Zhang Zhaomu

Biodata

Power Progression

Zhang Zhaomu’s documented gains come through weekly personas rather than named cultivation realms or numerical levels 1 31 32.

Background / History

Zhang Zhaomu’s parents divorced while he was in middle school. His mother moved to Shanghai for work and found a new partner, while his father remarried a woman who already had a daughter. With neither household having much time to look after him, his parents proposed boarding school. He resisted, and they instead rented him an apartment near school 2.

He takes pride in the freedom of living alone, particularly being able to visit internet cafés and stay up late without supervision. Although he occasionally feels lonely, he avoids dwelling on it and does not expect his parents to organize their new lives around him 2 26.

His monthly allowance is 2,000 yuan, covering rent, utilities, food, and necessities. Even with careful budgeting, he can normally spare only 200–300 yuan for internet cafés. He refuses to borrow money or request extra funds from his family, sometimes cutting back to instant noodles or steamed buns instead 9 18.

Appearance

Before receiving [Refined], Zhang Zhaomu’s handsome features were obscured by greasy skin, overgrown hair, and poor posture. The persona’s grooming and bearing changes make him striking enough that acquaintances struggle to recognize him 1 2 4.

• Hair: Initially has long bangs nearly covering his eyes; trims them short and clears the hair around his ears and cheekbones 1.
• Features: Well-defined facial contours and handsome brows become more noticeable after grooming 1.
• Posture: Changes from hunched and listless to straight-backed and composed 1.
• Clothing: Initially wears a pale blue-and-white summer school uniform; later makes an ordinary black T-shirt and jeans look sharp through proper care and posture 1 14.
• Under [Cat]: Does not grow fur or develop visibly feline features; his eyes remain human-looking outside the brief enhanced state 32 33.

Personality

Zhang Zhaomu calls himself a “salted fish”: he wants enough money to enjoy life, not a demanding career or greater responsibilities. Gaming takes priority over academic effort, business expansion, and invitations from interested classmates. Once his makeover work promises enough income for a good computer, he limits appointments rather than building a larger business 9 21 31.

His imagination is restless and frequently absurd. He invents dramatic scenarios, borrows gaming language to describe everyday situations, and turns arguments into mock martial-arts encounters. [Refined] restrains his public behavior without stopping the irreverent commentary in his head 3 5 17 40.

Despite his laziness and teasing, he can be perceptive and considerate. Chen Zhenzhen admires his ability to remain cheerful despite his family circumstances, and he notices her unease beneath their banter. He also recognizes when directing [Cat]’s troublesome impulses at her has become unfair 17 42.

His independence has a stubborn side: he would rather reduce his own expenses than borrow money. His compassion can nevertheless override personal discomfort, as shown when he searches a foul-smelling trash bin to rescue abandoned puppies despite [Refined]’s aversion to dirt 18 48.

Abilities & Skills

Weekly Personas

• A new persona announces itself as a thought upon waking 1 31.
• Personas influence habits, desires, social behavior, and, in [Cat]’s case, physical capabilities 1 33 34.
• Earlier personas remain available to load or unload after a new one arrives 32.
• By his own assessment, the newest persona exerts the strongest influence and cannot be deactivated; older personas can counterbalance it 47.
• The source of the phenomenon remains unexplained in the provided chapters 1 32.

[Refined]

• Grooming and routine: Drives him to bathe, clean, maintain his clothes, and adopt a regular sleeping schedule 1 14.
• Social composure: Helps him maintain an open gaze, speak comfortably with others, and conceal embarrassment 3 11 26.
• Responsibility: Makes it difficult for him to shirk duties he has accepted, including organizing textbook collection 6.
• Counterbalancing instincts: Helps him resist [Cat]’s urges by prioritizing dignity, punctuality, and orderly behavior 32 33.
• Limits: Does not make him studious or eliminate his gaming habits, mischievousness, or attraction to girls 10 13 41.

Image Design and Hairdressing

• Instinctively assesses hairstyles and clothing combinations suited to a person’s features, build, and desired presentation 9 10 21.
• Cuts and styles hair, including Chen Zhenzhen’s twin buns and Wang Lan’s short wolf cut 16 29.
• Coordinates clothing, accessories, nail styles, and bags; also advises on posture and expression 11 30.
• Uses [Refined] when performing image-design work; after gaining [Cat], he still completes a client’s makeover carefully despite disruptive impulses 32 43.

[Cat]

• Movement: Grants exceptional jumping ability, balance, midair adjustment, and quiet landings 32 33 34.
• Reflexes and senses: Produces heightened hearing, altered vision, and a subjective impression that the world has slowed down 33 34.
• Activation: Can trigger involuntarily under stress or when he follows feline instincts; deliberate attempts do not always succeed 33 34.
• Behavioral costs: Causes sleepiness, restlessness, fascination with moving hair and bows, object-batting, and mouse-hunting urges 33 34 35 43.
• Control limits: [Refined] helps restrain his behavior but does not fully suppress these impulses. He avoids public demonstrations for fear of exposing himself 33 40 43.

Gaming

• Regards gaming as his strongest ordinary skill, although he considers himself below the threshold required for paid game boosting 5 9.
• Regularly plays with Chen Zhenzhen and plans his makeover income around buying a gaming computer 17 21 31.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Becoming Class Nine’s Monitor

• Enters the newly reshuffled Humanities Class Nine, a relaxed class containing specialty-track and low-performing students 3.
• Fails to persuade Chen Yongchao that he is unsuitable for class leadership and becomes acting monitor 5 6.
• Faces an early attempt by Kang Hao’s sports-student group to embarrass him by avoiding textbook collection. Duan Chan’er rallies other girls to help, allowing the task to proceed 6 7.
• Later learns that Duan Chan’er considers him an effective representative of Class Nine, not merely a popular makeover provider 50.

Establishing the Makeover Business

• Chooses Chen Zhenzhen as a before-and-after advertisement for his newly acquired skills 9 10.
• Her transformation attracts paying classmates. He quotes 188 yuan for a full makeover and secures five orders before class begins 16 20 21.
• Wang Lan is delighted enough to send 588 yuan, although he tells her the agreed price was only 188 yuan 29 30.
• Caps future work at three image designs per week and refuses weekend appointments to preserve time for gaming 31.

Discovering Bing Chan’s Identity

• Becomes a reader of Bing Chan’s webnovel and joins the author’s QQ reader group 12 22.
• Discovers that Bing Chan is Duan Chan’er but does not reveal that he knows 25.
• Continues chatting as “Jasmine Meow,” while she presents herself online as the parent of a high-school-aged daughter. He encourages this supposed daughter to befriend her neighbor—himself 27 28.

[Cat] and the Friendship Misunderstanding

• Struggles through school while containing feline impulses, receiving a self-criticism assignment after oversleeping and missing the flag-raising ceremony 32 34 36.
• His teasing, attraction to Chen Zhenzhen’s changed appearance, and attempts to distance himself lead her to suspect romantic feelings 42 43 45.
• Initially insists they are simply best friends, then makes a false confession to avoid explaining his behavior. Under pressure, he admits to looking at her breasts and imagining intimate situations 45 46.
• Misreads her embarrassed departure as a threat to their friendship; she privately intends to ignore him for only one day 46 50.

Rescuing the Puppies

• Hears faint whimpering from a trash bin and retrieves two abandoned newborn puppies with Duan Chan’er 48.
• Improvises a feeder from a kitchen glove while she prepares warm goat’s milk and cleans the puppies 49.
• Helps settle them into a box lined with old clothes. Duan Chan’er refuses to leave him alone with their overnight feeding and care needs 49.

Relationships

• Chen Zhenzhen — His closest friend and gaming partner since middle school. Their friendship is built on teasing and shared freedom; her makeover introduces attraction and romantic misunderstandings without establishing a relationship 2 17 45 46.
• Duan Chan’er / Bing Chan — Neighbor, classmate, and an author he enjoys reading. They become friends both offline and online, but she does not know that Zhang Zhaomu is “Jasmine Meow” 7 25 28 50.
• Xiang Qing — His deskmate and Class Nine’s study representative. After he accidentally grabs her hair, their exchanges develop through written notes; he encourages her to communicate with him, and they share food 6 35 39 41 43.
• Chen Yongchao — Homeroom teacher who appoints him acting monitor and disciplines him for lateness. Zhang appreciates learning that Chen covered for his absence from the flag-raising ceremony 5 6 36.
• Wang Lan and Song Xuanxuan — Early paying clients whose enthusiastic responses help establish the success of his makeover work 21 29 30.
• Kang Hao and the sports students — Initially resent his popularity and attempt to undermine his first task as monitor 6 7.
• Parents — Both have remarried. He accepts their separate lives but avoids asking them for additional money or attention 2 9 26.

Trivia

• Chen Zhenzhen’s nickname “Zhang Zaowan” replaces the poetic “Zhaomu” with a more everyday expression for “morning and evening,” much to his annoyance 2.
• Duan Chan’er suggests his name may derive from the verse, “If love between two hearts can last, what need is there for mornings and evenings together?” He considers this plausible, but its origin is not confirmed 26.
• His feminine QQ identity began as a prank on an abusive gaming teammate. After revealing he was male and blocking the player, he forgot to change the nickname back 24.