Chen Shi

Biodata

Background

Chen Shi was a struggling writer who specialized in Douluo fanfiction. After several consecutive months of unsuccessful releases, he was nearly penniless. The Douluo Co-Renting System unexpectedly bound itself to him and placed him inside a lavish villa on Blue Star 1.

The system gave him use of the villa on the condition that he attract tenants from the Douluo Continent and persuade them to renew their leases. Losing every tenant would cost him both the villa and his memories. His two or three years of writing fanfiction supplied the knowledge he intended to use to retain them 1.

Appearance

• Build: Lean without appearing frail, standing approximately 1.8 meters tall 6.
• Face: Well-defined features, a clean jawline, and a straight nose; not described as especially handsome 6.
• Hair: Slightly messy, as though recently awakened or deliberately left unkempt 6.
• Clothing: A gray-and-white T-shirt with casual trousers during his introduction 6.
• Eyes: Deep and cold; his gaze makes the tenants feel as though he can see through them 6.

Personality

Chen Shi is calculating about his position as landlord. He deliberately chooses attractive women from competing factions, reasoning that their rivalries will prevent them from uniting against him. He also favors people whose vulnerabilities and unhappy original-story outcomes can make his information especially valuable 1 5 7.

His intimidating, apparently all-knowing manner is partly a performance. He reveals private details to establish authority, then withholds further answers to preserve his leverage. He nevertheless recognizes the danger of pushing too far: he stops questioning Qian Renxue’s background when she becomes distressed and reassures the tenants that they can leave when their leases expire 6 7 9 20.

He can also be considerate toward individual tenants. After realizing that his cooking restriction has isolated Dugu Yan, he brings her food, apologizes, and offers additional information as compensation. When he thinks Xiao Wu may be ill, his usual mild demeanor gives way to an urgent insistence that her health comes first 18 20.

Abilities & Skills

Knowledge of the Douluo Story

Chen Shi’s knowledge comes from years of writing Douluo fanfiction, rather than a demonstrated prophetic cultivation ability 1.

• Knows characters’ identities, family relationships, weaknesses, and original plot outcomes 1 6 7 9.
• Identifies Dugu Yan’s concealed serpent-venom condition and explains Tang San’s involvement in treating it 9 10.
• Describes the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, its immortal herbs, and Tang San’s intended body-refinement method 18 19.
• Uses revelations about future losses and opportunities to make continued access to him desirable 7 12 20.
• His disclosures change events: Dugu Bo attacks Tang San, while rival factions converge on the well. His descriptions of the original future therefore do not remain an unchanged account of unfolding events 19 23 28.

Douluo Co-Renting System

The system supplies Chen Shi’s villa and enables cross-world tenancy. These functions belong to the system; they are not established as Chen Shi’s personal combat powers 1.

Negotiation and Information Control

• Offers each tenant one initial question as a greeting gift 9.
• Exchanges household work for waived rent and an additional question opportunity every seven days 16.
• Allows questions to be asked privately or publicly, preserving the value of information while creating opportunities to speak with tenants individually 21.
• Uses competition over room selection to obtain offers of money and lease renewals 22.

Cooking and Household Instruction

Chen Shi is a capable cook, although he often preferred ordering takeout when living alone because cooking for himself felt troublesome 17.

• Makes three batches of stir-fried instant noodles with eggs, sausages, vegetables, and other ingredients for the household 17.
• Trains Hu Liena to recognize ingredients and operate the stove, refrigerator, and oven 17.
• Explains cleaning tasks, canned drinks, appliances, and modern bathroom fixtures to the tenants 18 20 22.
• Organizes a hot pot dinner with a divided pot because he is concerned about the women’s tolerance for spicy food 29.

Residence & Equipment

• System-owned villa: Contains six suites—one for Chen Shi and five for tenants. His room is on the third floor 1 21 22.
• Kitchen: Equipped with a large island, multiple stoves, an oven, storage cabinets, and a wall of refrigerators 15 17.
• Food supplies: Include fruit, vegetables, seafood, meat, frozen foods, drinks, and mineral water. The system initially provides one month’s worth of ingredients; additional ingredients are his responsibility 1 16.
• System interface: Displays rules and tenant information and answers questions about functions such as rewards and currency conversion 1 22.

Relationships

• Qian Renxue / Xue Qinghe — His first selected tenant. He uses her assumed identity to establish that the story is still set before Tang San becomes powerful, then alarms her by revealing her family background. He later grants her request to ask questions privately 1 6 21.
• Xiao Wu — Tenant and household cleaner. He exposes her soul-beast identity, answers questions about Tang San, and tells her that she would be the first of the Shrek Seven Devils to die in the original future 7 10 15 16.
• Ning Rongrong — Tenant whose wealth becomes useful during the room dispute. Her offer of 100,000 Gold Soul Coins and a lease renewal secures first room choice for herself and Xiao Wu 22.
• Dugu Yan — Tenant and third-floor neighbor. He excludes her from cooking because her Life-Bound Poison could contaminate food, then tries to repair the hurt caused by her isolation. He later assigns her simple dining-room cleaning 17 18 22 29.
• Hu Liena — Tenant and cooking trainee. He chooses her to learn kitchen duties, expecting her to take charge within two or three days. She takes the first-floor suite for convenient kitchen access 17 22.
• Tang San — The subject of many of Chen Shi’s disclosures. Although they do not meet directly in the supplied chapters, Chen Shi’s broadcast explanations expose his opportunities and help derail his intended gains at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well 10 18 19 28.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Establishing the Household

Chen Shi selects Qian Renxue, Xiao Wu, Ning Rongrong, Dugu Yan, and Hu Liena, then initially observes them from the kitchen. Their immediate hostility suits his plan, but he introduces himself when they begin agreeing to cooperate and escape 1 2 5.

He establishes his authority by revealing their backgrounds and explaining the lease terms. Meanwhile, a giant Light Screen broadcasts the villa’s events across the Douluo Continent, turning his conversations into intelligence for major factions 3 6 9.

Revelations and Their Consequences

Chores, Room Bidding, and Dinner

Chen Shi converts the tenants’ desire for answers into a household-work arrangement, assigning cleaning to Xiao Wu and cooking instruction to Hu Liena. The subsequent dispute over suites produces competing financial offers and promises of lease renewal 16 17 22.

He later organizes a shared hot pot dinner. Watching through the Light Screen, Tang San recognizes hot pot and other familiar details, leading him to wonder whether the villa is connected to the world of his previous life 29.