Yang He

Biodata

Background / History

Yang He grew up without her father and was raised by her mother, Song Mei. Her mother frequently invokes the difficulty of raising her alone when pressuring her to date and marry 15.

During college, Yang He helped a boyfriend with his work at the expense of her own affairs. According to Song Mei, he subsequently became successful and married his boss’s daughter. Yang He later explains that she entered this relationship because of social pressure, never fully trusted him, and was ultimately betrayed when he ran off with her research 15 36.

Despite holding a mathematics PhD, Yang He teaches English because the school had no available mathematics positions. She regards teaching as a means of supporting herself while continuing her mathematical research. Before taking Chang Song’s class, she had taught only one previous group of students 6 29.

Appearance

• Build: Tall and slender, with long legs and a full bust that she usually conceals beneath her clothing 8 21 28.
• Hair and complexion: Long hair and very fair, smooth skin 1 6 28.
• School attire: A teacher’s uniform or blazer, with the white sleeves of her shirt showing beneath it; Chang Song associates this detail with her tidy, elegant appearance 20 46.
• Outside school: Wears loose pajamas and nightdresses at home. For the blind date arranged by her mother, she wears a white dress and light makeup 6 15 46.

Personality

Yang He cultivates the image of a stern, composed model teacher. She politely keeps interested male teachers at a distance and uses strict classroom discipline to reinforce her authority. Nevertheless, her concern for her students is genuine: when Chang Song unexpectedly calls her downstairs at night, her first assumption is that something has happened at home 1 6.

Privately, she is easily embarrassed and much less self-assured than her professional manner suggests. Chang Song’s confession leaves her frightened and unsure how to respond; she changes her morning routine to avoid him and hides her nervousness behind an especially severe expression. Her clenched hands, blushing, and evasive reactions frequently betray what she is trying to conceal 6 7 8.

She strongly resents dishonesty and being treated as a financial transaction. After discovering Zhang Hongwen’s infidelity, she refuses reconciliation and declares that she will repay the money associated with her relatives rather than remain indebted to him. She likewise objects to her mother’s insistence that a wealthy suitor is sufficient reason to marry 3 15.

Her private habits contrast sharply with her polished public image. She loves meat, dislikes having to eat delicately under her coworkers’ scrutiny, and admits that her ladylike behavior at school is an act. At home, she struggles with cooking and housekeeping and becomes intensely defensive when Chang Song teases her about either 21 36 46 47.

Abilities & Skills

Mathematics and Research

• Holds a mathematics PhD and continues working on advanced calculations outside school hours 29.
• Considers high-school mathematics well below her own level and prepares extensive practice papers for Chang Song 29.
• Works late into the night, explaining that she must work hard to avoid being bullied by others 29.

Teaching and Tutoring

• Teaches English while managing Class One as its homeroom teacher, including supervising morning study 6 8.
• Uses recitation, classroom questioning, and examinations to assess students 9 20.
• Offers Chang Song additional English review before the monthly exam and later undertakes his tutoring while insisting that his grades must not decline 26 29.

Domestic Limitations

• Leaves her kitchen sufficiently disordered that Chang Song cleans it before preparing dinner 36.
• Attempts to cook noodles in a rice cooker but boils them into an inedible mush 36 47.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Breakup with Zhang Hongwen

Chang Song overhears Yang He confronting Zhang Hongwen after a coworker supplies photographs of him entering a hotel with another woman. Zhang initially begs forgiveness, then demands repayment of money connected to her relatives. Yang He transfers money, promises to repay the remainder even through loans or installments, and orders him out. Only after he leaves does she collapse and sob 3.

Chang Song’s Confession and Her Rejection

After deciding to act on his longstanding feelings, Chang Song visits Yang He’s apartment building and confesses. He forcibly kisses her, taking her first kiss; she breaks free, slaps him, and tells him to attend class normally while she pretends the incident never happened 5 6.

Yang He subsequently avoids him outside school and treats him harshly in class. When he intercepts her near her home again, she threatens to call the police and firmly tells him that there can be no relationship between a teacher and her student 6 8 9.

The Blind Date and Examination Agreement

Under pressure from Song Mei, Yang He attends a blind date and discovers Chang Song posing as “Zhang Weihe.” She immediately identifies him as her student, but her mother refuses to believe her and forces her to remain. After Song Mei leaves, Yang He eventually forgives his deception while maintaining that they have no romantic future 15 16.

Song Mei’s enthusiasm for “Zhang Weihe” subsequently leads Yang He to ask Chang Song to impersonate her boyfriend over the phone. He demands a real chance to date her in return. They write and record an agreement: if he places first in the class in the May 30 monthly exam, she will become his girlfriend; otherwise, he must stop pursuing her. Yang He accepts because she expects him to fail 20.

To secure his continued cooperation with her mother, Yang He also agrees to a meal and movie outing. At the restaurant, she uses the name Yang Yang, abandons her restrained eating habits, and ultimately pays the bill herself rather than let a student treat her 21.

Exam Results and the One-Year Condition

Before the exam, Yang He tells Chang Song that she likes him and kisses his cheek. The narration explains that she intends to soften his anticipated failure so that he will accept the agreement’s outcome rather than blame her 26.

Wang Ling arranges for Chang Song’s mathematics paper to be replaced, securing his top result. Yang He later reveals that an official had instructed her before the exam to replace his paper; she presents her compliance as something she could not refuse as a junior teacher 28 46.

After the results, Yang He brings Chang Song home and initiates a kiss, acknowledging that he has won their agreement. She nevertheless sets a further condition: he must maintain top grades and enter a top university before they try dating after the college entrance exams 28 29.

Their growing intimacy remains conflicted. Yang He repeatedly protests that she is his teacher, resists unwanted touching, and explicitly asks him to stop. They ultimately share a bed while clothed, and she begins tutoring him 29 30.

Domestic Closeness and Song Mei’s Discovery

Chang Song gains access to Yang He’s apartment, cleans her kitchen, and cooks meals suited to her tastes. During these visits, she tells him about the boyfriend who stole her work. Although she expresses affection for Chang Song, she also believes they cannot have a future together; he responds by saying that he wants to marry her 30 36 37.

Song Mei discovers them together after recognizing Chang Song’s First High School uniform trousers. Yang He admits that they have been together for a month. Song Mei slaps her and orders Chang Song to leave, while Yang He tearfully urges him to go 37.

Yang He subsequently returns to teaching despite a fever. She tells Chang Song that her mother intends to introduce another prospective husband and would force her to quit her job if she refused. Even under this pressure, she promises to wait for him for a year 38 39.

Illness and Isolation

When Chang Song later visits, Yang He answers his calls only to hang up and does not respond to his knocking. After he leaves, she opens the door, finds no one there, and wonders whether missing him has made her hallucinate. She then slumps to the floor, crying and coughing with a high fever 49.

Relationships

• Chang Song — Her student, persistent suitor, and prospective future partner. Their relationship develops from his unwanted confession into private affection and a promise to wait until after the entrance exams, but remains marked by her professional concerns and repeated objections to his behavior 6 20 29 37 39.
• Song Mei — Her mother, who raised her alone. Song Mei controls her matchmaking, initially approves of Chang Song’s adult disguise, and becomes physically violent after learning that he is Yang He’s student 15 20 37.
• Zhang Hongwen — A former boyfriend whom she expels after discovering his infidelity. His financial demands do not persuade her to reconcile 3.
• Unnamed college boyfriend — A junior whom she dated under social pressure. He betrayed her trust by taking her research and later married his boss’s daughter 15 36.
• Wang Ling — A transfer student whom Yang He places beside Chang Song. Wang Ling also helps arrange Chang Song’s disguised blind date and the examination-paper substitution 8 15 28.

Notable Quotes

“I hate it when people lie to me most of all! Get out right now. I never want to see you again!” 3

“This is my actual job. Teaching you all English is just to stay alive for the time being.” 29

“We agreed on a year, until after the college entrance exams. As your teacher, I absolutely can't accept you letting your grades slip because you're dating me. Do you understand?” 29