Tang Fangjing

Biodata

Background / History

Tang Fangjing grew up with Lu Heng and is regarded as his younger cousin through his adoptive family, though they share no blood relationship. Her parents are salaried workers. Lu Heng bought their family a roughly 200-square-meter apartment in the city center because his late adoptive parents had been particularly close to them 18 20 27 42.

Before Xia Zhi’s transmigration, the original owner frequently ate and shopped with Tang Fangjing and bought her gifts. Tang Fangjing encouraged her to wear revealing clothes and exaggerated makeup, claiming these suited Lu Heng’s tastes. She also recommended nightclub visits and encounters with other men as ways to provoke his possessiveness; these actions instead deepened his dislike of his wife 18.

In the original novel recalled by Xia Zhi, the original owner accidentally injured Tang Fangjing. Lu Heng scolded his wife without first establishing what had happened, worsening their marital conflict. Xia Zhi interprets Tang Fangjing’s minor role in that story as another factor contributing to the couple’s eventual disastrous outcome 18.

Appearance

• Xia Zhi describes her complexion as relatively dark when arguing that Zhao Qingqing’s pale-yellow birthday gift would not suit her 23.
• She later wears wide-sleeved hanfu resembling the Tea Artist’s birthday-banquet outfit, hoping to impress Lu Heng with a tea ceremony 44.

Personality

Tang Fangjing maintains a sweet voice and friendly manner while concealing jealousy and hostility toward Xia Zhi. She frequently presents herself as a peacemaker, even when encouraging behavior likely to damage Xia Zhi’s marriage. When upset, she forces smiles and tries to regain her composure rather than openly admitting her resentment 18 22 25 26.

She believes her shared childhood with Lu Heng gives her a stronger claim to him than his wife has. His growing affection for Xia Zhi threatens that belief, prompting regret that she had previously been too reserved to pursue him. She also envies Xia Zhi’s expensive wardrobe and jewelry and longs for the lifestyle of a wealthy wife 23 42.

Abilities & Skills

Social Manipulation

• Exploiting connections: Uses her position as Lu Heng’s cousin to enter wealthy social circles and cultivate friendships with Xia Zhi’s original owner and Zhao Qingqing 22 24.
• Playing both sides: Encourages conflict between the two women while presenting herself as their mediator 22.
• Malicious romantic advice: Frames infidelity and jealousy as ways to secure Lu Heng’s love 18 26.
• Misleading photography: Photographs Fu Ting’an’s assault from angles that make it resemble a passionate kiss 25.
• Limitations: The transmigrated Xia Zhi recognizes her tactics. Xia Zhi’s recording watch also preserves evidence of her advice, allowing Lu Heng to hear it directly 26 37.

Tea Arts

• Initially pretends to understand tea culture despite being unable to answer Xia Zhi’s questions or recognize foam-skimming during a demonstration 23 24.
• Learns a tea ceremony after Xia Zhi claims Lu Heng enjoys such performances. Her later demonstration contains numerous mistakes; Lu Heng finishes the tea and praises it to spare her feelings 44.

Relationships

• Lu Heng — Childhood companion and cousin through his adoptive family, not a blood relative. She has romantic feelings for him, but he states internally that he has never considered their relationship romantic 18 23 27.
• Xia Zhi — Ostensible friend and concealed rival. The original owner trusted her advice; the transmigrated Xia Zhi recognizes her hostility and counters it with staged affection toward Lu Heng 18 22 26.
• Zhao Qingqing — Wealthy acquaintance whose rivalry with the original Xia Zhi she exploits. Zhao Qingqing defends her during the birthday-gift confrontation 22 23.
• Fu Ting’an — Guest at her birthday banquet. She minimizes his assault on Xia Zhi as a lovers’ quarrel and takes photographs intended to turn Lu Heng against his wife 25.
• Tang Fangquan — Younger brother, two years her junior. He left school early, is unemployed, and spends time with disreputable friends 24.
• Parents — Live with the family in the apartment Lu Heng purchased. Her mother looks to Tang Fangjing when Lu Heng unexpectedly arrives with Xia Zhi, while her father welcomes the couple 42.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Birthday Preparations

• Invites Xia Zhi and Lu Heng to celebrate her birthday. Xia Zhi unsettles her by claiming that she and Lu Heng have become sexually intimate, supposedly thanks to Tang Fangjing’s jealousy-provoking advice 18 19.
• Attempts to verify the claim with Lu Heng. His later reference to Xia Zhi as “my wife,” along with his decision to let her choose Tang Fangjing’s gift, alarms her 20.
• Books a private room at the Brilliant Hotel rather than one of her usual small birthday restaurants. After considering Xia Zhi’s obsessive admirer, she holds a banquet attended by both Fu Ting’an and Zhao Qingqing 20 22.

Birthday Banquet

• Receives an antique tea set selected by Xia Zhi on Lu Heng’s behalf. She interprets it as an insult but must maintain her claimed enthusiasm for tea while Xia Zhi exposes gaps in her knowledge 23 24.
• Poses with the tea set after hearing that Lu Heng likes tea performances. Xia Zhi sends him the photographs as evidence that Tang Fangjing likes his gift 24.
• Stops a waiter from calling the police after Fu Ting’an assaults Xia Zhi, dismissing the incident as a couple’s quarrel. She privately prepares misleading photographs for Lu Heng 25.
• Urges Xia Zhi to let Lu Heng catch her in bed with another man, claiming extreme jealousy will make him fall in love with her 26.

Photographs and Recorded Evidence

• Photographs of Xia Zhi with Fu Ting’an circulate through their social circle. Xia Zhi suspects Tang Fangjing, but the supplied account does not establish who circulated them 33 37.
• Xia Zhi’s recording proves that she rejected Fu Ting’an and captures Tang Fangjing’s advice. Lu Heng recognizes the advice as encouragement to cheat and becomes troubled by it 37.

Family Dinner and Tea Ceremony

• Struggles to conceal her jealousy when Lu Heng brings Xia Zhi to her family’s home and accepts his wife’s affectionate behavior 42.
• Leads Xia Zhi to her bedroom bathroom, where Xia Zhi subsequently cannot open the door. Xia Zhi suspects deliberate interference, but this is not confirmed 43.
• Witnesses Lu Heng helping Xia Zhi wash her hands and pressing his lips to hers. Tang Fangjing leaves in anger and later attributes her reddened eyes to sand 43 44.
• Performs her newly learned tea ceremony before the couple leaves. Later, she sends Lu Heng the compromising photographs, only to receive the reply that he has already seen them 44.

Notable Quotes

“Only when he's mad with jealousy will he be madly in love with you.” 26