Shen Zhiyi

Biodata

Background / History

Childhood and Family Loss

Shen Zhiyi grew up with a mother who wanted a son to continue the Shen family line and resented having a daughter. Her father was a teacher. Her childhood was unhappy even before she lost her family 50 77.

Her parents and younger brother, Shen Kangnan, died in a chain-reaction traffic accident involving an explosion. Her father had saved her, leaving her with lasting guilt over surviving instead of her brother. Her parents’ remains could not be recovered, and funeral and cemetery expenses compounded the loss 20 21.

After becoming an orphan, she received financial assistance from others but feared losing her home to people who wanted it. At school, she faced exclusion, rumors, and bullying. Hao Qiulan persecuted her from middle school through high school; despite this, Shen Zhiyi earned admission to S University 43 77.

Education and Artistic Career

At S University, Shen Zhiyi worked as a teaching assistant for her advisor. Her teacher considered her artistic mindset extreme and encouraged her to study woodcut printmaking to help change it. After changing fields, she rarely painted simply for its own sake 39 40.

She subsequently expanded from woodblock prints into wooden handicrafts, including tea tables and small figurines. Her clients included Boss Zhao, Boss Yao, and Chi Ye’s grandfather, whose treasured tea table allowed Chi Ye to recognize her craftsmanship 10 16.

Appearance

• Face and eyes: Exceptionally beautiful, with long lashes and eyes compared to both peach blossoms and crescent moons 3.
• Hair: Long enough to reach her waist; worn loose or casually tied into a ponytail 11 59.
• Build and complexion: Slender, with a pale face and frequently little color in her lips 23 39.
• Hands: Fair-skinned but heavily callused from handling carving tools 12.
• Clothing: Favors simple shirts and loose trousers for ordinary work; uses protective work clothes and a mask while cutting timber 11 12.
• Expression: Usually calm and difficult to read, even when she is angry or distressed 34 50.

Personality

Shen Zhiyi speaks little, dislikes unnecessary socializing, and often sits alone staring into space. Her blunt internal commentary contrasts with her outward silence: she privately mocks Chi Ye even when her expression remains unchanged. She describes herself as someone who would rather lie down than sit and sit rather than stand 1 3 40.

Her apparent indolence overlaps with serious illness. Her habit of eating only the dishes immediately in front of her initially looks like laziness, but a doctor later explains that she has little interest in food and has neglected regular meals for years 13 61.

She is protective of her independence and initially refuses involvement with the novel’s major characters. Nevertheless, she remembers kindness and quietly repays it. She also intervenes forcefully when others are mistreated, particularly Liu Muyan 13 47 67.

Affection is difficult for her to accept. Having encountered more malice than kindness, she fears that care will eventually turn into harm and often rejects herself before rejecting someone else. With Chi Ye, she gradually becomes more responsive, expressive, and willing to initiate affection 51 73 74 80.

Abilities & Skills

Woodcarving and Printmaking

Shen Zhiyi produces commissioned wooden furniture, prints, and figurines, working from both her own designs and clients’ requirements 10 11 35.

• Designs around the natural shape and condition of timber, including preserving charred areas as part of a finished piece 11.
• Creates elaborate tea-table designs incorporating winding waterways and space for greenery 11 12.
• Uses an electric saw for rough shaping before completing detailed work with smaller tools 12.
• Teaches clients who want to make their own pieces, including guiding Liu Muyan through a sculpture of Ely Chief peonies 35 39.
• Concentrates so completely while carving that her internal commentary falls silent, leaving Chi Ye unable to hear any thoughts 12.

Painting and Artistic Judgment

• Has a background in painting, although she seldom paints independently after changing fields 40.
• Is recognized by Liu Muyan’s teacher as a talented senior 35.
• Inspires Yan Song, who seeks her advice and asks her to model for a painting; she declines to advise him but eventually gives him her phone number 39 40.

Knowledge of the Novel

Shen Zhiyi receives information revealing that her world is a domineering-CEO romance novel and that she is a disposable supporting character 1.

• Knows the circumstances of the protagonists’ first meeting and the broad trajectory of their romance 1 13.
• Initially uses this knowledge to avoid the protagonists and Chi Ye, whom the original story identifies as a villain 8 13 17.
• Comes to question the novel’s characterizations after seeing Chi Ye’s kindness and Liu Muyan’s sincerity firsthand 23 37.
• Does not possess Chi Ye’s mind-reading ability: he hears her unspoken thoughts, rather than the reverse 3.

Physical Confrontation

• Uses kicks and slaps to drive away Fang Yue when he threatens to take her home 9.
• Intimidates a hostile party crowd by striking a table with a thick wooden stick 47.
• Catches Hao Qiulan’s attempted slap and counters with a kick 79.

Mental and Physical Health

Shen Zhiyi’s depression, suicidal thoughts, and physical symptoms remain central to her life throughout the story. The ending depicts continued treatment and effort, not a complete recovery 61 90.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Awakening and Kidnapping

After learning that she lives inside a novel, Shen Zhiyi intends to let the protagonists’ story proceed without her. Instead, she is knocked unconscious and delivered to Chi Ye as a supposed substitute for the heroine. Boss Zhao, a former client seeking business ties with Chi Ye, arranged the kidnapping 1 3 10 16.

She wakes in Chi Ye’s bed, where he discovers he can hear her thoughts. She demands compensation before returning home. Chi Ye later approaches her about pretending to be his girlfriend so his mother will stop arranging blind dates, but she repeatedly refuses 3 4 6 8 16.

Losing Her Home and Moving to the Villa

After a two-week carving commission, Shen Zhiyi returns to find her home broken into and vandalized. She reports the damage to the police 19.

Her distress culminates in a suicide attempt at the river, where Chi Ye saves her. Following hospitalization, he finds her outside in the rain and takes her to Heavenly Domain Villa. He cares for her through weakness and fever; she eventually agrees to stay and cooperate with the fake relationship 21 23 24 28 32.

Friendship and a Changing View of the Cast

A commission at S University brings Shen Zhiyi into contact with Liu Muyan. Seeing Liu Muyan earnestly prepare a handmade gift challenges the novel’s portrayal of her as a vicious supporting character 34 35 37.

At Chu Yanqing’s birthday party, Shen Zhiyi stands up for Liu Muyan and forces Chu Yannan and An Qian to eat the remaining desserts. Liu Muyan publicly rejects her expected relationship with Chu Yannan and breaks with the Chu family 47.

From Contract to Romance

Chi Ye confesses that he wants a real relationship rather than a temporary partnership. Shen Zhiyi initially insists that he should not like her and continues to remind him that their contract has an end date 51 66.

His family welcomes her, while Ye Nianliu explicitly tells her that gratitude does not oblige her to accommodate Chi Ye. Shen Zhiyi eventually agrees to try trusting him. Later, after he admits inventing excuses to spend more time with her, she initiates a kiss 56 58 67 74.

Hao Qiulan’s Return and Separation

Encountering Hao Qiulan brings Shen Zhiyi’s school trauma back to the surface and disrupts her planned trip with Chi Ye. Their confrontation later escalates at an abandoned park, where Hao Qiulan tries to push her into a lake. Chi Ye intervenes, while Chu Yanqing restrains Hao Qiulan and Liu Muyan calls the police 77 78 81 82.

Afterward, Shen Zhiyi tells Chi Ye that his attempt to change her was presumptuous. She asks for time apart, promises not to harm herself, and leaves the villa. She rents a small apartment near his company rather than returning to her old home 81 82.

Treatment and Reconciliation

Living independently, Shen Zhiyi begins trying to experience ordinary life, purchases baking equipment, and seeks treatment as her insomnia worsens. She later travels with Ye Nianliu and Liu Muyan, who notice that she has begun showing subtle expressions of happiness and puzzlement 82 84 85.

She reunites with Chi Ye but asks to continue living separately and rebuild their relationship slowly. By the finale, she can smile openly and tell him that, although her wish to die has not disappeared, her wish to be with him is currently stronger 89 90.

Equipment / Items

• Carving tools and electric saw — Used to shape large timber and complete detailed commissioned work 12.
• S University access card — Retained from her teaching-assistant work; still allows her to enter the campus 34 39.
• Recording of Chi Ye’s stories — Secretly recorded on her phone and replayed during their separation when she cannot sleep 84.
• Baking equipment — Purchased while establishing her independent household 84.

Relationships

• Chi Ye — Initially the “villain” she wants to avoid, then her fake boyfriend and eventual romantic partner. Their relationship develops through caregiving, conflict over boundaries, separation, and reconciliation 8 32 81 89 90.
• Liu Muyan — Client turned close companion. Shen Zhiyi teaches her carving, defends her publicly, and listens to her relationship troubles 35 47 68 72.
• Ye Nianliu / Madam Ye — Chi Ye’s mother. Welcomes Shen Zhiyi, protects her from intrusive questioning, introduces her socially, and encourages her to follow her own wishes 57 58 60.
• Grandpa Chi — An admirer of her craftsmanship who encourages Chi Ye to get to know her. Later advises him that affection and trust must be reciprocated rather than won like a contest 6 16 59.
• Xu Housekeeper — Looks after her at the villa and recognizes both her distress and Chi Ye’s growing affection 28 34 56.
• Fang Yue — Maternal uncle who threatens her over the family home. She physically drives him away 9 82.
• Hao Qiulan — Former classmate and longtime bully whose renewed harassment culminates in a violent lakeside attack 77 79 81.
• An Qian and Chu Yannan — The novel’s central romantic pair. After An Qian becomes her neighbor, Shen Zhiyi repeatedly interrupts their disruptive arguments 82 84 89.

Notable Quotes

“Mr. Chi, I'm under no obligation to open my room for you. How much was lunch? I'll transfer you the money.” 13

“Too fast. Love needs to run deep and steady, Chi Ye. Restrain yourself a little.” 89

“But I also want to be with you. Maybe those two thoughts are arguing, but right now, this one has won.” 90