Li Zeyuan

Biodata

Background

Li Zeyuan belongs to the powerful, deliberately low-profile Li Family. He controls both its public business empire, the Li Group, and the Dark Dragon Group, an international assassin organization described as having a thousand-year inheritance originating in the Qin dynasty. Even Elder Jian is wary of the forces the family commands 10.

His mother died long before his first appearance, and his grandmother raised him. He regards his father as cold-hearted, his stepmother as scheming, and his younger brother as consumed by greed. His unhappy home life makes him particularly envious of the Ye Family’s affection and closeness 10 22.

By twenty-seven, Li Zeyuan controls an empire worth hundreds of billions. Business rivals, family traitors, and other enemies have repeatedly attempted to assassinate him, but none has succeeded 12.

Appearance

• Build: Exceptionally tall, with an upright posture and an imposing presence 17.
• Features: Sharply defined facial contours, dark eyes, very pale skin, and long, slender fingers 12 17 22.
• Clothing: Usually wears black suits, including a hand-tailored British designer suit; his private loungewear is also black 10 12 43.
• Voice: Deep and magnetic, repeatedly compared to a cello 17 40.
• Public image: Capital socialites rank him first among presidents for both looks and wealth 21.

Personality

Li Zeyuan normally appears cold, aloof, and difficult to approach. He conceals his strength and avoids ostentation despite his wealth and authority. His ruthlessness surfaces when challenged: confronted by a staged-accident scammer, he drives toward the man rather than submit to his demands, forcing him to abandon the act 10 12 22.

With Ye Huo, he becomes attentive, generous, and unusually vulnerable. Her fearlessness attracts him immediately, while recognizing the battlefield experience behind her marksmanship deepens his admiration and concern. He interrupts important business for her, remembers her favorite snacks, and personally cleans blood from her hands after she saves him 10 12 17 21.

His romantic commitment is earnest and stubborn. Although he becomes visibly nervous before meeting Ye Huo’s relatives, he refuses to retreat when threatened at gunpoint and kneels for hours to seek their approval. Ye Huo initially treats their flirtation as a game, but his seriousness eventually moves her 40 42 43.

He is also deeply filial toward his grandmother. Believing purchased fruit insufficiently clean, he spends his free time tending greenhouse fruit for her nutritional needs 12.

Abilities & Skills

Business Leadership

• Controls the Li Group and an empire worth hundreds of billions at age twenty-seven 12.
• Regularly conducts major negotiations, including international deals worth tens of billions 43.
• Holds sufficient influence that figures in both political and business circles treat him with deference 21.

Martial Arts and Threat Awareness

• His martial skills are described as unfathomable, and he deliberately keeps his strength concealed 12.
• Detects the suspicious silence preceding an attack at the Dark Dragon Hotel and waits with a dagger ready 16.
• Attempts a close-range dagger counterattack when someone approaches his bed; Ye Huo catches his wrist before identifying herself as his rescuer 16.
• Despite his abilities, Black Caesar nearly reaches him with a lethal strike, which Ye Huo intercepts 16.

Assassin-Organization Command

• Commands the Dark Dragon Group and its numerous deathsworn operatives 10.
• Has his hotel building protected by infrared sensors, lasers, continuous patrols, and surveillance 16.
• Uses rooms equipped with air purification capable of filtering potent knockout gas 16.
• His security is not impenetrable: Black Caesar infiltrates the protected building 16.

Observation and Deduction

• Deduces that Ye Huo is Sister Huo from her extraordinary marksmanship, fingertip calluses, and the consistency of her shooting technique 12.
• Recognizes her during the Black Caesar incident even though she never removes her mask 17.

Horticulture

• Personally removes pests, fertilizes, and waters fruit plants in his villa greenhouse 12.
• Has cultivated strawberries and two kinds of cherries for seven or eight years, originally for his grandmother 12.

Equipment & Assets

• Black Rolls-Royce: His regular chauffeured transport, driven by Mu Lan 10 21 33.
• Dagger: Kept ready for a counterattack during the hotel assassination attempt 16.
• Dark Dragon Hotel suite: A protected presidential suite used during Black Caesar’s attack; he later gives Ye Huo its access code, 6688, and invites her to visit whenever she needs him 16 17.
• Bulgari Hotel: Its behind-the-scenes owner; he arranges desserts for Ye Huo’s gathering and offers to cover future meals when she brings friends 37 38.
• Villa greenhouse: Houses the fruit plants he personally tends 12.

Relationships

• Ye Huo — Friend, protector, and romantic interest. She saves him from Black Caesar; he openly pursues her, but neither her family’s approval nor an established relationship is secured in the supplied chapters 11 17 38 42 43.
• Ye Mo — Childhood friend who calls him A-Ze. Their friendship does not outweigh Ye Mo’s determination to protect his younger sister from an unwanted relationship 10 42.
• Mu Lan — Trusted assistant, driver, and subordinate. He brings security backup, manages gifts, kneels beside Li Zeyuan, and takes him home after the Ye Family knocks him unconscious 17 40 43.
• Grandmother — Raised him and remains the focus of his filial care; he grows fresh fruit specifically for her 10 12.
• Mother — Deceased. She called him Yuanyuan when he was young, making Ye Huo’s later use of the nickname emotionally significant 10 17.
• Father, stepmother, and younger brother — Estranged family members whose conduct also becomes a major reason Old Master Ye opposes the courtship 10 42.
• Old Master Ye, Ye Chuan, and Jian Yan — Oppose his pursuit of Ye Huo and ultimately cooperate to knock him unconscious and send him home 42 43.
• Black Caesar — Assassin who accepts a one-week contract worth 100 million to kill him. After Ye Huo captures Black Caesar, Li Zeyuan’s men deliver him to prison 11 17.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Meeting Ye Huo

• Encounters Ye Mo and Ye Huo at a night market after her flawless balloon-shooting performance and offers them a ride home 10.
• Finds her refusal to be intimidated refreshing. His suggestion that Ye Mo lend her to him as a younger sister is immediately rejected 10.
• Gives her an STR Supreme VIP card as a first-meeting gift. Purchases made with it at the department store are charged to the Li Group 10.

Black Caesar’s Assassination Attempt

• Becomes the target of a 100-million assassination contract. Ye Huo takes over the mercenary website’s backend and publicly places him under her protection 11.
• Learns of Sister Huo’s intervention from Mu Lan, identifies her as Ye Huo, and promises to treat her especially well. He sends homegrown cherries to the Ye Family 12.
• Survives Black Caesar’s infiltration of the Dark Dragon Hotel when Ye Huo intervenes and defeats the assassin 16 17.
• Afterward, covers Ye Huo with his jacket, cleans her hands, and supplies clean clothing, cash, and equipment before she leaves 17.

Helping Ye Huo in the Capital

• Ends a high-value business meeting to collect Ye Huo from the police station. When an officer mistakes her for his younger sister, he calls her his “little ancestor” instead 21.
• Exposes a staged-accident scammer, then joins the Ye Family for dinner. Later, he follows Ye Huo and her brothers’ evening run in his car 22.
• Helps search for Ye Huo when she disappears while pursuing a rumor-spreader. After more than five hours, he finds her with Bai Yaxi and brings both back to school, where Mu Lan keeps Bai Yaxi in custody 33 34.

Courtship and Family Rejection

• Admits that he instructed hotel employees to call Ye Huo their “young madam.” He declares his intention to pursue her and agrees to speak to her father first 38.
• Gives her 999 roses, liquor-filled chocolates, and a handwritten love letter, then arrives at Ye Garden that evening with lavish gifts 38 40.
• Announces his intentions before the assembled Ye Family. Old Master Ye objects particularly to the prospect of Ye Huo suffering among Li Zeyuan’s relatives 41 42.
• Refuses to withdraw despite armed threats and Ye Huo telling him she had not taken their romance seriously. He kneels and vows to wait for the family’s approval 42.

Forced Departure and Misunderstanding

• Continues kneeling through dinner and into the night. Ye Huo brings him chicken soup and privately decides she might consider him as a boyfriend if he remains until morning 43.
• Old Master Ye, Ye Chuan, and Jian Yan strike his head with wine bottles, knock him unconscious, and have him carried home 43.
• Unaware of what happened, Ye Huo discovers his absence the next morning and assumes he abandoned his resolve. She dismisses her newly emerging romantic interest in him 44.

Notable Quotes

“Since she's willing to stake everything to protect me, I certainly won't let her down. From now on, I'll treat her very, very, very well!” 12

“Huohuo, I'll never change my mind about what I've set my heart on! I'll never give up on the person I've chosen!” 43