Zhao Wanling

Biodata

Background / History

Zhao Wanling attended the same high school and university as Gu Jiangfeng, Bai Qinglan, and Lin Xiang. Their friendship lasted more than twenty years, and she introduced Bai Qinglan and Lin Xiang to one another. Gu Jiangfeng persistently pursued Zhao Wanling before she accepted his confession; she later jokingly claimed that she agreed only to stop him pestering her 3 37.

During a dangerous business war, Zhao Wanling and Gu Jiangfeng entrusted their youngest son, Gu Zhiyue, to Bai Qinglan and Lin Xiang because he was too young for them to feel comfortable sending him abroad. The families accidentally lost contact, separating her from him for roughly fourteen years. Gu Jiangfeng later revealed that she cried during every holiday while their youngest son was away 1 37.

In the years afterward, Zhao Wanling helped Gu Jiangfeng and their eldest son, Gu Tingchuan, build the family's considerable wealth. When Gu Zhiyue was finally found, she accompanied her husband to bring him home. They did not pressure him to immediately address them as his parents, and he agreed to stay with them for a month 1 2.

Appearance

• Overall impression: Gentle and refined when she first appears 1.
• Eyes: Upturned phoenix eyes, inherited by both Gu Shen Ci and Gu Zhiyue 17.
• First-appearance clothing: A purple fine-velvet cheongsam with low side slits, an emerald necklace, and pinned-up hair 1.
• Family resemblance: She tells Gu Zhiyue that his handsome face resembles hers when she was young 1.

Personality

Zhao Wanling is openly affectionate and attentive to her children. Gu Zhiyue's return makes her especially conscious of everything she missed, including learning his food preferences. She prepares a fully furnished bedroom for him, repeatedly adds food to his bowl, and worries about whether he will eat properly after moving into his college dormitory. His first instinctive address of “Mom” after his hospitalization moves her to tears 2 3 21.

Her protectiveness is paired with respect for her children's choices. She supports Gu Zhiyue making friends, encourages him to try new activities, and assures him that he does not have to rush into choosing a career. She also encourages him to maintain his relationship with his adoptive parents rather than treating their bond as a threat 8 11 16 28 31.

When her family is threatened, she becomes firm and confrontational. She insists on pursuing lawsuits against serious online harassers and dismisses a longtime maid after discovering repeated theft. Nevertheless, she can prioritize practical action over anger, telling Gu Shuoyan to work out a solution before losing his temper 19 20 29 30.

Abilities & Skills

Hearing Gu Zhiyue's Thoughts

Zhao Wanling can hear Gu Zhiyue's unspoken thoughts and his conversations with the system Xiao Jiu 4.

• Onset: The family reports that the ability began after Gu Zhiyue returned from the hospital following his fall down the stairs 36.
• Information gained: Xiao Jiu's disclosures expose future disasters, concealed motives, and threats against individual family members 4 8 26 35.
• Secrecy: She helps keep the ability hidden from Gu Zhiyue and briefs family members who discover it 6 18 36.
• Known limits: By Gu Tingchuan's return, all immediate family members are confirmed to hear the conversations, while no outsiders are known to do so. Zhao Wanling remains uncertain whether that restriction will last 36.

Painting

Zhao Wanling creates paintings that are exhibited and sold at auction 16.

• One painting sold for more than two hundred thousand yuan; her lowest-selling painting fetched one thousand 16.
• A good painting can take months or longer to complete 16.
• She describes exhibitions and auction sales as dependent partly on luck, despite Gu Zhiyue's praise of her reputation 16.

Coordinating Family Resources

Zhao Wanling uses the Gu family's financial, legal, and social connections to address problems 20 28 34.

• Legal action: Directs investigators to collect evidence and sends organized screenshots and videos to the legal department 20.
• Medical assistance: Contacts an overseas doctor and arranges for Luo Yunhe to receive a thorough examination after the doctor's return 34.
• Financial support: Provides Gu Zhiyue with a substantial allowance and agrees to look after funds he does not yet know how to use 28.

Relationships

• Gu Jiangfeng — Husband and partner in building the family fortune. They coordinate their response to Gu Jiangli's betrayal and remain affectionate after decades together; he later persuades her to go on a movie date and visit a couples' hotel 2 6 37 38.
• Gu Tingchuan — Eldest son. She worries about his eating habits while away from home and warns him to take the predicted betrayal surrounding his future girlfriend seriously 36 37.
• Gu Shen Ci — Second son, an actor. She monitors threats to his career and directs legal action against people who seriously harass him online 18 20.
• Gu Shuoyan — Third son and one of the first people with whom she confirms the thought-hearing ability. She trusts him to care for Gu Zhiyue but also teases and reprimands him 4 5 7 26.
• Gu Zhiyue — Youngest biological son. She seeks to rebuild their relationship without denying his attachment to the parents who raised him 1 2 28 31.
• Bai Qinglan and Lin Xiang — Longtime friends and Gu Zhiyue's adoptive parents. Zhao Wanling is grateful for their care of him and encourages him to buy them gifts or a nearby home 1 3 28.
• He Zhiwei — Sister-in-law. After learning of the danger posed by Gu Jiangli, Zhao Wanling privately encourages her to leave a loveless relationship; He Zhiwei subsequently considers divorce and escape with her son 8.
• Gu Jiangli — Brother-in-law whose betrayal is exposed through Xiao Jiu. Zhao Wanling initially worries that Gu Jiangfeng's trust in his brother will make a direct accusation ineffective 4 18.
• Luo Yunhe — Gu Zhiyue's friend. She treats him as practically one of her own children and helps arrange specialist medical care 21 34.
• Xing Yisheng — A business associate of the Gu family whom she trusts with Gu Zhiyue. She helps arrange their introduction after noticing her son's interest in meeting him 11 28.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Gu Zhiyue's Return

• Prepares Gu Zhiyue's bedroom, clothing, toiletries, and gaming setup while offering to replace anything he dislikes 2.
• Rushes to the hospital after he falls down the stairs and later insists on following the doctor's dietary restrictions during his recovery 3.
• Accompanies him to Jinghong College with Gu Shuoyan and repeatedly reminds him to eat properly and keep in contact 21.

Discovering the Gu Family's Predicted Ruin

• Overhears Xiao Jiu predict that Gu Jiangfeng will become paralyzed after a stroke and that she will be reduced to begging and collecting trash. This is a forecast, not an event that has already happened 4.
• Confirms with Gu Shuoyan that they can both hear Xiao Jiu, then helps discreetly raise concerns about Gu Jiangli's interest in the company's bid 4 5.
• Supports Gu Jiangfeng's plan to feed the traitors a discarded proposal rather than expose them before obtaining evidence. Gu Jiangli's copied proposal subsequently fails at the bidding event 6 10.

Defending Gu Shen Ci

• Warns Gu Shen Ci about the predicted video scandal and participates in the family's private discussions about handling it 18 19.
• Orders lawsuits against thirty-seven particularly serious offenders, refusing settlements or apologies 20.
• The court schedules a hearing, but the supplied context does not establish the lawsuits' final outcome 20.

Dismissing A Cui

• Catches the maid A Cui leaving the marital bedroom with Gu Jiangfeng's underwear and slaps her during the confrontation 29.
• Learns through Xiao Jiu that A Cui has stolen underwear before and is lying about needing money for a bedridden mother-in-law 29 30.
• Dismisses her with her full salary for the month and threatens a search of her quarters if she refuses to leave quietly 30.

Warnings About Her Elder Sons

• Recognizes Tong Ziyi as Gu Shuoyan's longtime friend when Xiao Jiu reveals his plan to sabotage Gu Shuoyan's brakes 26.
• Explains the thought-hearing secret to Gu Tingchuan and urges him to investigate the predicted betrayal and fatal construction scandal 36.
• At the racetrack, reprimands Gu Zhiyue for pursuing the mechanic alone. After Tong Ziyi's arrest, the Gu family refuses his relatives' request for a letter of forgiveness 41 42.

Notable Quotes

“Every single one of us has to stay safe. Nothing can happen to any of us.” 4

“Don't get angry yet. Think of a way to resolve this first, then get angry.” 19

“Since you're Zhiyue's friend, I think of you as practically one of my own children too.” 34