Huang Bohan

Biodata

Background / History

Huang Bohan comes from a family of modest means whose parents run a small restaurant. Chen Zhu regularly joins him there for breakfast, with food set aside before his arrival. Both boys live off campus and usually eat lunch in the school cafeteria 3 5 7.

By their final year at Zhixin Middle School, Huang Bohan and Chen Zhu have been deskmates for two years. They also share meals and travel home together. Huang Bohan hopes their exam results will allow them to attend the same university so that he will not be lonely 3 7 11.

Original Timeline

In the life Chen Zhu remembers before his rebirth, Huang Bohan attended South China University of Technology, studying law. He entered the workforce after his undergraduate degree rather than pursuing postgraduate study and initially secured a decent job 3 5 43.

His lack of dating experience contributed to his marriage to a vain woman uninterested in settling down. The marriage failed, badly affecting his ability to remain employed. As finding work became harder with age, Chen Zhu used his connections to arrange jobs for him at private companies 5.

After returning to 2007, Chen Zhu tries to prevent that outcome by urging Huang Bohan to consult his friends about dating and marriage. He later recommends electronics and information rather than law, both to avoid the old path and because legal work demands communication and argument that may not suit Huang Bohan 5 43.

Appearance

• Face: A few pimples and a dark ring of downy hair around his lips 1.
• Glasses: Thick lenses with a greasy film on them when Chen Zhu first recognizes him after rebirth 1.
• Hands: Several fingernails bitten down to stubs from chewing them while solving problems 1.
• Complexion: Described as dark during the Shangxiajiu outing 17.

Personality

Huang Bohan is relaxed and talkative with Chen Zhu but socially anxious around larger groups. He lowers his head when entering a classroom full of classmates and retreats into silence after his teasing attracts Yu Xian’s attention. His awkwardness also makes it difficult for him to announce that he wants to leave a gathering or refuse a request in front of others 5 6 22.

He enjoys gossip and provoking his friend, especially over Chen Zhu’s former crush on Yu Xian. Although inexperienced in romance, he is not entirely naïve: he notices that Yu Xian looks at Chen Zhu even when greeting him, and correctly identifies Chen Zhu’s attempts to keep his options open with both Yu Xian and Song Shiwei 3 18 31 40.

His loyalty outweighs his envy of Chen Zhu’s growing confidence, popularity, and academic success. He explicitly feels that their friendship will not deteriorate because Chen Zhu has changed. Though initially intimidated by school troublemakers, he angrily confronts Li Jianming and goes to the police station when he believes his friend has been assaulted 7 21 32 36 37.

Abilities & Skills

Academic Ability

• Balanced performance: Unlike Chen Zhu’s pronounced strengths in mathematics, physics, and chemistry, Huang Bohan has comparatively even results across subjects 3 9.
• Chinese revision: Offers to guide Chen Zhu’s memorization and help him score above 100 3.
• Academic standing: Assigned to the first mock exam’s third room, which contains students ranked 41st–60th in the preceding monthly exam 9.
• Exam anxiety: Wrong answers can sharply undermine his confidence; after struggling with a past Gaokao physics paper, he fears he may fail to enter university despite his strong overall standing 9 26.

Gaming

• Enjoys arcade and controller-based games, placing considerable importance on winning against Chen Zhu 16 17 48.
• Negotiates for Chen Zhu not to use Kyo Kusanagi or Robert during their planned games 17.
• After gripping a controller hard enough to hurt the webbing of his hands, plans to bring gloves for their next session 48.

Relationships

• Chen Zhu — Best friend, deskmate, meal companion, and fellow commuter. Their friendship combines mutual support with relentless teasing; Chen Zhu also tries to steer him away from the marriage and career problems remembered from the original timeline 3 5 21 43.
• Yu Xian — Becomes his friend after the convenience-store incident. Her greeting delights him enough to declare her the school beauty in his own mind; he later encourages Chen Zhu to choose her rather than pursue two girls 25 40.
• Zhao Yuanyuan — Meets her during the outing arranged with Chen Zhu. He walks her home and spends another five yuan on fried skewers; later treats her with greater respect after learning she skipped two primary-school grades 16 22 23 43.
• Huang Bohan’s parents — Restaurant owners whose knowledge of university majors is limited. They have traditionally kept his red-envelope money, saying they are saving it for his eventual wedding 5 26 43.
• Mao Xiaoqin — Chen Zhu’s mother, whom he calls “Auntie Mao.” He knows her pride in Chen Zhu’s grades and contacts her immediately when he believes Chen Zhu has been beaten 26 36.
• Wang Changhua — Knows him through his repeated post-exam answer comparisons with Chen Zhu and describes him as someone who loves showing off 43.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Chen Zhu’s Return to High School

Huang Bohan’s familiar appearance helps Chen Zhu confirm that he has returned to his senior-year classroom in 2007. He subsequently notices changes in Chen Zhu’s manner, confidence, and willingness to intervene in other people’s problems, but does not identify rebirth as their cause 1 3 9 21.

Convenience-Store Incident

• Accompanies Chen Zhu and Zhao Yuanyuan to Shangxiajiu after being lured out by the misleading description of a “170 pure high school girl” 16 17.
• Freezes when Chen Zhu tells him to call the police during the confrontation with Zhang Chao; Zhao Yuanyuan makes the call instead 19.
• Remains at the store after Yu Xian leaves to find Chen Zhu, with Zhao Yuanyuan operating the checkout because he does not know how 19.
• Copies and signs a witness statement to help Chen Zhu assemble evidence for Yu Xian 21.

Mistaken-Identity Assault

When Chen Zhu fails to return after Li Jianming calls him outside, Huang Bohan searches the school and reports his absence to Yin Yanqiu. A security guard then mistakenly confirms that Chen Zhu was the student beaten near the parking lot 36.

Huang Bohan alerts the class, calls Mao Xiaoqin, and goes to Nonglinxia Road Police Station despite his unease about entering. There he discovers that Chen Zhu is unharmed: the attackers had mistaken Wang Changhua for him. His well-intentioned warning has already brought Chen Zhu’s parents to the station 36 37.

University Planning and the End of School

• Summer business proposal: Chen Zhu invites him to pool university celebration-banquet red envelopes as startup capital. Huang Bohan is interested but questions where the money will come from and whether the venture can succeed 26.
• Major selection: Considers law, but begins reconsidering after Chen Zhu recommends electronics and information. His university choice remains undecided at the group’s later gathering 43 44.
• Graduation: Receives a Gaokao assignment to Guangya High School. After the class’s final dismissal on June 3, he and Chen Zhu decide to walk around campus together 46.
• Pre-exam nerves: Visits a temple on White Cloud Mountain with Chen Zhu. Initially objects that praying is superstition, but joins the many other examinees offering incense and reports that his anxiety has disappeared afterward 47.
• Post-exam leisure: Plays games with Chen Zhu until after nine in the evening and proposes another session the following day, which Chen Zhu declines because of driving practice 48.

Notable Quotes

“I've never been in a relationship, but I'm not stupid.” 40

“Pick one and stick with her. I think Yu Xian is honestly perfect already.” 40

“But I'm definitely not anxious anymore.” 47