Wen Zhixia

Biodata

Background / History

Wen Zhixia’s family home is in the county town, but she stays with her youngest aunt while attending school. Her aunt and mother are close, and she frequently stayed at the aunt’s home as a child. She also helps younger relatives with homework, including an eighth-grade cousin’s English 23 50.

Her father and other family members wanted her to choose science because they believed it offered more university majors and better employment prospects. She instead studies humanities in Class Eleven. Before the events of Chapter 50, she and Lin Meng Qiu were deskmates 23 50.

Appearance

Wen Zhixia has a petite frame and a youthful, sweet-looking face that Chen Shi'an initially thinks could belong to a middle school student 23.

• Height: Claims to be 160 cm barefoot and 161 cm in shoes; Chen Shi'an questions whether she is actually 159 cm 32.
• Hair: Shoulder-length, with loose strands across her forehead; its ends appear light brown in the morning sunlight 23.
• Eyes: Large and lively, with a clear contrast between the pupils and whites 5.
• Usual clothing: A blue-and-white school uniform 5.

Personality

Wen Zhixia is cheerful, curious, and talkative. Her questions about Taoist fortune-telling, blessings, and funeral rites initially draw on films, television, and novels rather than firsthand knowledge. She enjoys teasing Chen Shi'an and readily turns his description of her as “amusing” into a compliment 4 32.

Her consideration for others is less obvious than her lively manner. She eats alone because her dorm-resident friends finish faster and need to rest; she dislikes making them wait, even when they are willing to do so. She is comfortable waiting for someone else, however, and is delighted when Chen Shi'an proves to be a slower eater than she is 32 34.

Despite complaining about studying and modestly describing her grades as ordinary, she is an accomplished student. Her helpfulness includes bringing classmates breakfast and staying up late to finish grammar notes for Chen Shi'an. A sincere expression of gratitude is enough to make her feel appreciated 23 26 44.

Abilities & Skills

Academic Achievement

• Teaches Chen Shi'an English pronunciation, speaking, and listening during their walks and meals 33 45.
• Shares techniques for memorizing vocabulary and textbook passages 34.
• Prepares printed notes covering middle school English grammar 44.
• Describes her mathematics as only “okay” and explicitly says she cannot help with physics, chemistry, or biology 23.

Health Exercises

Chen Shi'an teaches her simple exercises intended to support sleep and general health, rather than initiating her into cultivation 33.

• Learns scalp-combing, abdominal rubbing, and massage along the spleen and stomach meridians 33.
• Receives instruction in pressing the Hegu, Zanzhu, and Neiguan acupoints to improve alertness 44.
• Has no cultivation, magical power, or true qi. Her own acupoint attempts do little, whereas Chen Shi'an’s massage immediately dispels her sleepiness 33 44.

Cooking

• Can boil water and cook rice, but admits she has had little opportunity to cook for herself 50.

Equipment / Items

• Meal card — Pink and decorated with Hello Kitty stickers she applied herself 33.
• Phone and WeChat account — Uses a cartoon kitten avatar and the nickname “Zhizhi”; becomes Chen Shi'an’s second WeChat contact 33.
• English grammar notes — Originally being prepared for her younger cousin; she finishes them early and makes an additional copy for Chen Shi'an 44.

Relationships

• Chen Shi'an — Her study, walking, and meal buddy. Their friendship begins with a bus conversation and develops into daily companionship. She blushes during their pinky promise and becomes nervous during his acupoint massage; the passages show growing attraction without establishing a romantic relationship 5 23 32 33 44 45.
• Lin Meng Qiu — Former deskmate and the year’s top science student. Wen Zhixia reacts with an unusual tone and expression when she learns Lin is helping Chen Shi'an with mathematics, but does not explain the reaction 50.
• Shi Mo / Fat Ink — Chen Shi'an’s black cat, whom she immediately wants to pet. She respects the warning that it dislikes strangers, while the cat deliberately poses after she calls it fat 5.
• Youngest aunt — Provides her accommodation near school; Wen Zhixia has stayed with her since childhood 23.
• Younger cousin — An eighth-grade student whom she tutors in English and for whom she prepares grammar notes 44 50.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Meeting the Taoist

• Meets Chen Shi'an on a bus and questions him about his occupation. She is impressed by his answers to another passenger’s health concerns and asks him to read her face 4 5.
• He predicts that she will receive support and enjoy good fortune, while advising her to sleep more and drink water. They part without exchanging names or contact information 5.

Becoming Buddies

• Recognizes him near school after his haircut and change into a uniform. Learning that he lacks conventional schooling, she agrees to help with English and proposes walking home together 23.
• Explains the school cafeterias and accepts his offer to become regular meal buddies. They exchange WeChat details and seal their arrangements with a pinky promise 32 33.
• Their companionship includes shared dishes, lollipops exchanged as a “buddy fee,” and conversations about academic pressure 33 34.

Daily Walks and English Lessons

• After hearing about his backboard-shattering dunk, she feels safer walking home beside him at night. They share grilled sausages and arrange to meet at 6:15 the following morning 40.
• Arrives exhausted after finishing his grammar notes late at night. His forehead and temple massage leaves her alert, and she resumes teaching him English on their walk 44 45.
• Is astonished that he has memorized more than five hundred English words and textbook passages in little over a day. During the same lunch, she reveals her former-deskmate connection with Lin Meng Qiu 50.

Notable Quotes

“Thinking you can accomplish anything just by working hard—isn't that the greatest arrogance in the world?” 23

“It's fun precisely because I don't understand, but somehow everything you say still sounds reasonable.” 40

Trivia

• Her name means “knowing summer,” although she strongly dislikes hot weather 5 23.
• Loves cats, spicy food, and honey, and enjoys watching food being prepared 5 33 40 50.
• Repeatedly says she is dieting, but accepts shared lollipops and a late-night sausage when Chen Shi'an joins her 34 40.