Wen He

Biodata

Background / History

Wen He supports himself through commissioned artwork, working from a rented room and negotiating revisions with clients. Before joining the show, declining business leaves him with little money despite having approximately 130,000 Weibo followers. He continues accepting commissions during filming because his savings cannot sustain him until the production team pays him in full 1 28.

Director Guo recruits him after a chance meeting at a pharmacy, where Wen He has gone to buy medicine. Attracted by his voice and appearance, the director offers him a place on a month-long dating show. Wen He accepts for an appearance fee large enough to cover six months to a year of living expenses, rather than out of interest in romance 1.

On the eve of filming, Wen He dreams that he is a minor character in a dating-show novel: an unwanted guest who cooks for everyone, inadvertently advances the central romance, and is rejected during the final confession. He recognizes people and circumstances from this dream after entering the show, but real events soon begin contradicting it 1 4 11 12.

Appearance

• Build: Small, thin, and physically frail, with visible pale-blue veins on the backs of his fair hands. His weight loss later makes his assigned clothing noticeably loose 8 64.
• Face: Delicate, clean-cut features whose attractiveness becomes more apparent with closer attention; faint dimples appear when he smiles 1 4 21 29.
• Hair: Soft, fluffy black hair, often tousled or sticking up in a cowlick 1 28 96.
• Expression: Frequently wears a vacant or bewildered look; he blushes readily when flustered by intimacy 4 14 90.
• Clothing: Initially favors inexpensive printed white T-shirts, casual shorts, and jeans. Five of his cotton shirts cost 29.9 yuan altogether 10 28.
• Ear piercing: Has his left ear pierced during a mall outing while planning to buy a pair of studs for himself and Ji Chi 100.

Personality

Wen He is quiet, spacey, and uncomfortable with unfamiliar social situations. He offers practical help—such as carrying luggage or preparing food—but withdraws when he believes he is not needed. His sincerity can have unintended romantic effects: an earnest compliment about Jiang Yu’s beauty leaves Jiang Yu visibly flustered 2 3 4 17 25.

He is inexperienced in romance and slow to identify his own feelings. Having never dated before the show, he initially does not know his sexual orientation. He later accepts Ji Chi’s claim that best friends kiss, then becomes distressed when online replies explain that their behavior is romantic. His immediate concern is whether enjoying those kisses without being a couple makes him a “scumbag” 2 90 98 99.

Money, food, and avoiding waste strongly influence his decisions. He buys inexpensive clothes, worries about date expenses, offers to cook to repay a treat, and dislikes throwing away edible leftovers. He enjoys good food enough that it can quickly improve his mood 10 14 15 28 39.

Although often accommodating, Wen He objects to being treated like an object or having his boundaries ignored. He rebukes Ji Chi for touching him without permission and becomes unusually sharp when Ji Chi handles his belongings. As their relationship develops, he also becomes more playful and openly demanding, including drawing Ji Chi with devil horns and a tail 5 26 73 81 98.

Health

His fear of dying makes him reluctant to marry or begin a relationship, even after recognizing his feelings. He initially believes that becoming Ji Chi’s partner would burden him; Ji Chi’s promise to seek a cure helps him reconsider 86 110.

Abilities & Skills

Illustration

• Earns money through commissioned artwork, using a tablet, drawing app, and stylus; handles client discussions and requested revisions himself 1 5 81.
• Treats unfamiliar places as potential visual references, including the luxury cruise ship he visits during a show date 48.
• Draws Ji Chi from memory, spending three hours on a portrait before adding mischievous details 81.
• Continues working despite illness and injuries, although he sometimes struggles with inspiration 28 79.

Cooking

• Prepares cumin potatoes with ham sausage and egg drop soup for Ji Chi 14.
• Makes or reheats simple meals, including steamed mini buns and refrigerated food 68.
• Dislikes lingering cooking smells and prefers not to eat meals in his bedroom 14 81.

Handicrafts

• Completes a small seal design during his first fuse-bead session 117.
• Learns by copying Zhang Shengsheng’s technique and becomes more proficient as he works 117.

Recurring Dreams

• Dreams depict the dating show as a novel in which he is a disposable supporting character. They include recognizable guests, rejection by Xie Zhengci, and Duan Yueyang falling into water 1 4 62 110.
• Their apparent foreknowledge is not consistently reliable: receiving a letter from Jiang Ye directly contradicts his dream of receiving none 11 12.
• Wen He suspects stress or medication may be responsible. He considers stopping his medicine, but later believes he cannot survive without it 12 62.
• The drowning dream makes him avoid a waterside campsite, though he later rescues Duan Yueyang when the danger occurs 71 78.

Equipment / Items

• Drawing tablet and stylus — Essential work tools. He carefully checks the tablet for damage after traveling to the show because his inexpensive suitcase offers little protection 5 81.
• Medicine bottles — Keeps medication close at hand; Ji Chi later discovers empty bottles while helping him move 12 81 128.
• Left-ear stud — Wears a stud after getting his ear pierced during his shopping trip with Zhang Shengsheng 100 107.
• Cat-shaped bag — Admires a soft cat-shaped bag at the mall and later carries a little cat bag on his outing with Jiang Ye 100 107.
• Glass art room — His favorite feature of the villa: a sunlit, sunken space with carpeting and stuffed toys, designed so he can draw while looking out at the courtyard 128.

Relationships

• Ji Chi — Romantic partner and later housemate. Wen He initially finds his teasing intrusive and saves his contact as “Ji Chi Is Annoying.” Their growing intimacy precedes Wen He’s understanding of his feelings; they formally become boyfriends after Ji Chi confesses his love 10 90 98 106 110 128.
• Jiang Ye — Fellow guest and romantic pursuer, usually addressed as “Lawyer Jiang.” He cooks for Wen He, writes to him, and takes him to the zoo and aquarium. Wen He admires his kindness and intelligence without showing the same romantic response he has toward Ji Chi 10 11 29 107 112.
• Jiang Yu — Supportive housemate who intervenes when Ji Chi’s questioning makes Wen He uncomfortable. They watch television together, and Jiang Yu offers him support during his disagreement with Ji Chi 4 33 73.
• Zhang Shengsheng — Friend and survival-game teammate. They shop, visit claw machines, and make fuse-bead art together; Zhang Shengsheng also checks on Wen He when he suspects Ji Chi has mistreated him 64 73 100 117.
• Zhou Siyu — Friendly housemate who lends him a handheld fan and becomes comfortable leaning on him. Wen He enjoys his cheerful company 20 22 33.
• Xie Zhengci — The man who rejects him in his dreams. Wen He tries to avoid him in the orchard, but show rules pair them together; Xie Zhengci lends him a hat and encourages him to rest when he overheats 42 43 110.
• Duan Yueyang — Fellow participant whom Wen He rescues from the river despite his own frailty, sustaining injuries in the process 78.
• Director Guo — Recruits Wen He for the dating show after meeting him at a pharmacy 1.
• Doctor Wang — Attending physician who prescribes his medication and responds to his questions about his health 12.
• Big Yellow — The garden’s Shiba Inu. Wen He enjoys visiting and feeding the dog; he had previously wanted a dog for companionship but could not afford one 15 26 39.
• Sweet Sweet Strawberry — Online contact who helps Wen He question his supposed “best-friend” intimacy with Ji Chi. Wen He later tells them that he definitely likes Ji Chi 99 106.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Entering *Heart Flutter with You*

Wen He arrives as the first guest, expecting to collect his fee rather than find romance. His dream leads him to regard himself as background “cannon fodder,” but Jiang Ye’s letter and Ji Chi’s persistent attention quickly depart from that expectation 1 4 11 14.

Growing Close to Ji Chi

Shared meals and teasing encounters gradually become a closer relationship. Wen He cooks to repay Ji Chi for macarons, worries when Ji Chi claims to be ill, and later receives his care during hospitalization and recovery. Their intimacy remains confusing to Wen He, who does not initially recognize either jealousy or attraction 14 19 27 28 34 37.

Camping and the River Rescue

A dream about Duan Yueyang drowning unsettles Wen He before the camping trip. He chooses a campsite away from the water, but ultimately rescues Duan Yueyang from the river. His injuries temporarily restrict his mobility, and Ji Chi tends his wounds and carries him when necessary 62 71 78 81.

Saint Ma Island

Wen He and Ji Chi share a kiss in a pear orchard after Ji Chi calls kissing something best friends do. Elsewhere on the island, a white pigeon follows Wen He; hearing that the birds symbolize health and happiness delights him. Although he initially wants to keep it, he ultimately lets it remain free on the island 90 93 96.

Recognizing His Feelings

Online advice forces Wen He to reconsider his intimacy with Ji Chi. He eventually acknowledges that he likes him, but fears his illness makes a relationship unfair. Ji Chi promises to help him recover and explicitly asks him to be his boyfriend; Wen He accepts and reciprocates his feelings 98 99 106 110.

During the No Heart-Fluttering Challenge, Wen He calmly praises Jiang Ye, but mentioning Ji Chi sends his heart rate sharply upward. By the next day, the cast understands that the two are together 112 113.

A Shared Home

By late November, Wen He moves from his rented room into a villa with Ji Chi. His name is on the property, and its entrance recognizes only their irises. The home includes a pear-tree swing and his favored glass drawing room; the couple also hangs their wedding photograph in the living room 128.

Notable Quotes

“Because participating in the show pays a large sum of money. I'm short on money...” 8

“You can't just take other people's things!” 73

“I will...”

“I like you too...” 110