Xie Ning

Biodata

Background / History

Childhood and Broken Engagement

Xie Ning is Xie Dashu’s second son. After his mother died of illness, he grew up closely attached to his elder brother, Xie Yao. He also helped raise his younger half-sister, Xie Xiaoyu, teaching her to walk while their stepmother concentrated on Xiaoyu’s twin brother 3 4 6.

At twelve, Xie Ning was renowned for his beauty and received numerous marriage proposals. His father arranged an engagement with Zhou Wenshu, a promising student from the wealthiest family in Great Well Village. The families maintained friendly relations until shortly after Xie Ning’s sixteenth birthday 3 4.

During a boating outing, one of Xie Yao’s fellow students tried to push Xie Yao overboard. Xie Ning intervened and fell into Lotus Pond instead. While drowning, he appeared to see a fiery-red carp bite his fingertip and try to pull him toward safety. After three days of fever, he awoke with persistent burning, itching, and rapidly cracking skin 4.

His attempts to cool himself in the village river prompted rumors that he was mad or disfigured. Villagers began calling him an “ugly freak,” and Zhou Wenshu’s family broke the engagement. To protect their reputation, they proposed sending him to Zhou Jinian as a study attendant instead 4.

Previous Timeline

In Zhou Jinian’s previous life, Xie Ning became his study attendant after the broken engagement, and his skin condition never properly recovered. Following an intimate encounter, Zhou Jinian took him into the household as a concubine. Xie Ning later sacrificed his life to save Zhou Jinian from poisoning 2 3.

After returning to eighteen years of age, Zhou Jinian resolved to marry Xie Ning and care for him. He concealed his memories and his life-debt from his parents 1 2.

Marriage and Recovery

Zhou Jinian proposed marriage rather than accepting Xie Ning as an attendant. Although Xie Dashu and Xie Yao initially distrusted another proposal from the Zhou family, Zhou Jinian’s willingness to meet the requested betrothal terms persuaded them of his sincerity 2 5.

Xie Ning feared that his appearance would frighten his groom. During the wedding, the heat overwhelmed him, and he fainted shortly before Zhou Jinian placed him in a specially prepared bathtub. Zhou Jinian subsequently promised to seek a cure and keep him comfortable 6 7 8.

Regular immersion gradually made daily work tolerable. On a mountain outing, Xie Ning sensed water and guided Zhou Jinian to Pool Cave, which became a place for bathing, fishing, and spending time together. His complexion improved, although conspicuous red markings developed beneath his clothes 11 16 33.

Household Division and Move to Town

Grandmother Zhou restricted Xie Ning’s food, movements, and kitchen access because she feared his illness. Despite this treatment, he gathered medicine for Lin Jin’s injured back and caught fish to feed the family and support Zhou Jinian’s work 21 23 24 26.

Xie Ning and Zhou Jinian began earning money through fish sales and prepared foods. Xie Ning contributed his private savings toward their proposed town home. After the Zhou household divided, their branch moved to Qingshui Town, where Xie Ning cooked a feast for the relatives and helpers who assisted them 30 34 39 40 41.

Examination Success and Unwanted Attention

Xie Ning prepared cakes, zongzi, and portable provisions for Zhou Jinian and Xie Yao before their examinations. During their absence, Zhu Dachang, the son of a retired official, repeatedly visited the wonton stall after taking an interest in him. Unable to safely offend Zhu Dachang, his parents-in-law asked Xie Ning to remain inside the courtyard 44 45 48.

When Zhou Jinian returned as a xiucai, Xie Ning celebrated enthusiastically. The announcement that his husband had topped the county, prefectural, and academy examinations made the family’s stall famous. With Zhou Jinian’s support, he resumed helping there publicly 48 49.

Appearance

• Build and complexion: Small and slender, with fair skin, delicate hands, and prominent shoulder blades 6 39.
• Facial features: Dark, straight brows; long lashes; full lips; and softly rounded cheeks. His eyes are described as both phoenix eyes and peach-blossom eyes 3 4 8.
• Hair: Long black hair, worn tied at the nape with a red cloth ribbon during an early mountain outing 10.
• Skin condition: Initially mottled, cracked, and covered in thin white flakes. His wounds heal rapidly without scars 3 4.
• Later changes: Fine lines replace much of the visible damage to his face and hands, while red markings become more conspicuous beneath his clothing 27 33.
• Previous-timeline appearance: Before his death, his skin became smooth, with a dense network of capillaries forming fish-scale patterns beneath it 7.

Personality

Xie Ning is affectionate, cheerful, and attentive to practical needs. He notices Zhou Jinian’s tired eyes and sore wrist, gathers medicine for Lin Jin despite his own discomfort, and prepares food to support his husband and brother through their examinations 23 24 25 44.

His disfigurement initially makes him self-conscious: he hides his hands during the wedding and worries that his face will frighten others. As Zhou Jinian consistently cares for him, he becomes more playful and openly affectionate, asking to be carried, seeking praise for his catches, and teasing his husband 6 7 12 24 42.

Although often obedient, he is not entirely passive. He counters Grandmother Zhou’s complaints by pointing out his contributions, protects Lin Jin during a confrontation, and persists in developing foods to sell. He also hides minor mistreatment from Zhou Jinian when he believes earning money and leaving the household matter more than another argument 26 33 39.

Abilities & Skills

Underwater Breathing and Swimming

• Discovers that he can breathe underwater during a dreamlike experience on his wedding night 7.
• Later swims freely in Pool Cave without needing to surface except to deposit his catches 24.
• Catches fish and shrimp bare-handed, supplying both family meals and goods for sale 24 28 30.
• Offers to teach Zhou Jinian to swim, but cannot carry him successfully through the water and instead leads him by the hand 28 42.
• Cannot see clearly in the pool’s deepest, darkest water 24.

Water Sensitivity and Physical Limitations

• Senses moisture and guides Zhou Jinian through dense brush to the hidden cave pool 11.
• Suffers intense heat, thirst, itching, and occasional fainting during early episodes of his condition 4 7 10 11.
• Finds that sleeping in water, soaking at midday, and drinking frequently allow him to perform ordinary physical work 16 20.
• Develops an unexplained terror of cats despite not previously fearing them 17 18.

Cooking and Food Development

• Makes steamed dried eggplant, later marketed as vegetarian jerky 6 32.
• Prepares fish, shrimp-paste pancakes, fish wontons, tofu, and examination provisions 25 27 39 44 48.
• Experiments with recipes and changes direction when fish buns and pan-fried dumplings fail 39.
• Suggests fish wonton noodles as an additional stall offering 44.

Foraging and Medicine Preparation

• Has experience gathering mountain herbs from before his illness and discovers a valuable patch of five-flavor berries 10.
• Learns from Physician Hu how to prepare creeping fig vine medicine for Lin Jin’s back 23.
• Kills a large black snake bare-handed and preserves it for its value; its gallbladder is subsequently kept for Zhou Sanfeng’s leg ailment 12 13.

Literacy and Domestic Skills

• Asks Zhou Jinian to teach him to read and begins by practicing the characters of his own name in a sand tray 21.
• Has experience working in kitchens and fields, but was never taught weaving or embroidery 10.

Equipment / Items

• Wooden bathtub — Prepared by Zhou Jinian before the wedding; becomes essential to Xie Ning’s comfort and early recovery 7 16.
• Bamboo hat and waterskin — Used during outdoor trips to limit sun exposure and keep water available 10 16.
• Hemp rope and fire starter — Allow him to enter Pool Cave independently and climb back out after fishing 24.
• Red sandalwood bed — Part of his late mother’s dowry; Xie Yao defends it against their stepmother’s attempt to claim it for her son 4.

Relationships

• Zhou Jinian — Husband and, in the previous timeline, the man Xie Ning died saving. Their current marriage develops from Xie Ning’s uncertainty into mutual affection, practical support, and shared plans for the future 3 8 12 39.
• Xie Yao — Elder brother, whom Xie Ning protects during the Lotus Pond incident. Xie Yao fiercely opposes his treatment as an attendant and promises to bring him home if Zhou Jinian mistreats him 4 6.
• Xie Dashu — Father. Arranges his first engagement, cautiously accepts Zhou Jinian’s proposal, and later offers him silver for expenses 3 5 20.
• Xie Xiaoyu — Younger half-sister whom he helped raise. He continues making her favorite steamed dried eggplant after marrying 6 20.
• Madam Xie Sun — Stepmother. Belittles his illness, seeks his mother’s dowry bed for her own son, and eagerly agrees to the new marriage proposal 4 5.
• Lin Jin — Parent-in-law and cooking partner. Welcomes him into the family, helps develop his food business, and regards him as a source of household prosperity 9 32 36 39.
• Zhou Sanfeng — Parent-in-law. Helps handle his catches and supports the family’s move toward a food business in town 29 50.
• Zhou Wenshu — Former fiancé. Accepts his parents’ argument against marrying an ailing Xie Ning, then regrets the broken engagement after seeing his recovery and business success 49.
• Grandmother Zhou — Elder who restricts his meals and kitchen access, takes his fish, and attempts to appropriate the snake he caught 13 21 25 26.
• Zhu Dachang — Unwanted admirer whose repeated visits lead the family to keep Xie Ning indoors for his safety 45 48.

Notable Quotes

“Jinian, teach me to read, please.” 21

“Then I'll sell wontons to support my husband too!” 39

“Jinian, you're so good to me. I definitely won't take after Sixth Aunt. Even if you don't do well in your studies, I won't make a fuss.” 42