Ji Shiyu

Biodata

Background / History

Ji Shiyu and Jiang Wantang knew each other as children, sharing a dream of performing on the brightest stage together—he would sing, and she would dance. They became a couple naturally during their teenage years. When a talent scout noticed him and he needed to study abroad, he waited outside her dance studio all night but could not bring himself to call out to her, leaving only a note asking her to wait 53.

Jiang Wantang supported him before his fame, encouraging him through the beginnings of his singing career. Distance and their careers eventually separated them. By the time of his public confession on the variety show, they had been apart for five years; he regretted accepting the breakup without fighting for her to stay 48 53.

Ji Shiyu debuted through a talent competition and later moved from idol singing into acting. Although his acting career had produced no major recent hits, steady progress earned him a reasonably good public reputation. His work included a mystery film and an arthouse film 1 35.

Appearance

• Features: Delicate facial features and a gentle bearing 1.
• Livestream debut outfit: A lightweight navy jacket, jeans, and white sneakers, with minimally styled hair resting softly across his forehead 3.
• Fated Marriage Village costume: A moon-white straight-cut robe, with his hair tied up and secured by a wooden hairpin 10.

Personality

Ji Shiyu is known within the entertainment industry for his good temper. He is quiet and courteous at the initial gathering, nodding to staff and waiting unobtrusively; his fans describe him as consistently early and never late. His hospitality extends to inviting the female guests to share meals without accepting their offer to repay him through task assistance 1 3 35.

He takes professional improvement seriously. When seeking Pei Yubai’s acting advice, he listens closely, asks follow-up questions, records notes, and thanks him with a slight bow. He remains receptive to criticism during both his audition and subsequent fight-scene rehearsals 35 80 120.

His usual gentleness gives way to impatience when others obstruct his cooking. He pushes both Pei Yubai and Shen Yuzhou out of the kitchen when they become a nuisance. He is also observant about others’ feelings: he notices Pei Yubai’s attraction to Qiguan Yuan before their relationship becomes official 35 47 64 68.

Abilities & Skills

Cooking

• Prepares group meals with excellent knife work, including evenly sliced cured pork and uniformly cut potatoes 35 68.
• His dishes include fish in sour broth, cured pork with bamboo shoots, stir-fried vegetables, congee, and glutinous rice cakes 35 39 72.
• Plans cold lunch boxes for an all-day outing and handles food preparation for the village bonfire party 64 68.
• Teaches Pei Yubai basic cooking, beginning with rinsing rice, making congee, and frying eggs; later helps him prepare hangover soup for Qiguan Yuan 63 133.

Singing & Composition

• Built his entertainment career as a singer before transitioning into acting 1.
• Wrote songs and retained unfinished scores, including pieces composed shortly after going abroad 66 67.
• Recreates musical notation from an old composition during a batik activity 66.

Acting

• Delivers clear dialogue and controlled emotional performances, but Pei Yubai initially finds his acting overly precise and insufficiently natural 35 80.
• Seeks instruction in character interpretation, line delivery, and distinguishing his own feelings from a role’s emotions 35 81.
• Improves his screen fighting through instruction on relaxed shoulders, tucked elbows, waist rotation, and transmitting power through the whole body 120.
• His successful fight-scene take demonstrates fluid, powerful choreography; the text identifies him as a novice rather than an experienced martial artist 120 121.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Joining the Travel Show

• Arrives first for the opening livestream as one of the six regular celebrity guests 3.
• Becomes lost with the group during a mushroom-picking task and observes that the secluded wooden house they discover appears inhabited 6.
• Takes on much of the guests’ cooking in the Village Above the Clouds, bringing the cast together for shared meals 35 39.

Renewing His Bond with Jiang Wantang

• Early encounters reveal unresolved tension: after briefly meeting Jiang Wantang’s eyes at Yue Lao Temple, he grips his fortune letter hard enough to whiten his knuckles 21.
• Qiguan Yuan sees their Threads of Fate tangled together and nearly broken. He loosens the knot but initially leaves the breaks unmended, waiting to see whether their feelings can return 41.
• During a paired guessing game, Ji Shiyu helps Jiang Wantang answer nine questions correctly but passes on the tenth after prolonged hesitation. Qiguan Yuan suspects the skipped word concerns feelings 43.
• Publicly admits during truth or dare that he regrets giving up a deeply loved former partner. The revelation shocks viewers who believed he had always been single 48.
• Privately recounts their history to Qiguan Yuan and asks whether their bond can be renewed. Qiguan Yuan tells him he should know the answer himself, then prepares to tie their thread again 53.
• Their growing closeness appears through small gestures: he accompanies and reassures her when boarding a boat, shields her from a masked figure, and secretly pockets a tissue she gives him 81 86 121.
• By the Cidu Temple visit, they have reconciled and sit holding hands. After learning that Qiguan Yuan is Yue Lao, Jiang Wantang attributes their reunion to his earlier help 168.

Auditioning for Song Yuan

• Jiang Wantang exchanges her show privilege for an audition opportunity for Ji Shiyu, hoping a role in Song Yuan’s film will help his acting career. Meng Xu tells him who secured the opportunity 78.
• Auditions before Song Yuan and Pei Yubai with a monologue about losing someone important. Pei Yubai calls the performance competent but unexceptional 79 80.
• Afterward, Pei Yubai explains that Ji Shiyu carried his personal anxiety into the scene and reminds him that Jiang Wantang has not put pressure on him 81.
• Wins the role and receives a script and production instructions. Meng Xu excuses him and Pei Yubai from the remaining variety-show filming at that point so they can join the film production 95.
• During a later livestream from the film set, he struggles with a fight sequence. Coaching from Pei Yubai and Qiguan Yuan helps him deliver a take that satisfies Song Yuan 119 120.

Relationships

• Jiang Wantang — Childhood companion and teenage sweetheart; their five-year separation ends in reconciliation during the show 48 53 168.
• Pei Yubai — Fellow guest, acting mentor, and film colleague. Their instruction is reciprocal: Pei Yubai advises him on performance, while Ji Shiyu teaches him to cook 35 63 95.
• Qiguan Yuan — Helps untangle and reconnect his romantic bond with Jiang Wantang, then provides practical coaching for his fight scene. Qiguan Yuan also appreciates his cooking 41 53 120.
• Shen Yuzhou — Friendly fellow guest who calls him “Brother Ji,” volunteers to wash dishes so he can rest, and frequently gets expelled from his kitchen 3 35 47 68.
• Song Yuan — Director who casts him after his audition and holds his fight-scene performance to demanding standards 95 120.

Trivia

• An author’s note states that Ji Shiyu and Jiang Wantang’s relationship serves Qiguan Yuan’s characterization as Yue Lao, rather than being presented as a secondary-couple storyline 39.
• During preparations for Pei Yubai and Qiguan Yuan’s wedding, he tries to mediate a disagreement over bouquet flowers by saying both choices look lovely; Cheng Yanqiu and Jiang Wantang reject his compromise together 173.