Yuan Su

Biodata

Background / History

Yuan Su grew up in a prosperous family whose appliance shop was the largest in town. He consistently ranked first in his year, particularly excelling in mathematics and physics, and repeatedly appeared on the county joint-exam honors board. Teachers considered him capable of entering a top university. He was also popular with girls, receiving gifts and love letters, and delivered the opening-ceremony speech as the freshman representative 5 16.

His father gambled away the business, borrowed heavily from local families, and disappeared. Most of the family's property was sold or seized. The repair shop survived because it was registered in Lu Zhen's name; after she was hospitalized following the family's collapse, creditors did not force her to surrender it. Yuan Su kept the shop running to repay debts and cover her treatment 5 11.

The upheaval left him socially isolated. Friends distanced themselves under parental pressure, and his attendance and overall grades declined. After a former deskmate's mother publicly attacked his family background, Cheng Siyi stopped assigning him a deskmate. His home was stripped so thoroughly that it lacked decent furniture, while school became a place where he could briefly sleep without dealing with creditors 5 23 32 33.

Appearance

Yuan Su is tall and lean, with long limbs, pale skin, black hair, and dark eyes 2 20.

• Face: Sharply defined features, a high nose bridge, thin lips, and a pronounced jawline 11 46.
• Hands: Prominent knuckles, thin fingertip calluses, and small scars and cuts from repair work 11 27.
• Work clothes: Black clothing with sleeves rolled to his elbows; grease often marks his hands and forearms 11.
• Scent: Machine oil mixed with soap; Pu Yu also notices a faint pine fragrance on his raincoat 11 31.

Personality

Yuan Su is guarded, terse, and often irritable. He initially treats Pu Yu's attempts to help as possible charity or an obligation being imposed on him. His distrust extends to fairness itself: he tells her that the world does not contain as much justice as she expects. Despite this bitterness, he discusses debt and survival without openly complaining 12 16 22.

His harsh manner frequently conceals practical concern. He follows Pu Yu and Xu Suiran home to ensure their safety, gives Pu Yu his raincoat during a storm, and keeps dirty repair work away from her study space. He would rather appear unfriendly than expose her to danger or compromise her schooling 16 31 40.

Pu Yu's persistence gradually makes him more willing to accept care. After she nurses him through a fever, he admits privately that he can no longer push her away. His growing attachment also exposes jealousy and fear of being left behind, particularly when she spends less time at the shop or receives help from Song Jinnian 34 35 47.

Abilities & Skills

Mathematics and Physics

Yuan Su retains exceptional ability in mathematics and physics despite neglecting other subjects 10 21.

• Completes a difficult physics paper in under twenty minutes without scratch work and earns full marks 10.
• Scores full marks in physics and 148 in mathematics in the later examination results 21.
• Explains problems through diagrams and key conditions, changing his explanation when Pu Yu does not understand 11.
• Tutors Pu Yu in physics and mathematics at school and in his repair shop 29 36.
• His strength in these subjects does not translate into consistent overall performance: Cheng Siyi challenges him over blank papers and zero scores elsewhere 21.

Electrical and Mechanical Repair

Repair work is Yuan Su's main means of supporting his family 11 15.

• Diagnoses Pu Yu's broken lamp as aging wiring and poor contact at the lamp holder 11.
• Repairs circuit boards, computer hardware, and software issues for the town internet café 15 16.
• Recognizes a falsely advertised Sony player by its repainted casing, crooked headphone jack, and spliced wiring 19.
• Restores a cassette player with high-quality replacement belts and a recalibrated tape head; an audio-shop owner praises its workmanship and sound quality 28.
• Repairs Li Suhua's sewing machine by replacing its gear and lubricating the shafts 47.
• Restores a secondhand telescope by grinding and fitting a replacement lens and assembling a mismatched tripod 50.

Parts Sourcing and Bargaining

Yuan Su knows the Nanhua City secondhand market well and maintains relationships with its sellers 41.

• Tests components with a multimeter before buying them 41.
• Bargains a transistor purchase down from fifteen yuan to ten and obtains an old brass gear for fifteen yuan 41.
• Regularly travels to obtain stock and hunt for difficult-to-find parts 36.

Emergency Work and Fighting

Yuan Su acts quickly in emergencies, but his fighting is described as ferocious rather than technically skilled 31 42.

• Climbs a slippery roof during a violent storm and secures tarpaulin over damaged tiles to stop the worst leaks 31.
• Intimidates Zhao Qiang into ending his harassment of Pu Yu during an examination 17.
• Rescues Pu Yu from Chen Jun and two thugs using an iron pipe and his fists, continuing even after being struck in the back with a brick 42.
• Frequently dismisses his own injuries and initially resists treatment 39 45.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Repair tools — Uses a soldering iron, tweezers, a multimeter, and a portable toolbox for appliance and computer work 11 16 36 41.
• Silver cassette player — Restores it and secretly leaves it on Pu Yu's desk; later gives her an English listening tape to use with it 28 29.
• Tarpaulin, nylon rope, and old raincoat — Uses the first two to protect Li Suhua's roof and gives the raincoat to Pu Yu 31.
• Iron pipe — An improvised weapon taken from a market stall during Pu Yu's rescue 42.
• Repaired telescope — Prepares it at North Mountain for Pu Yu's birthday stargazing 50.

Relationships

• Pu Yu — Neighbor, deskmate, and increasingly close friend. He tutors and protects her; she defends him at school, cares for him when ill, and visits his mother. Their attachment develops through jealousy, physical closeness, and his birthday surprise for her 21 29 35 40 47 50.
• Lu Zhen — Mother. Yuan Su pays for her hospitalization, brings her fruit, and tries to calm her during episodes of confusion. Her unreliable memory means she does not always recognize him 16 26 27.
• Yuan Su's father — His gambling and disappearance leave Yuan Su responsible for the family's remaining shop and debts 5 11.
• Li Suhua — Next-door neighbor and Pu Yu's grandmother. He helps her with her roof and sewing machine; she provides food when he is ill and entrusts him with Pu Yu's travel money 31 35 41 47.
• Xu Suiran — Classmate and Pu Yu's friend. She remembers his former academic success and explains his circumstances to Pu Yu. Her parents lent his father eight thousand yuan, which remains unpaid when she recounts it 5 11.
• Song Jinnian — Former close friend and academic rival. They once studied physics and planned their futures together, but stopped speaking after arguing over Yuan Su's withdrawal from schoolwork 47.
• Cheng Siyi — Homeroom teacher. She opposes judging him by his family, disciplines him after the exam-paper incident, and establishes the peer-support arrangement that keeps Pu Yu beside him 21 23 24.
• Teacher Wang — Physics teacher who recognizes his talent and wants him to enter the Physics Competition 10 15.
• Chen Jun — Attacks Pu Yu in Nanhua City; Yuan Su intervenes and beats him and his accomplices 42.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Meeting Pu Yu

• Pu Yu mistakenly enters his home and invokes Officer Li to frighten away debt collectors. Yuan Su initially questions her suspiciously, then helps her reach Li Suhua by knocking loudly enough for the hard-of-hearing woman to answer 2 3.
• After becoming her deskmate, he helps her solve physics problems and repairs her lamp. She repays his help with breakfast, which he accepts while declaring them even 5 11 12 13.

The Physics Competition

• Yuan Su refuses Teacher Wang's invitation because residential training, travel, accommodation, and materials would consume money needed for debts and Lu Zhen's medical bills 15.
• Pu Yu apologizes for judging his choice and leaves the registration form with him. When Lu Zhen becomes distressed over his refusal, he promises to enter but privately decides never to submit the form 16.

Defending Pu Yu at School

• He tears up Zhao Qiang's exam paper after Zhao harasses Pu Yu. When the incident leads to a complaint, Pu Yu follows him to Cheng Siyi's office and explains what happened 17 21.
• His assigned self-reflection uses Pu Yu's account but ends with a declaration that he would tear another paper if someone targeted a classmate again 23.
• Cheng Siyi subsequently keeps Pu Yu as his deskmate through an academic peer-support plan, rather than leaving him isolated 24.

Accepting Friendship and Care

• Yuan Su gives Pu Yu the restored cassette player on the condition that she work toward first place in her year. When she worries that this may take until graduation, he says he will wait however long it takes 28 29.
• After protecting Li Suhua's roof during a storm, he develops a severe fever. Pu Yu finds him alone and delirious, stays with him, and helps nurse him through his recovery 31 33 34 35.
• Pu Yu begins visiting Lu Zhen regularly. Yuan Su quietly adds a stool for her beside the ward's best-lit window, while her visits help improve his mother's condition 38 39 40.

Nanhua City Rescue

• During a parts-buying trip, Yuan Su pursues a man through the market and leaves Pu Yu waiting at a stall. Chen Jun then abducts her, and Yuan Su returns to rescue her from an alley 41 42.
• He recovers her purse and her mother's red-cord keepsake, treats her injuries, and arranges an overnight stay near the station 43 44.
• When she is afraid to remain alone, he sleeps on the floor beside her bed and lets her hold his hand. He explicitly blames himself—not her—for leaving her unprotected 44 45.

Pu Yu's Birthday

• Yuan Su carries Pu Yu to North Mountain's summit and reveals the telescope he repaired for her birthday 50.
• Remembering her belief that her deceased mother became a star, he helps her identify constellations and suggests that an unnamed twinkling star might be her mother 50.

Notable Quotes

“There's no such thing as that much fairness in this world.” 22

“Fine. I'll wait, however long it takes.” 29

“It's not your fault. … It's mine. … My fault for leaving you alone.” 45

Trivia

• Says he is allergic when offered mango-flavored candy 20.
• According to Lu Zhen, he was afraid of dogs as a child 39.