The 57th Sigh

It was early summer. The ground wasn't very warm, but the sunlight stung.

After eating, Yan Ningke went back to his room to put his belongings away.

Despite the range hood, the cooking smells had still clung to him.

He took a shower, pulled on an old man's undershirt and black shorts, then lay on the bed for a short nap.

The enormous villa supposedly needed someone to clean it, but high-tech devices were everywhere, and a cleaning service came regularly to give it a thorough cleaning.

Yan Ningke's actual job was feeding.

Keeping the archvillain and the silly dog fed.

And himself, of course.

Carefree as he was, Yan Ningke didn't dwell on things. Lying on the bed, he grew drowsy.

In the upstairs study, Shao Ke was in an international video conference.

Si Yanzhuo called.

"A-Ke, someone posted a video of your little housekeeper."

Shao Ke signaled for the meeting to pause and opened the file Si Yanzhuo had sent.

In the video, "Yan Ningke" was humbly begging someone for mercy. Whatever the other person said left "Yan Ningke's" face full of humiliation.

Amid the laughter, he slowly sank to his knees, his face deathly pale.

"Please spare me, Second Young Master Ren. From now on, I'll do whatever you say."

"Yan Ningke" kept repeating those words numbly.

It seemed he had said them hundreds of times.

The video was noisy, with insults breaking through now and then.

Shao Ke stared at his phone, his gaze dark.

At the end of the video, a hand holding a wineglass slowly poured its contents over "Yan Ningke's" head.

"He" squeezed his eyes shut, his fists clenched tight.

"A-Ke, this video's already spread through the younger generation's circles. A lot of people have seen it!"

All flippancy had vanished from Si Yanzhuo's tone as he gravely laid out the situation.

The study was chillingly cold. There wasn't a trace of warmth in Shao Ke's eyes, and his voice carried a bone-piercing chill.

"Destroy the video and set up banned keywords. Plant a virus in the phone of anyone who mentions Yan Ningke."

Shao Ke's expression was icy. "Also, have Shao Yu help trace the source."

Si Yanzhuo had already begun taking action. At this, he asked, "And once we find them?"

"Grab them. Let Shao Yu have some fun."

Si Yanzhuo gave a muffled chuckle. "Shao Yu should be delighted. What about the people in the video?"

Shao Ke said nothing.

A sudden clamor came from the yard.

He rose and walked to the window, concealing himself behind the curtain as his gaze settled on the person playing with Lars.

"Deal with them too."

On the other end of the line, Si Yanzhuo paused for several seconds. "A-Ke?"

Was all this really necessary for a housekeeper?

Shao Ke drew his thoughts back and returned to his wheelchair. "I'll handle the Ren Family myself."

Looking at the disconnected call, Si Yanzhuo clicked his tongue in wonder.

A butterfly was about to stir up a tornado in high society.

Some people still had no idea.

Yuan Qirui lay on a luxurious bed, scrolling through dozens of group chats on his phone, unable to suppress his venomous smile.

"Yan Ningke, my money isn't that easy to take!"

He had lost face in front of everyone last night, and the more he thought about it in the middle of the night, the angrier he became.

By going this far, Yan Ningke had made it clear that he was burning bridges.

If he wouldn't let Yuan Qirui have any peace, he wouldn't get any either.

Yuan Qirui first transferred the money, then forwarded the video saved on his phone to dozens of group chats with over a hundred members each.

Those groups brought together all the young people in Jing City. Whether they knew him or not, almost all of them immediately saw "Yan Ningke's" disgrace.

Calling it a trending topic wouldn't have been an exaggeration.

Watching the mockery and humiliation that hadn't stopped since yesterday, Yuan Qirui smiled in satisfaction and prepared to open the video for another look at the spectacle.

As though that could wash away last night's humiliation.

But the moment he opened the video, the screen flickered a few times, then went black.

He abruptly sat up, frowning as he repeatedly pressed the power button. "What the hell!"

No matter how many times he pressed it, the phone wouldn't respond.

The idiot still hadn't realized how serious the situation was.

At the same time, the phones of almost everyone watching the video or mentioning Yan Ningke's name went black in unison.

Getting them to turn on again was all but impossible.

Some refused to believe it and thought their phones had broken. They switched to new ones to continue the conversation, but without exception, those screens went black too.

That caused an uproar.

Some, just as brainless as Yuan Qirui, went to their phone brands' official websites to complain and ask whether the internal systems had crashed.

Others thought they'd encountered something supernatural and posted about it online for attention.

Only a small minority sensed something wrong and quietly shut their mouths, playing dead.

At Jing City University, Yan Zhen had finished playing basketball and was about to return to his dorm when a classmate he'd been playing with suddenly grabbed him.

"Holy shit, there's something good! Come look!"

Boys weren't immune to gossip either. A group gathered around, but Yan Zhen wasn't interested. He was still thinking about whether his impressive shot earlier had caught any girls' attention.

"Yan Ningke, have you got no shame?"

"Kneel and kowtow to me, and I'll let you off!"

Catching a name amid the noise in the video, Yan Zhen whipped his head around.

"Hey, Yan Zhen, this guy even has the same surname as you."

Yan Zhen's face turned livid, and he reacted fiercely, shouting, "No, I don't know him! He's got nothing to do with me!"

His classmates looked up at him in confusion.

Yan Zhen took a deep breath and left them with, "I've got something to do. I'm leaving."

They exchanged looks as they watched him run off. "If he doesn't know him, he doesn't know him. Why get so worked up?"

Running back to the locker room, Yan Zhen quickly opened his locker and took out his phone. He opened WeChat to find over ninety-nine messages.

Some tagged him in groups; others asked him in private messages.

Apart from his parents, who didn't know, almost everyone his age knew.

Gritting his teeth in resentment, Yan Zhen found the video in the group and opened it.

Strangely, his first reaction after watching it was regret.

If only I'd been there.

Then I could have seen for myself just how ugly and lowly "he" was.

The next second, anger at being dragged into this surged through him.

A friend called, and he immediately hung up.

He didn't need to think to know what they wanted to ask.

Yan Zhen switched to the call screen, found the contact, and dialed.

Unexpectedly, no one answered.

Several calls in a row went unanswered, while his friend kept calling whenever there was an opening. Furious, Yan Zhen smashed his phone.

"Yan Ningke! You'd better not let me catch you!"

Yan Ningke still knew nothing. His phone was charging in his room.

Right now, he was bathing the dog.

He had originally been watering the flowers, but Lars insisted on ducking under the hose and got mud splattered all over himself.

Speechless, Yan Ningke kicked him in the rump, then dutifully found the dog's grooming supplies, dragged over a small stool, and sat in the yard, scrubbing the dog in the sunshine.

Lars was trained and didn't resist bathing at all. He lay comfortably on the ground, enjoying his poop scooper's massage.

It was his old line of work. Yan Ningke knew a little of everything.

Except how to spend money.

"Feel good?"

Lars narrowed his eyes. "Woof~"

Yan Ningke rubbed his paws, his tone full of regret. "You really know how to enjoy yourself!"

Unlike your owner, who doesn't even appreciate such professional service.

On his third day inside the novel, Yan Ningke sighed for the fifty-seventh time over not having touched the archvillain's enticing body with his own hands.