Huo Jiu

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Huo Jiu (霍柩)
Alias(es)	Jiu—written with the character for “coffin” 23
Species/Race	Human
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Bocui Private School; Fresh Gathering Pavilion collaborator and technical stakeholder; ally of Turing Group 95 106 108
Occupation/Role	Student; chef; culinary researcher and recipe developer
Status	Alive; reborn with memories of the previous timeline 214 220
First Appearance	1

Background / History

Huo Jiu was a workaholic who died from overwork before transmigrating into the body of the original Huo Jiu, a sixteen-year-old minor in a Mary Sue novel. The original owner had grown up under an alcoholic, abusive father after Lu Manzhen left the family; she returned only after learning that Huo Jiu’s Rh-negative blood might make him a bone marrow match for her stepson, Su Zhuo 1 2 5.

After entering the body, Huo Jiu repeatedly relives the original owner’s memories through nightmares: domestic abuse, abandonment, homelessness, a coerced bone marrow donation, eventual expulsion from the Su family, and a miserable death after being used as an antagonist to Su Zhuo 2. These memories leave him determined not to accept the fate assigned to the body he inhabits.

His resistance exposes the world’s central rule: whenever he deviates from the Original Plot at a key point, the world Reloads. Huo Jiu retains his memories across cycles and initially exploits the repeated time to study, earn money, develop skills, and test the plot’s boundaries 1 10. He later learns that the Plot Halo can also force timeline skips and create false continuity, including a supposed bone marrow transplant that never physically occurred 87 89.

Appearance

Huo Jiu is a strikingly handsome teenager whose frail appearance gradually changes as his health and lifestyle improve. During his early time on the streets, fever and hunger leave him thin and worn down; after sustained training, study, and regular care, he becomes healthier and more composed 3 113 114.

• Beautiful, sharply defined features described as unusually eye-catching 3 32.
• Initially slender and pale, but with visibly explosive strength beneath his weak exterior 3.
• Later develops a fair, rosy complexion, smoother muscle definition, and faint abdominal muscles through fitness training 113 114.
• Carries a steady, dependable air despite a faintly wicked quality to his features 129.

Personality

Huo Jiu is fiercely independent, pragmatic, and unwilling to accept affection, status, or wealth as compensation for being controlled. He views the Su family’s treatment of him as transactional and consistently rejects attempts to buy his obedience or smooth over past harm 29 45 94. His central desire is simple: no one else gets to arrange his life or fate 218.

He is sharp-tongued and vindictive when provoked, often identifying a person’s weakest point and using it against them. He can be calculating, especially when sowing discord among people whose interests conflict, but he does not see value in dishonesty during harmless contests or in accepting unfair advantages 7 19 51.

Despite his abrasive manner, Huo Jiu repeatedly helps people when he can: he tutors children to keep them from a future tragedy, saves an elderly man, catches thieves, and uses later Reloads to protect people whose misfortunes he has witnessed 63 67 68. Time spent with Diwu Ling, classmates, and culinary partners makes him less suspicious and volatile; he grows more patient, sociable, and gentle without surrendering his boundaries 114.

Abilities & Skills

Culinary Mastery

Huo Jiu’s strongest skill is cooking, rooted in childhood training under an elder from a culinary family. He learned knife work, dim sum, ingredient preparation, carving, and traditional recipe techniques from an early age 16.

• Defeated First-Rank Pavilion’s head chef, Yan Dongge, in a Wensi Tofu contest through superior knife work and heat control 19 20 23.
• Can perform exceptionally precise preparation, including cutting tofu and other ingredients into fine threads 18 20.
• Excels at Huaiyang cuisine, Fangshan Restaurant dishes, pastries, medicinal cuisine, and modern adaptations of traditional recipes 105 110.
• Developed proprietary seasoning formulas used in his Fresh Gathering Pavilion partnership; Diwu Ling arranged patents and processing support for the recipes 108.
• Refuses to compromise on ingredient authenticity and publicly exposed First-Rank Pavilion’s use of fake shark fin 19 23.

Reload Memory and Plot Analysis

Huo Jiu retains memories through Reloads caused by deviation from the Original Plot. This gives him a unique advantage over characters who reset without remembering prior cycles 1 10.

• Uses repeated time to study, refine culinary techniques, test plot restrictions, and repeat profitable actions 1 45.
• Identifies that plot characters can change outside major plot checkpoints, even when central events remain fixed 46.
• Recognizes that the Plot Halo has limits: it can merge or skip events, but cannot fully force physical reality to match its fabricated timeline 89.
• Works with Diwu Ling to weaken the Original Plot by encouraging plot characters to act from ordinary self-interest rather than irrational devotion to Su Zhuo 82 83.
• Targets the business alliances and social structures supporting major plot characters in order to destabilize the Original Plot’s logic 103 113.

Strategic Thinking and Finance

Huo Jiu combines knowledge retained from Reloads with patience and a willingness to learn.

• Won more than eighty million yuan by using memorized lottery numbers after first earning money through Chinese chess at Lakeside Park 12 27.
• Uses negotiations to resist exploitation, including demanding one hundred million yuan and a signed gift contract before even discussing bone marrow donation 8 9.
• Studies trading, capital operations, financial reports, mergers and acquisitions, and business strategy under Diwu Ling’s guidance and through hired tutors 70 80 113.
• Invests his lottery funds through Diwu Ling and receives substantial dividends through Fresh Gathering Pavilion 121 129.

Academic Ability and Teaching

Huo Jiu initially lacks a formal education but uses Reloads and tutoring to close the gap rapidly.

• Completed six years of elementary material and three years of middle-school material through repeated study cycles 62.
• Placed eighth in his grade after entering Bocui Private School 116.
• Hired tutors for French, Spanish, Russian, and German while balancing school, business, and culinary work 103.
• Tutored three at-risk children with a strict recitation-and-explanation method, preventing them from continuing down a destructive path 67.

Resourcefulness

Huo Jiu is difficult to confine or intimidate despite being a minor.

• Escaped Su family bodyguards by crawling through a ventilation duct, though the plot forcibly returned him to its required checkpoint 9.
• Caught bag snatchers, recovered stolen handbags, and exposed a gambling den’s cheating methods 68.
• Is physically stronger than his slim appearance suggests and is capable of restraining older children who threaten him 3 66.

Relationships

• Diwu Ling — Huo Jiu’s closest ally, confidant, and housemate. Huo Jiu repeatedly saves Diwu Ling from being erased or killed by the Original Plot, while Diwu Ling protects Huo Jiu from forced bone marrow donation, teaches him business skills, and supports his independence 63 84 94 150.
• Lu Manzhen — His biological mother. Huo Jiu rejects her attempts at reconciliation because she abandoned him during childhood and later brought him to the Su family primarily as a bone marrow match for Su Zhuo 5 29 143.
• Su Shiyuan — Lu Manzhen’s husband and Huo Jiu’s nominal stepfather. Su Shiyuan repeatedly attempts to secure Huo Jiu’s bone marrow for Su Zhuo and later seeks Huo Jiu’s culinary talent for Su Garden 3 31 75.
• Su Zhuo — Lu Manzhen’s stepson and the Original Plot’s male lead. Huo Jiu refuses to become his organ bank, while Su Zhuo continues to regard Huo Jiu as his benefactor because of the Plot Halo’s false bone marrow-transplant narrative 87 92 137.
• Fang Yuan — Classmate and loyal friend at Bocui. Fang Yuan tutors Huo Jiu academically, defends him against accusations, and openly challenges Su Zhuo’s supporters 100 122 138.
• Liang Xiaoba — Chef of Fresh Gathering Pavilion and Huo Jiu’s culinary partner. Liang admires Huo Jiu’s skill, assists him in the kitchen, and works with him to improve Fangshan cuisine 34 106 108.
• Cao Old Master — First-Rank Pavilion’s senior figure. Though cautious of Huo Jiu’s motives, he respects his culinary ability and leaves First-Rank Pavilion open to him as a place for future exchanges 28 111.
• Nannan — A young girl Huo Jiu treats with unusual warmth. He enjoys her affectionate nickname for him and promises to make animal-shaped pastries for her 32.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Refusal of the Assigned Villain Role

Huo Jiu enters the story as the body’s designated “vicious” supporting character: a bone marrow donor meant to become jealous of Su Zhuo, attack him, and ultimately die. He refuses to follow that role, triggering the first Reloads and beginning his struggle against the Original Plot 1 2 82.

Survival, Lottery, and First-Rank Pavilion

After surviving homelessness and fever, Huo Jiu gains his first capital through chess and lottery winnings. He then exposes First-Rank Pavilion’s fake ingredients and defeats its head chef, establishing his reputation as an exceptional young chef 12 19 23.

Saving Diwu Ling

Huo Jiu discovers that Diwu Ling was not part of the Original Plot and was originally meant to die in a car accident. He deliberately repeats their first meeting across cycles to save him, making Diwu Ling the one person Huo Jiu willingly seeks out again and again 43 63 78.

Resistance to Forced Donation

As Su Shiyuan becomes increasingly desperate to obtain Huo Jiu’s bone marrow, Huo Jiu refuses both coercion and emotional pressure. The Original Plot eventually skips directly to a false post-surgery timeline, but Huo Jiu confirms that he never underwent the procedure 84 87 88 89.

Bocui Private School and Plot Disruption

Huo Jiu moves out of the Su residence, accepts Diwu Ling’s apartment near Bocui, and enrolls in school early. He establishes a five-million-yuan scholarship fund in Diwu Ling’s name, which helps restore Diwu Ling’s existence and memories within the world 80 94 95 98.

Culinary Business Expansion

Huo Jiu partners with Fresh Gathering Pavilion, contributes Fangshan Restaurant recipes and seasoning formulas, and helps elevate the restaurant’s reputation until it can rival First-Rank Pavilion 106 108 121. He also joins the food program Jianghu’s Number-One Dish, using public influence to support his culinary work rather than pursuing celebrity for its own sake 127 129.

Rebirth and Freedom

When the world collapses and Reloads again, Huo Jiu escapes the initial Su family setup with Diwu Ling’s help. After rebirth, he calls the police, challenges Lu Manzhen’s guardianship, and refuses once more to donate bone marrow to Su Zhuo 214 220. With the Original Plot’s restrictions weakened, he is finally able to leave the city and experience the freedom he had always wanted 215 218.

Trivia

• Huo Jiu calms himself by counting large amounts of cash, once withdrawing ten million yuan specifically to spread around his room and count 47 54.
• He has low material desires despite his wealth; most of his spending goes toward ingredients, education, tutors, and helping others 94 129.
• His preferred everyday food is strongly flavored, including rice noodles, spicy dishes, and sweet-and-sour dishes, rather than the Huaiyang cuisine he is best known for making 146.
• He once described his relationship with Lu Manzhen and the original host by saying that “the Huo Jiu who wanted to talk to you is already dead” 29.