Bai Nanyu

Biodata

Background

Bai Nanyu was abducted by human traffickers shortly after birth. His disappearance caused his biological mother, Liu Yanshuang, to develop depression, prompting the Bai family to adopt the boy later known as Ji Nanshu. Liu Yanshuang and her older sons nevertheless resented the adopted child, believing that he had taken Bai Nanyu’s place 1.

Bai Nanyu was raised by a married couple who taught in a small town. After no one came to claim him, they completed the adoption paperwork. Although they were not wealthy, they gave him whatever he wanted—a substantially kinder upbringing than the deprived childhood he later implied to television audiences 20.

The Bai family recovered Bai Nanyu when Ji Nanshu was nineteen. Bai Nanyu cultivated an obedient, affectionate image while targeting Ji Nanshu, and the family increasingly favored their recovered biological son. His return and engagement to He Jingyi were formally announced at the same banquet 1.

Personality

Bai Nanyu presents himself as gentle, considerate, and easily hurt. He uses tears, apparent self-sacrifice, and expressions of concern to win sympathy while casting suspicion on Ji Nanshu. He can quickly resume this performance after rejection or exposure; Ji Nanshu specifically notes his ability to change expressions and maintain a pitiful act 15 19 43.

His private thoughts reveal possessiveness toward the Bai family’s affection, wealth, and status. He wants to prevent Ji Nanshu from receiving family assets and covets what their grandmother left him. He also flaunts expensive gifts to emphasize how much the family favors him 16 34.

Despite his scheming, Bai Nanyu initially does not understand the extent of He Jingyi’s cruelty. His affection eventually becomes mixed with hatred and fear as He Jingyi abuses him and uses intimate recordings to control him. Even as his circumstances deteriorate, Bai Nanyu continues to blame and envy Ji Nanshu 145 187 207.

Abilities & Skills

Social Manipulation

Bai Nanyu exploits family guilt and public sympathy rather than confronting Ji Nanshu openly.

• Sympathetic public image: Uses his abduction and reunion to portray himself as resilient, innocent, and grateful 15 20 56.
• Provocation disguised as concern: Suggests wrongdoing while ostensibly worrying about Ji Nanshu’s safety, relationships, or conduct 43 102.
• Family pressure: Makes tearful offers to leave the family, prompting Liu Yanshuang to defend him and attack Ji Nanshu 27 34.
• Online insinuation: Likes malicious comments through an alternate account, then posts a supposed defense that leaves the accusations against Ji Nanshu intact 74.
• Limitations: Ji Nanshu regularly rejects his premises, Chu Mo refuses his attempts to gain favor, and Jian Yuanjia openly challenges his behavior 16 19 21 74.

Equipment & Items

• Lucky pendant: Given to him by a celestial master invited by Bai Nanzheng. Bai Nanyu believes wearing it will improve his luck and passes the master’s contact information to Bai Nanchen. He also privately mentions a separate object he intends to place on Chu Mo 81.
• Custom handmade watch: A gift from He Jingyi. Bai Nanyu boasts that the watch, clothes from Bai Nanchen, and shoes from Liu Yanshuang together cost several million 34.

Relationships

• Ji Nanshu — Adoptive older brother and principal target. Bai Nanyu drugs and frames him at the engagement banquet, then repeatedly tries to undermine his family standing and public reputation 1 74 102.
• Liu Yanshuang — Biological mother and strongest emotional supporter. His tearful complaints frequently provoke her into acting against Ji Nanshu; Bai Nanyu later regards her as the only person who loved him without reservation 27 34 187.
• Bai Lin — Biological father. Initially demands that Ji Nanshu apologize to Bai Nanyu, but offers little personal support after Bai Nanyu’s arrest beyond arranging a lawyer and sending money 3 207.
• Bai Nanzheng — Eldest biological brother and the family member Bai Nanyu fears most. His protection is conditional on his own interests; he arranges a new marriage alliance after He Jingyi’s apparent death 35 151.
• Bai Nanchen — Second biological brother and persistent defender. Shields him from cameras, buys him gifts, and confronts Ji Nanshu on his behalf. After Bai Nanchen loses a leg, Bai Nanyu becomes responsible for his daily care 34 61 187 207.
• He Jingyi / He Li — Original fiancé, later abuser and blackmailer. He Jingyi secretly records intimate encounters, survives an apparent death, and returns under the identity He Li. Bai Nanyu ultimately kills him after another episode of torture 125 173 174 207.
• Lian Shao — Later fiancé through a marriage alliance. They participate in couples’ filming together, but Bai Nanyu recognizes that Lian Shao neither likes him nor possesses much influence. The Lian family eventually cancels the engagement 141 151 187 207.
• Chu Mo — Rejects Bai Nanyu’s attempts to exploit his popularity and protects Ji Nanshu from him. Eventually sends Yun Sheng to stop Bai Nanyu’s attempted confrontation in the Imperial Capital 15 19 207.
• Jian Yuanjia — Sees through Bai Nanyu’s sympathetic act and publicly calls out his insinuating posts about Ji Nanshu 16 74.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Engagement-Banquet Scheme

• To drive Ji Nanshu out permanently, Bai Nanyu has Bai Nanchen invite him to the engagement banquet, slips an aphrodisiac into his drink, and arranges for He Jingyi to be brought to him 1.
• He then brings witnesses to the room and accuses Ji Nanshu of seducing his fiancé. The newly reborn Ji Nanshu identifies the scheme, refuses to accept the accusation, and leaves as the drug takes effect 1.
• When Ji Nanshu later retrieves his belongings, Bai Nanyu attempts to obstruct his recovery of the snake-shaped jade ring, intuitively recognizing its importance 3.

Reality-Show Rivalry

• Bai Nanyu joins the reality-show cast and turns kitchen conversation toward his childhood, reunion, and relationship with Ji Nanshu. His demand that Ji Nanshu apologize instead gives Ji Nanshu an opportunity to recount the family’s mistreatment and the banquet framing 14 15.
• At the Bai home, he flaunts expensive gifts and stages another offer to leave the family. After he grabs Ji Nanshu’s wrist and refuses to release it, Ji Nanshu twists his arm and kicks him to his knees; a doctor later diagnoses bruising and swelling 34 35.
• He persuades He Jingyi and several other guests to follow Ji Nanshu and Chu Mo during an evening outing, hoping to turn whatever they discover into damaging gossip 43.

Haunted-House Filming and Public Attacks

• Bai Nanyu and Bai Nanchen initially refuse Ji Nanshu’s protection talismans, then become terrified by a moving photograph in the cellar. Their subsequent appeal to family ties does not secure free protection 58 61.
• Bai Nanyu insinuates that Ji Nanshu caused their supernatural misfortune. After Bai Nanchen insults Du Lanwan, she reveals her frightening form and slaps both brothers. Bai Nanyu begs Ji Nanshu to save them, then flees upstairs crying after the guests discover that he has wet himself 67.
• During an online scandal, he covertly endorses attacks on Ji Nanshu while publicly pretending to defend him. Jian Yuanjia responds by directly accusing him of hypocrisy 74.
• After Ji Nanshu reconnects with his biological brothers, Bai Nanyu suggests that their appearance is suspicious, invoking Ji Nanshu’s supposed orphanhood and earlier rumors about his private life 102.

Abuse, Blackmail, and the Lian Engagement

• He Jingyi secretly records an intimate encounter and encourages Bai Nanyu to use the Bai family’s former adoption of Ji Nanshu as leverage against him. His treatment of Bai Nanyu escalates into sexual violence and exploitation 125 128.
• Following He Jingyi’s apparent death, Bai Nanzheng arranges Bai Nanyu’s engagement to Lian Shao. During filming, Bai Nanyu must manage Lian Shao’s temper while recognizing that the Lian family will not oppose the Ji family for his sake 151.
• He Jingyi reappears after plastic surgery under the identity He Li and summons Bai Nanyu using a nude photograph. Bai Nanyu plans to delete the compromising material and considers seeking protection from Lian Shao’s older brother, Lian Bin 173 174 187.

Final Downfall

• Bai Nanzheng’s imprisonment costs Bai Nanyu his engagement to Lian Shao. With his family declining, Bai Nanyu must work and care for the bedridden Bai Nanchen while remaining subject to He Jingyi’s threats 207.
• Enraged by Ji Nanshu and Chu Mo’s wedding video, he travels to the Imperial Capital to confront Ji Nanshu. Yun Sheng delivers Chu Mo’s warning and escorts him back to Hai City 207.
• After He Jingyi tortures him, Bai Nanyu smothers him while he sleeps. He plans to pretend to discover the death the following morning, but police uncover the truth within two days and imprison him 207.

Fate in Ji Nanshu’s Remembered Second Life

• In the separate second-life memories recovered by Ji Nanshu, Bai Nanyu loses the protection of the Bai and He families and maintains his entertainment career temporarily through a shareholder who acquired the Bai business 192.
• After He Jingyi violently assaults him and his patron abandons him, Bai Nanyu enters nightclub sex work. He contracts a sexually transmitted disease, is expelled from the club, and eventually dies by suicide in his rented home. This differs from his imprisonment in the main storyline 192 207.