Gu Ziran

Biodata

Background / History

Childhood at the Welfare Institute

Gu Ziran grew up at a Welfare Institute, where the other children excluded him and called him stupid. Mother Gu, his principal caregiver, rejected that label and reassured him that he simply reacted more slowly than others. He regarded her as his mother. His developmental impairment made school difficult, and he remained at the institute into his teens while other children were adopted or became independent 43.

Mother Gu died following a traffic accident. Her replacement was a male director who sexually abused children and repeatedly tried to isolate Ziran. Although Ziran struggled with learning, he recognized the director’s behavior as threatening and avoided being alone with him 43.

Trafficking and Sun Zhe’s Rescue

When Ziran was fifteen, the director persuaded him to accompany him on a supposed shopping trip. After drinking soda provided by the director, Ziran lost consciousness and woke bound inside another vehicle. He was taken to a nightclub to be sold 43 44 139.

Ziran remembered Mother Gu’s advice to seek help from passersby and clung to a suited stranger, begging him to find the police. The director’s men dragged him away and delivered him to President Li, who assaulted him and wounded his shoulder with a knife. Despite his fear, Ziran worried that the director would sell the other children too 44 45.

Sun Zhe—the stranger Ziran had approached—returned, attacked President Li, and rescued him. The police arrested the director, and Ziran returned to the institute under a better replacement. He kept Sun Zhe’s coat, washed and folded, hoping to return it to the man he considered his hero 45 95.

Work and Captivity

Several years later, the institute’s director found Ziran a dishwashing job. He had accommodation, wages, and coworkers who praised his careful work rather than insulting him. He remembered this period as his happiest since Mother Gu’s death 45.

Sun Zhe eventually found him again and took him away. He treated Ziran as a substitute for Wei Zisu, whose eyes Ziran already resembled. Ziran endured beatings and intimidation, while Sun Zhe’s marking created a physical dependence on his pheromones. After two years, Sun Zhe persuaded him to undergo three cosmetic operations to resemble Wei Zisu more closely. Ziran agreed because he wanted to please his rescuer and hoped the violence would stop 45.

Sun Zhe also concealed Ziran’s whereabouts. Wei Zisu later pieced together that Sun Zhe had paid a couple to adopt Ziran and subsequently report him missing, providing cover for his confinement. When Sun Liang threatened to expose him, Sun Zhe moved Ziran to a secluded villa rather than release him 95 133.

Reunion with Wei Zisu

Wei Zisu publicly searched for his younger brother, Wei Ziran, who had reportedly disappeared at Yaoshan Amusement Park twenty years earlier. Ziran saw the appeal on television and noticed their resemblance without understanding its significance. A restaurant photograph later gave Wei Zisu a lead under the name Gu Ziran 60 90.

During a visit to Yaoshan Amusement Park, Yin Zhengchuan mistook Ziran for Wei Zisu. Sun Zhe hurried him away and ordered the surveillance footage destroyed, but Wei Zisu and Yin Zhengchuan obtained a copy and traced his involvement 128 129.

After Ziran was taken away from Sun Zhe, Wei Zisu and Yin Zhengchuan brought him for forensic identification and reported the abuse to the police. Wei Zisu subsequently told Ziran that they were brothers and that he now had a home with them. Later accounts also revealed that Ziran’s parents had abandoned him; Wei Zisu opposed their attempt to marry him off for money 133 136 206.

Life with the Yin Family

Yin Zhengchuan brought Ziran to Shandong, where the Yin family welcomed him. He gained a room decorated to his tastes, played with Yin Baozhu, learned to drive a harvester, and began accompanying Yin Changjun to village chess games. The family encouraged interests that he had previously been unable to pursue freely 137 140 194.

Sun Zhe continued trying to reclaim him. During one attempted abduction, Baozhu was injured while protecting Ziran. Ziran resisted Sun Zhe, called him a bad person, and tried to help her. Fang Mian intervened, and Ziran later gave a police statement 144 145.

Although he had previously feared the pain of removing Sun Zhe’s mark, Ziran chose to undergo the procedure after Baozhu’s injuries. He endured the operation without crying out, drawing courage from her example 140 146.

Sun Zhe later abducted him from an anime convention and threatened to take him to the United States and mark him again. Ziran refused, insisting that he wanted to return home and that saving his life did not entitle Sun Zhe to a relationship. Yin Zhengchuan and Fang Mian followed a tracker hidden in his badge and rescued him. The family doctor subsequently confirmed that he was physically well 193 194 195 196.

Voice-Acting Career

Ziran’s family recognized his talent for imitation and arranged professional voice-acting instruction. His limited reading initially prevented him from handling scripts, so he studied pinyin and Chinese characters through online lessons, with Baozhu checking his homework 175 199.

After substantial practice, he auditioned at Lu Qi’s studio by voicing a cartoon dog. His expressive performance earned him a contract. Although the studio normally used remote recording, Lu Qi arranged an on-site schedule of 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday 200.

Ziran continued receiving help with unfamiliar script characters and later secured the voice role for a television drama’s lead. He took the assignment seriously enough to refuse a day off after a difficult night 202 211.

Relationship with Lu Qi

Lu Qi pursued Ziran through shared outings, gifts, and support at work. Ziran’s family initially feared exploitation, but Lu Qi explicitly rejected using his authority as Ziran’s employer to control him. Both families eventually approved the courtship, and Ziran agreed to date him after receiving an explanation of what a romantic relationship meant 205 207 208 209.

A birthday kiss triggered memories of Ziran’s abuse. He panicked and said he no longer wanted to date. He also revealed that village gossip had made him believe being previously marked rendered him “unclean.” Lu Qi promised not to force physical intimacy, and Ziran recognized that he had consistently restrained his pheromones rather than using them to influence him. Ziran then initiated a kiss himself, and they continued dating 209 210 211.

At a later convention, Ziran recognized Lu Qi as the red-clad cosplayer he had met years earlier. During a Lantern Festival outing, Lu Qi also rescued him after thugs cornered him in an alley 212.

Appearance

• Features: Delicate facial features, large expressive eyes, smooth skin, and a slender build. Mother Gu joked that longer hair would make others mistake him for a girl 43 44.
• Resemblance to Wei Zisu: His eyes resembled his brother’s before surgery. Three operations imposed through Sun Zhe’s coercion made their faces nearly identical 45 90 133.
• Temporary hairstyle: He and Yin Baozhu dyed each other’s hair Barbie pink before Qin Qin persuaded them to change it back 137.
• Convention attire: His Xie Lian cosplay includes white historical robes and a bamboo hat 183 190 212.

Personality

Ziran is affectionate, earnest, and highly responsive to encouragement. He takes pride in doing useful work and eagerly shares praise with his family, sometimes remembering that he was complimented more clearly than the compliment itself. Cakes, cartoons, playground equipment, and outings are recurring sources of delight 45 94 137 199.

He has developmental and learning difficulties, but his abilities are uneven rather than uniformly limited: reading and abstract explanations challenge him, while vocal imitation and chess come naturally. Wei Zisu describes him as someone who tends to view others kindly and does not readily recognize malicious intentions 140 175 199 207.

His early obedience to Sun Zhe is rooted in fear, gratitude, and marking-induced dependence rather than a clear understanding of love. Living with his family helps him recognize that kindness need not demand repayment and that he does not have to endure violence. He becomes able to reject Sun Zhe directly and defend his own choice of home 185 194.

Ziran is protective despite his vulnerability. He worries about the institute’s other children during his own ordeal, fights to reach an injured Baozhu, and accepts painful treatment to free himself from Sun Zhe’s control 45 145 146.

Abilities & Skills

Vocal Imitation and Voice Acting

• Reproduces cartoon voices and unusual sounds, including a Minion’s voice and Xie Lian’s animated voice 137 212.
• Switches naturally between characters’ vocal traits and matches his performance closely to the accompanying video 202.
• Receives professional praise for vocal quality, empathy, and the ability to express a character’s changing emotions 199.
• Needs pinyin annotations for unfamiliar Chinese characters, even after improving his literacy 199 202.

Dialect Acquisition

• Learns fluent, authentic Shandong dialect despite having grown up in the south 140 175.
• His rapid acquisition of the dialect helps the family recognize his broader talent for languages and voices 175.

Chess

• Learns by watching Yin Changjun play and receiving instruction; soon becomes strong enough to defeat him 140.
• Eventually beats every chess player at Longevity Village’s square and defeats Fang Mian five times in one session 144.

Other Practical Skills

• Washes dishes meticulously and gains enough experience to assist with kitchen work 45.
• Learns to operate a harvester under Yin Zhengchuan’s instruction 137.
• Can make roughly seven out of ten basketball shots, although he struggles to understand the game’s rules 203.

Equipment / Personal Items

• Minion plush: A comfort object he holds during his departure from Sun Zhe’s home and while adjusting to Wei Zisu’s home 131 133 134.
• Smartwatch: Used for family calls and WeChat. Sun Zhe discards it during the convention abduction; on another occasion, its depleted battery complicates finding him in a crowd 194 199 202 212.
• Tracker-equipped badge: Allows Yin Baozhu and the others to locate him after he disappears from the convention restroom 193.
• Professional recording equipment: Purchased by Yin Zhengchuan when Ziran begins voice-acting lessons; fulfills the studio’s equipment requirement at his audition 200.

Relationships

• Wei Zisu — Biological older brother. Searches for him, helps remove him from Sun Zhe’s control, and supports both his career and his right to choose a romantic partner 60 133 136 207.
• Yin Zhengchuan — Brother-in-law and caregiver. Brings him to Shandong, encourages his talents, funds his lessons and recording equipment, and rescues him from Sun Zhe 137 195 199 200.
• Yin Baozhu — Close companion whom he calls his little sister. Plays and cosplays with him, supervises his schoolwork, and risks serious injury to prevent his abduction 137 145 183 199 204.
• Yin Changjun (“Dad Yin”) — Welcomes him as family, teaches him chess, and finds his voice-acting teacher 137 140 199.
• Qin Qin (“Qin Dad”) — Helps him settle into the household, accompanies him to his audition, and celebrates his employment with cake 137 199 200.
• Auntie Sun — Household caregiver who attends to his daily needs, prepares his favorite food, and comforts him with snacks after his rescue 137 196.
• Mother Gu — Beloved childhood caregiver and maternal figure. Her reassurance and safety advice remain important to him after her death 43 44.
• Sun Zhe — Former rescuer who becomes his captor and abuser. Uses violence, cosmetic surgery, marking, and repeated abduction attempts to control him; Ziran ultimately rejects him 45 145 194.
• Lu Qi — Employer and boyfriend. Supports his recording work, accepts his boundaries after learning about his trauma, and shares his interest in cosplay 200 202 207 211 212.
• Fang Mian — Family friend and chess opponent. Intervenes during one abduction attempt and assists in his later rescue 144 145 195.