Chen Zhu

Biodata

Background / History

Previous Life

Chen Zhu studied electronic and information engineering at South China University of Technology. After completing his bachelor’s and master’s degrees, he passed the Provincial Civil Service Examination. He reached section-chief rank after six years, then spent three years on a poverty-alleviation posting before returning to his agency as a Deputy Division Chief. Although his position carried little real authority, he attained deputy division-level rank before thirty-five 1 43.

His career left him little time for relationships, particularly while stationed in the countryside. Persistent work pressure also caused severe neurasthenia and sleep problems. Seeing his parents grow older eventually pushed him into matchmaking, but he remained unmarried 1 4.

In 2024, a matchmaking partner demanded that he use his position to secure a government job for her younger brother. Chen Zhu refused to bypass the civil-service examination requirement, and she ended their relationship. Shortly afterward, an oncoming light blinded him at a bend, and his car crashed 1 4.

Return to 2007

Chen Zhu regained consciousness in his senior-year classroom, ninety-nine days before the Gaokao. He retained his adult experiences without losing his high school knowledge. Reuniting with his younger parents helped him accept his return to a seventeen-year-old body, which no longer suffered from his work-related sleep problems 1 2 4.

He decided not to make the civil service his first choice again. Instead, he planned to pursue entrepreneurship while building the university connections and qualifications needed for selective graduate recruitment into government as a fallback 3 40.

Academic Performance

Appearance

A short haircut makes Chen Zhu’s previously overlooked good looks much more noticeable 7.

• Build: Tall and slim, standing over six feet; initially gives the impression of a studious boy unused to physical labor 8.
• Complexion: Fair-skinned, taking after his mother 7.
• Hair: Formerly thick and long; changes to a neat, short cut that exposes his high forehead 7 49.
• Expression: Steady gaze, composed smile, and clean white teeth 7 8.

Personality

Before rebirth, Chen Zhu was quiet, earnest, patient, and easily embarrassed about his crush on Yu Xian. His mother regarded him as studious and obedient but worried that his introversion would leave him poorly prepared for adult society. After rebirth, his professional experience makes him noticeably more confident and emotionally steady 3 4 20.

He is protective without treating physical confrontation as the only solution. When faced with harassment or threats, he looks for legitimate grounds to intervene, preserves evidence, and brings in teachers or police. His calmness partly comes from having faced much more dangerous situations during his poverty-alleviation work 7 19 35.

His composure coexists with a mischievous streak. He uses suggestive wordplay, mock-official titles, and misleading jokes to tease friends. He also admits a reluctance to let attractive possibilities slip away, prompting Huang Bohan to challenge his handling of Yu Xian and Song Shiwei 8 12 16 40.

Abilities & Skills

Retained Knowledge and Experience

Rebirth adds his adult experience to his existing teenage knowledge rather than replacing it 2.

• Retains strong problem-solving ability in mathematics, physics, and chemistry 2 9.
• Gains a substantial advantage in Chinese through years of reading and drafting official documents 2 9 11.
• Does not receive a comparable improvement in English; individual tutoring produces limited progress because his foundation remains weak 3 16.
• Struggles to retain short strings of numbers, while readily remembering people’s preferences and socially useful details 30 31.

Writing and Public Speaking

His government career included drafting province-wide industry regulations running to tens of thousands of characters 9.

• Quickly develops an outline for an eight-hundred-character exam essay 9.
• Delivers a polished, unscripted assembly speech that impresses teachers and Principal He Yong 15.
• Drafts Zhang Chao’s undertaking and witness statements for Huang Bohan and Zhao Yuanyuan 20 21.
• Uses familiar official phrasing almost instinctively, including when reassuring teachers immediately after rebirth 1.

Procedural Knowledge and Organization

Chen Zhu understands how documentation and institutional procedures can make an incident harder to dismiss 19 21.

• Requests an injury assessment and a receipt confirming his police report 19.
• Uses surveillance footage, witnesses, and medical records to support his account 19 20.
• Obtains a signed apology and promise that Zhang Chao will stop bothering Yu Xian 20.
• Assembles the recording, examination report, pledge, witness statements, and police receipt into a sealed evidence package for Yu Xian 21.

Social Perception and Networking

Reading people was a routine part of his former work, and his attention remains focused on relationships and institutional influence 31 49.

• Keeps Cao Jingjun’s conversation flowing with well-timed prompts and tactful reassurance 27.
• Wins Qi Zheng’s attention during lunch and identifies his importance as head of SYSU’s Budget Management Section 30.
• Recognizes the Flying Insects Club’s former members as a potential technical team for future internet ventures 29.
• Proposes aligning a divided team through shared incentives such as money, status, connections, and future prospects; this remains an unimplemented plan 50.

Stock-Market Planning

Chen Zhu traded stocks in his previous life but explicitly does not consider himself especially skilled. His new plan relies on remembering the opportunities and dangers of the 2007 market 26.

• Plans to pool admission-banquet cash gifts with Huang Bohan and Zhao Yuanyuan as startup capital 26.
• Intends to profit from the market rise and exit before the 2008 crash 26.
• Later identifies China Shipbuilding stock as his intended investment 48.
• Treats a million-yuan return as a projected source of future business funding, not an already-earned fortune 48.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Intervention Against Li Jianming

When Li Jianming pressures Song Shiwei outside Class 11 with cake, roses, and his companions’ taunts, Chen Zhu intervenes. He turns his sweeping-duty assignment into the grandiose title “director of the Public Sanitation System Management Committee,” invokes Yin Yanqiu’s authority, and makes the group leave. During the struggle, Li Jianming’s suit sleeve is torn off 7 8.

Protecting Yu Xian

At the convenience store, Chen Zhu blocks Zhang Chao’s aggression and signals his friends to stay clear. After Zhang Chao grabs his collar, he deliberately slumps down and has the police called. His procedural demands lead to formal proceedings, an MRI, and Zhang Chao’s signed promise to leave Yu Xian alone; Zhang Chao’s mother pays the 460-yuan examination fee 18 19 20.

His closeness with Yu Xian develops through dinner, teasing, walking her home, and accompanying her to her mother’s grave. At the cemetery, he carries the offerings and waits while she pays her respects alone 22 23 33.

SYSU Visit and University Plans

His assembly speech earns him a late addition to Zhixin’s delegation for “Appointment with Prestigious Universities.” During the visit, he seeks contact with the Flying Insects Club president and builds rapport with Qi Zheng 15 29 30.

Although his mock-exam results open more ambitious possibilities, Chen Zhu chooses SYSU rather than risk applying to Tsinghua or Peking University. He submits economics at Lingnan College and learns that Song Shiwei has selected finance at the same college 44 45.

Parking-Lot Threat and Mistaken Identity

Zhang Chao warns him that outsiders plan to confront him at an abandoned parking lot. After Li Jianming summons him directly, Chen Zhu reports the threat to Yin Yanqiu instead of going alone. Teachers and security staff accompany him, only to discover that the attackers have mistaken Wang Changhua for Chen Zhu and beaten him 35 36.

Rumors nevertheless spread that Chen Zhu was injured, bringing his parents, Yu Xian, and Song Shiwei’s family to the police station. Li Jianming is subsequently expelled, and the attackers are arrested. Cao Jingjun asks Chen Zhu and Wang Changhua to keep the circumstances quiet to protect the school’s reputation 36 38 39 43.

Summer After the Gaokao

Chen Zhu persuades his parents to let him begin lessons at Anshun Driving School before turning eighteen, with formal registration deferred until he reaches the required age. There he meets his former middle school deskmate, Bian Xiaoliu 48.

While Yu Xian visits her hometown, they exchange daily QQ messages. When she announces her return with local specialties for him and his parents, he promises to meet her and asks his mother for money to buy a phone 50.

Relationships

• Mao Xiaoqin — Mother and emergency-department doctor at the Municipal People’s Hospital. Her familiar care helps him settle emotionally after rebirth; she later agrees to supervise his use of banquet money for stocks 4 45.
• Chen Peisong — Father and deputy director of a subdistrict office. Chen Zhu previously sought his advice on difficult grassroots problems; Peisong notices that his son’s change goes beyond a haircut 10.
• Huang Bohan — Deskmate and close friend. Chen Zhu remembers helping him find work after his disastrous marriage and tries to steer him away from repeating his previous educational and romantic path 2 5 43.
• Yu Xian — His high school crush and an increasingly close companion. Their relationship combines mutual teasing, personal trust, and concern for one another; she privately considers calling him “Doggy Chen” 3 22 31 39 50.
• Song Shiwei — Classmate he protects from Li Jianming. She quietly corrects a mistake on his chemistry paper and calls her father for help after hearing he has been attacked. Both later choose Lingnan College 24 36 45.
• Yin Yanqiu — Homeroom teacher. Trusts his academic integrity, asks him to share his Chinese-study experience, and responds immediately to the threat against him 12 35.
• Cao Jingjun — Head of the year. Becomes favorably disposed toward Chen Zhu through his speech and social tact, and helps organize protection at the parking lot 15 27 35.
• Zhao Yuanyuan — Family friend and prospective investment partner. Calls the police during the convenience-store incident and provides a witness statement 16 19 21 26.
• Wang Changhua — Middle school classmate who frequently checks exam answers with him. His curiosity about Chen Zhu’s invented confession story leads him to the parking lot, where he is mistaken for Chen Zhu 9 35 36.
• He Yu — Flying Insects Club president and university contact. Explains why the club disbanded; Chen Zhu hopes to bring its members together for future ventures 29 50.
• Song Zuomin — Song Shiwei’s father and executive director at CITIC Securities. Thanks Chen Zhu for helping his daughter and forms a favorable first impression of him 38.
• Li Jianming and Zhang Chao — School antagonists. Chen Zhu counters Li Jianming’s harassment through school authority and Zhang Chao’s aggression through documented police proceedings 8 19 20 35.

Equipment / Items

• BBK cassette player — Kept on his bedroom desk for English listening practice and music; his collection includes official Jay Chou tapes and pirated Mayday tapes 4.
• High school diary — Hidden in a drawer. Reading his teenage insecurities and pride as an adult leaves him intensely embarrassed 4.

Notable Quotes

“I really have been reborn.” 1

“I hope you understand, Zhang Chao: muscles can't bring you love, and violence can never replace knowledge.” 20

“See you at Lingnan.” 45

Trivia

• His parents chose his name because “Chen Zhu” sounds like the word for “composed,” matching his patient disposition 4.
• His elaborate sanitation-management title is an improvised description of sweeping duty, not an actual class committee appointment 7 8.
• He persuades Huang Bohan to join an arcade outing by describing Zhao Yuanyuan as a “170 pure high school girl,” then reveals that he meant weight rather than height 16.