Sun Sun

Biodata

Background / History

Original Timeline

Sun Sun came from a distinguished family and shared a desk with Qin An throughout their final year of junior high. Qin Huai arranged the pairing because he hoped her academic discipline would improve his son’s behavior and grades. She reluctantly agreed out of sympathy for the teacher’s efforts, but initially regarded Qin An as a troublemaker 2.

Their relationship improved shortly before the high-school entrance examinations. When an anxious Sun Sun lost her admission ticket, Qin An searched an entire rubbish bin to recover it. They remained in intermittent contact as adults, and she repeatedly kept him company through setbacks and periods of depression 3.

Sun Sun became a famous singer before entering acting. She continued to enjoy singing outside work and sometimes took Qin An to karaoke, where she would drink and smile while he monopolized the microphone. His employer sponsored her final concert 2 7.

Her feelings for Qin An went beyond the friendship he recognized at the time. After her first concert, she became anxious about whether Qin Huai would disapprove of her stage makeup when he came to visit. On another occasion, after drinking at a concert celebration, she warned Qin An that touching her neck would mean they could no longer remain friends, then cried when he did not touch it 18 50.

After she entered acting, her older female cousin—also her longtime manager—helped a prominent director drug and sexually assault her. The assault was recorded, and the video was posted online. Sun Sun subsequently died by suicide. Qin An deeply regretted relying on her emotional support without paying comparable attention to her troubles; preventing this outcome became one of his firmest resolutions after returning to his youth 2 3.

Appearance

• Face: Fair skin, a delicate oval face, a slightly pointed chin, and long, upturned eyelashes. Qin An repeatedly associates her appearance with fine porcelain 2 39 50.
• Eyes and expression: Long eyes that narrow when she smiles; Qin An compares her mischievous smile to that of a little fox 2 19.
• Build: Petite and slender, with long limbs 2.
• Hair: Wears her hair in a long braid in early scenes and two small, high braids on another school morning 4 39.
• Clothing: One school outfit consists of a black sleeveless dress beneath a white short-sleeved jacket with a bow and black ribbon. She also wears white dance shoes 15 19.

Personality

Sun Sun is conscientious, principled, and serious about school responsibilities. As class monitor, she reports Qin An’s rule-breaking and publicly criticizes his unfinished homework even after he gives her song lyrics. Her love of music does not persuade her to exchange her duties for favors 7 8.

Her classmates generally see her as proud, aloof, and difficult to approach. She is especially reserved around boys and initially distrusts Qin An’s offer of friendship because other boys have used the same approach. His teasing repeatedly breaks her composure, drawing blushes, angry glares, and eventually unrestrained laughter 3 44.

Beneath that reserve, she is caring and capable of taking difficult initiatives. Offering Qin An private study help is the first time she proposes spending time alone with a boy. In adulthood, she consistently supports him during emotional difficulties, while her strong attachment to family leaves her vulnerable to her cousin’s betrayal 2 3 15.

She is particular about cleanliness and sensitive to academic pressure. Before examinations, nervousness makes her want to eat, which in turn leads her to worry about gaining weight 4 7.

Abilities & Skills

Academic Excellence

Sun Sun maintains the highest overall academic standing among her peers 2 43.

• Usually memorizes newly taught texts by the following day and leads the class recitation chart 15.
• Balances her study time across subjects rather than concentrating exclusively on English 9.
• Is trusted enough that classmates treat her post-exam answers as an unofficial answer key 35.
• Recognizes that Qin An’s practical English ability exceeds her own, despite her strong examination performance 9.

Singing

Singing is Sun Sun’s favorite activity and becomes her profession in the original timeline 2 7.

• Joins the school’s music enrichment class taught by Liao Yu 15.
• Learns “Lightly Painted Eyebrows” from Qin An and practices it using her lyric notebook 18 20.
• Develops into a confident concert performer capable of appearing before an audience of ten thousand 7 18.

Class Leadership

As class monitor, Sun Sun supervises student conduct and organizes classroom work 5 8.

• Reprimands students who do not properly participate in broadcast exercises 5.
• Assigns blackboard-display duties and gives Qin An responsibility for the English corner 8.
• Defends that assignment when Li Hao questions Qin An’s competence, but does not shield Li Hao from the consequences of provoking him 8 9.

Personal Items

• Lyric notebook — A plain white notebook containing songs she enjoys. Qin An adds the lyrics to “Lightly Painted Eyebrows,” which she later uses while learning and practicing the song 7 18 20.
• White handkerchief — Given to Qin An so he can clean his hands before handling her notebook. He keeps it despite her protests, promising to wash and return it 7.

Relationships

• Qin An — Deskmate and eventual close friend in the original timeline, with romantic feelings he only understands retrospectively. In the reborn timeline, his attempts to gain her trust are inseparable from his determination to prevent her death 2 3 18 50.
• Qin Huai — Homeroom and English teacher who persuades her to sit beside his son. She takes his request to supervise and help Qin An seriously 2 7 15.
• Li Hao — Class study representative whose acquaintance with her does not amount to friendship. She objects when he makes Qin An’s seat beside her a condition of their examination wager 8 16.
• Ye Zhulan — Qin An’s close childhood companion. Ye Zhulan becomes uncomfortable with his attention toward Sun Sun and the prospect of romantic rumors about the deskmates 20 32.
• Liao Yu — Teacher of the music enrichment class Sun Sun joins 15.
• Older female cousin — Unnamed relative and longtime manager who betrays Sun Sun by helping arrange the assault in the original timeline 2.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Rebuilding Trust

• Friendship poem: Sun Sun initially rejects Qin An’s overture, but his elegant English handwriting astonishes her. He uses a poem about lasting friendship to promise that she will have someone to support her through hardship 3.
• Yoga note: Despite embarrassment about exchanging notes with a boy, she reads his explanation of yoga and wonders whether it could ease her examination nerves and concerns about her figure 4.
• Music lessons: Qin An writes “Lightly Painted Eyebrows” in her notebook and later teaches her while walking her home. She listens with increasing absorption, then gives him a bright smile at the entrance to her lane 7 18 19.
• Rejected study offer: Hoping to reciprocate his music lessons and fulfill her responsibilities, she offers Sunday tutoring. His refusal in favor of going out leaves her frustrated 15.

Examination Wager

• Sun Sun protests when Li Hao demands that Qin An stop sitting beside her if he loses their academic wager 16.
• When the results appear, she remains first overall, while Qin An earns perfect scores in mathematics, physics, chemistry, and English 43.
• After Qin An wins, she mocks his triumphant behavior but laughs at his teasing and agrees that she would like to hear him sing “Conquest,” showing greater ease with him than before 44.

The Porcelain Girl

Qin An tells Sun Sun a disguised account of her original fate: a beautiful singer who is coveted by others and ultimately shatters like porcelain. Without knowing that the story concerns her, Sun Sun proposes a museum devoted to protecting the girl while allowing her to keep singing. Qin An accepts the idea as the basis of a protective plan; the passage establishes a decision, not a completed museum 35.

Renewed Distance

After Qin An returns from a week’s absence, Sun Sun treats him with deliberate formality and stresses his academic weaknesses. The reason for her distance is not explained. His teasing briefly makes her laugh, while his threat to tickle her neck alarms her because he appears to know a sensitivity she has kept secret from her classmates 50.

Notable Quotes

“I won't compromise my principles. I'm the class monitor, and I have the right to report students who skip class. That's my duty. Capitalism's sugar-coated bullets cannot corrupt me...” 7

“She is a porcelain girl, after all. Anything made of porcelain can be broken. No amount of care in protecting her would be excessive, would it?” 35