Song Yizhou

Biodata

Background and History

Song Yizhou is Yao Hui’s younger cousin and a well-known freshman at Jiangzhou Normal University. A photo from her military training circulated widely online, bringing her attention she does not particularly enjoy. She reluctantly attends a dormitory mixer to fit in, where she meets Fang Xian and refuses to give him her WeChat contact 4 5.

They meet again while studying in the library. Song notices Fang’s books on folklore and the supernatural, then recognizes him in a news video about the discovery of a long-missing girl’s remains. After fellow student Yu Feng abruptly walks into heavy rain, Song tries to get him help and offers to share his umbrella with Fang. She and Fang subsequently add each other on WeChat so the umbrella can be returned 17 19 20.

Song later accompanies Yao Hui to a guesthouse near Changzhao Reservoir. Other guests mistake her for Fang’s girlfriend because he had shown them her photograph and claimed they were dating; the claim is not established as true. Song notices a small figure following Fang and sends him warnings when a Paper Figure threatens her and Yao Hui’s room. Although frightened, she contacts Fang and helps her cousin hold the door until he arrives 23 29 30 35 36.

Back on campus, Song prepares to host a joint welcome gala, replacing an earlier plan to perform a pipa solo. The event is postponed because of Typhoon Shark 42 46.

Appearance

Song is described as slender and graceful, with an oval face and a bookish appearance 5 17.

• Long, shoulder-length hair and black-framed glasses are recurring features 5 17 29.
• She is described as roughly five feet seven inches tall 36.
• Her military-training photograph made her widely recognized among freshmen 4.

Personality

Song is reserved but firm about her boundaries: she declines requests for her contact information and turns down Yu Feng’s invitation without embarrassing him 5 18. She pays close attention to people and their surroundings, noticing Fang’s unusual reading, the guesthouse guests’ reactions, and signs of danger near the reservoir 17 29 30. She also cares for her roommates; when Lü Yaoyao is frightened, Song comforts her and lends her a jacket 6 42.

Relationships

• Yao Hui — Her older cousin. Song accompanies her on the reservoir trip, relays her dinner invitation to Fang, and helps protect her during the Paper Figure incident 4 22 29 36.
• Fang Xian — A fellow freshman she meets at a mixer. They grow acquainted through the library encounter, shared umbrella, messages, and reservoir trip; she becomes concerned about his injuries and unexplained activities 5 17 19 20 30 38.
• Lü Yaoyao — Her roommate. Song comforts her after a frightening experience, and Lü later comes to appreciate that Song’s kindness is genuine 6 42.
• Yu Feng — A student-union vice president who pursues her. Song tactfully declines his request to host a School of Literature event and worries when he behaves strangely in the rain 17 18 19.
• Gao Lu and Hong Ye — Fellow dormitory roommates 5 42.

Trivia

• Fang uses a photograph of Song to support a false claim that she is his girlfriend, then later sets her photograph as his phone wallpaper 23 35.
• Song’s WeChat name is Silence Is Zhou 17 20.