Biodata
| Feature | Value |
|---|---|
| Name | Jiang Nan (姜南) |
| Gender | Female |
| Affiliation | Jiang family; Gu Wenze’s company 1 12 |
| Occupation/Role | Gu Wenze’s personal secretary; female lead of the original novel known to Qiao Hua 3 12 |
| Education | College graduate who subsequently studied abroad; studied human resource management 1 13 |
| Status | Alive; increasingly concerned about losing Gu Wenze’s affection 45 |
| First Appearance | Hospital confrontation with Qiao Hua and Gu Wenze 1 |
Background / History
Jiang Nan comes from a formerly wealthy and influential family. She attended school locally through high school and was Gu Wenze’s former classmate and love interest. After graduating from college, she chose to study abroad, separating from him. On the night she departed, Gu Wenze went drinking; the incident that led to his marriage to Qiao Hua occurred that night 1 2 6.
She returned to the country three years into Gu Wenze and Qiao Hua’s marriage, after the Jiang family had gone bankrupt. Gu Wenze paid off her debts without being asked and transferred an expensive property into her name. Her parents reportedly died in a car accident while travelling to the airport, leaving her without them 1 37.
Original Novel’s Storyline
The following events belong to the plot Qiao Hua remembers, rather than the altered course of the current story:
- Pregnancy confrontation: Jiang Nan congratulates Gu Wenze after learning Qiao Hua is pregnant, then announces that she will leave the city. Unwilling to let her go, he demands that Qiao Hua abort the pregnancy 2.
- Threatened miscarriage: Qiao Hua attacks Jiang Nan in anger. Gu Wenze shoves Qiao Hua while protecting Jiang Nan, causing a threatened miscarriage; he subsequently stays with Jiang Nan rather than visiting his hospitalized wife 2.
- Romantic ending: After Qiao Hua later pushes Jiang Nan into the road and nearly gets her killed, Gu Wenze forces a divorce. He and Jiang Nan eventually confess their feelings and become a couple, while Qiao Hua dies alone from cancer 1.
Appearance
- Face and bearing: Pretty, innocent-looking, and fresh-faced, with long eyelashes and a delicate appearance 1 28.
- Voice: Frequently described as soft, sweet, and gentle 1 2.
- Clothing: Appears in a white nightgown during Gu Wenze’s late-night visit and a pale blue dress with soft makeup when visiting his home 19 26.
- Injury: Her right ankle becomes badly swollen after a reported fall down the stairs; she later wears gauze around it 19 22.
Personality
Jiang Nan cultivates a considerate, vulnerable public image. She apologizes for inconveniencing others, offers to withdraw from Gu Wenze’s life, and appears to defend Qiao Hua while implying that Qiao Hua mistreats her. Her private reactions and deliberate frame-ups reveal resentment and calculation beneath that presentation 4 11 37.
She is possessive of Gu Wenze and treats their shared history as a stronger claim than his marriage. Qiao Hua’s refusal to become jealous frustrates her, while Gu Wenze’s growing distance makes her anxious and more determined to intervene. After the necklace scheme is exposed, she recognizes that recklessness could damage his trust and becomes more cautious 14 15 19 33.
Abilities & Skills
Emotional Manipulation
Jiang Nan uses apparent fragility and self-sacrifice to draw sympathy and encourage others to defend her.
- Offers to stop seeing Gu Wenze in front of his mother, prompting him to defend their relationship and publicly disparage his marriage 11.
- Admits deliberately provoking Qiao Hua with the necklace, but presents it as a response to unfair treatment and concern for Gu Wenze 19.
- Limit: Gu Wenze gradually stops accepting her insinuations automatically, especially when they contradict Qiao Hua’s actual behavior 23 28.
Staged Accusations
She times incidents around Gu Wenze’s arrival to make Qiao Hua appear aggressive.
- Grabs Qiao Hua’s hand and uses it to push herself to the hospital floor 4.
- Deliberately drops her necklace while handing it toward Qiao Hua, then accuses her of destroying Gu Wenze’s gift 14.
- Limit: Qiao Hua catches the necklace intact, and a sales assistant confirms that Jiang Nan removed it herself 15.
Indirect Provocation and Interference
Jiang Nan also works through messages, insinuations, and sympathetic allies.
- Qiao Hua’s thoughts identify messages sent from another number as the source of earlier provocations to confront her and Gu Wenze 1.
- Encourages Weng Fenghua and later Gu Jinman to view Qiao Hua as troublesome while maintaining an outwardly conciliatory manner 9 37.
- Secretly rejects Qiao Hua’s call on Gu Wenze’s phone, replaces the phone, and asks him to accompany her to hospital 24.
Items / Assets
- Residential property: Gu Wenze transfers a property worth tens of millions into her name after her return 1.
- Necklace: A six-figure gift from Gu Wenze. Jiang Nan displays it to provoke Qiao Hua and then uses it in the unsuccessful mall frame-up 14 15.
- Gift for Gu Junxing: Brings him an expensive branded gift while seeking an opportunity to speak with Gu Wenze 19.
Relationships
- Gu Wenze — Former classmate, long-standing love interest, financial benefactor, and employer. He repeatedly protects her, but later states privately that he sees her as an ordinary friend and that they have no romantic future 1 6 12 25.
- Qiao Hua — Gu Wenze’s wife and Jiang Nan’s target of repeated provocations. The current Qiao Hua wants to divorce him and actively encourages their reunion, an attitude Jiang Nan repeatedly mistakes for another tactic 3 14 22 27.
- Weng Fenghua — Initially favors Jiang Nan as a prospective daughter-in-law. After hearing Qiao Hua’s warning about the unsafe clinic, she becomes suspicious of Jiang Nan and openly challenges her closeness to her married son 6 8 9 11.
- Gu Junxing — Once wants Jiang Nan as his sister-in-law, but later abandons that preference and warns Qiao Hua about her efforts to rekindle Gu Wenze’s feelings 28.
- Gu Jinman — Gu Wenze’s younger cousin and Jiang Nan’s ally. Jiang Nan recruits her knowing that she dislikes Qiao Hua; Jinman defends her and later sends Qiao Hua a misleading photograph of Jiang Nan with Gu Wenze 33 37 38.
Story Role / Major Arcs
| Arc | Chapters | Jiang Nan’s involvement |
|---|---|---|
| Hospital encounter | 1 | Her apologetic speech matches Qiao Hua’s prediction exactly. Gu Wenze briefly questions whether she contacted his wife, then dismisses his suspicion. |
| Fever and cancelled visit | 2 3 | Calls Gu Wenze for help, but his journey ends in a minor car collision. |
| Hospital frame-up | 4 | Stages a fall to implicate Qiao Hua. Gu Wenze initially questions the accusation before returning to her defense. |
| Loss of Weng Fenghua’s support | 5 6 7 9 | Attempts to enlist Weng against Qiao Hua. Qiao Hua’s foreknowledge instead helps Weng avoid a disastrous procedure and raises suspicion about Jiang Nan’s knowledge of the clinic. |
| Secretary appointment | 11 12 13 | Retains Gu Wenze’s protection during the office confrontation and is hired as his personal secretary through an interview. |
| Necklace scheme and reconciliation | 14 15 19 | Her accusation fails in front of a witness. After a reported stairway fall, she admits the provocation and regains some of Gu Wenze’s sympathy. |
| Increasing scrutiny | 24 27 28 31 34 | Blocks Qiao Hua’s call, faces questions about her visit to the family dinner, and loses a promised hospital escort. Gu Junxing later tells Gu Wenze that she knew the cosmetic clinic was unsafe but did not warn Weng. |
| Alliance with Gu Jinman | 33 37 38 | Recruits Jinman and stages a stumble into Gu Wenze’s arms. He declines to escort her to hospital, while Jinman sends Qiao Hua a photograph of the apparent embrace. |
| Business banquet | 41 42 45 | Helps Jinman question Qiao Hua’s right to attend, only for Yan Yu to confirm that she is his invited date. Gu Wenze briefly considers moving Jiang Nan out of the secretarial department, increasing her alarm. |
Notable Quotes
“So what? That proves Wenze cares about me. Otherwise, he wouldn't drop you and come take care of me whenever I called.” 4
“We knew each other first, so why does Qiao Hua keep forcing you to cut ties with me? We haven't done anything.” 19