Zhou Qiang

Biodata

Background / History

Early life and university

Zhou Qiang grew up without parents, relying on other people’s charity. After gaining admission to university, he spent two months hauling bricks, mixing cement, and doing other construction work to pay his first year’s tuition. He arrived with only a few hundred yuan remaining and initially survived on one daily meal of plain rice costing two yuan 32.

Seeing a cleaner retrieve bottles from the rubbish gave him the idea to collect recyclables. He went door to door with his student ID, openly explaining his poverty and asking students to save bottles and cardboard for him. He also helped cafeteria staff clear trays and wipe tables, gaining permission to collect discarded drink bottles there. After his first month, he had earned more than eight hundred yuan after food expenses 32.

Building his business

Graduation season provided his first substantial profits. Students gave him unwanted belongings or sold them cheaply, and he resold usable textbooks, lamps, fans, and other goods. Their generosity and his access to campus supplied the foundation of his business 33.

He later opened an online secondhand shop, sorting goods, photographing them, and selling to customers throughout China. Discovering that ordinary electronics and distinctive Chinese products could fetch several times their domestic prices overseas led him into cross-border e-commerce 33.

According to information Director Zhang gave Wei Zijin, Zhou also developed a project through the university’s business-incubation resources. A large company acquired it, providing an early source of capital. His subsequent cross-border business primarily served the North American market 21.

University donations

Zhou regards the building donation as something the university deserved, rather than a personal act of generosity. Its campus had provided the resource-rich environment in which he could survive and establish his first business 33.

Supermarket partnership

Zhou and Huang Xueli recruited Wang Xiaoliang for a bid to operate three campus supermarkets. Zhou explained that Wang contributed operating experience and a trustworthy reputation, while the other partners supplied money and information. He offered to provide all the funding and proposed an annual bid of six hundred thousand yuan for each shop. Wang estimated total startup requirements at approximately three million yuan 93.

He entrusted Wang with distributing the employee bonus pool according to employees’ work and performance. He also regarded Huang as essential to the partnership’s long-term direction, particularly in recognizing institutional risks and avoiding boundaries the business should not cross 165 263.

Restaurant ventures

Zhou operated Hongbin Tower at Jiangcheng University, but university reforms brought the campus restaurants back under school control. He continued supporting his longtime cooks and servers with living allowances while searching for new work for them. The supermarket venture absorbed some employees, but could not accommodate everyone 70 189.

During the trip to Fucheng for Liu Xinyu’s wedding, watching the Liu family willingly give away most of their wedding gifts helped Zhou accept the loss of his restaurant building. He described it as money lost to ward off disaster 145.

He later negotiated the takeover of Shuangyang Coffee from Fang Dongxu and Sui Yiming. A contractor valued its renovations at no more than 280,000 yuan, while the landlord confirmed that Qin Haitao had inflated the monthly rent from 50,000 to 80,000 yuan. Zhou agreed to a 400,000-yuan transfer price and secured a five-year lease at the original monthly rent of 50,000 yuan. The settlement included 100,000 yuan in remaining rent paid to the landlord and transfers of 250,000 yuan each to Fang and Sui 214.

Zhou subsequently opened Hongbin Little Tower. A straightforward membership promotion attracted long queues of neighborhood customers, and Wang and Wei Zijin visited with a golden money toad to celebrate. Zhou intended to test the restaurant for six months before expanding, training managers, and sharing profits with staff 224.

His later planning extended to brand portfolios, equity allocation, and a restaurant network large enough to support central kitchens and standardized supply chains. He described moving into the supply chain after reaching one hundred stores as a future strategy, not an already achieved milestone 645.

Marriage and discovery of Li Lanxiang’s plans

Li Lanxiang initially presented their relationship as an uncalculated romance: she said that she had pursued Zhou for two years without knowing his wealth and wanted to give him a complete family. They registered their marriage and planned to have a child 46 48 135.

Later disclosures overturned that account. According to notebooks Zhou discovered, Li had investigated him after learning that a formerly impoverished scrap collector had donated a laboratory building worth more than forty million yuan. She deliberately arranged their encounter, sought work with him, recorded his character tests, and adjusted her approach when she realized he was more capable and guarded than expected 624 626.

Her notes identified family as his principal emotional vulnerability. She used the promise of a complete family and a child to deepen the relationship, while continuing to investigate his finances. The purchase of an expensive marital apartment helped her assess his resources, and she deliberately kept her name off the deed to encourage his trust 626 627.

Zhou found five notebooks hidden inside hollowed-out books when he returned home for his identification and looked for the Book of Changes. He photographed their contents. Kong Xiuyun later explained that discovering the records made him decide to divorce Li, and that their own romantic relationship began after this discovery rather than in the circumstances of the affair story they subsequently told 624 629 631.

He transferred a company and personal funds to Kong while preparing to separate from Li, but initially left the money in Jiangchuang Company and a commercial unit untouched because the company funds belonged to the three partners and he trusted Wang 631.

Zhou and Kong planned to retrieve the notebooks while he took Li, her mother, and their friends to dinner, after which a lawyer would approach Li about divorce. The plan was abandoned when Li returned from her six-month training visibly pregnant. Zhou confirmed that the child was his from the dates and her records, immediately told Kong to cancel the operation, and maintained the appearance of an affectionate husband 251 292 631.

Staged disappearance and financial settlement

Zhou’s disappearance initially appeared to involve detention by a confidential organization. Wang and Huang were left uncertain about his whereabouts, while Li and Dong Hongmei took control of the supermarket’s company seals and online banking credentials. Wang nevertheless refused to treat Zhou’s absence as an opportunity to seize the major shareholder’s business 307 311 313.

During his absence, Li gave birth prematurely to their son, Guoguo. Zhou was still missing at the birth and the hundred-day banquet, where Li repeatedly told guests that he was in the United States on business. Wang later sought reassurance through Fan Qishan’s character divination, and Fan said Zhou was safe 336 365 411.

When Wang and Huang eventually found Zhou with Kong and their daughter Yuanyuan, Zhou offered an explanation centered on infidelity and shame. He claimed that he had confessed to another woman, that Li had tied him to a bed and stabbed his shoulder, and that threats involving their unborn child had forced him to leave. Kong later explicitly identified the affair story as a prepared cover account, rather than the true explanation for their separation 596 597 598 629.

The underlying arrangement was a negotiated disappearance. Dong Hongmei had discovered that Zhou knew about Li’s notebooks. Using the unborn child as leverage, she negotiated a settlement under which Zhou gave Li thirty million yuan and most of his businesses and properties. Li also demanded that he disappear from their shared social circle. Zhou agreed on the conditions that she cooperate with a divorce and allow him to see the child regularly 633 656.

Zhou devised the story about being taken away by the Confidentiality Bureau and helped arrange the estrangement of Wang and Huang. His purpose was both to escape the mother and daughter and to protect his children and friends, especially Wei Zijin and Huang. He feared that resistance could endanger the children, and understood that exposing Huang’s involvement in campus business and access to internal information could destroy Huang’s career 633 634.

Although he continued to insist that Kong keep the truth from Wang and Huang, she eventually disclosed it. Zhou later resumed social contact with his friends; he and Kong attended a dinner at Old Sichuan where Wang and Wei announced their wedding plans, although the couple said they would be away on the wedding date 624 659.

Counterstrategy and the cold wallet

Zhou did not permanently abandon the prospect of recovering what he had lost, particularly Guoguo. He had secretly purchased the apartment opposite the marital home when it was still unsold, and later regarded it as a useful position from which to act. He concluded that a direct confrontation with Li and Dong would fail, and instead waited for Li’s greed and enjoyment of manipulation to expose a weakness 713.

His prolonged appearance of submission also served this purpose: he wanted Li to believe he was spineless and lower her guard. After the blessing ceremony, he invited Nuomi and Xiao Mo to Suiyun Residence and told them the full story, seeking help from people he believed he could trust completely 713.

After police failed to find a cold wallet associated with Li, Zhou feared that she might soon be released and take Guoguo away. When Kong mentioned that Li had helped Guoguo assemble an Orient Express Lego model, he abruptly realized that it could conceal the missing device 716.

Zhou dismantled the model and found a USB-drive-shaped cold wallet taped against an interior wall, sealed in several layers of clear plastic. He placed it, together with its wrapping, in a clean resealable bag. Kong’s reaction associated the tiny device with three billion yuan; the discovery itself did not yet establish the final outcome of the investigation or Guoguo’s custody 717.

Appearance

• Height: Half a head shorter than Li Lanxiang 18.
• Face: Initially described as dopey-looking and unattractive, creating a pronounced contrast with his tall, beautiful partner 18.
• Clothing: Wears a simple T-shirt and work pants while collecting recyclables 35.
• Build: His back is described as not particularly broad; his arm muscles are later described as clearly defined while he works in a gray T-shirt 35 68.
• General impression: Liu Xinyu characterizes him as having a plain exterior and a sharp mind, jokingly provoking Zhou to observe that Liu has found a polite way to call him ugly 120.

Personality

Zhou is proud of his beginnings and does not treat scrap collecting as shameful. When describing his early hunger and door-to-door requests, he shows pride rather than self-pity. Even after becoming wealthy, he continues collecting recyclables to remain grounded 32 34.

His reserve depends on the company he keeps. He says Zhao Shengkai makes him uncomfortable, whereas Wang Xiaoliang puts him at ease; with trusted friends, he becomes talkative, humorous, and openly affectionate toward Li Lanxiang 34 45 46.

He values honesty and acknowledges the people who helped him succeed. Rather than presenting himself as an entirely self-made hero, he credits good fortune and assistance from others, while frankly admitting that he would have preferred an easier start in life 33 45.

Zhou identifies making money and studying people as his two hobbies. He approaches both selectively: he pursues opportunities that seem profitable and befriends people whose character he approves of, while avoiding those he distrusts. He readily admits to testing interesting acquaintances rather than becoming embarrassed when Wang notices 69.

Liu Xinyu describes him as perceptive, loyal, adaptable, and able to combine firmness with flexibility. He also identifies excessive guardedness as Zhou’s weakness. Zhou’s own conduct supports this combination: he is generous to trusted people but conceals his finances and repeatedly tests prospective employees and associates 120 626.

Family is a particularly powerful emotional need for him because of his parentless upbringing. Li’s notebooks identify this as the vulnerability that allowed her to turn a guarded businessman into an emotionally committed partner. His later compromises are strongly shaped by his desire to protect his children and avoid making Guoguo grow up watching his parents fight 601 626 633.

His attachment to staff extends beyond immediate profitability. After losing the campus restaurant, he continues paying living allowances to longtime employees and seeks new ventures partly to give them work 189.

Wang ultimately concludes that Zhou is largely indifferent to outside judgments: titles such as “Mr. Zhou” and “Big Boss” are other people’s descriptions, not the basis of his identity. His disappearance therefore cannot be adequately explained by embarrassment over an affair. Zhou distinguishes sharply between useful business acquaintances and the three people he identifies as true friends: Wang, Huang Xueli, and Liu Xinyu 603.

Abilities & Skills

Business judgment

Zhou identifies overlooked goods and underserved markets, turning low-value campus waste into a business that eventually reaches overseas customers 32 33.

• Recognizes that students’ reluctance to collect rubbish and restrictions on outside dealers give him an advantage as a student collector 32.
• Buys or receives unwanted graduation-season belongings and resells usable items at a substantial margin 33.
• Uses photographs, categorization, and online marketplaces to expand his customer base 33.
• Spots international price differences and moves into cross-border e-commerce 33.
• Explains partnerships as exchanges of complementary resources, including capital, information, experience, and credibility 93.
• Evaluates returns against the operating period rather than assuming every investment should recover its capital immediately 165.
• Anticipates tougher renewal terms and competition in university tenders, prompting proposals to diversify into other schools and off-campus locations 165.
• Plans restaurant expansion around a tested operating model, trained managers, employee profit-sharing, standardization, and eventual supply-chain development 224 645.

Recycling and logistics

He remains an efficient, hands-on collector despite his wealth 35.

• Offers Wang Xiaoliang 0.15 yuan per bottle and 0.80 yuan per catty of cardboard, with collection included 32.
• Quickly reinforces cardboard bundles, bags bottles, weighs materials, and calculates payment 35.
• Rounds a payment of 78.50 yuan up to eighty yuan 35.
• Fills in for Uncle Liu, a collector from his hometown, when Liu is sick, efficiently loading and securing a supermarket’s accumulated cardboard 68.

Interpersonal intuition

Zhou distinguishes between people who instinctively make him uneasy and those whose company feels comfortable 34.

• Keeps his distance emotionally from Zhao Shengkai 34.
• Speaks candidly with Wang Xiaoliang because he feels relaxed around him 34.
• Supplements first impressions with deliberate observation and tests of reliability; Wang recognizes the similarity to the Book of Fate’s ninth teaching 68 69.
• Tests employees by leaving accessible cash or arranging situations in which they could take client kickbacks 626.
• Recognizes Liu Xinyu’s unusual ability to win affection and trust quickly, while respecting the privacy of the family difficulties Liu discusses with him 111.
• Remains capable of being deceived: Li’s notebooks show that she recognized, recorded, and deliberately passed his tests 626.

Practical mentorship

Zhou encourages Wang Xiaoliang to pursue opportunities rather than retreat after an initial refusal 33.

• Advises him to ask again, negotiate conditions, and stop letting embarrassment prevent action 33.
• Demonstrates the value of retaining an established livelihood while developing a new business 34.
• Offers help when Wang decides to remain in Jiangcheng and attempt independent living 47.
• Explains that Li Laifu’s control over information, rules, and interpretation left Wang at a fundamental disadvantage, and that a written contract alone would not necessarily have solved it 77.
• Helps Wang understand how parental outlook and early preparation contribute to differences between wealthy and ordinary families, while reassuring him that he is already maturing rapidly 146.
• Delegates the employee bonus pool to Wang, directing him to reward core staff according to contribution and performance 165.

Negotiation and strategic planning

Zhou combines factual investigation with close attention to the other party’s motives and bargaining position. Wang regards his handling of Fang Dongxu’s café as a strategic contest involving human psychology rather than simple haggling 214 217.

• Checks renovation values through a contractor and verifies rent directly with the landlord before negotiating the café takeover 214.
• Calls his effort to become closer to Hu Yang through a storefront transaction an “open stratagem,” openly acknowledging the relationship-building purpose 192.
• Recognizes the protective value of Huang Xueli’s institutional knowledge in their business partnership 263.
• Constructs and maintains the disappearance cover story to meet Li’s demands while distancing vulnerable friends from her 633 634.
• Later uses apparent submission to encourage Li’s overconfidence, while waiting for her to expose herself through another scheme 713.
• Connects Li’s involvement in Guoguo’s Lego construction with the missing cold wallet and successfully locates the concealed device 716 717.

Interest in character reading

Zhou becomes interested in Fan Qishan’s character divination during the Fucheng trip. He asks Fan to read the character 女, which Fan transforms into 囡; Zhou interprets this as matching his wish for a daughter 142.

He regards Grandpa Liu as an even greater master than Fan at that time. Hoping to explore such subjects himself, he follows Huang’s suggestion to begin with the Book of Changes. No demonstrated divination ability of his own is established by these events 145 624.

Equipment / Vehicles

• Black Mercedes-Maybach GLS SUV — Drives Li Lanxiang home after the first dinner and offers other guests a lift. Later regularly takes her to and from work, becoming a source of status and satisfaction in her notebooks 20 629.
• Electric cargo tricycle — A worn vehicle used to transport bottles, cardboard, books, and other secondhand goods 35.
• Large collection bags — Uses a woven bag during his student collecting rounds and extra-large black plastic bags for later pickups 32 35.
• Photographs of Li Lanxiang’s notebooks — Records the hidden plans he discovers and later directs Kong Xiuyun to examine the photographs while she cares for him during his fever 624 631.
• Apartment opposite the marital home — Purchases it when he notices it remains unsold; it later becomes a strategic asset in his efforts to recover Guoguo and counter Li 713.
• Recovered cold wallet — Finds the device taped inside Guoguo’s Orient Express Lego model and places it with its protective wrapping in a clean resealable bag 717.

Relationships

• Li Lanxiang — Former wife and former employee. They met when she sold him scrap during financial hardship; he gave her paid work because he recognized something of his younger self in her. She initially claimed to have pursued him for two years without knowing his wealth, and they registered their marriage and planned for a baby. Her hidden notebooks later revealed that she had targeted him after investigating his fortune, deliberately passed his tests, and exploited his desire for family. Their separation involved a thirty-million-yuan payment, the transfer of most of his businesses and properties, and his departure from their social circle in exchange for divorce cooperation and regular contact with Guoguo. He later worked to recover his son and expose her conduct 45 46 48 624 626 633 713.
• Kong Xiuyun — Longtime colleague, romantic partner, and mother of Yuanyuan. She helps manage his restaurant work and cares for him during his fever. Their initial account describes an affair, but she later states that the story was fabricated and that they became a couple after he discovered Li’s schemes and decided to divorce. She assists with his asset transfers and separation plans, eventually reveals the true settlement to Wang, and helps him search Guoguo’s Lego model 255 596 597 629 631 633 716 717.
• Guoguo — Son with Li Lanxiang, born prematurely while Zhou was absent. His resemblance to Zhou is remarked upon shortly after birth. Protecting him and maintaining access to him are central to Zhou’s settlement with Li; later, Zhou seeks to remove him from the influence of Li and Dong 336 365 601 633 713.
• Yuanyuan — Daughter with Kong Xiuyun. She is affectionate and protective toward her father, clinging to his neck and telling Wang and Huang that he and her older brother Guoguo are strong 596.
• Wang Xiaoliang — Friend, regular recycling customer, and recipient of his guidance. Zhou praises his honesty and reliability; Wang identifies him as a benefactor who provides extra income and a practical example of sound business principles. Zhou later confirms that he has observed and tested Wang, funds their supermarket partnership, and identifies him as one of his three true friends. Their apparent estrangement is part of the disappearance arrangement, designed in part to protect Wang and Wei Zijin 33 42 45 69 93 603 633.
• Huang Xueli — Close friend, business partner, and one of Zhou’s three true friends. Zhou relies on his institutional knowledge and judgment, and Huang’s father represents Zhou as an elder when he meets Li’s family. Protecting Huang from career-damaging exposure is one reason Zhou arranges their apparent estrangement 93 230 263 603 634.
• Wei Zijin — Friend through Li Lanxiang and Wang Xiaoliang. She explains his business achievements and donations to Wang and later calls him “Marshal Tianpeng.” Zhou offers to act as her family representative if engagement discussions with Wang’s parents arise. Her closeness to Li makes her a particular concern when he plans how to shield his friends from the mother and daughter 21 46 230 633.
• Liu Xinyu — Fellow alumnus and admirer who read Zhou’s profile in Finance Youth. Zhou welcomes him as a friend and exchanges WeChat details with him. They remain in contact, Liu consults him about private matters, and Zhou praises Liu’s emotional intelligence while refusing to disclose his family difficulties. Zhou later names him as one of his three true friends 45 47 111 603.
• Dong Hongmei — Former mother-in-law and principal negotiator of his financial settlement and disappearance. Zhou considers her more frightening than Li and fears the harm she could arrange for his children or friends. She recognizes his intelligence and loyalty while exploiting those same attachments 633 634.
• Fan Qishan — Character-divination practitioner whom Zhou admires and hopes to learn from. Fan’s transformation of 女 into 囡 appears to match Zhou’s wish for a daughter; Zhou’s subsequent interest in the Book of Changes indirectly leads him to discover Li’s concealed notebooks 142 624.
• Grandpa Liu — Elder whom Zhou considers more capable than Fan Qishan at the time of the Fucheng trip 145.
• Hu Yang — Business acquaintance whom Zhou deliberately seeks to befriend. Zhou admires his frankness, generosity, and combination of chivalrous spirit and tenderness 192.
• Fang Dongxu and Sui Yiming — Café owners from whom Zhou negotiates the Shuangyang Coffee takeover after uncovering inflated costs. Fang later portrays the transaction as exploitation of former classmates in difficulty, while Wang understands that Zhou had also intended to help 214 494.
• Nuomi and Xiao Mo — Trusted contacts whom Zhou invites to Suiyun Residence and tells the complete story of Li and Dong’s schemes when seeking help with his counterstrategy 713.
• Song Yi — University figure Zhou greatly admires. Zhou interprets Song’s acceptance of Wang’s calligraphy as evidence of respect for Wang’s character 46.
• Zhao Shengkai and Ouyang Hai — Dinner acquaintances who mock his appearance and underestimate his wealth. Director Zhang’s deference and Zhou’s Maybach overturn their assumptions. Zhou later answers Zhao’s insinuations about scrap collecting with apparently self-deprecating remarks that indirectly criticize Zhao’s behavior 19 20 135.
• Director Zhang — University department director who publicly thanks Zhou for his contributions and seeks additional overseas-study places for his department 20 21.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Notable Quotes

“You have to learn to go after what you want. Grow a thicker skin. Opportunities don't come from waiting. You have to grab them.” 33

“So this wasn't me repaying a kindness. It was what the university deserved.” 33

“I'm just a scrap collector.” 45

“I'm not actually all that capable. I've just been lucky enough to meet a lot of people who helped me along the way.” 45

“I have two hobbies. One is studying how to make money. The other is studying the people around me.” 69

“Business partnerships are fundamentally about using each other, about whether each side has something the other needs.” 93

“I don't want Guoguo growing up watching Mom and Dad fight.” 601

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