Wang Weiwei

Biodata

Background / History

Family and upbringing

Wang Weiwei grows up in a powerful military-political family, surrounded by official functions, influential acquaintances, and people eager to flatter him. His family nevertheless imposes strict limits on his outings and instructs him and his companions to keep a low profile 32 74.

His parents’ methods of discipline contribute to his rebelliousness. His mother forces him to practice the violin despite his resistance, while Wang Bu controls his allowance rather than openly arguing with him. Wang Weiwei resents a father who seems willing to provide money in place of attention, yet expects unquestioning obedience when making plans for him 126 127 129.

Meeting Su Can in Xiahai

Wang Weiwei first encounters Su Can through gaming. Already accustomed to overwhelming local opponents at console football, he challenges Su Can after watching him defeat Lin Zouwen. Su Can counters even Wang Weiwei’s specialty sliding tackles 14 15.

Rather than holding a grudge over being defeated and berated, Wang Weiwei becomes interested in Su Can. At a later gathering, he openly praises the boy who called him “trash,” pays the group’s bill, and offers an invitation to a resort. His conspicuous respect for Su Can surprises acquaintances accustomed to treating Wang Weiwei as the most important person present 32.

When he later sees Su Can and Xue Yiyang fighting Wang Haoran’s group, he watches from a snack stall and signals his approval. Wang Haoran recognizes his family’s standing and becomes wary of letting the confrontation spread to Wang Weiwei’s companions 69 70.

Conflict and reconciliation with Wang Bu

After Wang Bu’s transfer to Xiahai, Wang Weiwei refuses to move into his father’s home. With his allowance curtailed, he continues staying out with Lin Zouwen and Lin Luoran. Su Can eventually takes over a difficult StarCraft match on the condition that Wang Weiwei grant him a request, then uses that promise to persuade him to return home 127 128 129.

The intervention does not immediately make Wang Weiwei an unquestioning friend. He remains competitive and uneasy about Su Can displacing him as the center of their group 143.

A later KTV incident becomes a turning point with his father. Wang Weiwei smashes two televisions while standing up for a friend and returns home expecting punishment. Instead, Wang Bu serves tea, approves of his willingness to defend someone, and discusses the need to understand an opponent before acting. Wang Weiwei begins to recognize both his father’s affection and the burdens behind his public position 144 145.

Wang Bu’s investigation

The campaign against Wang Bu places severe pressure on Wang Weiwei. During basketball, he punches Wang Haoran after a collision; Wang Haoran retaliates by shouting allegations about Wang Bu’s investigation and the possibility of his parents divorcing. Wang Weiwei breaks down in tears and leaves school, followed by Lin Zouwen and Lin Luoran 167.

Su Can later obtains photographs supporting the case that Wang Bu has been framed and brings them to Zhang Qing through Zhao Lijun. She decides to take the evidence to the provincial capital 198.

The ordeal changes Wang Weiwei’s attitude toward his social circle. When former acquaintances seek to reconnect after having distanced themselves during the crisis, he responds with little enthusiasm. The family’s shared adversity also helps replace its earlier coldness with greater warmth 269 475.

The Wangchao Hotel reception

Wang Weiwei asks Su Can to accompany him to a reception where he will reunite with Ye Huishang, his first love. Normally sociable, he becomes visibly nervous around her. She criticizes his apparent lack of confidence and excessive agreeableness, while her friends belittle both him and Su Can 269 270.

After a staged wine-throwing prank ends with Su Can’s attackers falling into a pool, Kong Qi attempts to have Su Can leave. Wang Weiwei refuses to accept the decision, brushes aside Ye Huishang’s attempt to restrain him, and declares that he will leave with his friend. Lin Luoran and Lin Zouwen join them 270 271.

His public confrontation with Kong Qi becomes a major topic among Rongcheng’s officials’ children. It overturns the impression that Wang Weiwei is invariably mild and compliant, although the incident also leaves him anxious about his father’s reaction 271 272.

Soon afterward, he angrily rejects Zhang Feifei’s remarks about Su Can’s lack of wealth. His friends recognize both his growing authority and the strength of his loyalty 274 275 279.

University and later life

Wang Weiwei meets China Youth University’s application-review threshold and subsequently attends the university in Beijing. His family background makes a political career a plausible future, but he tells Su Can that he would rather travel the world with a camera than follow his parents’ plans 325 431 654.

He remains closely connected to his school friends, warmly hosting classmates who visit Beijing and keeping Su Can informed about their reunions and circulating rumors. As Wang Bu rises politically, Wang Weiwei also becomes more noticeable within Beijing’s influential circles 564 638 654.

When Lin Zouwen arranges a reunion before leaving for treatment in the United States, Wang Weiwei is the first to return to Xiahai. The Wang family has retained its former home there—the place associated with both its reversal of fortune and the beginning of their friendship with Su Can 718.

By the later Beijing reunion, Wang Weiwei has passed China Youth University’s graduate entrance examination and is preparing to study sociology under Professor Xu. He continues to state that he does not want to enter either business or politics 722.

Appearance

• Refined features: Described as having a somewhat brooding, pretty-boy face; Li Luo likewise notes that his refined appearance conceals considerable stubbornness 404 497.
• Casual dress: For the Wangchao Hotel reception, he wears a shirt and casual trousers with freshly trimmed hair rather than an ostentatiously formal suit 269.
• Later appearance: At Capital Airport, he appears strikingly handsome in a dark silk shirt with a subtle jacquard pattern 722.

Personality

Wang Weiwei is sociable, generous, and capable of showing admiration without protecting his pride. Su Can’s criticism interests him precisely because it differs from the flattery he normally receives. He willingly admits being outplayed and actively seeks a friendship with someone who does not court his family’s influence 32.

His easygoing manner coexists with competitiveness and a strong need for independence. Early on, he dislikes becoming anyone’s follower, including Su Can’s. Li Luo recalls that even as a child, Wang Weiwei would endure painful wrestling holds rather than concede and call him “boss” or “big brother” 143 497.

His loyalty becomes increasingly independent of social advantage. He defends Su Can against childhood acquaintances, rejects judgments based on family wealth, and values him as a friend and example rather than as a useful connection. This change does not erase his vulnerability: standing against Ye Huishang remains emotionally painful, and romantic attention can still leave him awkward 271 274 275 313 454.

Wang Weiwei also grows more aware of the limits and obligations of privilege. He discourages friends from treating others as targets they can attack without consequences, yet later explains that the security surrounding their families is sometimes a necessity rather than mere extravagance 274 713.

Abilities & Skills

Gaming

An accomplished player whose technical skill initially draws Su Can’s attention.

• Console football: Combines rapid button inputs, effective dribbling, and coordinated control of an eleven-player team. Most challengers suffer heavy defeats, while Xue Yiyang can force him to exert himself 14.
• Sliding tackles: A specialty, though Su Can successfully counters them 15.
• StarCraft: Plays Protoss, but loses to Gua Gaitou’s worker harassment and transport attack before Su Can takes over 128.

Social Networking and Leadership

Wang Weiwei leads his immediate circle and later becomes a reliable contact among former classmates.

• Group authority: His companions take their cues from him; an earlier challenge to his leadership ends with almost the entire group choosing his side 69 129.
• Relationship maintenance: Keeps in touch with school friends, welcomes visitors to Beijing, and serves as an informal information relay 654.
• Diplomacy: Can conceal displeasure and maintain polite exchanges with members of rival circles 88.
• Limits: His family’s status does not give him unrestricted access to its connections. He admits that, as a high-school student, he could not simply summon Zhao Lijun’s help 262.

Equipment / Items

• Personal gaming controller — A finely made black controller with a professional appearance, notably better kept than the worn controllers available locally. Despite its advanced-looking design, it lacks vibration capability 14.

Relationships

• Su Can — Close friend and influential personal example. Their friendship develops from gaming rivalry through disagreements into loyalty strong enough for Wang Weiwei to break publicly with established acquaintances 32 143 271 454.
• Wang Bu — Father. Their relationship moves from resentment over financial control and emotional distance toward mutual concern; Wang Bu later asks Su Can to guide and watch over his son 127 129 145 474 475.
• Zhang Qing — Mother. Remains composed during Wang Bu’s political crisis and takes evidence supporting his defense to the provincial capital 198 572.
• Lin Zouwen — Longtime companion and fellow gamer. Shares Wang Weiwei’s outings and his commitment to supporting Su Can 127 128 271 440.
• Lin Luoran — Childhood companion toward whom he has had romantic feelings. He remains protective of her and bluntly dismisses an acquaintance seeking his support in pursuing her 161 166 695.
• Ye Huishang — First love and a formative presence throughout his childhood and adolescence. His decision to defend Su Can despite her objections forces her to reassess how much he has changed 269 271 275.
• Kong Qi — Older childhood acquaintance whom Wang Weiwei once followed. Their relationship ruptures when Kong Qi tries to exclude Su Can from the hotel reception 270 271 272.
• Zhang Feifei — Friend whom he sharply rebukes for disparaging Su Can’s financial background; she later approaches a reunion uncertain whether he remains angry 274 275 279.
• Lu Peng — Former elementary-school deskmate who remains in contact with him 452.
• Li Luo — Childhood sparring companion who recognizes his tenacity and unusual admiration for Su Can 497.

Notable Quotes

“Anyone who wants to come with me, follow me. Anyone who wants to go with him, follow him.” 129

“Everyone knows you have plenty of suitors, Miss Lianzi. I won't join in. Still, let me remind you that two people don't necessarily need to weigh so many things before getting together.” 506

“A lot of people might see this as privilege, but to our families, it really is necessary.” 713