Ji Sinan

Biodata

Background / History

Original World

Ji Sinan was Ji Tan’s older brother and Xie Zhi’s close friend. He studied finance but devoted himself to writing novels, neglecting his coursework and failing classes. To conceal academic warnings from their parents, he had the letters sent to Ji Tan’s high school and paid his younger brother hush money 9 10.

He bought Ji Tan a computer with manuscript earnings from two nights of writing. Ji Tan later associated this with his brother working himself to death, but Xie Zhi explained that the last-minute writing marathon followed a week Ji Sinan had spent playing games with him. After Ji Sinan’s sudden death, Xie Zhi offered to look after Ji Tan in his place 3 6.

Life in City A

The City A Ji family once lived comfortably in central Xili District. Their father’s gambling cost them their apartment and car; their mother fled after he attempted to sell her, and he subsequently targeted the sixteen-year-old Ji Tan. From his brother’s account, Ji Tan infers that Ji Sinan took him away while still attending university and supported them in the slums 12.

Ji Sinan earned a medical doctorate at Xili University and worked at Chengming Life Center before his sanity collapsed. He later found work at Quickblade Clinic, whose owner tolerated the repetitive behaviors accompanying his condition 10 11 12.

Although his face matches Ji Tan’s deceased brother exactly, his identity across the two worlds remains unresolved. Xie Zhi states that he remembers only his City A life, and Ji Sinan neither recognizes Xie Zhi nor recalls several shared experiences familiar to Ji Tan 8 9.

Reunion and Debt

Ji Tan finds Ji Sinan’s name on a loan-shark contract and returns to the western district to find him. At their home, Ji Sinan is being beaten by debt collectors. Xie Zhi defeats the attackers, but Ji Sinan mistakes him for a dangerous delinquent and drives him outside with a broom while shielding Ji Tan 6 7 8 9.

Despite his condition, Ji Sinan continues preparing noodles at the hour Ji Tan used to return from work. The familiar taste, including his careful avoidance of scallion whites, moves Ji Tan to tears 9 10.

Return to Chengming Life Center

Ji Tan unknowingly takes Ji Sinan to his former workplace for treatment. There, Dr. Zheng and Xia Wanqing confront him, announcing that Zheng has taken his position. After Zheng shoves him, Ji Sinan retaliates with repeated shoulder blows while Ji Tan invokes his compulsions as an explanation 12.

When Zheng boasts that he ate the meals Ji Sinan brought Xia Wanqing, Ji Sinan explains that they were extra portions of Ji Tan’s breakfast, given to her because he thought she was poor. His compulsory repetition carries the explanation through the hospital hall, embarrassing both former colleagues 12.

Argus Cult Encounter

Ji Tan discovers an Eye of Argus drawing in Ji Sinan’s drawer. Ji Sinan later recognizes an incorrectly drawn version on a recruitment card, but cannot explain how he knows the correct design 11 14.

That night, he appears at a warehouse cult gathering wearing an apron and carrying a spatula. He refuses to join because its Eye of Argus is drawn incorrectly, then tries to retrieve Ji Tan. The cult expels him; outside, his repeated demands and rhythmic banging inadvertently turn the circling ritual into a dance 14 15.

After the warehouse incident, Ji Sinan remains suspicious of Xie Zhi despite both men explaining their friendship. He serves Ji Tan noodles and disposes of the jacket and spatula contaminated with black liquid 16.

Appearance

Ji Sinan is a tall, lean young man whose face resembles Ji Tan’s and exactly matches the brother Ji Tan remembers from his original world 8 12 13.

• Silver-rimmed glasses: Their lenses are shattered during his reunion with Ji Tan. He later wears them with a taped arm and a missing lens before receiving a replacement pair 8 12 14.
• Strong arms: Repairing mechanical limbs at Quickblade Clinic has developed considerable strength despite his lean appearance 12 13.
• Gentle voice: His warm, unhurried speech carries clearly through Chengming Life Center’s large hall 12.

Personality

Ji Sinan is affectionate and fiercely protective of his younger brother. He places himself between Ji Tan and perceived threats, worries about his weight loss, and wants his own earnings to spare him further exhausting work. His care extends to small habits, such as preparing food to Ji Tan’s preferences and packing warm drinking water for an outing 8 9 10 11.

His teasing humor survives his illness. He tricks Ji Tan into checking whether he is drooling, recalls embarrassing childhood incidents, and counters questions about his illness with dry professional observations. He also understands that his compulsions affect others, asking whether Ji Tan minds his behavior 11 12.

He is conscious of the severity of his condition and attempts to restrain his agitation. When he snatches away a bowl that he feels compelled to wash himself, he pauses to calm down and explain rather than leaving his younger brother frightened 10.

Sanity and Medical Condition

Recorded Sanity

• Treatment: The sanity-restoring drug associated with the Blank Prescription costs one million yuan per dose, typically restores 10–15 percentage points, and erases a random stretch of memory 13 14.
• Further treatment deferred: Xie Zhi advises Ji Tan to wait before purchasing another injection and to obtain a portable sanity monitor instead 14.
• Continuing risk: Sanity does not recover naturally in City A. Further decline can eventually cause irreversible transformation into a ghoul 13.

Compulsive Behaviors and Memory Loss

• Sevenfold actions: He washes cookware in repeated sets of seven, repeatedly buttons clothing, and stands and sits seven times before settling into a subway seat 9 11.
• Repeated speech: He commonly repeats statements three times; nervousness can trigger repetition even when speaking to Ji Tan 11 12.
• Cleaning and symmetry: He insists on washing bowls he has served, cleaning hospital-exposed clothes immediately, and matching an ear tug with one on the opposite side 10 14.
• Memory gaps: He cannot recall the cause of his illness or how Director Yuan previously treated him 12 13.
• Retained understanding: He explicitly distinguishes his obsessive-compulsive disorder from intellectual disability and continues to reason, joke, and work 10 11 13.

Abilities & Skills

Medicine and Mechanical Limb Repair

• Holds a medical doctorate and has worked at both a major medical center and a neighborhood clinic 10 11 12.
• Replaces patients’ mechanical legs, although his compulsions make him tighten screws repeatedly 10.
• His academic posts discuss mechanical hearts’ effects on sanity and irreversible drug-induced memory loss 12.

Cooking

• Regularly prepares meals for Ji Tan and remembers his specific food preferences 9 10.
• Makes tomato-and-egg noodles using scallion greens without the whites Ji Tan dislikes 10.

Physical Strength

• Repeated shoulder strikes leave Dr. Zheng coughing and retching 12.
• Attempts seven punches at Director Yuan after interpreting a medical restraint as a threat, but Yuan evades them using his Doctor Sequence ability 13.

Knowledge of the Eye of Argus

• Recognizes inaccuracies in both a recruitment card and the cult’s warehouse drawing 14 15.
• Cannot explain the source of this knowledge; no confirmed cult affiliation or supernatural ability is established 14 15.

Relationships

• Ji Tan — Younger brother and principal concern. Ji Sinan continues caring for him through his illness, while Ji Tan seeks treatment and investigates the circumstances of his sanity collapse 9 10 13 14.
• Xie Zhi — Close friend in Ji Tan’s original world. In City A, Ji Sinan does not recognize him and treats him as a possible threat to his brother 6 9 16.
• Quickblade Li — Current employer, whose clinic accommodates Ji Sinan’s repetitive working habits 10 11.
• Xia Wanqing — Former colleague who exchanged academic comments with him and received extra breakfast portions. Ji Tan initially mistakes their connection for a romance 12.
• Dr. Zheng — Hostile former colleague who takes Ji Sinan’s position at Chengming Life Center and provokes their physical confrontation 12.
• Yuan Xingxing — Treating physician who reviews his earlier emergency treatment and measures his sanity at the follow-up 13.
• Father — Gambling-addicted parent whose actions destroyed the family’s finances. Ji Sinan becomes cold and refuses further discussion when Ji Tan asks about him 12.

Notable Quotes

“From a professional standpoint, asking a psychiatric patient why he developed a mental illness is unreasonable.” 12

“I'm not a child.” 13

“I'm not joining. Your Eye of Argus is drawn wrong.” 15

Trivia

• His mother chose his name to evoke golden-thread nanmu wood. Her southern accent made “jin” and “ji” sound alike, and she wanted the name to show how precious her son was 7.
• In Ji Tan’s original family, Ji Sinan began calling his younger brother “Tantan” and “Bouncy Ball” to discourage him from copying their mother’s nickname “Nannan” 9.