Xu Yan

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Xu Yan (许妍)
Alias(es)	Older Sister Xu Yan; Senior Xu Yan
Gender	Female
Affiliation	Donghai University Film Club
Occupation/Role	Film Club President; filmmaker and University Film Festival participant 7 45
Status	Alive in the post-rescue and later altered worldlines; drowned in the original A worldline while saving children 11 14 44
First Appearance	Chapter 7

Background

Xu Yan is Cheng Mengxue's maternal cousin. She spent two months of each summer vacation at Cheng's home, and the two grew up with a bond like biological sisters. Because Jiang Ran and Cheng Mengxue were childhood sweethearts, Xu Yan and Jiang Ran were also longtime childhood playmates. 7

At Donghai University, Xu Yan serves as president of the Film Club. She regards Jiang Ran and Qin Feng's participation in the club's micro-film as a major contribution, since Jiang wrote its script and he and Qin Feng played the lead roles. 7

Appearance

Xu Yan is depicted as a striking young woman with beautiful hair falling over her shoulders and a poised, fashionable presence. 7 8

• Long, beautiful hair, which she wears over her shoulders. 7
• Frequently associated with the sound of high heels. 8 46

Personality

Xu Yan is warm, kind, helpful, and widely liked among the student body. Her younger friends regard her as mature, reliable, and capable despite being only a year older than them. 8 11

She is notably trusting and supportive toward Jiang Ran. In the altered worldline, she agrees to help him save the Film Club without pressing him on his unconvincing explanation, and later supports his screenplay without hesitation. 44 45

Xu Yan is also protective of Jiang Ran and Cheng Mengxue, whom she sees as younger siblings. After Cheng's death in the altered worldline, she repeatedly tries to keep Jiang from being consumed by guilt over the accident. 46

Skills & Influence

Film Club Leadership

Xu Yan manages the Film Club's productions and works toward entering the University Film Festival.

• Completed editing a micro-film featuring Jiang Ran and Qin Feng, then invited their feedback. 7
• Persisted in writing for the Film Festival despite exhaustion and dissatisfaction with her own scripts. 44
• Recognized the quality of Jiang Ran's screenplay immediately and arranged for it to become the club's festival entry. 45
• Promised Jiang Ran proper credit for the script rather than claiming it as her own. 45

Connections and Advocacy

Xu Yan can mobilize influential campus connections when the Film Club is threatened.

• Obtained a petition signed by presidents of influential clubs, allowing the Film Club's dissolution to be postponed. 7 8
• In the later altered worldline, again secured a petition bearing club-president and faculty-advisor signatures to preserve the Film Club. 44
• Her unnamed boyfriend is implied to be a useful connection in handling club bureaucracy. 44

Relationships

• Cheng Mengxue — Maternal cousin and sister-like companion; Cheng calls her “Older Sister” and fiercely advocates using a spacetime message to save her. 7 12
• Jiang Ran — Childhood playmate and trusted younger friend. Xu Yan helps him preserve the Film Club in multiple worldlines and considers him like a younger sibling. 7 44 46
• Qin Feng — Collaborated with Xu Yan through the Film Club's micro-film, in which he acted alongside Jiang Ran. 7
• Yan Rui — Fellow Film Club senior whose disciplinary incident led to the positron cannon being confiscated; Xu Yan's intervention helps Jiang's group regain access to it. 6 7 8

Major Arcs

Film Club Revival and the Positron Cannon

When Jiang Ran, Cheng Mengxue, and Qin Feng cannot retrieve the confiscated positron cannon through the Student Union, Xu Yan steps in. By gathering signatures and preventing the Film Club's dissolution, she enables the group to regain the club space and retrieve the device from the warehouse. 7 8

Death in the Original Worldline

In the original A worldline, Xu Yan jumps into a river to rescue two drowning children. Though she can swim, the current exhausts her and her feet become tangled in riverbed debris; she dies despite emergency treatment. Her death devastates Cheng Mengxue and drives the trio to consider using the positron cannon to intervene in the past. 11 12

Rescue Through a Worldline Jump

The group ultimately sends a warning message three days into the past. When they arrive at Qing'an Bridge, Xu Yan is about to enter the river to save the children, but Jiang Ran stops her; he then takes part in the rescue himself while wearing a buoyancy life jacket. The resulting spacetime fluctuation shifts the worldline to one where Xu Yan survives. 13 14

The Altered Worldline

After Qin Feng's later spacetime intervention creates a drastically changed worldline, Xu Yan remains alive but has become estranged from Jiang Ran following Cheng Mengxue's death. Her absence from the river incident is attributed to her being consumed by work on an unsatisfactory Film Festival script. 43 44

Jiang reconnects with her to save the Film Club, and Xu Yan again gives him unconditional assistance. In return, he provides the club with a screenplay adapted from his earlier Genius Playground work; Xu Yan and the club members consider it a potential award-winning entry. 44 45

When Jiang questions Cheng Mengxue's death, Xu Yan explains that the car accident was never fully understood: Jiang and Cheng had inexplicably taken a detour, there were no cameras on the road, and Jiang had no memory of the event even when questioned at the time. 46

Notable Quotes

“No problem. Leave this to me, I’ll handle it for you.” 44

Trivia

• Xu Yan was 20 years old when she died in the original worldline. 11
• Cheng Mengxue bit Xu Yan's arm while panicking after Jiang Ran jumped into the river during the rescue; Xu Yan concealed the injury from him. 19