Chen Fan

Biodata

Background / History

Family and upbringing

Chen Fan grew up in a roughly seventy-square-meter, single-story village house. His father, Chen Jianye, worked at a ceramics factory, while his mother, Li Jinqiu, worked at a power plant. The family’s furnishings were sparse, and their old color television was practically their only valuable household possession 4.

Before his rebirth, Chen Fan’s grades generally placed him in the lower middle of his class. He eventually attended a second-tier university in Yunhai and studied computer technology 2 7 29.

Previous life

Although Chen Fan and Su Ruochu shared a desk in high school, he did not pursue her then. They attended different universities in the same city and met again at a hometown-student gathering during their sophomore year. Their subsequent relationship lasted four and a half years, which Chen Fan remembered as the happiest period of his life 2.

Su Ruochu stood by him through hardship. Chen Fan promised her a grand wedding once his business succeeded, but she died in a car accident while going to buy him breakfast. His father later died from a serious illness in his fifties, and his mother died three years afterward following illness brought on by grief 1 4.

Chen Fan eventually built an enormous business empire, but his success did not relieve his loneliness. A later wife betrayed him during a company crisis, colluded with outsiders, and divorced him while taking half his assets. At the end of his life, he donated assets worth hundreds of billions and directed that his group shares establish a children’s charity fund. His most cherished possession remained Su Ruochu’s red cord bracelet, kept in a rusty tin box 1.

Rebirth

Chen Fan awakened beside Su Ruochu in their high-school classroom, with thirty-six days remaining before the 2000 college entrance examination. Overwhelmed, he embraced and kissed her in front of the class, alarming her and earning an angry reprimand from Wang Qiming 1.

His second chance became a means to recover what wealth had failed to replace: a life with Su Ruochu, more time with his parents, and the opportunity to prevent Guo Shuai’s imprisonment 2 4 41.

Appearance

• Facial features: Su Ruochu notices his sharply defined profile while watching him demonstrate his computer skills 13.
• Attractiveness: An older female student considers him handsome when he arrives at university 42.
• School clothing: Wears a blue-and-white school uniform during his final year 12.
• Voice: His singing voice is somewhat low and husky rather than especially clear 18.
• Identifying accessory: Wears the red cord bracelet Su Ruochu gives him as a token of love 39 40.

Personality

Chen Fan is playful, shamelessly flirtatious, and quick to turn embarrassment into a joke. He openly calls Su Ruochu his “wife” before they begin dating and trades crude jokes with Guo Shuai. His enthusiasm can override her boundaries: his initial classroom kiss frightens her, and she threatens to change seats if he repeats it 1 3 5.

Loss has made him unusually sentimental toward ordinary family life. He cries upon seeing his mother again, cherishes the nagging he once found irritating, and recognizes the pride his university admission gives his father. His ambition centers on allowing his loved ones to enjoy the success they missed in his previous life 4 41.

He becomes disciplined when pursuing a concrete goal, balancing intensive exam preparation with urgent website development. He is also pragmatic and willing to deceive: he invents a damaging story about Huang Hu, obtains advertising money from his parents under the pretext of learning computer skills, and organizes paid comments against a business rival 3 13 26 34 35.

His confidence is less stable where Su Ruochu is concerned. Despite believing she would not betray him, he becomes anxious after seeing her with Tian Yuan and follows the older student to identify him. He later admits his jealousy to her 46 47.

Abilities & Skills

Knowledge of the future

Chen Fan retains memories from more than twenty years of his previous life. He explicitly has no system or special cheat; his advantages come from remembered events and skills he had already acquired 4 5.

• Recognizes future investment opportunities in property, technology companies, and Bitcoin 4.
• Remembers that HiChina acquired the Easy Domain Network in September 2000 and builds his own site with that acquisition window in mind 9 48.
• Uses memories of Guo Shuai’s imprisonment and his parents’ deaths to identify outcomes he wants to prevent 2 4.
• Limit: Many memories are incomplete, and opportunities requiring substantial capital remain inaccessible when he returns with little more than ten yuan 4 5.

Computing

His previous computer-technology education supplies practical expertise far beyond what his classmates expect of him 7 13.

• Programming: Designs and builds the Domain Name Network; considers creating websites and forums straightforward 9 31.
• Interface design: Gives his site a more attractive layout and more convenient features than its competing website 23.
• Repair: Diagnoses possible hardware and operating-system faults, repairs Fang Ling’s laptop, and earns 500 yuan 12 13.
• Typing: Touch-types rapidly using both pinyin and Wubi, impressing Zhou Honghai and prospective students 13 27.
• Security and hacking: Defends his website against a hired hacker, penetrates the opponent’s defenses within three minutes, and stops short of tracing the hacker’s identity 37.
• Limits: Initially lacks a computer of his own and relies on access provided by Honghai Computer School 9 13.

Exam preparation and English

Chen Fan combines current study with partial memories of the examination he previously took 5 22.

• Recalls major mathematics questions, reading passages, and essay topics, then prepares answers in advance 5.
• Continues checking his work rather than relying entirely on remembered answers 22 23.
• Retains English skills developed through dealings with foreigners as his former business expanded 23.
• Limit: He does not remember the entire examination and worries that the questions might have changed 5 20.

Business negotiation and organization

• Negotiates three Sina.com advertising placements for 5,400 yuan 27.
• Recruits participants through internet-café staff and organizes twenty-four QQ groups into a paid-comment operation 34.
• Uses administrators, IP screenshots, game credits, and café intermediaries to manage verification and payment 35.
• Secures 50,000 yuan in compensation from the Easy Domain Network’s owner following their hacking confrontation 37 38.
• Rejects acquisition offers below his valuation, demanding at least five million yuan for his website 49.

Improvised self-defense and endurance

• Uses a broken beer bottle against armed attackers and protects his examination documents during the fight 20.
• Forces the attackers’ leader to identify Huang Hu as their employer 21.
• Endures stitches to his hand without anesthetic so he can enter the Gaokao examination room 21.
• Limit: The confrontation leaves him with head and hand injuries; Guo Shuai’s intervention is essential to his escape 20 21.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Pursuing Su Ruochu

• Helps her avoid public embarrassment by providing sanitary pads and tying his jacket around her waist 2.
• Resolves to enter the same university after learning that her academic prospects far exceed his former results 3.
• Receives a conditional opening when she agrees to discuss dating if they reach the same university 8.
• Persuades her to accept him before the examinations. She requires secrecy until the Gaokao ends and insists that he fulfill his university promise; her third condition remains undecided 15 16.
• Chooses Cloudsea University’s international trade program with her rather than returning to computer science 26 27.
• Receives her formal affirmation and blessed red cord bracelet after they discuss fidelity and marriage 39.

Huang Hu’s attacks and the Gaokao

• Escapes troublemakers sent by Huang Hu, then joins Guo Shuai in retaliating at the White Birch Grove internet café 6 7.
• On July 7, follows a false message claiming Su Ruochu is in danger and enters an ambush at 14 Nanyang Road 20.
• Reaches Exam Room 13 injured as the final bell rings, defeating Huang Hu’s attempt to keep him from taking the examination 21.
• Completes the remaining subjects and initially estimates his total at 575; the official result is 603 23 25 29.

Building the Domain Name Network

University life and new opposition

• Travels to Yunhai with Guo Shuai and registers at Cloudsea University independently of his parents 41 42.
• Moves into Dormitory 318 in a building partly shared with female students because of a dormitory shortage 42 43.
• Encounters Lin Wanxiu’s opposition to his relationship and refuses her demand that he leave Su Ruochu 40.
• Learns that Tian Yuan is Su Ruochu’s childhood friend and her mother’s preferred match; Su Ruochu assures him that she only likes Chen Fan 47 48.
• Faces Tian Yuan’s offer of student-council benefits in exchange for leaving her. Chen Fan considers the associated threats laughable and remains focused on his relationship and business plans 50.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Red cord bracelet — A temple-blessed gift from Su Ruochu. He receives an identical bracelet at least two years earlier than in his previous life 39 40.
• Rusty tin box — In his previous life, holds the bracelet he treasures above his wealth; he clutches it at the end of his life 1.
• Bicycle — Used for travel between home, school, and the city, including visits to Su Ruochu 4 26 30.
• Registered QQ numbers — Acquires fifteen five-digit and ten six-digit numbers after recognizing their potential future value 27.
• Broken beer bottle — An improvised weapon used during the Nanyang Road ambush, bound to his hand with his uniform jacket 20.

Relationships

• Su Ruochu — High-school deskmate, former-life partner, and current girlfriend. Her earlier death drives his determination to rebuild their relationship and attend the same university 1 2 15 39.
• Guo Shuai — Best friend and business collaborator. Chen Fan wants to prevent his former-life imprisonment; Guo Shuai helps him escape the Gaokao ambush and manages the paid-comment operation 2 21 35.
• Li Jinqiu — Mother. Her return to his life makes him openly emotional, and he vows to give her the happiness she missed before 4 41.
• Chen Jianye — Father. Initially doubts Chen Fan’s university prospects but supports him financially and takes great pride in his admission 4 26 29 41.
• Wang Qiming — High-school homeroom teacher. Reprimands his disruptive behavior and guides the class through examination preparations 1 17.
• Huang Hu — Class monitor and romantic rival. Escalates from threats to hiring attackers to cripple Chen Fan before the Gaokao 2 20 21.
• Zhou Honghai — Computer-school operator who supplies workspace and free computer access in return for demonstrations 13 27 37.
• Fang Ling — Laptop-repair customer whose 500-yuan payment contributes to his initial advertising fund 13 27.
• Yao Jinbo — Founder of the competing Easy Domain Network and Chen Fan’s principal early business rival 9 23 31.
• Desert North Swordsman — Rival’s hired hacker, later an intermediary in the compensation agreement 37 38.
• Lin Wanxiu — Su Ruochu’s mother. Rejects him as an unsuitable match because of his family’s finances and background 40.
• Su Xuecheng — Su Ruochu’s father. Finds Chen Fan confident and well-mannered and does not oppose his daughter dating after the Gaokao 31.
• Tian Yuan — Older university student and Su Ruochu’s childhood friend. Attempts to persuade Chen Fan to leave her through promises of student-council advantages 47 50.
• Wu Di, Ma Xiaoshuai, Han Xu, Sun Hao, and Luo Wenjie — University roommates who become his everyday companions and tease him about his relationship 43 46 48 50.

Notable Quotes

“Ruochu, this time I'll never let you leave me again.” 1

“Young man, remember this! You have to learn to harness the power of the masses.” 34

“Mom, Dad, don't worry. In this life, I'll make sure you have the happiest life possible.” 41