Su Niannian

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Su Niannian (苏念念)
Alias(es)	President Su; Boss Su
Species/Race	Human
Gender	Female
Age	Twenty-seven when her mother raises the subject of matchmaking. 49
Affiliation	Source Code Technology; formerly Beaver Technology 8 102 156 247
Occupation/Role	Acting CEO of Source Code Technology; co-founder; product leader; former product manager at Beaver Technology. Subsequently referred to as Source Code Technology's CEO. 8 102 156 323 399
Shareholding	Held 17% of Source Code Technology at its founding; remains an individual shareholder during preparations for its merger into Origin Group. 33 399
Status	Active 185 259 399 401
First Appearance	Chapter 7 7

Background / History

Su Niannian and Han Luyi were university classmates. Although they had not spoken for more than two years, she contacted him after learning that he had left Dingsheng, then arranged their reunion at Bug Café. She retained a strong memory of his university work ethic and technical ability, while he noted that her formerly unfiltered manner had become more measured with professional experience. 7 8

Before joining Han's venture, Su worked for three years as a product manager at Beaver Technology. She led an AI code-review initiative, conducting user research and writing extensive requirements documentation, but a newly appointed product director, Fang Xu, replaced the project lead and reduced her to an assisting role. Her work was repeatedly appropriated: Fang Xu presented her quarterly report as his own, and a data dashboard she led received an internal innovation award without crediting her. 8 30

After Beaver reassigned her to an operations-support position, revoked her access to the AI code-review project's documents and data, excluded her from reviews, and then applied a non-compete restriction, Su sought legal advice. The restriction was ruled non-binding because Beaver's own reassignment and access revocations undermined its claim that she possessed relevant trade secrets at resignation. 32

Following the ruling, Su committed to BugKiller full-time, taking responsibility for product, operations, and marketing. She helped validate its beta, organize its public-beta plan, monitor competitive pressure, and develop commercial positioning. 20 24 32 34

On July 1, Su and Han finalized the founding documents for Haicheng Source Code Technology Co., Ltd. Han held 68%, Su held 17%, and the remaining 15% was reserved for an employee option pool. The business license was approved on July 3; although registered at a Pudong incubator, the company initially continued working from Bug Café. 33

As Source Code Technology expanded beyond BugKiller, Su became the central product leader for Open Things. She directed pricing, templates, user research, business coordination, and product-team development. Han later appointed her acting CEO while he shifted his focus toward foundation-model training. 57 73 102 113 156

When Han's proposed model venture failed to secure funding from He Yunshen, Su offered to lend the new company 16 million yuan from the post-tax proceeds of selling her original shares. She explicitly proposed a loan rather than an equity investment, asking for no shares. Han did not immediately take the money, instead explaining that he had another possible funding route and would ask her if necessary. 130

At Source Code's board and shareholders' meetings, Su demonstrated that the company could operate independently of Han's daily direction. She presented BugKiller as a stable enterprise business and set out Open Things' 2027 strategy: use industry-specific templates and retention tools to serve merchants rather than compete with traffic-acquisition platforms. She committed to validating the strategy over two quarters before reassessing it if referral growth did not improve. 159 160

As acting CEO, Su managed Source Code's response to NeusAI's anticipated attempt to replace Kaiwu after learning from the partnership. She had recognized the pattern from the beginning as partnership, learning, and replacement, while Han and Zhao Wenyuan prepared Glutinous Rice Ball as an in-house model alternative ahead of the April contract expiry. 187 188

Su subsequently led the company’s push into specific verticals, including children's entertainment, beauty, and hairdressing, while establishing a ground-promotion team in Haicheng to compete directly for merchant users. She also handled Zepeng Capital's pressure campaign in Han's absence, cooperating with a tax inspection while refusing vague intimidation and ensuring the investment discussion was recorded. 203 247

At Glutinous Rice Ball's launch, Su publicly explained that Riding the Wind's personal, team, and enterprise services would continue without user intervention. She assured clients that existing projects, contexts, version histories, and workflow configurations would remain intact, with model-switch notifications and compliance explanations to follow for enterprise customers. 254

As Beijing and Haicheng competed for Source Intelligence, Su helped assess the political and operational implications of relocation. She declined to make commitments when Deputy District Chief Chen offered office subsidies, tax reductions, talent quotas, and school placements, recognizing that the decision belonged to Han. She then spent three hours with Gu Siyue preparing a comparison chart of the available options, including relocation and dual headquarters, while examining the risks of trying to satisfy both cities. 259 263 265

Although Su held no formal position at Source Intelligence, Han regarded her as his second-in-command across his businesses. Source Intelligence lacked separate administrative and human-resources systems, extending her influence beyond Source Code; their working arrangement generally required her to remain behind and maintain operations during Han's business trips. 278

Su oversaw Source Code's move from Qiantan to a government-supported building in Zhangjiang, its third move in less than a year. When Riding the Wind was selected to participate in a national major AI initiative, she began preparing for competition with Seek Him Technology's enterprise-agent proposal. She later traveled to Beijing with Jiang Yixin to present the Glutinous Rice Ball ecosystem as an AI-agent platform, taking primary responsibility for the presentation and expert questions. 307 390

After learning that Han had begun dating Gu Siyue during May Day, Su congratulated him but asked him to address her as “President Su” rather than “Nian Nian.” Her subsequent subdued behavior, hoarse voice, and long working hours concerned Jiang Yixin. Despite this strain, Su continued directing product strategy and mentoring Jiang, later expressing the view that affection does not confer ownership and that a woman's career matters more than love. 347 349 360 390

During preparations for Source Code's merger into Origin Group, Su sought personal legal advice about preserving Han's control. Gu warned that acting-in-concert or voting-proxy arrangements could expose Su to joint-controller obligations, longer share lock-ups, and stricter oversight, and advised her to take no action for her own interests. Su nevertheless asked Gu to represent her in discussing such arrangements with Han; the consultation does not establish that an agreement had already been signed. 399

When Zhou Min visited the headquarters while Han was away inspecting server installations, Su recognized her, invited her upstairs, and gave her a tour. She was quietly pleased to learn that Han had mentioned her to his mother years earlier. Zhou subsequently mistook Su for Han's girlfriend, but Han clarified that Su was his business partner and that his girlfriend was Gu Siyue. 401 402

Appearance

Su Niannian is frequently associated with a clean, light-colored aesthetic. Han describes her as looking as if she had “stepped out of a milk commercial.” 8

• Long, slightly wavy hair reaching her shoulder blades; shorter than it was in university. 8
• Defined jawline and a noticeably slimmer figure than in university. 8
• Her smile begins in her eyes before reaching the corners of her mouth. 8
• Often wears white or cream clothing, including knit cardigans, dresses, coats, and scarves. 8 140
• Has worn a white choker with a small pearl, a thin silver bracelet, and minimal additional accessories. 8
• Adopts a more formal presentation for business events, including a white blazer or dark dress with her hair pinned up. 112
• Wore a light-colored qipao-style dress at Source Code Technology's annual meeting, then changed into an ocean-blue evening gown for her stage performance. 212 214
• Wore an off-white, linen-textured blazer over a muted green knit tank top on the Beijing presentation trip. Jiang Yixin noted her mature, competent bearing. 390

Personality

Su is expressive in casual conversation, regularly using exclamation marks in messages and speaking with energetic warmth. Her years in product work have also made her more deliberate: she filters her words more carefully than she did in university without becoming insincere. 8

She is direct about poor work and uncompromising about user experience. When Han's early Open Things prototype was technically functional but visually rough, she immediately identified its weak interface, onboarding, and branding as barriers for non-technical users. 57

Her professional instincts are pragmatic and user-centered. She prioritizes what users can understand, tracks evidence before making recommendations, and challenges plans she considers strategically unsound. Even when she disagrees with Han's decision to pursue a new model company, she chooses to support him once he has committed. 107 125

Su is highly driven and prone to overworking, but she develops a broader leadership perspective after becoming acting CEO. She moves from emphasizing speed and execution toward considering sustainable pacing, communication, organizational bottlenecks, and long-term strategy. 107 156 180

As acting CEO, Su remains composed under external pressure. She can hold firm against opaque threats and aggressive business tactics while privately acknowledging the strain, relying on preparation and clearly defined countermeasures rather than displays of weakness. 247

She has also become more measured about publicity and organizational scale. Following Glutinous Rice Ball's unexpected surge in attention, she restrained marketing from amplifying the hype and established a system for sorting outside approaches rather than allowing the company to be overwhelmed by them. 256

Su respects the limits of her authority even when offered attractive resources. In the dispute over Source Intelligence's location, she prioritized Han's and the company's interests over the attention of local officials, seeking to clarify the available choices rather than decide on his behalf. 263 265

Her product philosophy emphasizes human autonomy rather than dependence on AI. She argues that Glutinous Rice Ball should help people accomplish tasks and recover time for their lives, not maximize time spent chatting or attempt to replace human relationships. 349

Romantic disappointment reveals a more guarded side of Su without ending her professional commitment. She adopts more formal boundaries with Han after learning of his relationship with Gu, yet continues to support corporate stability. She explicitly recognizes that her feelings do not entitle her to interfere in another relationship, while privately questioning whether her efforts to protect Han's control are entirely separate from those feelings. 347 390 399

Abilities & Skills

Product Strategy & User Research

Su excels at converting user behavior, complaints, and market gaps into product decisions.

• Built detailed competitor analyses for AI code-review products, examining features, technical approaches, pricing, user reviews, and funding information. 13
• Conducted BugKiller beta testing; reported that 19 of 23 testers used the tool more than five times, while several asked about a paid version. 20
• Identified Open Things' fastest-growing business-oriented scenarios—such as store management, booking systems, and customer management—through category-level growth analysis. 95
• Uses user stories to frame product messaging, emphasizing practical outcomes over model parameters or technical architecture. 110 112
• Recognizes that user feedback often expresses a deeper need; for example, users seeking independent deployment primarily wanted assurance that their work would not suddenly disappear. 106
• Positioned Open Things around merchant retention rather than customer acquisition, using tailored AI tools, membership systems, promotions, and coupons to help businesses retain repeat customers and control their own customer data. 160
• Established niche-by-niche validation as the company’s growth approach, beginning with sectors such as hair and nail salons, neighborhood stores, children's entertainment, beauty, and hairdressing. 160 203
• Identified non-adoption as a more important research signal than high adoption alone, requiring Jiang Yixin to investigate the employees who did not use the internal AI Agent. 204
• Reaffirmed Glutinous Rice Ball Chat's identity as a “trustworthy agent”, agreeing that adding companion and adviser personas would dilute its positioning. Its purpose is to help users work effectively and regain time rather than prolong conversational engagement. 349

Monetization & Growth Planning

Su handles pricing, conversion analysis, and growth planning for Open Things.

• Designed a three-tier pricing structure: Basic free, Pro at 99 yuan monthly, and Plus at 299 yuan monthly, with separately purchasable additional quota. 73
• Measured a 6.2% paid conversion rate during the Pro-tier gradual rollout. 73
• Projected monthly revenue beyond one million yuan once daily active users reached 20,000. 73
• Reported that daily active users had stabilized above 50,000 before organic acquisition began slowing, prompting a search for the next growth curve. 95
• Used template-section data to select commercial application scenarios by retention rate, user type, and frequency of use. 100
• Defended Open Things' commercial viability with a 26% paid conversion rate, 62% thirty-day retention rate, and 51% monthly credit-package repurchase rate. 112
• Set a two-quarter validation period for the industry-template growth flywheel, with referral-rate improvement as the reassessment threshold. 159 160
• Organized a ground-promotion effort in Haicheng when white-label API demand weakened, recognizing that merchant acquisition required offline, one-by-one engagement rather than AI automation alone. 203
• Connected new visual features to commercial sustainability, recognizing that AIGC image generation could triple operating costs and require pricing changes before the template release. 70

Product Design & Requirements Management

Su focuses on usability, trust, edge cases, and differentiated product positioning.

• Rejected the internal name “BugKiller” as too programmer-oriented for commercial use, recommending it remain an internal codename. 13
• Reframed Open Things around experience, trust, and brand rather than raw technical capability. 57
• Identified template-based style systems—not merely component sets—as the solution to Open Things' generic visual output. 69 70
• Requires product documents to account for failure states, including insufficient balance, invalid keys, incorrect regions, and cloud-service outages. 106
• Introduced a status-page proposal to communicate service conditions, maintenance, and expected feature-delivery dates without resorting to overtime. 107
• Rigorously tested Jiang Yixin's AI Agent on a difficult production-code refactoring task rather than accepting a simple demonstration, exposing the underlying model-intelligence limit after repeated failures. 148
• Recognized that an AI Agent’s failures were valuable training material and supported collecting them rather than treating them merely as unsuccessful output. 148
• Communicated continuity guarantees during Riding the Wind's model migration, addressing preservation of projects, contexts, histories, and workflows as well as enterprise compliance concerns. 254
• Directed Jiang to prepare external communications guidance and refine Glutinous Rice Ball's tone without compromising its product principles or safety standards. 349
• Continues evaluating usability outside formal reviews; while showing Zhou Min the company's electronically tracked incense offering, she privately criticized its poor user experience. 401

Business Negotiation & Competitive Analysis

Su is adept at recognizing strategic pressure and handling business conversations.

• Tracked a coordinated five-front campaign against BugKiller involving partnerships, market rumors, venture-capital sentiment, public discussion, and enterprise-client recruitment. 34
• Helped develop a non-exclusive, multi-platform channel strategy to prevent BugKiller from becoming dependent on any one cloud provider. 37 40
• Redirected an apparent enterprise-services inquiry at a Qianhai event, exposing that the visitor was attempting to gather Open Things' operational data. 112
• Established an SOP for routing and handling the surge of business-partnership requests received by Source Code Technology. 113
• Anticipated that NeusAI would use partnership, learning, and eventual replacement as a three-stage strategy against Source Code. 188
• Identified NeusAI's no-training clause as a vendor-lock-in risk and supported protecting Source Code's core data and model-development freedom in any potential cooperation. 134 138
• Required Source Code's meeting with Zepeng Capital to be recorded and refused to engage with its representative's deliberately vague warnings about strategic shareholders and regulatory risk. 247
• Designed a four-category external-liaison process for government, industry resources, clients, and capital after Glutinous Rice Ball's launch attracted a flood of inquiries. 256
• Responded cautiously to Haicheng's retention incentives and worked with Gu Siyue to compare the financial, staffing, procedural, and political implications of relocation or dual headquarters. 263 265
• Prepared for Riding the Wind's competition with Seek Him Technology in a national major AI initiative, then took the lead in presenting the Glutinous Rice Ball ecosystem and answering expert questions. 307 390
• Sought legal mechanisms to preserve Han's control during the planned Origin Group merger, distinguishing her position as an individual shareholder from her corporate role and requesting representation for negotiations over acting-in-concert and voting-proxy arrangements. 399

Team Leadership & Operations

As product leader and acting CEO, Su manages people, processes, and organizational bottlenecks.

• Mentors Jiang Yixin, who transferred from development into product management and began reporting directly to Su. 102
• Promoted structured feasibility reviews between product and development rather than sending requirements directly into implementation. 106
• Identified that an AI coding Agent had shifted the development bottleneck from coding to manual code review, using throughput data rather than merge counts alone. 179 180
• Treated development as a multi-stage production flow, distinguishing proxy metrics from the actual value produced by the team. 180
• Delivered Source Code's business report at its board meeting, setting a two-quarter validation window and a reassessment threshold for industry-template growth. 159 160
• Became the direct manager of Source Code's product and technical functions after Han transferred CEO-level daily operational authority to her; Chen Jianye and Jiang Yixin report to her as Head of Technology and Head of Product respectively. 156
• Mentors through questioning rather than simply supplying answers, repeatedly asking Jiang to reason through competitive threats, process bottlenecks, and proposed countermeasures herself. 180 187 188
• Recognized the unsustainable strain of the company’s expanding workload; Han subsequently directed Shen Congyun to recruit a secretary focused on business assistance and administrative coordination for her. 211
• Mediated Jiang Yixin and Chen Jianye's conflict over AI coding, then encouraged Chen to redesign review procedures rather than personally rewrite every problematic submission. She recommended The Phoenix Project to Jiang and High Output Management to Chen. 175 180
• Indirectly supports Source Intelligence's administration and human resources because it initially shares these systems with Source Code rather than maintaining its own. 278
• Notices employees' fatigue and changes in behavior, expressing concern for Jiang's health and agreeing to give her time off when she appeared unlike herself. 250 323
• Teaches practical time management, explaining company transport and reimbursement policies and encouraging Jiang to compare the value of her time with the cost of outsourcing travel and errands. 390
• Approved additional staff and hiring funds for Jiang's expanding responsibilities, proposed two director positions beneath her, and asked her to recommend candidates. She explained that management layers can provide reliable reporting “interfaces” without requiring senior leaders to track every detail. 399

Singing & Performance

• Performed “Boundless Oceans, Vast Skies” at Source Code's annual meeting. Her clear, bright voice carried an unexpectedly weathered melancholy and quieted an audience that had continued chatting through earlier performances. 214

Relationships

• Han Luyi — University classmate, co-founder, and closest professional partner. She joined his venture after leaving Beaver, supports his strategic decisions even when she considers them risky, and later becomes acting CEO while he focuses on model development. Their relationship carries clear but initially unspoken romantic feelings. Su has repeatedly signaled her feelings through gifts, coded conversation, and a wish that “the person I like likes me too,” while Han recognizes the implication but continues to avoid directly confirming it. 8 32 125 140 156 164 She also offered him a 16 million yuan loan without seeking equity and remained his second-in-command across the businesses despite holding no formal Source Intelligence position. 130 278 After Han began dating Gu Siyue, Su congratulated him but requested more formal address and was visibly affected by the news. Her feelings remained unresolved, but she maintained boundaries and continued working to protect company stability and his control during the planned merger. Han explicitly identifies her as his business partner, not his girlfriend. 347 349 390 399 402
• Jiang Yixin — Direct report and product-management mentee. Su teaches her user profiling, requirements writing, edge-case analysis, data interpretation, and product thinking. After Jiang becomes Head of Product, Su continues to develop her strategic judgment through difficult competitive and operational questions. 50 102 106 156 180 188 Their relationship also includes personal care: Su notices Jiang's fatigue, reassures her before the national-project presentation, and teaches her to spend money to preserve valuable time. Jiang worries about Su's distress after Han's relationship with Gu becomes known. Su later supports Jiang's expanding team by approving hires and proposing subordinate director roles. 250 349 390 399
• Gu Siyue — Legal adviser and professional acquaintance. Gu's analysis of Beaver's reassignment and access restrictions gave Su the basis to challenge the non-compete clause. Their relationship became more personally friendly as Gu supported Su during Zepeng Capital's pressure campaign; they later agreed to address one another as “Siyue” and “Niannian.” 31 32 103 247 259 Su subsequently visited Gu's apartment, where they shared coffee and dinner while preparing a relocation comparison for Han. 265 Gu's relationship with Han later made Su more hesitant to use familiar address, but Gu reassured her that she did not need to explain her boundaries or motives. Su entrusted Gu with representing her personally in discussions about voting arrangements for the planned merger. 347 399
• Lin Wanqing — Design collaborator brought in by Su to improve Open Things' visual quality through multiple style templates. 69 70
• Fang Xu — Former Beaver product director whose reassignment, exclusion of Su from project access, and selective non-compete enforcement ultimately weakened Beaver's case against her. 30 32
• Lu Mingzhou — Source Code's CFO and an important operational counterpart. He supports Su's authority as acting CEO, works with her on investor approaches and financial responses, and helps execute the company’s business strategy. 156 245 247
• Chen Jianye — Head of Technology and direct report. Su helped him move from personally rewriting AI-generated code toward process redesign and delegation, contributing to his broader shift away from the lone-worker habits he had developed at Dingsheng. 156 180 285
• Zhang Biao — Han's assistant and bodyguard, who performed CPR and used an AED to save Su's father after his heart attack. His actions created a lasting bond of gratitude between Su's family and Han's closest associate. 164
• Su's parents — Her father suffered a heart attack and was hospitalized; Su remained involved in company work while supporting him through his recovery. Her mother and father are deeply grateful to Zhang Biao for saving his life. 164 175 Her mother also pressures her to consider matchmaking and acknowledges that the family had previously opposed an out-of-town romantic prospect, while saying that residence and housing are no longer their priority. 49
• Zhou Min — Han's mother. Su recognizes her during a headquarters visit, offers hospitality, and shows her around while Han is away. Zhou takes an immediate liking to Su and remembers Han mentioning her during his university years. Zhou later guesses that Su is Han's girlfriend, a misunderstanding Han corrects. 401 402
• Deputy District Chief Chen — Government contact who approaches Su with incentives intended to retain Source Code and Source Intelligence in Haicheng. She maintains a respectful but noncommittal stance rather than making decisions beyond her authority. 263

Notable Quotes

“Our users don't care how many parameters the model has. They care whether this month's revenue can be reconciled.” 112

“I still think the risk is too great. This is a gamble. But since you've already made your decision, I won't stop you. I'll gamble with you.” 125

“The normal path is only the foundation. Edge cases are where the value lies.” 106

“The first act is partnership. The second act is learning from us... The third act is replacement.” 188

“If they concern day-to-day operations, I will make the final call. If they involve directional changes for the company, I will discuss them with President Han and, if necessary, bring them before the board.” 160

“Stop carrying everything by yourself. I'm your friend.” 85

“Call me... call me President Su.” 347

“In this world, no soul ever belongs to another. You don't own the person you love.” 390

“Xiao Jiang, if you want to comfort this friend of yours, you can tell her this: for a woman, her career matters more than love.” 390

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