Lu Zhou

Biodata

Background / History

Family Dispute and Relationship with Su Mian

Lu Zhou was the eldest son of Starry Entertainment’s founder, who recommended him for a board seat. When his father fell into a coma, Lu Zhou’s younger half-brother concealed their father’s whereabouts and used switched DNA samples to falsely establish that Lu Zhou was not his biological son. Lu Zhou was expelled from the family without money. Xu Qingyun, his childhood sweetheart, went abroad under pressure from her parents, who opposed her marrying someone whose inheritance was uncertain 57.

Shortly afterward, Lu Zhou met Su Mian. She supported him financially, comforted him, and encouraged him through his hardship. Just over a month into their relationship, his father awoke, another DNA test exposed the deception, and Lu Zhou returned to Starry Entertainment 57.

Despite regaining his wealth, he continued pretending to be poor throughout their three-year relationship. He lived off Su Mian and treated her financial support as a test of whether she deserved to marry into a wealthy family 1 3.

Breakup and the Dating-Show Scheme

The relationship ended after Su Mian discovered that Lu Zhou had lost the money in their joint account through stock trading. The missing 300,000 yuan included savings she needed for her mother’s cancer treatment. He accused her of abandoning him because he was poor and slapped her; she responded by kicking him and breaking up with him 1.

Lu Zhou then used his concealed position as her employer to arrange her participation in Heartbeat Radio Waves. His intended setup presented wealthy male contestants as ordinary, penniless men, allowing their later identity reveals to supposedly expose Su Mian as a gold digger. Su Mian alone was kept unaware of their real backgrounds 1 6.

His interference extended beyond the initial premise:

• Manipulated pairings: He ordered the director to prevent Su Mian and Duan Xuanyu from sharing a room 6.
• Promoted Fang Nuonuo: He funded publicity for her pairings with the male contestants, hoping to build commercially valuable couple fandoms 7 11.
• Staged a fire: He arranged a small fire so Fang Nuonuo could perform a rescue for the cameras. Su Mian rescued the assistant instead, undermining the plan 8.
• Investigated Duan Xuanyu: After discovering that the invited Duan heir was hospitalized, he halted filming and brought Duan Hongxu to expose Duan Xuanyu. The attempt failed when Duan Hongxu claimed Duan Xuanyu was his long-separated younger brother 20 21 22.

Wealth Reveal and Public Exposure

Jealous of Su Mian and Duan Xuanyu’s growing popularity, Lu Zhou decided to reveal his wealth and expected Su Mian to beg for reconciliation. He even commissioned a prenuptial agreement that would deny her any share of his assets after divorce 15.

He eventually introduced himself as Starry Entertainment’s CEO during a shopping encounter. Su Mian accepted the luxury goods he purchased but continued insulting him. His underlying intention was to accustom her to extravagance until she could no longer tolerate an ordinary life and would return to him 23 24.

After he publicly threatened to work her to death for rejecting her boss’s love, Su Mian released a large document exposing his deception, financial exploitation, and ambiguous relationship with Xu Qingyun. The ensuing backlash prompted the board to warn that his position could be replaced. He retaliated by assigning Su Mian a mall promotional event 27 28.

Su Mian’s wire rig was sabotaged at that event. When she accused Xu Qingyun, Lu Zhou dismissed her suspicions and defended Xu Qingyun’s supposed inability to communicate in Chinese. He subsequently recalled how he had also dismissed Su Mian’s self-harm as attention-seeking, producing an early moment of guilt 28 29.

Failed Attempts at Reconciliation

Lu Zhou’s efforts to recover the relationship repeatedly mixed concern with entitlement. He arranged a female lead role as an apology, but threatened to shelve Su Mian when she tried to leave the dinner he had organized. The evening ended with Duan Xuanyu intervening and Su Mian forcing Lu Zhou to kneel and thank him 30 31.

He later refused Xu Qingyun’s request for a ride for the first time so he could check on Su Mian. Nevertheless, he described Su Mian’s rejection as an extended tantrum and assumed that choosing her over Xu Qingyun once should resolve their problems 37 40.

His subsequent approaches included:

• Shouting outside Su Mian’s apartment at night until she poured boiling water on him 47.
• Sending repeated money transfers that Su Mian accepted without offering reconciliation 40 47 76 99.
• Discovering that Su Mian’s number was on his blocked list, despite having no recollection of blocking her; Xu Qingyun denied responsibility 47 48.
• Ordering a Black Swan cake, then refusing to accept the delivery worker’s report that a handsome young man in pajamas had collected it 76.
• Blocking Su Mian through an alternate account in anger, only to unblock her after smoking one cigarette 78.

Even while preparing to marry Xu Qingyun, Lu Zhou remained preoccupied with Su Mian. Su Mian explicitly told him that she would choose Duan Xuanyu 99.

Accident and Discovery of the Redemption Mission

Lu Zhou finally accepted that the relationship was over when Su Mian replaced his bracelet with Duan Xuanyu’s gift and listed the old bracelet for sale. He agreed to collect Xu Qingyun, but crashed his car into a tree on the way 110.

While unconscious, he witnessed the day of the breakup from an outsider’s perspective. He saw his past self dismiss Su Mian’s desperate request for her mother’s treatment money and learned that she had come to the world to redeem him 111.

The system revealed that his original fate was to die by suicide after losing his wealth and being abandoned by Xu Qingyun. Su Mian’s companionship had already completed her mission by helping him survive that crisis. Her protection mechanism subsequently allowed her to detach emotionally and leave him 111. His storyline was later identified as one in which Xu Qingyun was the universally adored female lead and he was a supporting man who died for her 187.

After returning to consciousness, Lu Zhou drove through the night to find Su Mian at Distant Mountain. His remorse and declarations that he would rather have died than reached their present estrangement did not persuade her to reconcile 111 112.

Loss of Position and Fortune

Lu Zhou eventually told Su Mian that he had broken off his engagement with the Xu family. When she remained indifferent, he again invoked his power as her CEO. She warned him that he would not retain the position much longer 147.

In the finale, anonymous reports documented his misuse of company resources, including retaliation against his former girlfriend. Su Mian supported the motion to remove him, and the vote passed. Meanwhile, his younger brother had transferred the Lu family’s businesses into a new company, leaving Lu Zhou unemployed and penniless 192.

Appearance

• Handsome face: Both Su Mian’s observations and a sales assistant’s reaction describe him as good-looking 1 23.
• Temporary bald patch: Duan Xuanyu sliced away a large section of his hair with a thrown leaf after Lu Zhou upset Su Mian 5.
• Disputed cosmetic claims: Su Mian’s exposé alleged facial surgery and shoulder augmentation; Lu Zhou explicitly denied having undergone facial plastic surgery 28.

Personality

Lu Zhou is controlling and class-conscious. He frames financial deception as a test of a woman’s suitability for marriage, expects obedience from Su Mian as both her boyfriend and employer, and initially regards her as someone who should remain dependent on him. He excuses Xu Qingyun’s departure during his poverty while condemning Su Mian for leaving after he squandered money needed for her mother’s treatment 1 24 57 147.

He persistently interprets rejection as concealed affection. Su Mian’s anger, her continued use of his bracelet, and even her warning about Duan Xuanyu become evidence, in his mind, that she still cares about him. His regret becomes more substantial after witnessing the breakup from outside his own perspective, but it does not immediately end his attempts to use corporate authority over her 6 31 76 111 147.

Abilities & Skills

Corporate Authority and Industry Connections

As Starry Entertainment’s CEO, Lu Zhou can influence casting, publicity, work assignments, and production decisions 6 11 28 30.

• Directs staff to interfere with contestant pairings and shut down livestreams 6 8 56.
• Secures a female lead role for Su Mian through meetings with industry figures 30.
• Uses company work as retaliation against her, conduct later included in the case for his removal 28 192.
• Remains accountable to shareholders rather than possessing unrestricted control over Starry 30 56.

Relationships

• Su Mian — Former girlfriend of three years and an artist at his company. She supported him during his genuine poverty and completed a mission to save him from his original fate. After their breakup, she rejected reconciliation and eventually voted to remove him as CEO 1 57 111 192.
• Xu Qingyun — Childhood sweetheart and later fiancée. He repeatedly prioritized her over Su Mian while insisting she was merely a younger sister to him. He ultimately broke off their engagement 28 40 147.
• Duan Xuanyu — Romantic rival whose relationship with Su Mian provoked Lu Zhou’s jealousy. Lu Zhou attempted to expose his identity; Duan Xuanyu repeatedly attacked and humiliated him for pestering Su Mian 21 22 56 147.
• Fang Nuonuo — Artist and contestant whose image and romantic pairings he promoted. They coordinated the staged-fire publicity attempt and discussed Duan Xuanyu’s unusual identity 7 8 9 11.
• Father — Starry Entertainment’s founder. His recovery from a coma enabled the DNA retest that restored Lu Zhou’s family position 57.
• Younger half-brother — Framed him with falsified DNA evidence and later transferred the Lu family’s businesses to his own company 57 192.

Notable Quotes

“All of it had been a test of whether the original owner loved him or his money.” 1

“Su Mian! Just you wait! I’ll make you work overtime until you die!” 27

“I would rather have died at my lowest than have walked with you, step by step, to where we are today.” 112