect anything. He handed over a bouquet of fresh lilies, still dewy. “Do you like them?”

Ye Xianyun smiled. “I do.”

Lu Ziming kissed the corner of his mouth. “Is breakfast ready? Let’s make it together.”

…

Zhong Lu set five alarms, dragged himself out of bed, messed up the kitchen just a bit, and bolted to the gate to grab the lunchbox.

He set it on the dining table, restrained the urge to lace it with rat poison, and went upstairs to catch more sleep.

When Huo Zhehan came down, as usual, the house was silent, and there was no breakfast.

Except… There was a bento box on the table but the kitchen had signs of cooking.

He lifted the surprisingly hefty lunchbox, and, for some reason, nearly laughed.

He knew that with Huo Yu’s sleep schedule, there was no way the kid would even see it—but he had still made Zhong Lu do it.

Why? Just because he wanted to mess with him.

At the office, the day’s chaos began. After a round of documents, Huo Zhehan said to his assistant, “Look into the cost of enrolling in a youth training camp. Send Zhong Lu three times the fee.”

“Understood.”

Near noon, the assistant knocked again. “Director Huo Jinyuan invited you to lunch.”

Huo Jinyuan was Huo Zhehan’s third uncle. When Grandpa Huo passed, the company was split among three sons. Huo Zhehan’s father, Huo Jinyan, got the lion’s share of the medical division while the other two inherited other industries.

The uncles initially chased hot markets like real estate and quick profits, only to hit a wall. In recent years, seeing the success of healthcare, they returned to HQ as board members and started meddling in major decisions.

Huo Zhehan had already swatted their hands away once. Since then, they’ve behaved.

“Not going,” he said.

The new assistant looked nervous. Everyone knew Huo Jinyuan was hard to deal with.

“Forget it,” Huo Zhehan said. “You can go.”

He glanced at the forgotten lunchbox and grabbed it on his way out—only to find Huo Jinyuan sitting like royalty in the lounge.

The old man clearly wanted to take advantage of his absence during the North American expansion and force his way into management.

Not interested. Turn it down.

Keeping up appearances, Huo Zhehan said, “Ah, what a shame. My wife made me lunch today. Excuse me.”

Jaws clenched, cigar bitten, Huo Jinyuan glared at the bento as he let out a cold laugh.

In the break room—

Lu Ziming had just pulled his lunch out of the microwave when Huo Zhehan walked in. Still sore from the last “open-book” humiliation, he tried to recover casually.

“You had lunch, sir? I’m not going to the cafeteria—Ah Yun packed mine today.”

Huo Zhehan walked over and put his own lunch in the microwave. “Mm.”

Lu Ziming was puzzled. Since when did he bring lunch?

“I’ve heard Mr. Zhong’s a great cook.”

Ding—microwave done.

Huo Zhehan took it out and glanced at the neatly arranged food. “Pretty good.”

He went to another tea table, keeping a few meters between them—a habit. No business talk at lunch.

Lu Ziming agreed. Who wants to eat a lovingly packed lunch across from their ice-cold boss?

As he sat, he thought smugly—after he microwaved his seafood sausage rice, the whole room had filled with that delicious smell. Huo Zhehan’s food hadn’t given off a whiff.

That means Ah Yun’s cooking smells better! Totally overshadowed the boss’s lunch!

If either man had looked at the other’s food box, they’d have realized—

Your wife… and my wife… cook the same damn thing?

Buzz buzz buzz—

Lu Ziming’s phone rang. He answered, then looked at Huo Zhehan with regret. “Something came up. I have to head out on my trip early.”

…

Zhong Lu woke up to find a big cash transfer and confirmed that Huo Yu was booked for training camp. His whole mood lifted.

Then he received the first WeChat message ever from Huo Zhehan.

[Huo Zhehan: Leaving on the trip early. Don’t need a ride from work.]

More good news!

He found Huo Yu. “Your dad and I talked. Since you like gaming, how about trying a training camp?”

Huo Yu shot to his feet, stunned.

Zhong Lu hated talking while looking up. “Sit.”

Huo Yu sat back down, prim and proper. “Seriously?!”

“I’ve already signed you up.”

In summer, training camps popped up everywhere—some legit, some disguised as summer programs or even boot camps for internet addiction. He had picked a big, reputable base that did all of the above. Real training, full lodging, other game types, and if you sucked—parent money still flowed.

Huo Yu was thrilled. On his own, all he could do was game aimlessly and he didn’t even dare mention esports, thinking Huo Zhehan would see it as a fast track to ruin.

His dad was actually supporting him?

Zhong Lu warned, “Don’t get ahead of yourself.”

“I’m only thirteen,” Huo Yu beamed. “With proper training, I could be as good as Abandon by nineteen!”

Zhong Lu: “……”

No, kid. I was already amazing at thirteen.

Huo Yu caught his deadpan look. “Abandon’s teammates said I have potential!”

Zhong Lu’s eyes sharpened. “Oh? Who?”

Who the hell had eyes that bad?

Huo Yu pulled up Abandon’s account history. “They all invited me.”

When an account is sold, old chats and friends are wiped. So the ones that remained had been added afterward.

Zhong Lu looked. First was Zhuo Yin.

[Zhuo Yin: You there? I think you’ve got potential. Let me carry you.]

[Xiao Xi: Team-up invite received.]

Then Xiao Xi.

[Zong Zhenghui: Zhuo Yin told me to play with you more. I’ll keep you safe.]

Then Zong Zhenghui.

Three messages in and Zhong Lu pieced it together.

They had found out the account was sold and saw Huo Yu getting trashed and flamed in-game so they had stepped in—either to guide him or to make sure only the four of them queued with him. 

To keep Abandon from dropping to Bronze. To stop streamers from farming him. To preserve his name.

Huo Yu had declined.

“I felt like they saw me as Abandon’s replacement.”

At thirteen, he had pride. He didn’t want to be just a ghost puppet for someone else even if he admired him.

As a rich kid, he wasn’t the type to get starstruck just because pros noticed him.

Zhong Lu: Thanks, you read too much into it.

“Go pack. We’re leaving tomorrow.”

“Yes, sir!” Huo Yu was fired up.

Zhong Lu felt like a proud parent sending their kid off to preschool. 

With the kid and dad both gone, he could stream and train freely at home.

Of course, as per Huo Zhehan’s condition, he would check in on Huo Yu once a day.

That night, Huo Yu slept early. Zhong Lu trained on his computer and got a call from Huo Zhehan.

He put the phone on speaker at a safe distance.

“How’s everything at home?”

“All good.”

One line each. That was it. The educator wasn’t big on detailed updates.

Huo Zhehan, on the other end of a morning window abroad, said nothing more.

Zhong Lu hesitated. Trying to remember what the original him might say. Ask about the weather? No clue.

Then it hit him that once this trip was over, he had to bring up the divorce so he tested the waters. “I don’t think I’m suited to be Huo Yu’s stepdad. We’ve got a huge generation gap. If Abandon were here, he would probably behave better.”

Softly planting a seed for separation.

He didn’t mind using himself as the bait.

Huo Zhehan, stunned by the sudden “acting cute” tone and didn’t know what to say. “You want Abandon to be Huo Yu’s stepdad?”

Zhong Lu: ……

That’s not what I meant!