Little Deer was really so obedient.
As the evening class ended, Shen Leyuan couldn’t help but voice the sentiment above.
The boy had quickly memorized a bunch of legal knowledge and hardly gave any more of those utterly nonsensical answers, turning into the most low-maintenance student imaginable.
His in-class quiz score was solid. Little Deer tilted his face up, eyes sparkling as he gazed at his teacher.
Yay, reward, reward, reward!
Will it be a kiss for Little Deer? Will it? Will it? Will it?
Shen Leyuan smiled warmly. “I’ve got a gift for the good student who studied hard. Close your eyes and wait for the surprise. Whose eyes aren’t closed yet?”
Little Deer promptly squeezed his eyes shut.
He was just like a silly little kid—so easy to coax and fool.
This easily fooled kid waited wholeheartedly for his teacher’s gift, his pretty little face brimming with tension and anticipation.
With his eyes closed, his hearing, touch, and smell sharpened. Lin Shilu heard footsteps, caught a faint scent of soap, felt a shadow fall over him, then withdraw just as quickly.
No kiss, like he’d imagined.
But something light and thin now rested in his palm. He couldn’t guess what it was and wanted to sneak a peek, but worried it wasn’t time to open his eyes yet—that the teacher might call him disobedient.
“Okay now,” Shen Leyuan said with a laugh. “Take a quick look. Do you like it?”
The moment he heard those first two words, Little Deer eagerly bowed his head. What he saw was a card with a cartoon figure: short brown hair, big eyes, chubby baby-fat cheeks, and pink tender lips. Utterly adorable.
“The teacher wasn’t fully prepared and didn’t have anything else to give, so I drew Little Deer as I see him.”
The me in the teacher’s eyes is… like this?
Little Deer’s expression grew brighter and brighter until a huge smile bloomed across his face. He nodded vigorously. “Mm-hmm, I like it!”
Shen Leyuan couldn’t resist ruffling his hair again. “Good boy. Class dismissed—go play.”
It was only four in the afternoon.
Because of what the big shot had said, he’d checked his phone’s transfer records. The large sums were staggering—unclear if they were asset transfers or debt repayments, but the recent ones added up to exactly 1.1 million.
No chat records about tutoring gigs on his phone. The original owner must’ve landed the high-paying job offline, with the contract at home.
He needed to head back and check.
…
In the basement, the big screen split in two.
On the left, the boy was hiding something—a thin sheet of paper cradled carefully in his palms. He tucked it deep in the closet, then under the pillow, then into a drawer crack.
Once the treasure was fully stashed, he hugged his pillow in a daze. In the surveillance feed, every glance upward brimmed with excitement and unease, like a squirrel who’d just filled its stores and now feared thieves.
On the right, the young man was on the phone, his voice piping from both the device and the screen.
“…That’s pretty much it,” the young man offered a somewhat passable excuse, asking in a negotiating tone, “I guarantee I’ll be back before tomorrow’s class. Is that okay, Mr. Lin?”
Lin Yuan asked, “You’re sure you want to go back?”
Emboldened by the big shot not being in front of him, Shen Leyuan rolled his eyes in disdain. Big shot, are you already senile before forty? Why ask for leave if I didn’t want to go back?
The big shot’s voice came through the phone, slightly distorted, emotion unreadable. “When you signed the contract, you specifically requested the room next to Little Deer’s, saying you didn’t want to waste a single second away from him.”
Shen Leyuan’s eye-roll vanished, replaced by darkness swimming before his eyes.
Shameless dead pervert!!!
His resentment nearly burst through the screen as he shredded the tissue in his hand into confetti. Yet his tone stayed gentle, sincere, and apologetic. “Sorry about this, Mr. Lin. It’s just a sudden emergency.”
A beep came from the other end. “BEEP—”
Hung up???
Shen Leyuan flipped off the phone, but it didn’t quite vent his frustration. He sketched a quick figure on a scrap of paper and drew a Tathagata Divine Palm crashing down on it.
Serves you right that Little Deer won’t 1v1 with you!
Once that was done, his anger mostly ebbed. He smoothly coaxed himself: Whatever, whatever. The big shot isn’t mad—that’s already good. It was mostly the original owner’s mess anyway; can’t take it out on him.
Knock, knock, knock.
A steady, rhythmic knock sounded from outside. No need to guess—it was the bodyguard.
Shen Leyuan sprang up, his mind racing with grim suspicions: Did the big shot take my leave request as me absconding with the money? Is he sending the bodyguard to send me to the afterlife?
He poked his head out timidly. “Something up?”
As he spoke, he snuck a glance past the bodyguard and sighed inwardly in relief: Good, no dog.
The bodyguard said, “Sir sent me to take you.”
Shen Leyuan’s eyes widened slightly.
The big shot—that creepy dad who casually murdered and sicced dogs to make dolls?
Even after climbing into the car, Shen Leyuan couldn’t figure out how the big shot was being so approachable. He felt like this guy didn’t match the book version or the one he’d dealt with these past couple days.
On the road, he probed the bodyguard with a few questions. No response.
What a cold, cool dude.
Is this the one from the book who hooks up with Little Deer?
That one was easy to spot—a little red mole on his chest—but he couldn’t exactly strip-search the bodyguards.
Even if he found him, what then? Unless he outed himself: Hey big shot, one of your bodyguards wants to bang your son… Then he’d probably get shipped off to the psych ward.
Shen Leyuan eyed the bodyguard’s chest in the rearview mirror, lost in wild thoughts.
The luxury car pulled up outside a rundown old neighborhood but didn’t venture in.
It really wasn’t drivable.
It was dark now. The concrete road was pockmarked with potholes, rainwater from recent days pooling and drawing buzzing flies. Under the streetlights, the cleaner spots held mahjong tables and scooters, blocking half the already narrow lane.
Shen Leyuan had braced himself for his living situation, but not this bad.
In he went.
He waved goodbye to the bodyguard with a grim face and trudged inside.
No inherited memories from the original owner—he had to use the delivery app address to find the building. He wandered in circles, unable to stay on track, so he stopped someone to ask directions.
The uncle gave him a weird once-over. “You don’t remember the way?”
Shen Leyuan rubbed his head. “Bumped it a couple days ago—past stuff’s kinda fuzzy. You are…?”
The uncle glared like they had a grudge and sneered. “Forgot that too?”
An ominous premonition hit Shen Leyuan. He didn’t dare say yes. “Jog my memory and it might come back.”
“Jog your memory, huh? Fine!”
The uncle lunged suddenly, swinging a slap at his face. It missed; he just huffed in rage. “You dodging?! You little punk, you dare dodge!!”
“Uncle, something really happened to me.” Shen Leyuan dodged while explaining. “If we’ve got bad blood, I apologize. Don’t hit—let’s talk it out.”
His words were like oil on the fire. The uncle’s fury blazed hotter, his punches whistling through the air.
People glanced over from afar, seemingly recognizing the uncle and original owner.
Seeing things go south, Shen Leyuan bolted, not daring to bet on the original owner’s rep and popularity here.
Stay and I’ll get jumped…
In the dead of night, a breeze brushed Shen Leyuan’s bewildered face. Hiding behind a tree in a corner, he slapped at mosquitoes—slap, slap, slap, slap—as he recalled the big shot’s parting words.
“You’re sure you want to go back?”
“When you signed the contract, you specifically requested the room next to Little Deer’s.”
No wonder the big shot had asked that. He knew the original owner’s deal and probably wondered why he was walking into a trap.
Shen Leyuan thought of those big transfers and the pitiful bank balance.
The uncle wanted to beat him because the original owner owed money and wouldn’t pay?
Pensively, he opened WeChat’s block list and unblocked one by one. Curses and rants flooded in, along with videos of an emptied home and red paint splashed on the door.
[You granny-fucking Shen Leyuan! I xxxx your grandpa!! You even scammed money for an old man’s medical bills! Heartless dog shit! If I were your dad, I’d have shot you onto the wall!!!]
Page after page flipped by, Shen Leyuan silent throughout.
At seven a.m., the neighborhood entrances were blocked. He sneakily made a call.
No sound from the big shot. Was he waiting for surrender? Woken up and nursing morning grumpiness? Or just blank?
Shen Leyuan couldn’t read the big shot’s temper or mind.
Lin Yuan felt the same.
The pinhole camera showed the cramped space: the young man crammed in a junk pile amid stenchy plastic bottles, cans, old books, and papers. Outside, a dozen creditors waited to carve him up.
Calling now—for rescue or cash?
Lin Yuan guessed the latter. Money was easy: sweet talk, blank check, problem solved. Especially since these weren’t his debts.
But maybe the former. This soul was thinner-skinned, more righteous—might not cross that line.
He was curious about the choice.
The sun climbed in the sweltering summer heat—even morning was stifling. Shen Leyuan panted a few times, steeled himself, and said slowly, “Um, Mr. Lin…”
His cheeks flushed beet red, like it was hard to spit out. “Could I…”
Lin Yuan said flatly, “Mm?”
Shen Leyuan: “Could I take one more day off?”
Lin Yuan: …
Shen Leyuan fidgeted with a plastic bag unconsciously, awkward. “Really sorry, truly. These accidents keep piling up—I can’t make it back right now. I… Hello? Hello?”
Hung up again.
Sigh, can’t blame the big shot this time. I’m the one overstepping.
“That punk’s definitely still in the neighborhood. Catch him this time and I’ll break his leg!”
Footsteps and curses drew nearer. Shen Leyuan held his breath.
They probably never thought to check the cripple’s junk pile. The voices faded, leaving only vicious insults echoing in Shen Leyuan’s ears.
Scammed an old man’s life-saving money? For real?
The original owner was that rotten?
“Congratulations on getting rich~ Congratulations on shining bright~ Rich folks, come on over…”
His phone blared suddenly. In his panic to mute, he accidentally answered, and Little Deer’s shrill voice popped up.
…………………………
…………………………
“Teacher, where are you? Why aren’t you back? Teacher, come back quick, okay? Teacher—”
Nearby, a creditor paused, sensing something, and turned back.
Stop calling, stop calling!
Shen Leyuan thought miserably: Keep yelling and you’ll be calling my soul on the seventh day after death!
