Zhou Yi

Biodata

Career Progression

Background / History

Zhou Yi entered policing through the civil service examination and spent nearly three years at Qinghe Township Police Station. Zhang Liping, the station chief, consistently looked after him. Shortly before his rebirth, his girlfriend Li Qian broke up with him amid her parents’ disapproval of his prospects 1 4 5.

In his previous life, repeated setbacks eroded his ambition. He spent much of his police career sidelined in the Legal Affairs Division, eventually lost his public-sector job, and later made a living through writing. Outside work, he developed sanda skills, played piano, and used drinking and music to cope with frustration and loneliness. His old friendships with Jian Shuyue and Tian Tian gradually faded 1 4 8 15 33.

After a car ran a red light and struck him on a familiar crosswalk, Zhou Yi awoke eighteen years earlier, in the station’s duty room in summer 2005. Retaining his memories and experience, he resolved to rebuild his career rather than repeat his earlier failures. He recorded remembered dates of important events as numerical codes in his phone’s notepad 1 16.

Appearance

Zhou Yi’s reborn appearance is youthful and energetic, contrasting with the sagging skin and dispirited expression of his middle-aged self 1.

• Build: Stands 1.8 meters tall and is described as being at his physical peak 3 5.
• Face: Handsome, with sharp, swordlike eyebrows and bright eyes 5 38.
• Bearing: Upright posture and a composed presence, particularly noticeable in police uniform 26 38.
• Injuries: Suffers abrasions while dodging Zeng Yuqiang’s van and an arm slash during the ensuing fight; he describes the cut as shallow 35 36.

Personality

Ambition defines Zhou Yi’s second life. He wants to rise through government service, prove his former detractors wrong, and restore order to Dongji County. His opposition to corruption is genuine, but it also overlaps with career advancement and personal grievances, including his hostility toward Tao Guozheng 1 23 24.

He combines a confrontational sense of justice with political patience. Rather than immediately attacking every corrupt figure, he avoids premature conflict with Sun Mei and temporarily retains compromised subordinates whose assistance he needs. He recognizes that a countywide crackdown requires institutional backing, not merely an individual officer’s determination 10 24.

Usually composed, humorous, and socially attentive, he can become brutally aggressive toward people he despises. His hatred of Zeng Yuqiang is especially personal because he remembers the abuse and suicide of his classmate’s younger sister in the previous timeline. He also takes care to share credit with superiors and show concern for injured officers 35 36 44 48.

His emotional openness has limits. Although attracted to Jian Shuyue and Tian Tian, he keeps clear boundaries and initially rejects the suggestion of dating either woman. His memories of their eventual separation, their privileged backgrounds, and his determination to prioritize his career all contribute to that distance 4 16 17.

Abilities & Skills

Rebirth Foreknowledge

Zhou Yi retains memories of crimes, scandals, relationships, financial opportunities, and political developments from his previous life 2 6 10 16.

• Locates Lü Wenhui in a water jar by remembering where the fugitive had hidden 2.
• Uses knowledge of Xie Zhaolong’s affair and secret son to force his submission 11.
• Remembers the future criminal careers or downfalls of Shen Mo, Tao Guozheng, and several brigade officers 8 17 23.
• Keeps a coded record of dates he expects to offer opportunities for advancement 16.
• Limits: His recall is incomplete, and his interventions alter events. Huang Sheng’s family suffers a changed fate during the campaign against Fu Yu 6 34 46.

Close-Quarters Combat

His fighting ability combines previous-life sanda training with his younger body’s strength and reflexes 3 15.

• Defeats four of Xie Zhaolong’s men using punches, an elbow strike, and his pistol 11.
• Dodges an oncoming van with a diving roll 35.
• Uses a baton, kicks, and a headbutt against armed gang members, continuing after an arm injury 36.
• Limits: He remains vulnerable to blades and firearms; his victories do not prevent injuries 36 42.

Firearms

• Uses his pistol to stop a knife-wielding attacker and intimidate the remaining thugs 11.
• Shoots Zeng Yuqiang in the wrist when Zeng draws a pistol outside Happy Forest Hotel 42.
• Orders officers to bring firearms to the hotel inspection in anticipation of armed resistance 42.

Legal Knowledge and Argumentation

Experience in the Legal Affairs Division gives him a substantial grounding in police regulations and law. He continues studying the People’s Police Law and Special Industries Administration Regulations after his promotion 8 9.

• Challenges school officials’ dismissal of Shen Mo’s bullying and asserts the brigade’s authority to question those involved 20.
• Defends his use of force by explaining the hostage situation and offering the complete video as evidence 50.
• Blocks the requested transfer of Fu Yu and seized valuables by identifying continuing police investigations and an item connected to an earlier homicide 50.

Negotiation and Leadership

A professional negotiator praises his composure, reasoning, adaptability, language skills, and courage during Shen Mo’s rescue 26.

• Wins Liu Zhi’s loyalty by defending Shen Mo against influential families 20 21.
• Strengthens brigade cohesion through combat performance and concern for wounded officers 36.
• Baits the Zeng brothers into confronting him after the hotel raid, allowing their armed response to become part of his trap 42.
• Proposes reporting hotlines, tip-off boxes, publicity campaigns, and rewards to encourage public participation in the anti-gang campaign 44.

Other Skills

• Investment: Invests his entire ¥20,000 merit bonus in stocks, drawing on remembered opportunities from the 2005–2007 bull market 6.
• Alcohol tolerance: Outdrinks Bai Haoxuan, Xu Heng, Jian Shuyue, and Tian Tian at the reunion; attributes his tolerance to years of experience 15.
• Music: Played piano and sang in his previous life as an outlet for loneliness and uncertainty 15.

Equipment / Items

• Police uniform and cap — His uniform is specifically credited with reinforcing the trust and security he inspires 26.
• Pistol — Used to deter armed resistance and shoot Zeng Yuqiang’s wrist 11 42.
• Baton — Used during the fight with the Zeng Gang’s reinforcements 36.
• Handcuffs — Throws a pair to Xie Zhaolong and makes him cuff himself 11.
• Mobile phone — Used for backup calls, personal contacts, and his coded record of future events 16 35.
• First-class merit medal and certificate — Awarded for capturing Lü Wenhui 5.

Relationships

Family and Allies

• Zhou Yongxin — Father; celebrates his promotion and approves his refusal to accept improper gifts 5 6.
• Guo Dongmei — Mother and Shen Mo’s teacher; her concern about the bullying draws Zhou Yi into Shen Mo’s case 17.
• Zhang Liping — Former station chief and longstanding mentor; later becomes a deputy bureau director and defends him against excessive-force allegations 1 5 47.
• Lei Ming — County police bureau director; supports his command, introduces him to Yan Xiangyu, and works with him on the anti-gang task force 7 32 44.
• Yan Xiangyu — County magistrate and eventual political supporter. In the previous life, they became fishing friends only after Yan had retired 33 43 44.
• Cai Xiaobo, Shao Mingbao, and Zhu Jianping — Deputy brigade commanders. Initially resentful and implicated in corruption in his memories, they become trusted operational lieutenants 7 8 24 40 42.
• Liu Zhi — Squad leader who helps rescue Shen Mo and becomes firmly loyal to Zhou Yi 20 21.
• Shen Mo — Bullied student whom he rescues and promises to protect in exchange for staying away from crime. Zhou Yi remains wary of the criminal empire Shen built in the original timeline 17 21.
• Jiang Xinting — Fellow officer and friend; they adopt a sibling-like bond, which Zhou Yi invokes when warning Xie Yongming not to mistreat her 8 25.
• Zheng Yifan — Friend and former training-class colleague; calls Zhou Yi his brother after their reunion dinner 8.

Personal Relationships

• Li Qian — Former girlfriend. After their breakup, Zhou Yi stops contacting her and turns his attention to his career 1 4 16.
• Jian Shuyue — Middle- and high-school classmate with a close, teasing relationship. She challenges his emotional distance and remains interested in him despite her mother’s objections to his social standing 4 16 44.
• Tian Tian — Close friend who shares Jian Shuyue’s banter and notices his fear of their eventual separation. He rejects a proposed relationship with her while acknowledging his attraction privately 16 17.
• Hou Xiaolei — Old classmate whose younger sister, Hou Xiaoxin, is rescued from Zeng Yuqiang; her fate in the original timeline intensifies Zhou Yi’s hatred of Zeng 13 35 38.
• Zhou Xiaofan — Reporter who falls for him. They exchange numbers and arrange dinner, while he considers them well suited to friendship 32.

Adversaries and Uneasy Contacts

• Xie Zhaolong / Brother Long — Gangster whom Zhou Yi coerces through a family secret and uses against Tao Guozheng. Xie mistakes his ambition for willingness to collude; Zhou Yi later resolves to sever the connection 11 29 32.
• Tao Guozheng — Corrupt Organization Department official targeted after the Shen Mo case; also someone who humiliated Zhou Yi in his previous life 23 28.
• Zeng Yuqiang, Zeng Xuehua, and Zeng Xuedong — Gang leaders and their official protector. Zhou Yi refuses a private settlement and pursues the brothers despite threats from Zeng Xuedong 38 42 44.
• Fu Yu — Gang leader pursued during the anti-gang campaign. Zhou Yi connects him to the deaths of Huang Sheng’s family and arrests him after uncovering buried wealth at his villa 46 48.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Fugitive Capture and Exceptional Promotion

• Takes Qian Wenjie’s Chaoyang Village assignment, reversing his earlier-life decision to refuse the swap 2.
• Discovers and subdues Lü Wenhui shortly before the coordinated search operation ends 2 3.
• Receives first-class merit and an exceptional promotion, securing a county-bureau command far earlier than his original career advancement 5.
• Refuses Huang Guifa’s congratulatory gift and begins inspecting a brigade whose deputies expect him to share their illicit profits 6 7.

Shen Mo’s Rescue and the School Violence Case

• Saves Shen Mo after he jumps from the school roof, then demands disciplinary action against the girls who bullied him 20 21.
• Rejects administrators’ appeals to the students’ powerful family connections and gives the school three days to submit a disciplinary proposal 20 21.
• Continues pressing the case, but Shen Mo withdraws his criminal reconsideration request after his father accepts money and a promised job 25 28.
• Redirects his efforts toward Tao Guozheng, whose corruption is exposed through a real-name report 28 32.

Zeng Gang Crackdown

• Encounters Zeng Yuqiang after narrowly escaping the gang’s van and discovers the abducted Hou Xiaoxin inside 35 36.
• Refuses official pressure to settle, then raids Happy Forest Hotel and seizes a laptop containing abuse videos 38 40 42.
• Shoots and arrests Zeng Yuqiang during the brothers’ attempt to stop him from taking the computer away 42.
• Exposes officials protecting the gang, helps trigger a wider corruption investigation, and gains Yan Xiangyu’s trust 43 44.

Fu Yu Investigation and Institutional Resistance

• Vows to imprison Fu Yu within three days after Huang Sheng’s death and the disappearance of his wife and daughter 46.
• Leads a warranted search of Fu Yu’s villa and uncovers more than twenty buried jars containing cash and gold bars 48.
• Counters a preliminary excessive-force inquiry and refuses to surrender Fu Yu or seized evidence to the county procuratorate while police investigations remain active 47 50.

Reputation

• Municipal police commanders credit his fugitive capture to observation, judgment, courage, and fighting ability rather than luck alone 8.
• Xie Zhaolong fabricates a “Seed Plan” story portraying him as a distant relative of Municipal Party Secretary Zhou Zhiyuan. This is a false explanation for his influence, not an established family connection 29.
• Following the Zeng Gang’s downfall, ordinary residents regard Captain Zhou as a local legend and increasingly bring accusations and criminal leads to the police 44.

Notable Quotes

“Evil and I cannot coexist!” 8

“Doesn't our Public Security Management Brigade have face to protect too?” 20

“You must never stray onto the wrong path, much less turn to crime. Can you do that?” 21