Ruan Qingwu

Biodata

Background / History

Ruan Qingwu grew up with Lin Bei in the same residential courtyard. Their familiarity extends to his family: she knows that his grandfather practiced traditional Chinese medicine, which helps her recognize the implausibility of Lin Bei's later claims about inherited martial arts 19 22.

She passed up a better school to attend the same university as Lin Bei. At the beginning of their freshman year, she traveled from Jiangzhou to Jinghai with Fatty Wang after Lin Bei unexpectedly announced that he had his own transportation 1.

Appearance

• Features: Fair skin, delicate facial features, long legs, a slender waist, and long, silky hair. Her cool expression often makes her appear unapproachable 1 20 24.
• Everyday clothing: Initially wears a fitted white T-shirt, light-blue high-waisted jeans, and white sneakers. Other outfits include a light-blue top with a pleated skirt and a light-green floral dress 1 15 48.
• Gala costume: A flowing water-blue classical dance gown with wide sleeves and a moon-white waist ribbon. Her stage styling includes rouge around the eyes and a jade hairpin securing half her hair 24 25.

Personality

Ruan Qingwu is reserved with strangers and blunt toward unwanted advances. She refuses Zhou Zihao's attempts to impress her with money, ignores his boasting, and particularly dislikes people who use wealth to bully others 1 2 49.

Around Lin Bei, her aloofness gives way to teasing, affection, embarrassment, and occasional jealousy. She worries about his safety, reminds him not to stay up gaming, and trusts his reassurance because he has consistently made her feel secure since childhood. When music-club recruiters crowd around him, she becomes openly jealous and pulls him away 20 38.

She is determined to perform well: after rehearsing her gala dance for half a month, the combination of equipment failure and heckling nearly reduces her to tears. Her softer side is especially evident with animals; finding a critically injured kitten leaves her distressed and eager to seek veterinary help 25 48.

Abilities & Skills

Classical Dance

Ruan Qingwu has practiced dance since childhood and performs the classical solo “Startled Swan” at the freshman gala 23 25.

• Demonstrates considerable flexibility, controlled leaps, deep backbends, and expressive water-sleeve movements 25.
• Captivates the auditorium before a sound-system failure interrupts her routine 25.
• Resumes the dance to Lin Bei's live guqin accompaniment and completes the performance to a standing ovation 26 27.

Relationships

• Lin Bei — Childhood sweetheart and romantic interest. She chooses his university over a better school and hopes for a lasting relationship with him. Their closeness includes sharing food, playful teasing, and public hand-holding, but she does not explicitly confirm being his girlfriend when asked 1 22 27 38 40.
• Fatty Wang — Friend and travel companion. He carries luggage during their journey, defends her against Zhou Zihao at the airport, and angrily challenges the students heckling her dance 1 10 25.
• Zhao Mengyao — Roommate and friend who scrutinizes Lin Bei's intentions and encourages Ruan Qingwu to pursue their relationship more actively. She proposes using a haunted-house outing as an opportunity to grow closer to him 22 50.
• Lin Ruoxue — Roommate and friend who joins meals and the post-gala outing with her 22 23 28.
• Zhou Zihao — Persistent, unwanted suitor. She rejects his overtures and intervenes when he confronts Lin Bei; his jealousy repeatedly drives his attempts to humiliate Lin Bei 1 11 15 50.
• Orange Treasure — Adopted orange kitten. She takes it in after Lin Bei secretly heals and enhances it, agreeing to handle its food and litter. The kitten subsequently lives in her dormitory and is doted on by her roommates 48 50.
• Zhao Yihang — President of the Drone Enthusiasts Association, which she joins alongside Lin Bei 38.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Journey to Jinghai

While flying to Jinghai, Ruan Qingwu witnesses a masked man riding an iron sword beside the passenger plane. His gray T-shirt, posture, and familiar manner make her suspect Lin Bei, especially after his claim to have “private transportation.” She repeatedly dismisses the possibility as too absurd 1 3 9.

At Jinghai International Airport, she enthusiastically reunites with Lin Bei, who has brought her favorite xiaolongbao. She and Fatty Wang describe the airborne encounter and show him a video without realizing that he is its subject 9 10.

Registration and Military Training

Zhou Zihao follows his airport advances with a Porsche 911 and 999 roses at the university gate. Ruan Qingwu moves closer to Lin Bei rather than welcoming the display. After Zhou suffers a humiliating stomach incident, she notices Lin Bei's finger snap and privately asks whether he caused it 11.

During military training, she worries that Lin Bei's usual laziness will leave him unable to withstand the heat. Instead, he remains conspicuously fresh. She rejects his explanation about family martial arts and later correctly connects Zhang Liang's attacks on him to Zhou Zihao's desire for revenge 17 19 20.

Freshman Gala

Ruan Qingwu volunteers for a classical dance solo after the counselor requires each dormitory to contribute an act. Her performance is interrupted when the audio equipment fails, leaving her stranded under the spotlight as students from the Second Company heckle her 23 25.

Lin Bei brings a battered prop guqin onto the stage and tells her to follow his music. His presence restores her confidence, and she finishes the dance as hundreds of butterflies gather around them. The performance earns a standing ovation; afterward, he leads her offstage by the hand 26 27.

At the ensuing barbecue outing, Lin Bei prepares chili-free skewers for her to avoid upsetting her stomach. She later thanks him outside her dormitory for the evening 28 29.

Drone Club and the World Trade Center Fire

At the club recruitment fair, Ruan Qingwu pulls Lin Bei away from enthusiastic music-club recruiters and chooses the quieter Drone Enthusiasts Association. She initially worries that her jealous decision has annoyed him, but relaxes when he approves of the club 38.

During a later lunch together, Lin Bei sees news of the World Trade Center fire and leaves to intervene, claiming that Zhao Yihang needs him for urgent club work. Ruan Qingwu watches him go with a growing sense of alarm 40.

Orange Treasure and the Haunted-House Invitation

On Lovers' Slope, Ruan Qingwu discovers a badly injured orange kitten and asks Lin Bei to save it. Unbeknownst to her, he uses spiritual power and an Intelligence-Opening Pill. Delighted by its recovery, she adopts it as Orange Treasure; Lin Bei privately considers its enhanced intelligence useful for protecting her on campus 48.

Later, Zhao Mengyao persuades her to invite Lin Bei to the immersive haunted house Wisteria Mountain Hospital, despite her obvious fear of its promotional poster. Lin Bei accepts the Saturday invitation. Zhang Liang overhears the arrangement, allowing Zhou Zihao to plan an ambush involving hired men disguised as ghosts 50.

Notable Quotes

“Then just indulge me for the rest of my life.”
— Quietly responding to Lin Bei's complaint about her picky eating 40

“Thank you... for tonight.”
— To Lin Bei outside her dormitory after the gala 29