Bai Fan

Biodata

Appearance

• Features: Delicate facial features, large expressive eyes, a graceful figure, and two dimples when she smiles 3.
• Work attire: A white blouse and business skirt on her second date with Li Yao, giving her a sharp, capable appearance 7.
• Other clothing: Wears a long dress when Li Yao meets her at the airport after her business trip 24.

Personality

Bai Fan is friendly and considerate during her early meetings with Li Yao. When he falls off his chair on their blind date, she laughs but helps him up and continues chatting without making him feel rejected. She later checks whether he has returned safely after his late-night bus run 3 4.

She is practical about spending: rather than let Li Yao take her back to the expensive Story of Time restaurant, she insists on a small noodle shop. She also helps sustain their conversation when he struggles to find something to say 7.

Her teasing can be elaborate. Knowing Li Yao is timid, she stages a frightening telephone prank to test whether he will still come upstairs to help her. Afterward, she checks whether he is angry and is pleased that he did not abandon her 9 10.

Bai Fan remains loyal to Tang Yao despite Li Yao’s repeated warnings. She treats his hints about her friend’s changed identity as irritatingly mysterious rather than persuasive 26 31 44.

Abilities & Skills

Reading the Mysterious Book

Bai Fan can fluently read the strange writing in the old book Li Yao stole from Old Wu, although Li Yao cannot decipher it 24 25.

• Identifies its title as Wondrous Art of Dream Stealing, contradicting Old Liu’s identification of it as Tales of Yin and Yang Dwellings 24 25.
• Reads a passage aloud without hesitation, demonstrating that she can read more than the title 25.
• Denies having studied classical Chinese and regards the writing as ordinary Chinese characters 25.
• Her reading ability is not explained in the supplied chapters; Old Wu later gives the same book a third title, Seven Essentials of Corpse Driving 40.

Seeing Great East Gate Restaurant

• Can see and enter Great East Gate Restaurant, where Bun Head had previously seen only a wall 40 44.
• Appears unaware of its danger. Li Yao suspects Tang Yao has deceived her perception, but this explanation is not confirmed 44.

Relationships

• Li Yao — Blind-date partner and developing romantic interest. By Chapter 10, he considers her the person he trusts most in his circle; their reunion after her business trip brings them closer 3 10 24.
• Tang Yao — Best friend of more than ten years. Bai Fan continues seeing her despite Li Yao’s belief that Tang Yao has died 26 31 43 44.
• Sixth Uncle — A longtime acquaintance from her village who lives near her parents and watched her grow up. Her recognition of him helps persuade Li Yao to trust him 3 4.
• Parents — Live in Tangwazi Village, which Bai Fan visits using Li Yao’s bus. They are away visiting relatives during the village’s paper-coffin crisis 3 35.
• Third Aunt — Arranges Bai Fan’s blind date with Li Yao and tells her that he drives the Route 13 last bus 3.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Blind Date and Return to Route 13

• Meets Li Yao at Story of Time through Third Aunt’s matchmaking. Her request to ride home persuades him to drive Route 13 again despite his fear of the route 3.
• Greets the smoking old passenger as Sixth Uncle, reassuring Li Yao after an earlier encounter had made him suspect the man was a ghost 3.
• Relays Sixth Uncle’s warning that Li Yao must seek Liu Yunbo, not Liu Qingzhu. The message arrives just as Li Yao reaches the door identified as Liu Qingzhu’s home 4.
• Goes on a second date with Li Yao, choosing noodles and a horror film that leaves him badly frightened 7.

The Apartment Prank

• Asks Li Yao to escort her downstairs during a power outage, then claims she never made the earlier call while he is climbing the dark stairwell 9.
• Reveals the deception when he reaches her thirteenth-floor apartment. She intended to test his sense of responsibility, and Li Yao feels their relationship has advanced afterward 10.

Business Trip and the Book

• Travels to Shenzhen for a week on business after checking on Li Yao following news of the deaths at his company 14.
• Hugs him at the airport upon her return, then leaves her luggage in his dorm before a planned visit to her parents 24.
• Discovers the old book in his room and reads it, exposing the contradiction between its apparent contents and Old Liu’s explanation 24 25.

Tang Yao and Tangwazi Village

• Introduces Tang Yao to Li Yao and Little Six over dinner. Li Yao recognizes her as the woman he rescued at the reservoir and subsequently believed dead 26.
• Says she has never heard of Guan Jun, but warns Li Yao that Tangwazi Village does not welcome outsiders 31.
• Reassures Li Yao that her parents are out of the village when he warns her about hidden paper coffins 35.
• Accompanies Tang Yao to Great East Gate Restaurant. Li Yao follows to protect her and pushes away a bowl of noodles before she can eat them; Bai Fan remains puzzled by his behavior 44.