Diwu Ling

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Diwu Ling (第五陵)
Alias(es)	A-Ling 43
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Turing Group; Diwu Family 43 189
Occupation/Role	Chairman and president of Turing Group; the Diwu Family's designated heir 43 152
Status	Alive; retains memories from his previous life after the world's rebirth 214 219
First Appearance	Chapter 34

Background / History

Diwu Ling became head of Turing Group after his father, Diwu Shang, retired. Turing Group is a multinational conglomerate active in more than twenty industries, with major domestic and international influence. Despite his position, Diwu Ling avoids social engagements and is known as a difficult, distant figure within the city 43 80.

Before meeting Huo Jiu, Diwu Ling lived with an almost mechanical discipline. His parents describe him as an obedient but solitary child who focused entirely on study, work, and self-improvement; he ate for convenience rather than enjoyment and showed little interest in ordinary social life. After taking over Turing Group, he even abolished its private executive cafeteria so management would share the same treatment as employees 189.

In the Original Plot's intended course, Diwu Ling did not exist as a meaningful character and was supposed to die in a car accident after dining at First-Rank Pavilion. Huo Jiu's interference repeatedly prevents this death, but the Original Plot responds by gradually erasing Diwu Ling, Turing Group, and all public traces of his existence 43 78 80.

Huo Jiu preserves Diwu Ling's place in the world by establishing a student aid fund at Bocui Private School under his name. The students' collective recognition enables Diwu Ling to return with memories of Huo Jiu and their previous encounters 80 81.

Appearance

Diwu Ling is usually expressionless, with dark, clear eyes that can appear unexpectedly innocent. His hands are fair and distinctly jointed, with thin calluses around the knuckles from work 35 108.

• Often maintains a cold, composed demeanor even in personal situations.
• Has a sharply defined physique; Huo Jiu notices him rubbing his abs after overeating 99.
• His ears visibly redden when Huo Jiu teases him or speaks intimately about their partnership 108 218.

Personality

Diwu Ling is proud, restrained, and highly self-contained. He dislikes empty socializing and typically speaks only when he has something necessary to say. This reserve should not be mistaken for passivity: when confronting Su Zhuo or negotiating with business rivals, he is incisive, eloquent, and difficult to refute 74 87 152.

He treats friendship seriously. Early in his relationship with Huo Jiu, he makes clear that his support is not an attempt to buy Huo Jiu's gratitude; he wants to be regarded as a genuine friend rather than merely a benefactor 36. Once Huo Jiu confides in him about the Reloads and the Original Plot, Diwu Ling chooses to believe him because doing so makes Huo Jiu happy 76.

Beneath his aloof image, Diwu Ling is protective, patient, and quietly mischievous. He tutors Huo Jiu, encourages him to develop practical skills, and consistently prioritizes Huo Jiu's autonomy over social pressure or the Su family's demands 71 72 76. Huo Jiu's presence also brings out his hidden enjoyment of food, gossip, outdoor activities, and domestic life 77 189 222.

Abilities & Skills

Corporate Leadership and Negotiation

As Turing Group's president, Diwu Ling possesses broad industry knowledge, strong strategic awareness, and exceptional negotiating ability.

• Personally handles Turing Group's most consequential strategic partnerships, securing favorable terms through precise analysis of others' weaknesses and bottom lines 151 152.
• Quickly identifies flaws in reports, partnership proposals, and corporate schemes while supervising Turing Group's operations 151.
• Regards capital operations as a practical tool rather than an end in itself; Turing Group primarily invests in high-tech industries, and its acquisition of Su Corporation is driven by the need to oppose the Original Plot 181.

Capital Operations

Diwu Ling is an experienced market operator with extensive capital and access to substantial cash flow.

• Teaches Huo Jiu classic trading and capital-operation cases without disclosing Turing Group trade secrets 71.
• Plans to exploit Su Corporation's internal conflict by purchasing shares at low prices and using shareholder influence to block Su Shiyuan's control 169.
• Leads Turing Group's rapid share acquisition campaign against Su Corporation, moving to remove Su Shiyuan as chairman and secure additional board seats 175.
• Sees through Lu Manzhen's proposed share exchange and refuses to let her dictate the terms of Turing Group's expansion 179.

Analysis of the Original Plot

Diwu Ling becomes one of the few people able to understand and actively resist the Original Plot's logic.

• Recognizes that Su Zhuo is the center of the Original Plot but depends on surrounding plot characters to sustain its development 82.
• Determines that encouraging plot characters to prioritize their own interests over Su Zhuo's will destabilize the Original Plot's “underlying logic” 83.
• Remains conscious during a plot skip, witnessing the world freeze, shatter into fragments, and reconstruct itself into a revised narrative 90.
• Is initially vulnerable to memory erasure, but regains memories of Huo Jiu once Bocui Private School's scholarship recipients begin remembering him 80 81.

Tutoring and Mentorship

Diwu Ling personally supports Huo Jiu's education and long-term development.

• Begins teaching Huo Jiu mathematics from an elementary-school foundation, showing patience rather than judgment 56.
• Gives Huo Jiu finance homework, grades his work, and plans for him to eventually intern at Turing Group 72.
• Explains financial statements and business structures repeatedly until Huo Jiu understands them 108.
• Protects Huo Jiu's health by arranging a personal trainer and insisting on adequate sleep despite Huo Jiu's intense study schedule 113.

Domestic Skills

Diwu Ling begins as a complete novice in the kitchen but gradually learns to participate in daily cooking.

• His first time “cooking” consists of washing ingredients, which Huo Jiu points out does not truly count as cooking 56.
• Learns to identify vegetables and wash them without damaging them under Huo Jiu's guidance 120.
• Learns to make Osmanthus Glutinous Rice Lotus Root and later prepares Fried Xiangling for his family 120 190.

Resources & Possessions

• Turing Group — A multinational conglomerate and Diwu Ling's principal source of influence, capital, personnel, and industrial resources 43 108.
• Food-processing facilities — Turing Group operates food-processing plants capable of patenting and scaling Huo Jiu's seasoning formulas 108.
• Black Maybach — Frequently used to drive Huo Jiu, including during their trips to the mountaintop and beyond the city limits 77 215.
• Two Akhal-Teke horses — A chestnut-red horse and a champagne-gold horse kept at an equestrian club where Diwu Ling is a high-level VIP 72.

Relationships

• Huo Jiu — His closest companion, student, business partner, and the person who repeatedly saves his life from the Original Plot's erasure. Diwu Ling supports Huo Jiu's refusal to donate bone marrow, lives with him near Bocui Private School, and later works alongside him to dismantle the Original Plot 76 94 150.
• Diwu Shang — His father and Turing Group's former chairman. Diwu Shang retired from management after Diwu Ling took over the group 120 189.
• Madam Wen — His mother. She worries over Diwu Ling's formerly isolated life and credits Huo Jiu with making her son more expressive and human 121 189.
• Su Shiyuan — Corporate rival and Huo Jiu's stepfather. Diwu Ling opposes his attempts to force Huo Jiu into a bone marrow transplant, later leading Turing Group's campaign to seize control of Su Corporation 85 175.
• Su Zhuo — The Original Plot's male lead and beneficiary of the attempted transplant. Diwu Ling openly challenges Su Zhuo's moral position and refuses to let Huo Jiu be sacrificed for him 86 87.
• Lu Manzhen — Huo Jiu's biological mother and a politically useful but untrusted shareholder. Diwu Ling negotiates with her while remaining alert to her efforts to manipulate Turing Group 178 179.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Friendship with Huo Jiu

Diwu Ling first meets Huo Jiu through food and is immediately impressed by his knife skills and cooking. When rumors spread that the Su family may force Huo Jiu to donate bone marrow, Diwu Ling offers him a cafeteria job, educational sponsorship, and personal protection 34 35.

He gradually becomes Huo Jiu's tutor in mathematics, trading, and capital operations. Their arrangement begins as meals in exchange for lessons, but becomes a close friendship built on mutual trust and daily companionship 56 70 71.

Death, Erasure, and Return

Diwu Ling's initial car-accident death reveals that he was never meant to remain in the Original Plot. Huo Jiu repeatedly reenacts their first meeting to save him, eventually realizing that Diwu Ling's survival depends on becoming someone remembered by the plot characters 42 63 78.

After Huo Jiu establishes the Bocui Private School fund in Diwu Ling's name, Diwu Ling returns from an imposed business trip with his memories restored. He and Huo Jiu then begin openly investigating the Original Plot rather than merely surviving its resets 80 81.

Resistance Against the Original Plot

Diwu Ling develops the central strategy for undermining the Original Plot: weaken Su Zhuo's influence by changing the interests and loyalties of the characters around him. He and Huo Jiu decide to use education, business competition, and the self-interest of plot characters to create contradictions the Original Plot cannot easily repair 82 83.

When Su Shiyuan attempts to abduct Huo Jiu for the transplant, Diwu Ling responds with a direct threat against Su Zhuo, making clear that he will retaliate if Huo Jiu is harmed 85.

Corporate Campaign Against the Su and Bai Families

Diwu Ling uses Turing Group's capital to acquire stakes in Su Corporation, capitalize on the conflict between Su Shiyuan and Lu Manzhen, and convene a shareholders' meeting aimed at removing Su Shiyuan from power 169 175.

After securing control, he treats Su Corporation as a responsibility rather than an asset to strip, appointing new leadership and directing development of the Su Garden project with Fresh Gathering Pavilion 181. He later helps prevent the Bai family from interfering with Turing Group's control of White Corporation through capital expansion and share dilution 199.

Rebirth and Freedom

When the Original World collapses and restarts, Diwu Ling regains memories of his prior life and finds Huo Jiu at the police station. He immediately investigates becoming Huo Jiu's legal guardian despite the difficulty of challenging Lu Manzhen's parental rights 214.

After the rebirth, he takes Huo Jiu beyond the city limits for the first time, confirming that the former restrictions no longer control them. He later arranges Huo Jiu's enrollment at City No. 1 High School while continuing to build an ordinary shared life around meals, work, and travel 215 219.

Notable Quotes

“If you truly want to save someone, I won't stop you. But if you don't want the surgery, I'll be the support that lets you refuse.” 76

“I'm back.” 81

“You saved my life, and you changed my fate. I don't fulfill your every request because you can take whatever you want from me. It's because my life, my destiny, exists because of you.” 150