Shao Ke

Biodata

Background / History

Childhood and Dispossession

Shao Ke was born the Shao family’s rightful first heir—the eldest son and eldest grandson of its direct line. His father made time for him despite his work, while his mother was both an accomplished businesswoman and an affectionate parent. Their arranged marriage developed into a loving partnership, and Shao Ke grew up secure and cherished 1 101.

At thirteen, he survived the car crash that killed his parents and left his legs paralyzed. They had been taking him out to celebrate his birthday and protected him at the expense of their own lives. Shao Ke consequently blamed himself for their deaths, stopped celebrating his birthday, and returned annually to kneel at their grave for the entire day 1 95 96 100.

The Shao family’s second branch rose after the crash and joined other relatives in driving him from the family home. Relatives divided his father’s shares, but Shao Ke defended the assets inherited from his mother. Subsequent mismanagement scattered the family’s holdings, leaving him with the largest individual stake in Shao Corporation 15 25 71.

Rehabilitation and Hidden Fortune

Using concealed assets left by his parents, Shao Ke entered European finance while still in his teens. At his secluded residence, he also endured rehabilitation until he could walk again. On his eighteenth birthday, he rose from his wheelchair and walked to his parents’ grave 71.

He developed his investment company into an international financial empire while allowing outsiders to regard him as a powerless, disabled outcast. His close friends knew that he controlled enormous assets, including a bank holding company and the world’s largest venture capital firm. Much of his work was conducted remotely because his business base was overseas 6 71 79.

Fate in the Original Novel

In the original storyline, Shao Yang recruited the original Yan Ningke to steal confidential documents and use them to force Shao Ke to surrender his shares. After obtaining the documents, Shao Yang killed his accomplice and confronted Shao Ke. The stolen material concerned only a comparatively minor domestic project, not the core of Shao Ke’s overseas empire 1 25 79.

Shao Ke’s decisive vulnerability was his guilt over his parents. Shao Yang repeatedly accused him of causing their deaths until he broke down. Shao Ke then jumped from the Shao Corporation building, dying without the public ever learning the extent of his power or that he had regained the use of his legs 25 79 100 101.

Appearance

• Face and complexion: Exceptionally handsome, with pale skin, sharply defined features compared to carved jade, and dark eyes 17 51 58.
• Build: Muscular upper arms, firm abdominal muscles, and long legs 18 61 86.
• Clothing: Often wears tailored suits or understated shirts and trousers. His formal bearing is repeatedly described as that of a refined gentleman 15 61 76 80 86.
• Public presentation: Initially uses a wheelchair despite having recovered his ability to walk; later appears openly on foot 71 79 80.

Personality

Shao Ke is guarded, sharp-tongued, and intensely suspicious of ulterior motives. He obtains a complete background report on Yan Ningke before trusting him and initially interprets his cooking, courtesy, and changed behavior as possible attempts to obtain confidential information for Shao Yang. He is also territorial about his private space, particularly the villa’s second floor 3 18 43.

His restraint can conceal considerable cruelty. He tolerates the Shao family’s schemes as entertainment rather than immediately destroying them, but retaliates harshly when people harm those he protects. After Yan Ningke is injured, he orders severe punishment for the attackers; later, he personally beats Shao Yang at a banquet 6 30 105 106.

With Yan Ningke, his reserve gives way to teasing, affection, and meticulous care. He enjoys provoking reactions but also feeds him, tends his injuries, supports his work, and adapts to being accountable to a partner. Having long expected lifelong solitude, he initially has no habit of reporting his whereabouts; after Yan Ningke raises the issue, he begins keeping him informed 41 66 71 77 97 160.

His parents remain his deepest emotional vulnerability. Yan Ningke’s support gradually helps him move from self-punishment toward confronting those responsible for their deaths 96 100 101.

Abilities & Skills

Finance and Business Management

• Built a small investment company into a major European financial enterprise 71.
• Controls Bairun Group, whose holdings include a controlling stake in a private bank 80.
• Manages substantial overseas operations remotely and later plans an Asian division in Lincheng 79 101.

Investigation and Strategic Planning

• Collects detailed personal information and monitors Shao Yang’s activities through his own people 3 11 27.
• Works with Lin Yechen to gather evidence against the relatives involved in his parents’ murders 138.
• Uses the Shao family’s competing ambitions against them, watching former allies turn on Shao Yang’s branch before completing his pursuit of the implicated relatives 144 145.

Physical Strength

• Can walk despite his early public reliance on a wheelchair; his recovery predates Yan Ningke’s arrival 6 71.
• Regularly lifts and carries Yan Ningke, including with one arm 65 77 140.
• Easily blocks Shao Yang’s punch and incapacitates him with repeated kicks 105 106.

Reading and Tea Preparation

• Has read the contents of four or five densely packed rows of bookshelves, including mystery novels. Reading became a means of managing distress and intrusive malicious thoughts after his injury 20.
• Prepares tea with practiced, elegant movements; Yan Ningke explicitly praises his skill 27 110.

Equipment / Possessions

• Wheelchair — Maintains his public image of being unable to walk until he abandons that concealment 71 79 80.
• Hillside villa — His residence with Yan Ningke and Lars; equipped with extensive camera coverage and an elevator 4 9 160.
• Computer — Holds detailed information on Yan Ningke’s history, employment, and former attachment to Shao Yang 3 11.
• Private library — Contains several rows of books that accompanied him through his recovery and business career 20.

Relationships

• Yan Ningke — Initially his housekeeper and a suspected agent of Shao Yang; becomes his boyfriend and closest emotional support. Shao Ke explicitly calls him his boyfriend and later promises to remain his 3 77 89.
• Shao Yang — First cousin and rival for the family’s assets. Repeatedly targets Shao Ke through theft, humiliation, and a planned vehicle collision 1 15 25 71.
• Shao Lao’er — His second uncle and Shao Yang’s father. Boasts of having raised Shao Ke, but retreats in fear when Shao Ke confronts him; his branch is implicated in the murder conspiracy 106 138 145.
• Ji Wensheng — Childhood acquaintance who chose Shao Yang. Despite Ji Wensheng’s familiar manner and jealousy, Shao Ke rejects his interference; they had barely maintained contact after Shao Ke turned thirteen 17 62 100.
• Wen Shaoyu — Close friend and business collaborator who knows his hidden power and carries out his orders against Yan Ningke’s attackers 6 30 79.
• Si Yanzhuo — Close friend and business associate. Recognizes Shao Ke’s growing attachment to Yan Ningke and congratulates him on finding love 28 86 115.
• Lin Yechen — Trusted subordinate who handles business arrangements, evidence gathering, and sensitive personal errands 79 116 138 153.
• Uncle Zhong — His father’s former assistant, who cared for Shao Ke for several years and continues helping manage his work 21.
• Lars — His husky, whose daily care initially forms part of Yan Ningke’s job. Shao Ke later permits Yan Ningke to take Lars onto a variety show 3 9 43.
• Parents — Loving parents whose deaths shape his guilt and pursuit of revenge. He eventually vows at their grave to hold every perpetrator accountable 96 100 101.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Distrust and Growing Attachment

Shao Ke initially treats Yan Ningke’s arrival as an obvious infiltration attempt. Their early domestic life involves silent meals, arguments over manners, fines for missed work, and Shao Ke’s attempts to understand why Yan Ningke behaves so differently from his dossier 3 9 18.

Yan Ningke’s humor and unsolicited concern gradually disrupt his isolation. At a high-society banquet, Yan Ningke prevents a staged accident from sending his wheelchair into a swimming pool. Shao Ke subsequently refuses Ji Wensheng’s interference and becomes increasingly preoccupied with his housekeeper rather than his supposed childhood attachment 15 17 18.

Protection and Romance

After Yan Ningke fights men who insulted him, Shao Ke takes him to hospital and holds him until he falls asleep. He then orders Wen Shaoyu to punish the attackers and keep them kneeling until Yan Ningke is discharged 30.

Their relationship develops through kisses, teasing, jealousy, and shared domestic routines. Shao Ke supports Yan Ningke’s variety-show work and eventually names him as his boyfriend. His affection also becomes practical: arranging food, reminding him about medicine, and caring for him during recovery 43 65 77 79.

Highway Attack and Public Identity

Yan Ningke recognizes that a Shao Corporation shareholders’ meeting precedes the truck crash that would injure Shao Ke’s legs again in the original novel. He rushes out to intervene while Shao Ke refuses Shao Yang’s demand for his shares 71 72.

After the overpass incident, Shao Ke stops using his wheelchair. He then walks into a business gathering and is publicly identified as the figure controlling Bairun Group, overturning the Shao family’s assumption that he is a helpless dependent 79 80.

Grief and the Murder Conspiracy

On Shao Ke’s birthday, Yan Ningke joins him at his parents’ grave, introduces himself as his boyfriend, and proposes celebrating the date together as a family rather than treating it solely as an occasion for repentance 95 96.

The discovery that his parents were murdered redirects Shao Ke’s anger toward the perpetrators. Accompanied by Yan Ningke, he returns to the cemetery without immediately kneeling and promises that none of those responsible will escape 101.

Retaliation Against the Shao Family

Shao Ke publicly beats Shao Yang and intimidates Shao Lao’er into leaving a banquet. Later, with the evidence assembled, he prepares to act at a shareholders’ meeting 105 106 138.

The implicated relatives turn against Shao Yang’s family, hoping to benefit from Shao Ke’s wealth. He refuses to accept their opportunism as loyalty and continues pursuing everyone involved. Lin Yechen eventually reports that all targeted family members have been apprehended 144 145.

When Shao Yang subsequently escapes and targets Yan Ningke, Shao Ke reaches Yan Ningke after he has turned the trap against his captor. He carries him away and remains beside him as he receives treatment 147 148 149.

Giving Yan Ningke a Home

For Yan Ningke’s birthday, Shao Ke prepares a flower-filled suburban courtyard that will belong to Yan Ningke alone. He presents twenty-three gifts and a blue diamond key necklace, arranges for Yan Yiheng and Uncle Zhong to move into the courtyard, and has Lin Yechen deliver Yan Ningke’s household registration booklet 153.

By the year’s end, Shao Ke continues supporting Yan Ningke’s career without routinely interfering in it. Their shared life includes his demanding business schedule, daily care for one another, and preparations for the Lunar New Year 160.

Notable Quotes

“Go to sleep. I'll stay with you.” 30

“Dad, Mom, I won't let any of them get away with it.” 101

“Sleep. I'll take you home.” 149

Trivia

• He rarely smokes and generally avoids cigarettes unless distressed or under pressure. Even when upset at the hospital, he observes its smoking prohibition 30.
• The English rendering of his business alias varies between “Evils” and “Evlis” in the supplied chapters 80 86.
• He continues paying Yan Ningke’s housekeeper salary after Aunt An takes over much of the household work 71 118.