Zhou Junming

Biodata

Background / History

Performing for food

During the extreme heat, Zhou Junming’s household ran out of food after its gasoline generator had been stolen. His mother advertised his looks, guitar playing, and singing in the neighborhood group chat, offering a performance in exchange for two jin of rice. Embarrassed but unable to resist her pleas, he accepted a thirteenth-floor woman’s invitation to sing a love song. He returned two hours later, flushed and evasive but in a good mood, carrying the promised rice 18.

Soon afterward, Jiang Ci witnessed him passionately kissing Zhao Yunqiu, the widow from the thirteenth floor, in the eleventh-floor stairwell 19.

Public dispute over Zhao Yunqiu

While queuing for water, Zhou Junming tried to help Zhao Yunqiu carry her bucket. His mother restrained him and publicly accused Zhao Yunqiu of seducing him. When another man approached Zhao Yunqiu, Zhou Junming broke free, knocked his mother off balance, and fought the man. Two police officers separated them; afterward, he carried Zhao Yunqiu’s water and accompanied her home instead of returning with his mother 24 25.

His parents confronted him at Zhao Yunqiu’s apartment, but he refused to leave. Zhao Yunqiu claimed that they had slept together and that she might already be carrying his child. When Hu Cuihua fainted from anger and the heat, Zhou Junming helped his father carry her home 25.

Engagement to Wang Xiaohui

Zhou Dafu arranged a match with Wang Xiaohui to draw his son away from Zhao Yunqiu. Sustained persuasion from his father and his mother’s daily tears gradually convinced Zhou Junming that a new relationship might help him forget his first lover 30.

Wang Xiaohui already admired his appearance and musical talent. Their formal meeting went well, and the families marked their engagement with a shared meal. Hu Cuihua deliberately spread the news throughout the building, while Zhao Yunqiu showed no outward distress 30.

Bereavement and renewed affair

Zhou Dafu and Wang Xiaohui’s father, Wang Quan, died following the attack on the eleventh-floor household. Zhou Junming and Wang Xiaohui comforted each other in their grief. As the only adult man remaining in the two households, he became their familial pillar, although Hu Cuihua and Wang Xiaohui’s mother supplied grain through their crematorium jobs 36.

After his relationship with Wang Xiaohui became sexual, his initial enthusiasm faded. He compared her unfavorably with Zhao Yunqiu, who began engineering encounters in the building. Their renewed greetings developed into closer contact, and they eventually resumed their affair without Wang Xiaohui’s knowledge 36 44.

Pregnancy scheme and missing grain

Under pressure from his mother to produce a grandchild, Zhou Junming decided to get Wang Xiaohui pregnant, persuade her to rest at home, and use the resulting freedom to spend more time with Zhao Yunqiu. He brought Zhao Yunqiu grain and openly described Wang Xiaohui as someone who could bear a child for them 41.

After more than half a month of persuasion, Wang Xiaohui agreed to have his child. Meanwhile, the crematorium closed, eliminating the mothers’ source of employment. Hu Cuihua discovered that her hidden food reserves were missing, but Zhou Junming repeatedly denied knowing what had happened despite displaying his habitual signs of guilt 43.

Hu Cuihua subsequently found him leaving Zhao Yunqiu’s apartment and discovered some of the family’s grain there. Zhou Junming admitted that they had reunited roughly a month earlier and declared that he did not love Wang Xiaohui. His mother outwardly agreed to accept Zhao Yunqiu if she became pregnant, provided Wang Xiaohui remained unaware in the meantime 44.

Cohabitation and flooding

Zhou Junming moved into Zhao Yunqiu’s apartment after his mother’s apparent concession. Hu Cuihua deliberately left him there so that he would consume the food he had given away and potentially discover Zhao Yunqiu’s motives. Once their supplies dwindled and he could no longer bring more grain, Zhao Yunqiu began looking for a way to send him away. She secretly took birth-control pills while he tried to get her pregnant 47 48.

When flooding threatened Wang Xiaohui’s second-floor home, she and her mother moved into the Zhou family’s ninth-floor apartment. Hu Cuihua fetched Zhou Junming, reminding him of their agreement to conceal the affair. After finishing repairs to Zhao Yunqiu’s windows, he returned home. Wang Xiaohui then revealed that her period was late and she might be pregnant, stunning him now that he wanted to end their relationship 47 48.

Appearance

• Tall and handsome: His mother repeatedly emphasizes these qualities, and Wang Xiaohui is strongly attracted to his appearance 18 25 30.
• Well-fed despite the disaster: He remains vigorous during the prolonged heat, contrasting with Hu Cuihua’s increasingly thin, haggard appearance 43.
• Guilty mannerism: Since childhood, he has unconsciously twisted his shirt hem around his fingers when concealing wrongdoing. Hu Cuihua recognizes this behavior during the missing-grain confrontation 43.

Personality

Initially embarrassed to perform for food, Zhou Junming nevertheless yields to his mother’s pleas and the household’s hunger. He is also susceptible to sustained emotional pressure: his parents temporarily persuade him to abandon Zhao Yunqiu and accept an engagement, while Zhao Yunqiu’s displays of vulnerability repeatedly draw him back 18 30 36.

His jealousy can become physically aggressive. At the water queue, he forcibly escapes his mother’s grip and attacks a man approaching Zhao Yunqiu, disregarding his mother’s fall until the confrontation has escalated 24.

In his engagement, he becomes calculating and deceptive. He considers Wang Xiaohui easy to fool, uses affectionate promises to persuade her to have a child, and privately treats childbirth as a burden she should bear instead of Zhao Yunqiu. He remains convinced that Zhao Yunqiu sincerely loves him, unaware that she primarily wants his family’s food 41 44 48.

Abilities & Skills

Guitar Playing and Singing

His musical ability attracts both paying attention and romantic interest 18 30.

• Performs a private love song in exchange for two jin of rice 18.
• Frequently sings and plays guitar on his balcony during the early extreme heat, prompting Wang Xiaohui to ask about him 30.

Practical Repairs

He performs makeshift repairs at Zhao Yunqiu’s apartment after the typhoon 48.

• Dismantles an unused cabinet and uses its planks to board up shattered windows 48.

Equipment / Items

• Guitar — Carries it to the thirteenth floor for his food-for-performance arrangement 18.
• Gasoline generator — Stolen from his household. Jiang Ci later suspects the two men on the seventh floor, but her suspicion is not confirmed in the provided account 18 29.

Relationships

• Hu Cuihua — Mother. Shelters and feeds him, opposes his relationship with Zhao Yunqiu, and later changes tactics by allowing him to experience the consequences of living with her 43 44 47.
• Zhou Dafu — Father. Closely supervises him and arranges his engagement to Wang Xiaohui before dying in the aftermath of the eleventh-floor attack 30 36.
• Zhao Yunqiu — First sexual partner and later secret lover. He regards their relationship as true love; she cultivates it for access to food and secretly prevents pregnancy 30 44 48.
• Wang Xiaohui — Fiancée. Admires his looks and talent and remains unaware of his resumed affair. Her possible pregnancy complicates his intention to leave her 30 44 48.
• Jiang Ci — Fellow Building 8 resident who witnesses his secret romance and follows the resulting family disputes as neighborhood gossip 19 25.

Notable Quotes

“Wang Xiaohui isn't my type. I'm only fooling around with her. Even if you force me to stay with Wang Xiaohui, she'll just be a tool for having children. What Yunqiu and I have is true love.” 44