Zhou Zihao

Biodata

Background

Zhou Zihao comes from a wealthy real estate family in Jinghai City. His family made him practice piano from childhood, giving him solid technical fundamentals rather than merely purchasing his qualifications. According to Fatty Wang’s inquiries, he passed professional Grade Ten and won gold in a city-level competition 1 23 24.

He enters Jinghai University as a freshman and surrounds himself with followers. His accommodation is a luxurious single room in the international students’ dormitory 1 50.

Appearance

Zhou Zihao has a tall, straight figure and carefully cultivates an expensive, polished appearance 24.

• Clothing: Wears bespoke casual outfits, Gucci trousers and shirts, Armani clothing, and limited-edition Air Jordans 1 11 15 49.
• Accessories: Frequently displays a green Submariner wristwatch and flashy sunglasses 1 11.
• Hair: Keeps his hair heavily gelled and slicked into place 11 22 24.
• Dental injury: Loses half a front tooth in a fall at the welcome gala. He initially conceals the injury with a black medical mask and later obtains a temporary replacement tooth 24 31 50.

Personality

Zhou Zihao treats wealth, status, and public admiration as proof of his superiority. He repeatedly belittles Lin Bei’s inexpensive clothes and roadside food, while expecting luxury cars, prestigious restaurants, and musical accomplishments to impress Ruan Qingwu. Her refusals do not discourage him; instead, he blames Lin Bei for standing in his way 1 10 11 22 24.

He is intensely sensitive to humiliation. After becoming a campus laughingstock, he smashes his belongings and supports schemes intended to make Lin Bei suffer the same public disgrace. His treatment of followers is transactional: he offers Zhang Liang expensive shoes for success, then dismisses him contemptuously after he is injured 16 19 50.

He also rationalizes events he cannot explain. Despite witnessing sword flight beside his plane, he insists it must be a mirage, holographic projection, or secret government weapons test. He attributes his later bowel accident to bad food rather than recognizing Lin Bei’s interference 3 10 15.

Abilities & Skills

Piano

Zhou Zihao is a trained pianist with genuine technical competence 23 24.

• Holds a professional Grade Ten qualification and reportedly won a city-level gold prize 23.
• Performs “Für Elise” at the freshman welcome gala with smooth phrasing and controlled changes in volume, earning enthusiastic applause 24.
• Is overwhelmed when Lin Bei’s guqin accompaniment eclipses his performance and draws butterflies into the auditorium 26.

Athletic Conditioning

Zhou Zihao has enough conditioning to run near the front of the freshman three-kilometer race 31 32.

• Starts quickly and initially leads alongside Zhang Liang 31.
• Loses his rhythm trying to chase Fatty Wang and becomes exhausted; his medical mask also restricts his breathing 32.
• Is overtaken by Fatty Wang, Liu Chen, and Chen Mo, with Fatty Wang eventually lapping him 32.

Wealth and Connections

Zhou Zihao uses money to secure attention, recruit followers, and arrange retaliation 2 16 50.

• Pays ground staff to move Ruan Qingwu and Fatty Wang into first class, then has their original economy seats resold so they cannot return to them 2.
• Offers Zhang Liang reverse-swoosh Air Jordans worth nearly ten thousand yuan for humiliating Lin Bei during military training 16.
• Hires Brother Biao and his men to infiltrate a haunted house as ghosts and record Lin Bei being frightened 50.

Equipment & Possessions

• Porsche 911 — Drives it to Jinghai University’s south gate for his attempted public confession 11.
• Green Submariner watch — Prominently displays it when approaching Ruan Qingwu and speaking to airline staff 1 2.
• Designer wardrobe — Includes Gucci and Armani clothing, limited-edition sneakers, and a custom white tailcoat for the gala 11 15 24 49.
• 999 red roses — Arranges an enormous bouquet for Ruan Qingwu, then throws it away while fleeing his bowel accident 11.
• Temporary replacement front tooth — Obtained after his gala injury 50.

Relationships

• Ruan Qingwu — Object of his persistent, unwanted pursuit. She rejects his airport invitation, ignores his restaurant offer, and tells him to move when he blocks her light at the gala 1 22 24.
• Lin Bei — Rival whom Zhou resents for his closeness to Ruan Qingwu. Zhou repeatedly tries to intimidate or embarrass him, unaware that several of his own humiliations are caused by Lin Bei’s spiritual power 10 11 16 22 24 50.
• Fatty Wang — Open antagonist who defends Ruan Qingwu, mocks Zhou’s failed boasts, and later laps him during the fitness test 1 3 15 32.
• Zhang Liang — Chief lackey and frequent accomplice. Proposes both the military-training sabotage and haunted-house scheme; continues assisting Zhou despite being discarded after his training injuries 15 16 19 50.
• Brother Biao — Outside contact hired to frighten Lin Bei and supply a high-definition recording 50.
• Zhao Tianlong — Military-training instructor who kicks and berates Zhou after he accuses the winning runners of taking performance-enhancing drugs 32.
• Orange Treasure — Ruan Qingwu’s intelligent kitten. After Zhou insults it and attempts to kick it, its taunts frighten him into backing onto a slippery lakeside stone 49.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Airport and Sword-Flight Encounter

Zhou first approaches Ruan Qingwu at the airport, using his family background and first-class access as inducements. When she refuses and Fatty Wang intervenes, he becomes hostile but withdraws as airport patrol guards approach. He subsequently forces both travelers into first class by paying for upgrades and reselling their original seats 1 2.

Aboard Jing Airlines flight 8732, he dismisses a child’s report of a person flying outside and promises to eat his seat if it is true. Seeing Lin Bei on a sword shocks him into spilling champagne over his trousers. His reaction earns Lin Bei 5,000 Sensation Points, while his attempts to explain the sight as an illusion invite further mockery 2 3.

Failed Confession and Campus Nickname

After landing, Zhou mocks Lin Bei’s clothing and the roadside food he brings Ruan Qingwu. Lin Bei responds by secretly planting spiritual energy near Zhou’s stomach and intestines 10.

Zhou races ahead to the university, arriving in a Porsche with 999 roses. Before he can complete his confession, Lin Bei activates the planted energy, causing explosive diarrhea in front of the crowd. Students film the incident as Zhou abandons the bouquet and flees 11.

When Zhou later confronts Lin Bei outside the women’s dormitory, Lin Bei names him the Great Emperor of Holy Water. The crowd’s ridicule causes Zhou and his followers to retreat without carrying out their threat 15.

Military-Training Sabotage

Following a destructive tantrum in his dormitory, Zhou accepts Zhang Liang’s plan to knock Lin Bei down during formation. They hope the instructor will mistake the fall for indiscipline and punish Lin Bei, potentially escalating to a demerit or expulsion if he resists 16.

Both attacks fail. Zhang Liang injures himself against Lin Bei’s enhanced body and spiritual defenses, while Lin Bei remains standing. Zhou later tosses him money for dental treatment and leaves without offering further concern 17 18 19.

Dining-Hall Humiliation

Zhou approaches Ruan Qingwu with an invitation to a Michelin restaurant, then turns on Lin Bei when she ignores him. After Lin Bei invokes his humiliating nickname, Zhou attempts to overturn the table 22.

Lin Bei moves a puddle of orange juice beneath his foot, making him slip into a full split and tear his trousers. The resulting yellow stain is orange juice, not urine, but spectators assume he has wet himself. His denials fail, and recordings spread to the university forum 22 23.

Welcome Gala

Zhou attempts to restore his reputation with a successful piano performance. Afterward, he boasts about the class divide between himself and Lin Bei, only to be rejected again by Ruan Qingwu 23 24.

Lin Bei secretly fixes Zhou’s shoe to the floor with spiritual power, then releases it as he pulls forward. Zhou falls face-first, splits his chin, and breaks half a front tooth. After treatment, he watches Lin Bei accompany Ruan Qingwu’s dance on a prop guqin; the music and gathering butterflies leave him so shocked and humiliated that he collapses backstage 24 26.

Fitness Test

Zhou enters the three-kilometer race wearing a mask to hide his damaged tooth. Despite initially leading with Zhang Liang, he is overtaken by Lin Bei’s three roommates, who have drunk Spiritual Qi Water 31 32.

After Fatty Wang laps him, Zhou accuses the runners of using performance-enhancing drugs. Instructor Zhao Tianlong rejects the accusation and publicly reprimands him 32.

Weiming Lake and Haunted-House Plot

Zhou interrupts Lin Bei and Ruan Qingwu’s lakeside walk and insults Orange Treasure as a filthy stray. The kitten rolls its eyes, spits on his shoes, and gives him the middle finger. When Zhou tries to retreat, he slips on a moss-covered stone and falls into Weiming Lake 49.

He develops a high fever that night and requires two days of hospital IV treatment. While he is recovering, Zhang Liang learns of Lin Bei’s planned visit to the Vengeful Spirit Hospital haunted house. Zhou hires Brother Biao to send men disguised as ghosts, frighten Lin Bei into disgrace, and record the result for the university forum. The supplied account ends with the scheme arranged, before its outcome is shown 50.

Notable Quotes

“If someone really can fly out there on a sword, then I, Zhou Zihao, will gnaw down this airplane seat raw today!” 2

“That’s the class divide. I sit onstage playing a piano worth hundreds of thousands, enjoying the whole university’s cheers. Meanwhile, you can only huddle down here as a spectator.” 24

“Impossible... This is impossible... he’s using a prop guqin... how could he possibly play better than me...” 26