Cheng Cheng

Biodata

Background / History

Cheng Cheng entered Instant Heartbeat as one of its most popular guests, with an unusually devoted fanbase and a public image built on his sweetness, youthfulness, and approachable manner. When asked why he joined the show, he said he wanted to make more friends. 4

He already knew Shen Ranxin as “Ran” when Shen arrived at the villa. Cheng treated him with familiar closeness, asking him to sit beside him and later selecting him in the red-string hide-and-seek game rather than Lu Zhi. 2 5

Later events establish that Cheng had cared for Shen for five years and had attempted to erase Lu Zhi’s influence over him. Cheng also claims that he and Shen had originally been meant to marry, framing Lu as the third party in their relationship. 40 45 His later confession clarifies that he altered Shen’s memories after the fire and tried to make Shen believe that Cheng was the person he loved; however, Shen’s genuine emotional attachment to Lu persisted despite the conditioning. 96 138

Cheng is Lu Yeshan’s biological but illegitimate son, conceived through artificial insemination after his mother, a Lu-family maid, acquired material from the Anomaly Management Center. Although Lu Yeshan raised and educated him, Cheng grew up resenting Lu Zhi, the adopted orphan who possessed the status, affection, and relationship with Shen that Cheng believed should have been his. 116 117

Cheng’s mother treated him as a tool for entering the Lu family and subjected him to severe abuse after her ambitions failed. Cheng later admitted responsibility for her death, while Lu Yeshan had long suspected his involvement without proof. As a child, Cheng also terrorized the classmates who bullied him, causing several to suffer psychological collapse and at least one to die, while exploiting his status as a minor to evade consequences. 117 119

Lu Yeshan had intended to place Cheng within the Shen family to help expose Shen Ziqing’s forbidden research. Instead, Cheng became involved in that research himself, gaining knowledge of gland transplantation, memory manipulation, and Shen Ziqing’s larger schemes. 116 138

Appearance

Cheng Cheng is a fair-skinned young man with slightly messy orange curls, large bright “puppy” eyes, and a small dimple that appears when he smiles. Though twenty-three, his appearance gives him the youthful energy of a cheerful school junior. 2

• Peach-blossom eyes and a tear mole near one eye. 14
• Often described as sweet-looking, adorable, and naturally inviting of protection. 2
• His pheromones are described as carrying white-tea fragrance; when intensely affected by Shen, his scent is also described as white magnolia. 29 98

Personality

Cheng presents himself as warm, considerate, and emotionally intelligent. He maintains a friendly public demeanor even while navigating tension with the other guests, and he is known in the industry for being sensible and easy to work with. 4 11

His attentiveness toward Shen is unusually thorough. He prepares toiletries, clothing, suppressants, bedding, and other supplies specifically to prevent Lu Zhi from borrowing anything from Shen; he also learns to cook sweet-and-sour dishes because Shen likes them. 8 14

Beneath this considerate exterior, Cheng is jealous, calculating, and possessive. He competes openly with Lu for Shen’s attention, treats Shen’s lost memories as an advantage, and becomes violent when Shen rejects his confession. 18 29 His protective behavior can therefore shift into control, particularly when he believes Lu Zhi is threatening his claim on Shen. 40 45

Cheng’s possessiveness ultimately stems from a transactional understanding of affection. He believes that his abuse, deprivation, and status as Lu Yeshan’s neglected son entitle him to receive Shen’s love as compensation for what Lu Zhi has. Shen rejects this belief, arguing that suffering cannot be ranked or used to create a claim over another person. 119

Though he initially justifies his manipulation as an effort to protect Shen after the fire, Cheng eventually acknowledges that he wanted an obedient version of Shen rather than respecting Shen’s autonomy. He also recognizes that Lu Zhi was the only person able to reach Shen’s emotions genuinely. 121 138

Abilities & Skills

Pheromone Manipulation

Cheng possesses powerful white-tea pheromones and uses them deliberately against Shen Ranxin during the hospital encounter.

• His pheromones can overwhelm an Alpha’s judgment and physical resistance. 29
• He uses pheromones to seduce and restrain Shen after confessing his love. 29
• He attempts to obtain a powerful blocker to subdue Shen during Shen’s breakdown in the haunted manor. 40
• He attempts to soothe Shen with his pheromones after the haunted-manor incident, but Shen’s instinctive rejection and Lu Zhi’s intervention prevent him from doing so. 41

Cooking

Cheng is the only contestant shown to be reliably skilled in the kitchen.

• Can prepare elaborate, highly praised home-style meals. 14
• Learned sweet-and-sour dishes specifically because Shen likes those flavors. 14
• His cooking becomes valuable enough for Shen to sell meals to the other contestants for points. 14
• Remains the villa’s most dependable cook during later wilderness and household challenges. 53 60

Combat

Despite his gentle idol image, Cheng is physically formidable.

• Defeated Lu Zhi in the final round of a boxing competition. 28
• The fight left both combatants seriously injured, with Cheng ultimately hospitalized. 28
• During his confrontation with Shen, he continues pursuing him even after Shen breaks his hand. 29
• He later endures a far more severe beating from Lu Zhi at the Lu estate and survives only because of the cloned organs Lu Yeshan had prepared for him. 115 116 138

Preparedness

Cheng counters Lu Zhi’s attempts at intimacy through meticulous planning.

• Brings toiletries, clothes, towels, underwear, suppressants, bite stoppers, disposable bedding, and other supplies to Shen and Lu’s room. 8
• Provides Shen with a concentrated anti-assault spray he claims was formulated to affect only Lu Zhi. 8
• Uses the bathroom’s opacity control to protect Shen’s privacy from Lu. 8

Research Knowledge

Cheng possesses practical knowledge acquired while working with Shen Ziqing’s research.

• Participated in research involving Shen Ranxin’s gland transplant and the use of a top-tier Alpha’s pheromones to trigger gland fusion. 92
• Erased and attempted to condition Shen’s memories after the fire. 96 138
• Understands gland-transplant surgery in theory, but admits that he lacks the precision to perform the operation himself. 138
• Provides information linking Shen Ziqing’s plans to Shen Qi, Wei Huizhi’s abuse, a preserved gene sequence, and Lu Yeshan’s immortal AI. 141 143

Relationships

• Shen Ranxin — Cheng’s long-term object of affection and claimed original fiancé. He openly courts Shen, exchanges red strings with him, and later confesses his love; his affection becomes coercive when he uses pheromones, memory manipulation, drugs, and violence after Shen resists. Shen ultimately rejects Cheng’s belief that love can be owed or taken, and Cheng later admits that Shen’s true emotional attachment has always remained with Lu Zhi. 5 17 29 45 96 119 138
• Lu Zhi — Romantic rival and hostile opponent. Their conflict centers on Shen, escalating from jealous interference with the Paperbush ribbons to physical fights, threats, and competing claims over Shen’s relationship. Cheng resents Lu as the person who has taken his status, family, and Shen’s genuine love, while Lu acknowledges that Cheng once saved Shen but refuses to yield Shen to him. 18 28 45 116 119
• Lu Yeshan — Cheng’s biological father. Lu Yeshan raised Cheng, arranged lifelong medical support for him, and remains conflictedly paternal despite condemning his actions. Cheng nevertheless believes that Lu Yeshan has always favored Lu Zhi and never truly loved him. 116 117 138
• Shen Ziqing — Cheng’s former research partner and the architect of the experiments surrounding Shen Ranxin’s gland and memories. Cheng assisted Shen Ziqing’s work, but later becomes an important source of information about Shen Ziqing’s plans. 96 116 138 143
• Shen Qi — A hostile former associate from Shen Ziqing’s research. Cheng regards Shen Qi as a defective experimental subject, while Shen Qi considers Cheng an extension of Shen Ziqing’s cruelty. Their mutual contempt prevents them from convincingly performing intimacy even when paired for a photo shoot. 100 101
• Gu Yifei — Temporary ally against Lu Zhi. Gu helps Cheng uproot Lu’s Paperbush tree because he dislikes Lu’s constant closeness with Shen. 24 25
• Fang Yu — Fellow contestant who criticizes Cheng for going too far after the Paperbush-tree retaliation. 25

Story Role / Major Arcs

*Instant Heartbeat* Arrival

Cheng greets Shen warmly upon his arrival, but also criticizes his leaked pheromone scent and compares it to a dog’s smell. He quickly becomes part of the apparent Shen–Lu–Cheng love triangle, even as Shen mistakenly assumes Cheng and Lu are destined to be together. 2 4

During the red-string hide-and-seek game, Cheng chooses Shen rather than Lu and calls the string a possible “red string of fate.” He later protects Shen after Lu damages Shen’s inhibitor patch during their wardrobe confrontation. 5 6

Rivalry with Lu Zhi

Cheng blocks Lu’s attempts to get close to Shen by arriving with a suitcase full of supplies and a Lu-specific anti-assault spray. He continues courting Shen through cooking, physical closeness, and his Paperbush-ribbon choice. 8 14 17

When Lu removes Cheng’s ribbon from Shen’s tree, Cheng tries to restore it and directly challenges Lu’s possessiveness. Cheng argues that Shen currently likes him, while warning Lu that Shen may regain his memories. 18

Paperbush Retaliation and Boxing Match

Cheng and Gu Yifei uproot Lu’s Paperbush tree in retaliation for Lu’s ribbon sabotage. Cheng claims the wind caused the damage, deliberately echoing Lu’s own earlier excuse. 24 25

He later faces Lu in a boxing competition. Cheng wins the final round, but the two severely injure one another, and Cheng is taken to the hospital. 28

Hospital Confrontation

When Shen visits him in the hospital, Cheng confesses that he has always loved him and asks to be together. After Shen resists, Cheng releases pheromones, attacks him, and has accomplices remove Shen before Lu can arrive. 29

After returning to the show, Cheng resumes his gentle public persona, but Shen instinctively recoils from his white-tea scent and remains wary of him. 32

Haunted Manor and Continued Claim on Shen

During Shen’s breakdown in the haunted manor, Cheng attempts to obtain a blocker to sedate him. Lu reaches Shen first and calms him through familiarity and pheromones, forcing Cheng to confront the strength of Shen’s instinctive attachment to Lu. 40

Cheng later condemns Lu’s coercive treatment of Shen and reiterates that he was originally meant to marry Shen. 45 During the cosplay game, he promises Shen that he will bring him back no matter who takes him away. 48

Cheng later uses Shen’s confusion about the system to draw him into private contact, nearly kisses him during the pool challenge, and successfully causes Shen to question what Cheng knows about his lost past. 51 52

Secrets of the Fire and the Shen Family

Cheng’s knowledge of the system, Shen Ziqing, and Shen’s altered memories increasingly makes him central to the mystery behind the derailed plot. He uses selective information about Shen’s father and Lu’s past to undermine Shen’s trust in Lu. 52 74

During the couples’ film challenge, Cheng reflects on his role in Shen Ziqing’s experiments and on his attempt to erase Shen’s memories after the fire. He recognizes that Lu’s release from the Anomaly Management Center made it impossible for him to keep Shen hidden indefinitely. 96

His hostility toward Shen Qi exposes their shared history under Shen Ziqing: Cheng sees Shen Qi as a failed experimental subject, while Shen Qi views Cheng as complicit in the same inhumane research. 100 101

Lu Family Revelation and Crisis

At the Lu estate, Shen witnesses Lu brutally beating Cheng in a boxing ring. Lu Yeshan reveals that Cheng is his biological son, conceived through artificial insemination, and that Cheng has survived only because Lu Yeshan had secretly maintained cloned organs for his medical treatment. 115 116

Cheng insists that Lu has taken everything that should have belonged to him, including Shen. Lu rejects Cheng’s claim, while Lu Yeshan explains Cheng’s troubled upbringing, his childhood violence, and his evasion of legal punishment as a minor. 116 117

After recovering enough to leave his medical pod, Cheng confronts Shen at the Lu-family banquet. He asks why Shen cannot love him as he loves Lu, recounts his mother’s abuse and his role in her death, and attempts to use his suffering as proof that Shen should choose him instead. When Shen refuses, Cheng drugs him and abducts him. 118 119

While holding Shen captive, Cheng continues insisting that they can be together, but Shen directly identifies Cheng’s desire as a wish for a controllable puppet rather than love. Cheng cannot meaningfully defend his past extraction and alteration of Shen’s memories. 121

Recovery and Cooperation with the Investigation

After being critically injured, Cheng survives through Lu Yeshan’s cloned-organ medical support. Shen visits him to obtain information about Lu Zhi’s unstable gland and Shen Ziqing’s whereabouts. Cheng admits that he cannot perform Lu’s necessary gland surgery, but confirms that Shen Ziqing is likely the only person capable of doing so. 138

Cheng confesses the full extent of his memory manipulation and acknowledges that Shen never truly transferred his attachment from Lu to him. In exchange for information, Shen agrees to spend one day with Cheng each month, giving Cheng reassurance that he is not entirely irrelevant to Shen. 138 143

Although still antagonistic toward Lu, Cheng cooperates in the investigation into Wei Huizhi and Shen Ziqing. He reveals that Wei suffered abuse far beyond his official military punishment and privately signals further suspicions concerning Wei’s hidden connection to Lu Yeshan. 141

Cheng later identifies a gene sequence connected to Wei Huizhi’s abuse as Shen Ziqing’s likely target, claiming that Lu Yeshan used it to create an immortal AI. He subsequently helps Shen formulate an infiltration plan for the Anomaly Management Center’s Core Zone, but is later apprehended by the Anomaly Control Bureau and returned to confinement. 143 145 146 157

Notable Quotes

“He's mine. Those who covet my people usually don't end well.” 18

“I love you, Ran. I've always loved you.” 29

“Lu Zhi already has so many good things. At the very least, can’t I have one too?” 119