Fang Lele

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Fang Lele (方乐乐)
Alias(es)	“Young Master Fang,” a form of address used by the Ji household that initially makes him uncomfortable 96 97
Gender	Male
Age	Nineteen at his introduction 64
Height	Initially 170 cm; grows to 172 cm after several months in Sucheng 108
Family	Aunt Fang, his mother; Uncle Fang, his deceased father 73 95
Residence	Originally his home village; later Sui Garden in Sucheng 64 97
Occupation/Role	Former screw-factory worker; later university student and graduate; central character in the Ji Fengyao–Fang Lele side-couple storyline 102 135 139
Partner	Ji Fengyao 139
Status	Alive; graduates and brings his mother to Sucheng with Ji Fengyao 139
First Appearance	Chapter 64, “Nineteen-year-old Fang Lele” 64

Background / History

Fang Lele grows up in a rural village in Northern China. As a child, he follows Cheng Yue around calling him “Brother Yue” and saves candy for him when he returns home during school breaks 64 89 96.

His father, a former serviceman, volunteers for earthquake rescue work in Aunt Fang’s home region. Assigned to the dangerous front line, he dies protecting a child during an aftershock. Fang Lele initially boasts that his father has gone away to become a hero, unaware of his mother’s fears 73.

After his father’s death, Fang Lele becomes withdrawn, refusing contact with the world until his mother desperately slaps him through her tears and gets a response. He also stops causing mischief, trying not to add to her worries. Mother and son continue living in difficult circumstances, with little help from their neighbors 94 95 105.

Appearance

• Eyes: Large, dark, luminous eyes, repeatedly described as clear and innocent 64 92.
• Hair: Neat, practical short hair with a slight natural curl inherited from his mother 64 108.
• Build: Sturdy and energetic at nineteen; becomes visibly thin during his period of severe withdrawal, then regains weight in Sucheng 64 95 105.
• Complexion: Initially shaped by long hours outdoors; becomes fairer and softer after several months in Sucheng 64 105.
• Height: Gains two centimeters after receiving better care and nutrition, a discovery that leaves him almost too excited to sleep 108.

Personality

Fang Lele is hardworking, polite, and reluctant to take advantage of others. He initially refuses Cheng Yue’s gifts because his mother has forbidden him to accept anything. When Cheng Yue buys him clothes, he memorizes the prices with the intention of repaying him. The same insistence on paying his own way leads him to seek factory work and offer Ji Fengyao rent 64 89 102.

His innocence does not prevent him from asserting himself. He challenges Chu Jiye’s demands, insists that every expense has been repaid, and refuses a replacement for the figurine Chu destroys. With Cheng Yue, he is playful and willing to argue, especially when defending his mother’s preferences 92 129 130.

His father’s death leaves him particularly vulnerable to the promise of being cared for. He initially understands discipline as a sign of love and clings to Ji Fengyao as the only person he can trust in an unfamiliar city. Although he eventually recognizes Ji Fengyao’s behavior as absolute control, he rationalizes the restrictions and develops a strong fear of abandonment 105 133 135.

Outside that relationship, Fang Lele is neither excessively outgoing nor withdrawn. His measured manners make him well liked by university classmates, who invite him to dinner and play basketball with him 135.

Abilities & Skills

Physical Labor and Gardening

• Clears Cheng Yue’s overgrown yard with a shovel, maintaining his stamina while Cheng Yue becomes exhausted 64.
• Uses a small welded iron cart to haul the cleared weeds to the village dump 64.
• Helps tend his mother’s vegetable patch, including setting up stakes for beans 64.
• Carefully waters the plants at Sui Garden 98.

Tea Brewing

• Initially does not know how to brew tea; Ji Fengyao demonstrates warming cups, adding and rinsing leaves, releasing their aroma, and dividing the finished tea 108.
• After a year of practice, his movements become fluid and his tea is neither too strong nor too weak 133.

Academic and Cultural Studies

• Receives one-on-one lessons beginning at primary-school level, which reduces the stress of studying among unfamiliar people 106.
• Studies tea tasting, calligraphy, Go, Chinese chess, painting, violin, and other subjects arranged by Ji Fengyao 114.
• Completes intensive tutoring, enters university, and eventually graduates; the context does not identify his degree or field of study 133 135 139.

Equipment / Items

• Ultraman figurine — A treasured item associated with Chu Jiye. Fang Lele returns it alongside money and other belongings; after Chu breaks it, he throws away the pieces and refuses a replacement 92.
• Phone expense record — Documents everything Chu Jiye paid for, down to a packet of salt, supporting Fang Lele’s insistence that he owes him nothing 130.
• Digital watch — Bought for him by Cheng Yue during his later visit to Capital City 129.
• Tracker watch — Fastened onto his wrist by Ji Fengyao. It is waterproof, and Fang Lele is forbidden to remove it without permission 133.
• Ji Fengyao’s Badge — Temporarily pinned to Fang Lele’s chest when he receives permission to visit Cheng Yue 112.

Relationships

• Aunt Fang — Mother and closest family member. Her teachings shape his manners and reluctance to accept favors. She defends him against the village’s hostility and sends him away for his safety; after his graduation, he brings her to Sucheng 64 89 94 139.
• Uncle Fang — Deceased father, killed while shielding a child during earthquake rescue work. His death profoundly affects Fang Lele’s behavior and need for security 73 95 105.
• Cheng Yue — Childhood friend and older-brother figure. Shelters him, cares for him during illness, intervenes against Chu Jiye, and encourages him to study toward independence 64 86 92 95 114.
• Ji Huaijin — Cheng Yue’s boyfriend. Arranges medical help and protection through his uncle, but later deliberately prevents Cheng Yue from questioning Fang Lele about his return from Sucheng 86 96 127.
• Chu Jiye — Former romantic attachment, eleven years older than Fang Lele. His gifts initially hold emotional significance, but he humiliates Fang Lele, destroys his figurine, and repeatedly tries to claim control over him after Fang ends their connection 92 95 130.
• Ji Fengyao — Initially his protector and benefactor, later his partner. Provides housing, education, and personal care while imposing surveillance, financial restrictions, permission requirements, and coercive punishments. Their relationship is explicitly affirmed near the end of the side story 96 106 133 135 139.
• Ms. Chen — Caretaker at Sui Garden. Welcomes him, prepares meals, worries about his unhappiness, and tends to him while he recovers 97 102 106 139.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Cheng Yue’s Return to the Village

When Cheng Yue returns after nearly eight years away, Fang Lele helps restore his neglected yard. Their initial awkwardness fades through shared work, meals, and an evening drinking beer under the stars. Fang Lele’s curiosity about Capital City contrasts with Cheng Yue’s description of it as bustling but lonely 64.

Before Cheng Yue leaves with Ji Huaijin, Fang Lele delivers dumpling soup from his mother. Cheng Yue asks him to take care of her; the two remain in the village because Aunt Fang does not want to leave 72.

Capital City and the Break with Chu Jiye

Fang Lele travels to Capital City without telling his mother and waits at Cheng Yue’s old apartment. Exhausted and feverish after the long journey, he receives medical treatment while Cheng Yue watches over him. The next morning, he tearfully asks to go home, but Cheng Yue keeps him nearby to discover what has upset him 86 87.

His reason for coming becomes clear after he waits outside a military compound in the rain and sees a man embracing someone else. At a later club gathering, Chu Jiye recognizes him, and Fang Lele agrees to speak privately 90 92.

Fang Lele returns Chu Jiye’s money and belongings, declaring that he wants nothing that is not his. Chu smashes the Ultraman figurine and insults him. Fang Lele discards the fragments and walks away; Cheng Yue and Ji Huaijin intervene when Chu tries to drag him off 92.

Village Hostility and Relocation

Back in the village, a neighbor witnesses a man holding Fang Lele down and kissing him. The incident draws a hostile crowd to the Fang home. Aunt Fang challenges their right to condemn her son, then tells him to leave and seek Cheng Yue 94.

Cheng Yue collects him from the station after midnight. Fang Lele subsequently stops speaking, eating, and drinking, repeating the withdrawal he experienced after his father’s death. Ji Huaijin arranges for him to stay with Ji Fengyao in Sucheng, beyond Chu Jiye’s reach 95 96.

Fang Lele accepts the move because he does not want to bring further trouble to Cheng Yue. Before his departure, Cheng Yue reassures him that neither Chu Jiye’s abuse nor liking someone of the same sex makes him at fault 96.

Life at Sui Garden

After arriving in Sucheng, Fang Lele finds work at a screw factory and offers Ji Fengyao rent. Ji Fengyao subsequently arranges schooling, then replaces school attendance with private lessons at home 97 102 103 106.

The improved learning environment helps Fang Lele relax, but Ji Fengyao increasingly controls his food, clothing, studies, and movements. After Fang Lele stays out watching an opera, Ji Fengyao subjects him to an obedience test. He then begins keeping him within sight during work and social engagements 106 107.

Cheng Yue sees the estate, personal care, and extensive tuition as an opportunity for Fang Lele to become self-reliant. He does not yet understand Ji Fengyao’s intentions 114.

Flight to Capital City and Escalating Control

Fang Lele witnesses Ji Fengyao apparently interrogating someone at his villa. Disturbed by the scene and a subsequent intimate encounter, he flees to Capital City. Ji Huaijin shields him from Cheng Yue’s questions 127 128 129.

Chu Jiye confronts him again, insisting that he still owes a kiss. Fang Lele counters with his complete expense record, but the encounter leaves him shaken. Ji Fengyao later reproaches and punishes him over the alleged debt and his departure 130 131 132.

Ji Fengyao confiscates his phone, confines him to the hotel, installs the tracker watch, and replaces access to linked bank cards with daily pocket money. Fang Lele recognizes that this is control rather than fatherly care, yet gradually excuses and adapts to it 133.

After another year of tutoring, he receives permission to visit his mother. He stays beyond the ordered return date and is punished after coming back. University offers new friendships, but Ji Fengyao prevents him from living in the dormitories and continues collecting him during breaks 133 134 135.

New Year Reunion and Relationship Confirmation

After overhearing a young woman describe her older fiancé, Fang Lele believes Ji Fengyao is engaged. He protests that their relationship is wrong and runs away to a budget hotel. Ji Fengyao finds him and brings him back to Sui Garden 136 138 139.

On New Year’s Eve, Aunt Fang arrives unexpectedly, giving Fang Lele a tearful reunion. Ji Fengyao later states that he has never had a fiancée and never will. Fang Lele acknowledges being his partner and promises to care for him when he is old 139.

The afterword records Fang Lele’s graduation and his return home with Ji Fengyao to bring Aunt Fang to Sucheng. Cheng Yue eventually confronts Ji Fengyao about the relationship but backs down 139.

Notable Quotes

“I don't owe you anything.”
— Rejecting Chu Jiye’s continued claims over him 130

“Uncle, you already have a fiancée. What we're doing is wrong...”
— Challenging what he believes is an affair 138

“I'll take care of you when you're old.”
— To Ji Fengyao after affirming their relationship 139