Shu Sizhuo

Biodata

Background / History

Childhood and Ode Mountain House

Shu Sizhuo lost both parents in a car accident when he was ten. His father’s mistress, Qin Yan, subsequently moved into the family home with her illegitimate son, Shu Yaoxi. With help from Uncle Ou, a senior company executive and friend of Shu Sizhuo’s father, she took control of his inheritance. After being deliberately provoked by insults against his mother, Shu Sizhuo attacked Qin Yan with a fruit knife and was confined at Ode Mountain House 32.

Although advertised as an upscale institution for troubled children, Ode Mountain House subjected him to repeated abuse. After six months, he planned to kill its director, Fenli, with a sharpened bamboo pole. Tong Zhao arrived on his first General Institute assignment as Shu Sizhuo drove the weapon into Fenli’s eye; he intervened and escaped with the boy 32 33.

Using the name Tang Xu, Tong Zhao introduced himself as a friend of Shu Sizhuo’s mother and sheltered him in a shantytown apartment. Shu Sizhuo gradually trusted him, helped with household chores, and sought medical help when Tong Zhao was wounded protecting him. He later earned scar cream by helping Doctor Zhou sort herbs 33 35 37.

Return to the Shu Family

After further pursuit by Ode Mountain House’s men, the pair fled to Grinding Cloud City. Tong Zhao eventually contacted Shu Sizhuo’s maternal uncle, Hua Ruolin, who brought lawyers and bodyguards to retrieve them. Hua Ruolin became Shu Sizhuo’s legal guardian and began clearing corrupt interests out of the family company 39 41 42.

Shu Sizhuo remained intensely attached to Tang Xu, repeatedly sneaking into his bed and becoming jealous of the time he spent with Hua Ruolin. On his eleventh birthday, Tang Xu gave him a golden retriever puppy named Little Loofah. When Tang Xu disappeared, Shu Sizhuo cried until he developed a three-day fever. Hua Ruolin’s subsequent investigation found that Tang Xu’s recorded identity had died in an accident 42 43 44.

Relationship at Nineteen

At nineteen, Shu Sizhuo attended A University and was again close to Tong Zhao, then known as Xia Zhen. Tong Zhao remembers him as outwardly distant but capable of a trusting, unguarded smile around him. During this period, Shu Sizhuo was stabbed while protecting Tong Zhao 20 31.

Their relationship ended when Xia Zhen apparently fell into the sea and died in front of him. Shu Sizhuo later described the relationship as a deception, believing that Tong Zhao had pretended to date him before abandoning him again 44.

Reunion at Twenty-Seven

Eight years later, Shu Sizhuo reunited with Tong Zhao at President Lu’s dinner. By then, he headed one of the country’s largest conglomerates. He initially treated Tong Zhao as a stranger, remarking only that he resembled a dead acquaintance. Privately, however, he already recognized him and struggled to contain both his longing and resentment 2 3 4.

Shu Sizhuo repeatedly sought opportunities to be near him, offered rides, and used complaints of stomach pain to obtain his care. When Tong Zhao refused to become his lover, Shu Sizhuo blocked acting roles intended for Tong Zhao and Shi Ruohe, then restored them in exchange for a kiss 8 12 14 21.

Before Tong Zhao’s return, Shu Sizhuo had maintained a search for him and accepted young men who resembled him. He ordered that search ended and everyone at Wind House sent away, declaring that he had already found the person he wanted 19.

Abduction and Confinement

After learning that Tong Zhao had disappeared from the yacht gathering, Shu Sizhuo located him on the beach and rendered him unconscious with a substance held over his mouth and nose. He subsequently chained him inside a specially prepared residence 30 32 45.

During the confrontation that followed, Shu Sizhuo revealed that he recognized Tong Zhao as both Tang Xu and Xia Zhen. He accused him of repeatedly entering his life, deceiving him, and leaving. His retaliation included sexual assault and continued imprisonment 32 44 45.

Shu Sizhuo exploited Tong Zhao’s mistaken belief that the Wind House residents were prisoners, agreeing to release them only if Tong Zhao stayed in their place. His earlier claims of torturing those residents were explicitly lies; he chose not to correct the misunderstanding and ordered his assistant to dismiss them and send them home safely 32 45.

He later showed limited restraint, stopping an unwanted sexual advance after Tong Zhao described his pain and fear. Nevertheless, the confinement continued. When Tong Zhao eventually greeted him warmly as part of his efforts to find a way out, Shu Sizhuo mistakenly interpreted the change as acceptance 48 50.

Appearance

• Build: Tall, broad-shouldered, and long-legged; more than half a head taller than Tong Zhao 4.
• Hair and eyes: Black hair and dark eyes, with thick, long eyelashes 3 9 12.
• Features: Cool, pale skin, a high straight nose, and sharply defined facial features 3 9.
• Adult bearing: Mature, composed, and imposing, with a colder and more brooding presence than at nineteen 2 3.
• Scars: His left arm bears overlapping old and new self-inflicted scars. He habitually keeps his shirt cuffs tightly buttoned and later wears a layered black bandage around his left forearm 17 48 50.

Personality

As a child, Shu Sizhuo was wary, stubborn, and reluctant to show pain. Even while his wounds were being treated, he tried to remain silent. Once he trusted Tang Xu, he became affectionate and helpful, taking over chores and caring for him after his injury 33 35 37.

His attachment to Tong Zhao predates adulthood. He preferred remaining with Tang Xu over recovering the comfort of the Shu family home, and he resented being excluded from Tang Xu’s conversations with other adults. His mother’s death had already made him distrust promises that someone would always stay 34 38 43.

At twenty-seven, his controlled public manner conceals intense jealousy, fear of abandonment, and resentment. He treats Tong Zhao’s closeness to Shi Ruohe and Hua Xiaotang as threats, uses business opportunities as leverage, and ultimately substitutes captivity for the possibility of another separation 14 17 22 45.

Shu Sizhuo sometimes recognizes the harm in his own behavior. After cruelly implying that Tong Zhao was replaceable, he immediately regretted driving him away and privately acknowledged that it had always had to be him. That awareness does not prevent him from continuing coercive and abusive behavior 22 48 50.

Health

Abilities & Skills

Business Leadership

• Demonstrates business talent from childhood, prompting Hua Ruolin to prepare him for his future responsibilities 41 42.
• By twenty-seven, leads a conglomerate with interests across numerous industries worldwide 2.
• Can influence entertainment-industry casting and resources, including blocking roles and offering high-profile opportunities 12 14.

Learning and Practical Skills

• As a child, cooks, performs household chores, and helps Doctor Zhou sort medicinal herbs 37.
• Approaches unfamiliar material methodically, studying instructional videos and taking notes when he realizes his lack of sexual knowledge has hurt Tong Zhao 48 49.

Physical Strength

• Can restrain and carry Tong Zhao despite his resistance; Tong Zhao compares his adult strength to an immovable wall 22 48 50.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Porsche — Drives Tong Zhao and the intoxicated Shi Ruohe home after their reunion dinner 2.
• Grand lighter — A six-figure lighter he handles while negotiating with Tong Zhao 14.
• Safety talisman — Secretly placed in his suitcase by Tong Zhao after the visit to Wanqi Temple 26 27.
• Implantable device — Arranged through Mia, who reports that safety testing is complete and that it will be shipped into the country. Its function and whether it is implanted are not established in the supplied chapters 6 27.
• Confinement residence — Contains an ankle chain, a room without a real window, internal-only telephone access, a projector, and the service robot Xiaoguang. Tong Zhao cannot use the robot to contact the outside world 45 48 50.

Relationships

• Tong Zhao / Tang Xu / Xia Zhen — Childhood rescuer, former romantic partner, and later captive. Shu Sizhuo recognizes all three identities as the same person and associates him with both safety and repeated abandonment 33 44 45.
• Hua Ruolin — Maternal uncle and legal guardian. Helps restore his place in the Shu family, oversees his education, and later encourages him to make friends again 41 42 49.
• Little Loofah — Golden retriever given to him by Tang Xu for his eleventh birthday. Still lives at the old residence sixteen years later; Shu Sizhuo frequently buys it yellow toys 5 23 43.
• Qin Yan — His father’s mistress, who helped seize his inheritance and arranged his confinement 32.
• Shu Yaoxi — Younger paternal half-brother, born to Qin Yan. Shu Sizhuo rejects his attempts to approach him during childhood 32 42.
• Fenli — Abusive director of Ode Mountain House. Shu Sizhuo attacks him with a sharpened bamboo pole during his escape 32 33.
• Shi Ruohe — Tong Zhao’s friend and current assignment target. Shu Sizhuo resents their closeness and suspects that Shi Ruohe is the reason Tong Zhao returned 22 28.
• Hua Xiaotang — Tong Zhao’s acting colleague. Shu Sizhuo questions their relationship and becomes jealous of their romantic scenes and late-night meal together 16 17.
• Mei An — Treating clinician who monitors his symptoms and medication schedule 23.
• Mia — Contact who oversees safety testing and shipment of the implantable device; addresses him as Jor 6 27.

Notable Quotes

“Even a pinky promise can be broken.” 34

“No matter what your name is, now that you’re back, don’t even think about leaving again.” 4

“So what if it’s been eight years? Even if you were reduced to ashes, I’d recognize you.” 44

Trivia

• Although eight years pass for Shu Sizhuo between his relationship at nineteen and the reunion, Tong Zhao experiences only half a year of separation 2.
• Little Loofah’s name originated as a joke about Shu Sizhuo’s dislike of eating loofah. He accepted the puppy’s name while insisting that it would not change his taste in vegetables 43.
• He visits Wanqi Temple to give thanks for a fulfilled wish, but does not explicitly tell Tong Zhao what he wished for 26.