Zhang Chao

Biodata

Appearance

Zhang Chao is exceptionally tall and powerfully built, with average looks and conspicuous muscular arms 17 18.

• Clothing: A loose shirt and shorts bearing his school’s logo 17.
• Footwear: Latest-model Nike air-cushioned basketball shoes with a prominent red swoosh 17.
• Characteristic gesture: Rolls his sleeves up to his shoulders to expose his biceps when trying to intimidate others 18.

Personality

Zhang Chao is domineering, hot-tempered, and highly sensitive to humiliation. After Yu Xian slapped him for trying to hold her hand, he repeatedly sent threatening messages through other students and sought to recover his wounded pride. At the convenience store, he demanded that she kiss him if she would not become his girlfriend 18 25.

He initially trusts physical strength more than legal consequences. Even after Chen Zhu calls for police intervention, Zhang Chao threatens another confrontation at school. His confidence collapses when formal proceedings begin: he turns pale upon entering the police car and later meekly copies the written undertaking 19 20.

His later warning to Chen Zhu is not a straightforward reconciliation. He resents honors-class students, initially refuses to “betray” his delinquent friends, and deliberately delays the warning in hopes of disrupting Chen Zhu’s mock-exam performance 34 35.

Abilities & Skills

Basketball

• Plays on the school basketball team 18.
• Is regarded as a prominent student partly because he is very good at basketball 35.

Sprinting and Physical Strength

• Breaks his personal 4 × 100-meter record during training 34.
• His size makes him difficult to restrain: Chen Zhu and Huang Bohan must act together to stop his advance toward Yu Xian 18.
• No formal fighting technique is demonstrated; his confrontation relies on charging, intimidation, and grabbing Chen Zhu’s collar 18.

History

Pursuit of Yu Xian

Zhang Chao tried to take Yu Xian’s hand in a crowd, prompting her to slap him publicly. Huang Bohan later reports a rumor that Zhang Chao had dumped a previous girlfriend to pursue her. Following the rejection, Zhang Chao pressured Yu Xian through messages warning her not to force him to “get tough” 6 18 25.

Convenience Store Confrontation

Zhang Chao visits the convenience store where Yu Xian works, blocks customers at her register, and demands an explanation for the slap. When she mocks him, he charges toward her, but Chen Zhu and Huang Bohan intervene. Chen Zhu briefly persuades him to leave before Zhang Chao renews his demands and insists on a kiss 17 18.

After Yu Xian refuses, Zhang Chao grabs Chen Zhu by the collar. Chen Zhu moves outside the surveillance camera’s coverage and deliberately slumps against the shelves. Zhao Yuanyuan calls the police, and Chen Zhu requests an injury assessment and a receipt confirming his report. The officers review the footage and take Zhang Chao to the station for a statement 18 19.

Chen Zhu’s MRI shows no injury, so the inspector explains that Zhang Chao will not be detained or imprisoned on those results. Nevertheless, Chen Zhu threatens to submit the evidence to the school and District Education Bureau unless Zhang Chao writes an apology and promises not to harass Yu Xian again. Zhang Chao copies and signs Chen Zhu’s draft; his mother is required to cover the 460-yuan MRI fee 20.

Chen Zhu assembles the undertaking, surveillance recording, medical report, witness statements, and police response receipt into an envelope for Yu Xian. When Zhang Chao subsequently encounters her at school, he turns away without confronting her 21 25.

Warning About the Parking-Lot Attack

Zhang Chao later learns through his outside-school friends that thugs intend to attack Chen Zhu. He celebrates the news, but his mother urges him to warn Chen Zhu in exchange for recovering the documents from the earlier incident. She also threatens to tell his father about the police-station visit if he refuses 34.

Zhang Chao waits until the Second Mock Exam to approach Chen Zhu, hoping the threat will damage his results. He initially withholds the organizer’s identity, but Chen Zhu provokes him into revealing that Li Jianming is behind the planned confrontation 34 35.

After delivering the warning, Zhang Chao requests the apology, pledge, medical report, and other evidence. Chen Zhu tells him to collect them in three business days; their actual return is not shown in the supplied passages. The warning does not disrupt Chen Zhu’s remaining exams, and he subsequently reports the threat to school staff 35.

Relationships

• Yu Xian — Unreciprocated romantic interest and target of harassment. She rejects his advances; the signed undertaking obliges him to stop bothering her 18 20 25.
• Chen Zhu — Schoolmate and adversary who restrains him through police procedures and documentary evidence. Zhang Chao later supplies information about a planned attack to seek the evidence’s return 18 20 35.
• Huang Bohan — Helps Chen Zhu restrain Zhang Chao and signs a witness statement concerning the incident 18 21.
• Mother — Initially minimizes his misconduct and invokes her claimed connection with Cao Jingjun. Later recognizes the danger of leaving evidence against him and pushes him to distance himself from outside-school thugs 20 34.
• Father — Zhang Chao visibly fears him. His mother uses the threat of revealing the police incident to secure his cooperation 34.
• Outside-school thugs — Friends whose planned attack he initially welcomes. His reluctance to expose them gives way under parental pressure 34 35.

Notable Quotes

“In all my years, I, Zhang Chao, have never been slapped before. I once swore that the only women allowed to slap me were my mom and my wife.” 18