Ruan Mei

Biodata

Feature	Information
Name	Ruan Mei (阮梅)
Alias(es)	Dr. Ruan Mei
Gender	Female
Age	81 319
Affiliation	Genius Club, Seat 81 314
Occupation/Role	Specially appointed consultant; life-sciences researcher and bioengineer 314 796
First Appearance	Chapter 239 239

Background / History

Ruan Mei was once an ordinary girl who liked sweets. Her early exposure to life-science research came through an expedition-oriented upbringing and an elder connected to the Erudition Society. She later gained recognition for laboratory research capable of altering a planetary ecosystem, then spent most of her career in seclusion studying life itself and other forbidden biological fields. 321 322

She joined the Genius Club before Herta and became known as a researcher whose technical ability is matched by her willingness to disregard conventional laws and meanings of life in pursuit of “perfect” creations. Her interests include Propagation lifeforms, Aeons, biological cultivation, cloning, and human modification. 319 321 322

Ruan Mei first joins Liu Bai as a specially appointed consultant. He gives her the Light Cone Memories of the Past, whose effect makes her more forthcoming with him; she accepts his guidance despite initially maintaining an emotionally distant demeanor. 314 315

Appearance

Ruan Mei is described as a gentle, elegant intellectual beauty with an ancient-style aesthetic. Her composed smile and refined presentation frequently contrast with the unsettling nature of her research. 314 319

• Often wears elegant ancient-style clothing. 785
• Uses thick gloves while handling experiments and prepared food. 438
• Wears a white lab coat when working in a formal research capacity. 796
• Has, on at least one occasion, worn conspicuously mismatched and tacky sunglasses. 785

Personality

Ruan Mei is highly controlled, articulate, and socially capable when she chooses to be. She can conceal an honest or alarming remark immediately after making it, and she generally presents herself with a gentle, virtuous smile even when pursuing an ulterior motive. 319 557

Her central fixation is the creation, preservation, and improvement of life. This gives her an unusually flexible moral boundary: she evaluates dangerous ideas as research problems first and interpersonal or ethical problems second. Mobius considers her obsession with recreating or understanding higher life forms self-limiting and potentially dangerous. 322 368

Despite her calm exterior, Ruan Mei dislikes leaving outcomes to chance and becomes visibly unsettled when she cannot control events. She is also competitive and possessive regarding Liu Bai, particularly when she believes another woman may surpass her position. 327 673 692

Abilities & Skills

Life Sciences and Bioengineering

Ruan Mei is an exceptional biologist and bioengineer, able to assess unfamiliar organisms, modify biological systems, and create or cultivate new life.

• Recognized the Firefly Armor’s insect-like design principles and hypothesized that it was cultivated alongside clones. 320
• Has experience cultivating Propagation lifeforms and researching insect-based organisms. 320 673
• States that major human modifications, including changing a person’s race, are routine enough for her to complete within days under suitable conditions. 797
• Possesses experience creating beings with multiple personalities integrated into a single body. 598
• Assisted Mobius in producing the mature Chi You Supermutation Serum, which implants Chi You genes and can grant compatible users enhanced attributes and traits. 618

Pharmaceuticals and Experimental Compounds

Ruan Mei develops medicines ranging from enhancement drugs to highly invasive personality-altering compounds.

• Produces and modifies variants of the Elixir of Love, including concentrated injectable forms. 569 724
• Developed a stable personality-expulsion drug, which she considers her proudest research. 981
• Offered Liu Bai a physical-enhancement medicine with indirect addictive properties; he refused due to her unpredictable methods. 796 797
• Her drugs are powerful but can create serious ethical and safety concerns, leading Liu Bai to prohibit private possession of the Elixir of Love. 724 725

Cloning and Cultivation

Ruan Mei has practical expertise in cultivation-based cloning and artificial growth.

• Proposed mass-cloning Chi You using juvenile body cultivation chambers. 438 441
• Claims she has ample experience with cultivation and considers the cloning process technically straightforward once proper facilities are built. 438
• Can create people within three days when materials are prepared. 660

Musical Talent

Ruan Mei can use musical performance as an alternative means of support when her research plans are disrupted.

• Keeps a pipa, guqin, and jade flute as part of a contingency plan. 877

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Memories of the Past — Light Cone given by Liu Bai; increases Ruan Mei’s research efficiency and makes her more likely to reveal her true thoughts to him. 314 315
• Elixir of Love — A family of affection-altering medicines developed and stockpiled by Ruan Mei, including potent and injectable versions. 569 724
• Personality-expulsion drug — A mature, stable compound designed to separate or expel personalities. 981
• Laboratory — Her laboratory contains advanced experimental facilities and can connect its passageway to other locations through detailed teleportation. 883
• Pipa, guqin, and jade flute — Instruments prepared as a fallback when she cannot rely on research alone. 877

Relationships

• Liu Bai — Her sponsor, tutor, research partner, and eventual romantic interest. Their relationship begins formally, but Ruan Mei gradually recognizes her feelings and resolves to develop it further. 314 322 431 437
• Mobius — Fellow biologist, collaborator, and frequent ethical counterweight. Mobius distrusts Ruan Mei’s disregard for life’s boundaries but relies on her expertise for major projects. 320 322 618
• Herta — Genius Society peer and rival. They recognize each other’s talent but clash over temperament, research ethics, and Liu Bai; their relationship develops into open hostility after Ruan Mei experiments on Herta. 557 772 786
• Firefly — A subject of Ruan Mei’s interest due to her connection to Glamoth and Sam. Firefly immediately perceives Ruan Mei’s objectifying, dangerous interest. 239 315
• Rita — A temporary ally when Feixiao threatens to overtake Ruan Mei’s standing with Liu Bai; Rita successfully provokes Ruan Mei into intervening. 692
• Kiana — Ruan Mei proposes an invasive biological method to separate Kiana and Sirin’s personalities, which Kiana rejects in favor of Herta’s alternative. 598
• March 7th — Her eager disciple. Ruan Mei takes interest in March 7th’s learning ability and agrees to teach her despite Liu Bai’s concern about her influence. 886 887
• Fu Hua — Consults Ruan Mei to stabilize her modified physique. Ruan Mei initially fails to alter the underlying growth logic but accepts the challenge because of its difficulty. 957 981

Story Role / Major Arcs

Appointment and Honkai Research

Ruan Mei enters Liu Bai’s group as a Genius Club consultant and quickly becomes essential to the laboratory’s biological work. Her interest in Honkai and Propagation research alarms Liu Bai, who permits limited experiments only under supervision, with Mobius assigned to monitor her. 314 320

Liu Bai’s Tutelage

Mobius asks Liu Bai to guide Ruan Mei personally, believing that personal connection and motherhood might help her understand the value of life beyond its utility as research material. Ruan Mei accepts his tutelage with little hesitation. 322

Developing Feelings for Liu Bai

After several intimate and emotionally charged encounters, Ruan Mei attempts to scientifically analyze why Liu Bai affects her differently from others. She ultimately acknowledges that she has special feelings for him and begins planning to turn their unstable arrangement into a romantic relationship. 351 431 438

Chi You, Fusion, and Human Modification Research

Ruan Mei expands her work into Chi You cloning, biological fusion, supermutation serum, and practical human modification. Her expertise allows Mobius’s fusion-warrior work to progress much faster, though her tendency to pursue extreme experiments remains a constant concern. 438 618 797

Conflict with Herta

Ruan Mei’s rivalry with Herta escalates from professional friction to direct manipulation. She captures and experiments on Herta, offering research notes in exchange for cooperation; Herta later obtains Ruan Mei’s personality-research manuscripts and plans retaliation. 773 786

Later Mentorship and Medical Work

Ruan Mei accepts March 7th as a disciple and later takes responsibility for solving Fu Hua’s unstable physical modification. The latter challenge rekindles her competitive professional drive despite the difficulty of the case. 886 957

Notable Quotes

“Destruction or creation.” 598

“People grow, Mr. Liu Bai.” 322

Trivia

• Ruan Mei repeatedly corrects people who reverse her name, insisting that it is “Ruan Mei,” not “Mei Ruan.” 314
• She is two years younger than Herta, who is stated to be 83. 319
• She uses cooking—especially qingtuan and rabbit-shaped pastries—as a way to negotiate with or approach Liu Bai. 320 368
• Although she is often called gentle, Liu Bai and others consider her one of the household members most likely to create dangerous experimental situations if left unsupervised. 436 816