Keep it as it is

After uploading the photos, Yan Ningke first deleted some outdated posts the original owner of his body had made.

Only after confirming that nothing inappropriate remained did he tap into the still-trending topic.

As it happened, someone nearby had filmed him chatting with those two girls yesterday.

The earlier conversation was hard to make out, but everything after "Head home early" was perfectly clear.

The video ended on the moment he smiled and said thank you.

The person had only filmed it to document everyday life, never expecting to come across Yan Ningke while scrolling through Weibo that afternoon.

After comparing their outfits and realizing they were the same person, he posted his video and even went into the comments to sing his praises.

Yan Ningke gave Green Tangerine Entertainment a like, put away his phone, and started playing with Lars.

Another new topic appeared online.

[Yan Ningke study materials]

Those who understood and those who didn't all flooded in.

Under Yan Ningke's latest Weibo post, the top comment was actually an image comment.

[Deleted it. I've learned my lesson. Please spare me / crying on my knees]

Three groups had emerged online: some coveted his good looks, some were touched by his actions, and the rest had come to watch the show.

They wanted to know whether Study Materials Guy would have any further developments.

Meanwhile, from morning until three that afternoon, Yan Ningke gained over a hundred thousand followers in less than a day.

They all seemed to be fairly active, enthusiastic users.

Yu Ping had spent the whole day busy with who knew what, and only learned that Yan Ningke had broken out beyond his usual audience when his assistant came to him shrieking like a groundhog.

The screaming never stopped; it merely moved from one person to another!

Only after asking three times and getting the same answer each time did Yu Ping fully believe that Yan Ningke had gone viral!

His staggering windfall was coming!

Unfortunately for him, he still had no idea that the company was about to undergo a massive personnel shake-up. Whether it would bring riches or hell hung on a single thought.

Oblivious to everything outside, Yan Ningke focused solely on fretting over the formal suit.

He had just searched online for the same style. Fifty-eight thousand!

Knowing the company's usual ways, he strongly suspected they had bought a high-quality knockoff.

But after a meticulous comparison, the diagnosis was in: it was real. Absolutely genuine!

Yan Ningke tapped his chin, unable to suppress an idea that kept stirring.

In Country D, at the negotiating table.

The two sides were locked in a fierce tug-of-war, and the negotiations were nearing their end.

The phone on the table buzzed twice.

Everyone looked over, their voices naturally dropping.

Shao Ke casually opened it.

The photo showed a black velvet formal suit, its jacket hem creased. A closer look revealed a few stains.

[Got it dirty / cold.jpg]

A soft chuckle escaped the man's lips, and his surroundings immediately fell silent.

Back on his end, Yan Ningke shoved his phone beneath his pillow after sending the message, forcibly burying his head in the sand.

He hoped for a reply, yet also hoped Shao Ke hadn't seen it!

The room was frighteningly quiet, and his pounding heartbeat gradually steadied.

Yan Ningke reached for his phone and had only just pulled it out.

[Alipay: 100,000 yuan received]

Yan Ningke's eyes went round.

[I'll buy it. Don't wash it. Keep it as it is.]

Yan Ningke's eyes were full of pure innocence. [Why?]

The corners of Shao Ke's mouth lifted involuntarily. His fingertips lightly typed a line, and he tapped send before putting his phone away.

The overseas business partner sitting opposite him asked curiously, "Shao, whose message has made you look so happy?"

An image flashed through his mind of the young man holding his back straight, calling him "Gege" through soft sobs.

Shao Ke smiled. "The little one at home."

[Keep it as it is, as a memento.]

Yan Ningke's face instantly flushed scarlet, the heat spreading all the way to the roots of his ears.

He was just about to send a reaction meme when a call from an unfamiliar number came in. Not paying attention, he accidentally tapped answer.

"You little bastard, so you do know how to answer the phone! You left your younger brother in that state, and you think hiding will make everything fine? Believe me, I'll skin you alive!"

Without even thinking, Yan Ningke retorted, "If I'm a little bastard, doesn't that make you an old bastard?"

Yan Zhipeng sounded incredulous. "What did you say!?"

"You're not even old yet, and you're already deaf."

Yan Ningke's little mouth was as venomous as poison, with an answer for everything.

The man on the other end seemed furious. After several heavy breaths, he shouted harshly, "Get your ass back here tomorrow!"

Yan Ningke scoffed, said he wasn't coming back, and was about to hang up.

"If you dare stay away, believe me, I'll throw out everything in your room!"

His finger paused before ending the call.

Yan Ningke pressed his tongue against the roots of his teeth. A few seconds later, he said, "Fine. I'll come back."

Yan Zhipeng gave a smug little snort. "You little brat, as if I couldn't keep you in line. Tomorrow, you'd better behave and-"

Not wanting to hear any more, Yan Ningke ended the call.

He didn't have the housekeeper come over for dinner. He simply boiled some dumplings himself, walked the dog as usual, then came home and showered. The moment he hit the bed, he fell asleep.

At half past four in the morning, a faint light began to show in the sky.

Yan Ningke's eyes flew open, his body drenched in cold sweat.

He sat up and went straight into the bathroom, turned on the cold tap, and splashed his face. The icy sensation instantly cleared his mind.

After coming out, he didn't return to bed. He sat cross-legged on the windowsill, gazing at the distant horizon.

The original owner had been abducted and sold at three years old. At first, all he knew was to cry. Annoyed by his crying, that family threw him into the pigpen to live with the pigs, sleep in the pigpen, and eat pig feed.

Half a year later, amid beatings and scoldings, he began learning to do chores: tending the fire, heating water, feeding the pigs, pulling weeds in the fields, bringing in the autumn harvest, washing clothes, and all sorts of other odd jobs.

Little Yan Ningke was only three and a half. Before being abducted and sold, he had been his family's precious baby. How could he know how to do any of that? He was always making all kinds of mistakes.

And so, vicious beatings and abuse followed one after another.

Did you know what it felt like to be beaten until you shit yourself?

Once, two heavy kicks struck him, and he lost control of his bowels.

Seeing the filthy mess he had made, the person grew even angrier and punched and kicked him, then threw him into a stream in the dead of winter.

His tiny figure stood in the water, clinging to the bank and crying for a very, very long time, until darkness fell. Certain that no one would come to save him, he took off his clothes, cleaned himself with the icy water, and pulled his soaking-wet trousers back on.

And so, he became obedient.

And so, for many years afterward, whenever he felt terrified or horrified, he would lose control of his bowels.

Only after watching those things worse than animals get arrested with his own eyes, and the nightmare in his heart shatter, did he return to normal.

Yet the passing of one nightmare marked the rise of another inner demon.

The sky gradually lightened, and morning sunlight fell upon the person asleep on the windowsill.

After lunch, Yan Ningke took a bus into the city, then hailed a taxi to the Yan family villa.

He had only just stepped through the door.

Something came flying toward him, and Yan Ningke swiftly turned sideways to dodge.

The purple clay teapot shattered with a crash.

One could imagine just how much force the other person had used.

"You little bastard, you dare dodge!?"

Yan Ningke stood quietly in the doorway, his eyes deep and calm. "Was I supposed to stand still and let you kill me? I'm such a filial son. I couldn't bear to let an old bastard like you break the law!"