Rong Chao

Biodata

Background / History

Courtship and Marriage

Rong Chao grew up pampered in a prosperous family that operated a restaurant chain in City A. He met Jiang Xuefu during their sophomore year, when she returned a bag he had left at the hotpot restaurant where she worked part-time. They exchanged contact information and began a relationship 20 21 29.

In their junior year, Rong Chao overheard Jiang Xuefu being intimate with another man over the phone. He collapsed and was hospitalized, but forgave her after she promised not to repeat it. Blaming the other man, he investigated University A’s forum and identified her mentor, Yi Chen. His anonymous accusation that Yi Chen had seduced a student led to Yi Chen’s admission and dismissal 21.

Rong Chao proposed after graduation. His parents, who had opposed the relationship, eventually consented and provided a house and car as his dowry without requesting a bride price. He became a full-time househusband while Jiang Xuefu advanced in her career 20 21.

Despite repeated hospital matching attempts over five years of marriage, his reproductive cells could not fuse with Jiang Xuefu’s. He tried to conceal his condition by saying he did not want children yet, unaware that both Jiang Xuefu and Rong Feng had learned about it during his university hospitalization 21 29.

Removing Meng Yun

After finding a used pale-pink lipstick in Jiang Xuefu’s jacket, Rong Chao concealed his suspicions. He brought lunch to her office and encountered Meng Yun, the young employee having an affair with her. Maintaining a polite manner, Rong Chao invited him to eat and drew out information about him through conversation 20 22.

Rong Chao subsequently retaliated against Meng Yun’s family, costing his parents their jobs. He paid Meng Yun’s mother, who restrained her son and took him back to their hometown. Meng Yun resigned, and Jiang Xuefu chose not to investigate his departure 23.

Conflict with the Jiang Family

Jiang Xuefu’s father, Liu He, increasingly resented Rong Chao’s unemployment and failure to produce a child. During a visit, he dismissed the household cook, forced Rong Chao to help prepare dinner, and pinched his arm hard enough to leave a severe bruise. Rong Chao initially endured the mistreatment to avoid putting Jiang Xuefu between him and her family 26.

The conflict escalated when Liu He brought Chen Yu home as another husband for Jiang Xuefu. Rong Chao objected and, after Liu He called him an outsider, ordered him out of the house. Jiang Xuefu left with her parents and Chen Yu despite Rong Chao’s pleas that she stay 27 28.

While Jiang Xuefu avoided contact, Rong Feng revealed that she already knew about Rong Chao’s reproductive condition and offered his own cells so she could have a child. Rong Chao understood the proposal as an attempt to take his wife, slapped his brother, and ordered him away 29.

Amnesia and Divorce

After a week without Jiang Xuefu, Rong Chao went drinking alone. He slapped a woman who harassed him; she followed him into a restroom and struck him unconscious. Xu Zhu found him and took him to the hospital. He awoke unable to recognize his family, and the doctor diagnosed stress-induced amnesia caused by the impact 31.

His parents used his memory loss as an opportunity to separate him from Jiang Xuefu. Rong Chao signed a divorce agreement and confirmed that he wanted the divorce when she questioned him. The certificate followed within days 31 32.

Marriage to Xu Zhu

Xu Zhu visited Rong Chao during his recovery, and his parents encouraged the relationship. He regarded her as a friend and remained uncertain about romantic feelings, but eventually accepted an engagement after persistent persuasion. When Rong Feng showed him a photograph of Jiang Xuefu, he recognized her only as his brother’s beautiful girlfriend 32 33.

Rong Chao married Xu Zhu three months after their engagement. His family had told him he had never been in a relationship, yet he continued to feel unexplained grief and guilt. On their wedding night, he turned away from Xu Zhu’s attempted kiss, feeling sadness rather than happiness 34.

Restored Memories and Later Life

When Xu Zhu was arrested over suspected involvement in the theft of Xie Corporation’s trade secrets, Rong Chao sought Jiang Xuefu’s help. Her reference to him as her “ex-husband” triggered the return of his memories 39.

Rong Chao begged for reconciliation, explaining that his family had concealed his past and pushed him into divorce and remarriage. Jiang Xuefu refused, reaffirmed that their marriage was over, and told him not to seek her out again 40.

He returned home, smashed the furnishings, and accused his family of making decisions about his marriages without his informed consent. He demanded that the family choose between him and Rong Feng, repeatedly attacking his brother when he came home. After their mother told Rong Feng to give way to him, Rong Feng stopped returning 40.

Ten years later, Mother Rong retired and handed him the family restaurants. Rong Chao sold them all and donated the entire proceeds to an orphanage. His mother suffered a stroke upon learning what he had done, while he spent the rest of his life at the orphanage 40.

Appearance

• Face: Exceptionally beautiful, with a pale, snow-like complexion, a high nose, crimson lips, and long, fanlike eyelashes 20.
• Eyes: Black, compared to dark jade 20.
• Bearing: Cool and aloof; his beauty is compared to a snow lotus on Tianshan 22.
• Clothing: Appears in pale-white silk pajamas matching Jiang Xuefu’s and later in a simple white shirt at her office 20 22.

Personality

Rong Chao is deeply affectionate and dependent on Jiang Xuefu. He waits up for her, attends to her meals, and adopts her preferred gardenia scent for his clothes and toiletries. His attachment intensifies after her university affair, and he repeatedly forgives her while directing his anger toward her lovers 20 21.

His outward composure conceals possessiveness and a capacity for retaliation. He hides the lipstick discovery, questions Meng Yun without openly confronting him, and then uses financial pressure to remove him. Nevertheless, meeting the younger man makes him insecure about being twenty-seven and whether Jiang Xuefu considers him too old 22 23.

He holds traditional views of marriage within his female-dominated society: the woman should earn money, while the man maintains the home. His advice that Rong Feng should pursue a married woman contrasts sharply with his hostility toward anyone pursuing his own wife 23.

Rong Chao tolerates Liu He’s insults to preserve his marriage, but reacts fiercely when threatened with replacement or betrayal. After recovering his memories, his anger extends to his parents and brother for concealing his history and arranging his new life 26 27 40.

Abilities & Skills

Investigation and Social Manipulation

• Uses university forum posts to identify Yi Chen as Jiang Xuefu’s lover 21.
• Reads Meng Yun’s poorly concealed hostility and extracts information through apparently friendly conversation 22.
• Conceals distress and suspicion behind a normal expression when Jiang Xuefu approaches 22.

Cooking Limitations

• Despite belonging to a family of skilled cooks, produces dishes that are poorly presented and either too salty or too bland 22.
• Abandons attempts to learn cooking, relying instead on household servants 22.

Possessions

• City A home and car — Supplied by his family as his dowry and registered solely in his name. His ownership of the house allows him to threaten to call security during the confrontation with Liu He 20 27 28.
• Family restaurants — Inherited following his mother’s retirement; sold in full to fund his donation to an orphanage 40.

Relationships

• Jiang Xuefu — First wife and the focus of his enduring attachment. She initially approached him partly for his family’s support, although she later acknowledged having feelings for him. She refuses reconciliation after his memories return 32 40.
• Rong Feng — Older brother and eventual romantic rival. Rong Chao once turned to him for help, but their relationship collapses over Rong Feng’s pursuit of Jiang Xuefu 21 29 40.
• Mother Rong — Initially opposes his first marriage, later helps arrange his divorce and remarriage during his amnesia. Her preference for him contributes to Rong Feng’s departure from the family 20 31 40.
• Father Rong — An openly affectionate parent who comforts him during the separation and persistently encourages him to marry Xu Zhu 29 33.
• Xu Zhu — Rescuer and second wife, who has admired him since their student days. He seeks Jiang Xuefu’s intervention after her arrest 31 32 34 39.
• Liu He — Former father-in-law who mocks his reproductive difficulties, physically mistreats him, and arranges Chen Yu’s entry into Jiang Xuefu’s household 21 26 27.
• Yi Chen — Jiang Xuefu’s university mentor and lover; Rong Chao’s exposure of their affair results in his dismissal 21.
• Meng Yun — Jiang Xuefu’s young lover, whom Rong Chao removes through retaliation against his family 22 23.
• Chen Yu — Rival introduced by Liu He as another husband for Jiang Xuefu, precipitating Rong Chao’s confrontation with the Jiang family 27 28.

Notable Quotes

“Snatch her away. So what if she’s married? Which matters more, happiness or face?” 23

“No, I can’t divorce her. I only want her.” 29