Sister Hong

Biodata

Background / History

Ten years before revealing her identity to Jiang Chen, Gu Hongya refused to marry the son of her father’s old friend. The proposed marriage was important to the family business, but she wanted to choose her own happiness. When the arrangement collapsed and the family suffered heavy losses, her father expelled her from home 45.

Her mother secretly bought her most of a residential building so she could support herself independently. After moving there, Hongya asked people to call her “Sister Hong” rather than use her real name. Her father neither visited nor called her during their ten-year estrangement 45.

She lived alone and rented the apartment opposite hers to Jiang Chen for over a year. Before the Knocking Ghost incident, she occasionally invited him to eat when she cooked too much, but they otherwise had little contact and were not particularly close 3.

Appearance

Sister Hong is a curvaceous woman in her thirties whose appearance makes her seem younger than her actual age 1 4.

• Complexion: Fair, smooth skin 4.
• Eyes: Narrow and foxlike 4.
• Hair: Wears her hair in a bun during the Knocking Ghost attack 2.
• Clothing: Appears in a burgundy slip nightdress during the attack and a fitted teal dress the following morning 2 4.

Personality

Usually poised and gracious, Sister Hong remains concerned for Jiang Chen even while a ghost threatens her own life. She warns him to stay hidden, calls the police, and asks him to explain the situation to them if anything happens to her. The ghost’s advance nevertheless leaves her trembling and close to a breakdown 1 2.

She expresses gratitude through substantial gifts and practical care. After Jiang Chen saves her, she insists on giving him an apartment and begins cooking for him, cleaning his room, and washing his clothes. She also becomes playful around him, though ambiguous remarks often make her blush and hurriedly clarify what she means 4 5 23.

Her refusal of the arranged marriage reflects her determination to choose her own life. Although she resents her father’s prolonged silence, she does not seek control of the family business. Her willingness to seek help for the Gu household is driven chiefly by fear for her mother’s safety 45.

Abilities & Skills

Cooking and Household Care

Jiang Chen considers Sister Hong’s cooking good enough that he readily accepts her dinner invitations 23.

• Prepares a varied breakfast of beef patties, pan-fried buns, congee, and shumai because she does not know which foods he prefers 4.
• Makes nourishing dishes after noticing his busy schedule and late returns 23.
• Regularly handles his laundry and room cleaning after the rescue 5 45.

Properties & Possessions

• Residential holdings: Owns every apartment from the sixth through the fifteenth floor of her building, purchased for her by her mother 4 45.
• Property deeds: Keeps a box of ownership certificates and offers Jiang Chen his choice of apartment as thanks for saving her 4.
• Apartment gift: Jiang Chen initially refuses because he believes the property may be her livelihood. After learning the extent of her holdings, he accepts her offer 4 5.
• Property value: Jiang Chen estimates that an apartment in the neighborhood could be worth three to five million yuan; his rent had exceeded five thousand yuan per month 4 5.

Relationships

• Jiang Chen — Tenant, neighbor, and rescuer. Their initially limited acquaintance develops into frequent shared meals and domestic support. She feels safer knowing an exorcist lives across the hall and later asks him to help her family 3 5 23 45.
• Her father — Head of the Gu financial empire. Expels her after she rejects the business marriage; his ten years without contact remain a source of resentment 45.
• Her mother — Secretly provides the properties that support her independent life. Later asks Hongya to seek help for the family’s supernatural crisis 45.
• Her second and third brothers — Hire experts to address the family crisis. Hongya prefers to let them try first rather than compete with them 45.
• Li Yiwen / Knocking Ghost — Recognizes her as Sun Fang’s friend, murdered in the complex a year earlier. The ghost invades Sister Hong’s apartment and nearly reaches her bedroom before Jiang Chen intervenes 1 2 3.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Knocking Ghost Incident

• Recognizes the dead Li Yiwen outside her door and tells Jiang Chen the circumstances of the murder and Sun Fang’s subsequent death 1.
• Barricades her bedroom with a chair after the ghost enters through a security door that unlocks by itself 1 2.
• Is spared when Jiang Chen draws the ghost’s attention to the bathroom 2.
• Sees Jiang Chen jump from the twelfth floor with the ghost and believes he has sacrificed himself for her. His return leaves her relieved and delighted 3.
• Learns that he is an exorcist and receives his instruction to attribute the ghost’s defeat to a passing expert. When authorities arrive, Jiang Chen infers that she has followed his request because nobody questions him 4.

Life After the Rescue

• Gives Jiang Chen an apartment and offers ongoing meals and household help 4 5.
• Adjusts dinner preparation to his late returns and offers to introduce him to a beautiful woman around his age 23.

Gu Family Supernatural Crisis

• Reveals her real name and family history when asking Jiang Chen to perform a ritual 45.
• Reports strange accidents, deaths, her father’s grave illness, and the death of an expert who investigated the haunting 45.
• Explains that her father has promised leadership of the company to whoever resolves the crisis, prompting relatives to spend heavily on experts 45.
• Secures Jiang Chen’s agreement to help if the experts hired by her brothers fail; her priority is protecting her mother, not inheriting the business 45.