Su Tianyu

Biodata

Background / History

Su Tianyu’s father was a staff officer with the rank of major general. Before the family’s downfall, he had arranged a military career for Tianyu: service in a frontline unit, entry into a command college, and eventual advancement into a staff position. Tianyu enlisted after finishing high school at seventeen and spent a year training at the grassroots level before taking the West Point entrance examination 26 28.

His father was framed and imprisoned, dying unexpectedly three months after the verdict. Tianyu later states that his father was sentenced to death when he was eighteen. Half a year after his father’s death, his mother died in hospital after illness, grief, and anxiety overwhelmed her. Su Zhengcai subsequently helped pay for Tianyu’s schooling 1 23 27.

At nineteen, Tianyu was sent to the Independent Battlefield, where he spent half a month in a pit full of corpses. His relatives knew little about his experiences during his four years away. After graduating, he came to Dragon City to live with his second uncle’s family and seek a public-sector position 1 2 23 28.

A coastal rescue incident also shaped his ambitions. During the sinking of a cruise ship, orders prioritized wealthy and powerful passengers while ordinary people—including his friend He Yudong—died. Tianyu came to view privilege as an invisible “wall” and believed that remaining in the family sanitation business would not let him overcome it or recover from his father’s downfall 26.

Appearance

Su Tianyu initially presents a scholarly, approachable image that causes both company managers and Lu Feng to underestimate him 3 5.

• Face and hair: Clean-cut, handsome features, short hair, and a sunny expression 1 4.
• Build: Well-proportioned and lean, with low body fat and more muscle than his clothing suggests 1 4.
• Glasses: Black-framed glasses, which he removes before several confrontations 1 2 14.
• Clothing: Arrives in loose sportswear; later wears a suit bought by Su Miaomiao when approaching Yu Mingyuan for work 1 30.

Personality

Tianyu habitually reduces complicated problems to their essential points. Rather than relying on affection or appeals to fairness, he looks for shared interests and usable leverage. He offers to “play the villain” when Su Tiannan hesitates to confront familiar employees, but also acknowledges that his early advice is partly guesswork because he has only just returned to Dragon City 3 4.

His apparent cowardice conceals a selective approach to danger. He openly checks escape routes and refuses an unfavorable street fight, yet intervenes without hesitation when Wu Shixiong risks being killed or crippled. He is especially protective of Su Tianbei, whose injuries provoke intense anger beneath Tianyu’s restrained exterior 2 5 6 15.

He combines irreverent humor with guarded ambition. He trades crude jokes with his cousins and friends, while keeping his father’s fate central to his determination to rise beyond the family business. His wish to enter public service also influences his conduct: he wants retaliation to have a reasonable, lawful basis rather than resemble a thug’s reckless violence 4 7 15 26.

Tianyu is wary of favors with undisclosed costs. Yu Mingyuan’s generous treatment troubles him because he suspects the real target is the Su Family’s resources, and he refuses to let an unexplained debt of favors accumulate indefinitely 31 32.

Abilities & Skills

Strategy and Coalition Building

Tianyu identifies the workers and the cooperation between the four sanitation companies as the main sources of leverage against Changqing Company 3 9.

• Uses termination agreements and the threat to eight hundred registered sanitation-worker positions to make managers recognize their shared interests with the Su Family 3.
• Helps bring the Su, Bai, Liu, and Kong companies together despite their conflicting priorities 3 4.
• Turns the confrontation in Lu Feng’s office into a shared crisis that makes withdrawal difficult for the other families 5 7.
• Recommends suspending public protests after attacks on managers while maintaining the work stoppage 13.
• Arranges the Su Family’s inner circle in advance to capture the attackers at the waste yard 15.

Close-Quarters Combat

Tianyu’s fighting emphasizes speed, accuracy, and attacks on vulnerable points rather than elaborate movements 15.

• Uses precise wrist catches, leverage, knees, kicks, and blows to the throat or head 5 15 22.
• Disarms a knife-wielding attacker and uses the seized weapon while holding a corridor 15.
• Adapts ordinary objects into weapons, including a fruit knife, floor lamp, ashtray, and broken metal pole 5 21 23.
• Defeats Lu Feng at Fortune House despite wounds to his arm, back, and neck 23.
• Limits: Avoids fighting Lu Feng’s larger group at Changqing’s plant. At Fortune House, the Bai brothers’ protection is crucial; without it, the enemy’s numbers and the cramped room would have overwhelmed him 6 23.

Stamina and Conditioning

Tianyu maintains a running routine learned at school and has strong endurance despite his lean appearance 4.

• Runs laps outside the family compound in the morning 4 30.
• Outruns pursuers with stamina compared to that of a professional track athlete 6.
• Sustains a prolonged fight against Lu Feng, though he is left unsteady and requires hospitalization afterward 23 24.

Cargo Operations and Investigation

Yu Mingyuan places Tianyu in charge of moving shipments using rented speedboats and storage facilities 35.

• Coordinates a pickup involving twenty workers and seven speedboats 44.
• Questions how the Dock Gang discovered a concealed pickup location so quickly 37.
• Investigates both dock interests and Changqing Company after the hijacking, considering whether the attackers want to force a redistribution of business shares 46.
• Develops a recovery plan and asks Kong Zhenghui to identify people within Xu Hu’s organization 49.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Black-framed glasses and glasses cloth — Part of his scholarly appearance; he cleans blood from them after stabbing Lu Feng’s ear 1 5.
• Company SUV — Provided by Yu Mingyuan after Tianyu had been commuting by bus 31.
• Fruit knife — An improvised weapon used to pin Lu Feng’s right ear to a table 5.
• Seized knife — Taken from an attacker during the waste-yard defense 15.
• Floor lamp, ashtray, and broken metal pole — Improvised weapons used during the Fortune House fight; he discards the pole when it obstructs his pursuit through a window 21 23.
• Rented speedboats and storage facilities — Operational resources entrusted to him for Yu Mingyuan’s cargo business 35 44.

Relationships

• Su Zhengcai — Second uncle, host, and financial supporter of his schooling. Praises Tianyu’s role in uniting the Four Companies and seeks connections to support his public-service ambitions 1 27 28.
• Su Tiannan — Eldest cousin and principal partner in managing the family crisis. Comes to trust Tianyu’s judgment, although he sometimes finds his methods too aggressive. Supports his wish to enter government rather than remain in sanitation 3 4 17 26.
• Su Tianbei — Second cousin and close childhood companion. Tianyu warns him against reckless action and reacts fiercely to his injuries; the two maintain an affectionate, teasing rapport 1 2 5 7.
• Su Miaomiao — Older cousin, called “Third Sister,” who is two years his senior. Buys his bedding and suit, prepares his favorite carp, and teases him as the family’s biggest coward 2 4 8 30.
• Wu Shixiong / Big Bear — Sanitation worker and friend. Tianyu helps save him during the yard assault, grows closer to him while sharing a hospital room, and continues visiting and supplying him after his detention 15 24 43 44.
• Bai Hongbo / Big Bai — Coalition ally, friend, and cargo-business companion. Tianyu uses praise and drinking to secure his support, later describing him as more genuine and easier to approach than Kong Zhenghui 9 26 38.
• Kong Zhenghui — Four Companies ally and operational collaborator. Helps with media contacts, the cargo business, and investigation of Xu Hu’s crew bosses 13 37 49.
• Yu Mingyuan — Employer and business partner. Offers favorable pay, social access, and future civil-service connections, then reveals that he wants to use the Su Family’s workforce to distribute tobacco and alcohol 31 32.
• Yu Jinrong — Influential supporter of the Four Companies and the person who introduces Tianyu to employment with his eldest son 20 28 29.
• Wang Daolin — Police contact whose involvement Tianyu repeatedly seeks through his relatives; his officers receive the captured waste-yard attackers 10 16 18 49.
• An Qiqi — Driver whose car Tianyu commandeers while fleeing Lu Feng. Their hostile first encounter develops into further contact when he agrees to compensate her and arranges repairs 6 7 29 35.
• Lu Feng — Changqing Company adversary. Tianyu wounds his ear during negotiations and later defeats him in the Fortune House confrontation 5 23.
• He Yudong — Deceased friend whose death in the cruise-ship disaster helps shape Tianyu’s understanding of privilege 26.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Resistance to Changqing Company

• Arrives in Dragon City to find Su Zhengcai jailed on a fabricated military-equipment smuggling charge and the family’s sanitation zones under threat 1.
• Redirects the family’s response toward mobilizing employees and coordinating the four affected companies 3 4.
• After Su Tianbei’s failed operation and injuries, confronts Lu Feng during negotiations, stabs his ear, and summons the waiting family members into Changqing’s yard 5.
• Escapes the ensuing fight in An Qiqi’s sedan. Before leaving her car, he falsely identifies himself as Lu Feng 6 7.
• Supports a sustained work stoppage, shifts tactics after violence against managers, and helps organize the successful defense of the waste yard 9 13 15.
• Advises using the captured attackers as leverage and arranges their handover to police after Wang Daolin agrees to assist 16 18.
• Insists on compensation at Fortune House and defeats Lu Feng when negotiations erupt into violence. Changqing’s six hundred thousand in compensation is subsequently divided among the Kong, Su, and Bai families 20 23 24.
• Recovers in hospital; Su Zhengcai later returns home, and the four sanitation companies resume normal work 24 27 30.

Entry into Mingyuan Trading

• Misses the public-sector application period while recovering from his injuries 30.
• Accepts work as Yu Mingyuan’s assistant after initially declining the Yu family’s offer 29 30 31.
• Deliberately stays away from work for five days and threatens to resign to force an explanation for Yu Mingyuan’s special treatment 32.
• Learns of the proposed tobacco-and-alcohol distribution venture and takes charge of cargo movement 32 35.
• Has his first shipment intercepted by Wei Xiangzuo’s Dock Gang. Tang Baiqing secures its release, but Tianyu remains suspicious of how quickly the gang found the pickup 37.

Big Bear’s Imprisonment

• Clears boats and equipment from the warehouse after police become involved and realizes Big Bear may be caught up in the investigation 41.
• Learns that Big Bear will take responsibility for Qu Ying’s death in place of Tang Baiqing. During Tianyu’s visit, Big Bear says he cannot refuse his parents’ demands 43.
• Continues supporting Big Bear with detention visits, money, and supplies after the case is closed 44.

Hijacked Shipment and Recovery Plan

• Sends Zhang Hao and twenty workers out for a cargo pickup, then responds to a distress call during an armed ambush at sea 44.
• Reaches the site to find workers struggling in the water, with boats, cargo, and several crew members missing 44.
• Investigates possible involvement by Changqing Company and dock interests, suspecting that control of the business shares may be the real objective 46.
• Explains the danger and a proposed recovery plan to Su Zhengcai, gathers his allies, and has Kong Zhenghui investigate Xu Hu’s crew bosses, Guo Lin and Feng Hai. The plan has not yet been carried out at this point 49.

Notable Quotes

“Tiannan, management is the bridge between the company and the workers. What holds them to the company is always their interests.” 3

“Anyone who touches my second brother loses an ear.” 7

“I can't get past what happened to my father... so I have to find every possible way to get back on my feet!” 26