He Gu

Biodata

Background / History

Childhood and Early Career

He Gu spent part of his childhood at Angel Orphanage, where his mother was the director. Ye Heng remembered him sharing snacks and water when he was hungry, an act that became the foundation of Ye Heng’s devotion. His mother later took him away and went to work for the Sheng family 169.

According to Sheng Nian, He Gu’s mother had embezzled the charitable funding intended for the orphanage. The misconduct came to light after she began working for his family, prompting the Sheng family to investigate other funded organizations and increase support for the children. Ye Heng’s belief that wealthy benefactors had caused their childhood deprivation therefore rested on a false understanding of events 169.

He Gu spent much of his youth around Sheng Nian and became familiar with his kindness, principles, and susceptibility to emotional appeals. He later entered the entertainment industry, gaining a large following after playing the tragic fourth male lead in a historical fantasy drama about immortals 2 168.

Role in the Original Storyline

In the original novel’s plot, Jiang Shu met He Gu at Sheng Nian’s nineteenth birthday banquet. Their attraction began a romantic conflict with Sheng Nian, Jiang Shu’s fiancée. Sheng Nian’s attempts to sabotage He Gu instead strengthened He Gu’s reputation as a beautiful, resilient innocent, eventually making He Gu and Jiang Shu a widely celebrated couple 1.

He Gu also benefited from Sheng Nian’s interference in his contract termination: exposing the interference won him sympathy, brought him closer to Jiang Shu, and helped him sign with Starlight Media. Later, he used trade secrets stolen from Jiang Shu and assistance from Ye Heng to gain a foothold in a Sheng Corporation technology company and gradually bring down the wider business group 51 121.

Mo Yuanyuan became another target in that original future. He Gu paid for articles portraying her straightforward friendliness as calculated behavior, using the contrast to promote his own gentle, understanding image 6.

Personality

He Gu carefully maintains a soft-spoken, considerate, vulnerable public persona. His apparent apologies and attempts to defend Sheng Nian often imply that Sheng Nian has mistreated him, allowing others to make accusations while he avoids taking explicit responsibility. He is particularly attentive to cameras, fan reactions, and opportunities to promote his pairing with Jiang Shu 9 14 36 109.

Privately, he resents Sheng Nian’s wealth, loving family, and access to opportunities. Controlling Sheng Nian gives him satisfaction: he treats the young master as both a shield against criticism and a stepping stone for his own advancement. When Sheng Nian stops responding predictably, He Gu becomes increasingly frustrated and reckless 31 104 113.

His attachment to status also shapes his relationships. After losing work, he considers marriage into the Jiang family and Ye Heng’s devotion routes back to wealth and influence. In detention, he alternates between accusing Sheng Nian, appealing to his compassion, threatening his reputation, and declaring that Ye Heng will rescue him 104 168.

Abilities & Skills

Acting

He Gu is a successful professional actor whose manager considers his acting competent enough to support a potential rise to the A-list. His performances extend to convincing displays of distress and innocence outside scripted work 2 36 99.

• Uses gentle speech, tears, restrained expressions, and apparent self-sacrifice to attract sympathy 5 21 31.
• Stages falls while suggesting that Sheng Nian may have hurt him 4 36.
• Struggles to sustain his persona when witnesses, medical examinations, or direct questions expose inconsistencies 5 14 37.

Psychological and Publicity Manipulation

He Gu exploits his knowledge of Sheng Nian and Jiang Shu to provoke conflict while presenting himself as the person trying to resolve it 9 85 113.

• Encourages Sheng Nian to conceal his engagement by arguing that exposure would damage Jiang Shu’s career 113.
• Promotes romantic ambiguity with Jiang Shu while publicly describing them as friends 14 44.
• Has his assistant worsen his facial injuries to support allegations of workplace abuse against Sheng Nian 96 114.
• Operates accounts attacking Sheng Nian and conspires with industry contacts to damage his career 114.

Awareness of the Original Plot

While detained, He Gu begins seeing increasingly clear, connected images of the life he believes he should have lived. He initially dismisses them as dreams born from his resentment, then concludes that they reveal the world’s intended storyline 168.

• Recognizes that Sheng Nian’s behavior changed after the dating show began 168.
• Confronts Sheng Nian about knowing the world’s true nature; Sheng Nian acknowledges that he knows 168.
• Interprets the loss of his expected romance, celebrity status, and ownership of Sheng Corporation as Sheng Nian having “stolen” his life 168.

Relationships

• Sheng Nian — Longtime acquaintance and principal target. He Gu exploits Sheng Nian’s feelings for Jiang Shu, engineers misunderstandings, and participates in attacks on his reputation. Sheng Nian eventually exposes him and refuses his request for release from detention 113 114 168.
• Jiang Shu — Romantic interest, dating-show partner, and source of career support. Jiang Shu repeatedly defends him and helps with his contract termination, but later questions his honesty and blames him for the collapse of his relationship with Sheng Nian 9 51 110 137.
• Ye Heng — Childhood acquaintance and devoted admirer. He Gu rejects his dating-show invitation but continues relying on his support. Ye Heng later offers everything he owns in exchange for He Gu’s release, despite He Gu privately regarding him as a useful fool 44 104 168 169.
• Yan Feizhuo — Adversary who recognizes his manipulations and protects Sheng Nian. Yan warns him to stay away, then cuts off his resources and orders an investigation into his conduct 85 114.
• Tang Jiang — Witness against his attempt to frame Sheng Nian after a fall. During the game arc, He Gu later kills her character after her opponents have conceded the Energy Core 37 75.
• Mother — Former director of Angel Orphanage and later a worker for the Sheng family. Her embezzlement caused the deprivation Ye Heng mistakenly attributed to their wealthy benefactors 169.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Dating Show and Eroding Public Image

• He Gu joins the dating show alongside Jiang Shu. Sheng Nian, armed with knowledge of the original plot, decides to use the program to expose his innocent act 2.
• During their first confrontation on the show, He Gu quietly provokes Sheng Nian and stages a fall. Sheng Nian falls as well, sustaining a genuine knee injury; He Gu subsequently declines a medical examination 4 5.
• He Gu pairs with Jiang Shu, but Sheng Nian’s refusal to become openly jealous undermines his strategy. Asked directly about his feelings, He Gu says they are only friends, attracting scrutiny from Jiang Shu’s fans 9 14.
• He shows Jiang Shu intimate photographs of Sheng Nian and Yan Feizhuo without permission. Rather than comforting him afterward, Jiang Shu tells him to apologize; Yan later refuses his request for forgiveness 21 26.
• His attempt to restore his image by making an elaborate breakfast backfires when the estate’s butler reveals that breakfast is already prepared 30.
• Another staged fall fails when Tang Jiang confirms that she and her livestream viewers saw him fall without Sheng Nian pushing him 36 37.

Contract Termination and Game Competition

• Jiang Shu helps He Gu leave an unfair contract. Unlike the original storyline, Sheng Nian does not interfere 50 51.
• During the faction-based game, He Gu attempts to negotiate an alliance against the Zerg. His initial proposal fails when he refuses to offer resources in return 74.
• After Tang Jiang defeats the opposing forces and they surrender their claim to the Energy Core, He Gu fires quantum-collapse missiles from the Doomsday Fortress and kills her character. The breach of their agreement divides viewers 75.
• When the Death Tide later begins erasing players’ character data, He Gu briefly joins the containment effort before fleeing 77.

Sabotage and Career Collapse

• He Gu’s attempt to impress viewers during a goose-herding task ends in embarrassment. He then deliberately agitates his flock to disrupt Sheng Nian’s task, but Wangcai intervenes and the geese attack He Gu and Jiang Shu instead 97 98.
• During lotus-root harvesting, he stages a slip and directs a high-pressure water gun at Sheng Nian. He intends to knock Sheng Nian into the mud and humiliate him, but instead causes extensive bruising and bleeding across his back 103 104.
• Filming is suspended, prospective endorsements and scripts are withdrawn, and He Gu’s manager leaves him to face the consequences. He Gu resolves to preserve his influence over Jiang Shu and Ye Heng 104.
• Sheng Nian confronts him publicly over the allegation that he deliberately injured He Gu during a scene. A subsequent exposé reveals the assistant-administered slaps, hostile accounts, and industry collusion behind the smear campaign 109 114.

Investigation and Removal from the Show

• Following a bar pheromone riot, an involved Alpha accuses He Gu of inciting the crime. Police question him but release him because they find no supporting evidence beyond that statement 119.
• Director Ren requires He Gu to withdraw from the remaining filming, publicly citing a scheduling conflict. Ye Heng leaves with him 122.
• The eventual exposure of Jiang Shu’s engagement to Sheng Nian renews scrutiny of He Gu’s relationship with Jiang Shu. Attempts to portray them as merely close friends fail to contain the backlash 127 128.

Detention and Final Confrontation

He Gu is later shown in the Detention Center, wearing a gray prison uniform and shackles. During Sheng Nian’s visit, he claims that Sheng Nian has taken the prosperous future meant for him. When accusations fail, he alleges routine beatings and a threat of sexual assault, asking Sheng Nian to secure his release. Sheng Nian refuses to intervene on his behalf, and He Gu leaves insisting that Ye Heng will save him 168.

Sheng Nian subsequently tells Yan Feizhuo about the alleged assault threat. Ye Heng separately offers his entire fortune and promises to take He Gu to a remote planet if Sheng Nian will let him go; no release is established in the supplied account 169.

Notable Quotes

“Shu and I really are just very good friends. Don’t overthink it, Nian.” 14

“You’re not the protagonist of this world. I am. I am!” 168

“So what if you put me in here? That idiot Ye Heng will still save me. He’ll save me!” 168