Zhou Yuwen

Biodata

Background / History

Childhood and Writing Career

Zhou Yuwen was raised by his mother after his father formed another family when he was three. Her monthly salary of 2,000 yuan was insufficient to support them comfortably. Following a prolonged child-support dispute, his father paid 30,000 yuan in three installments in exchange for ending further demands 3.

As a child, Zhou Yuwen was insecure and sensitive about his family circumstances. He initially earned marks of at least 95 in Chinese, mathematics, and English and received annual Three-Good Student awards. His studies deteriorated after his family acquired a computer and he became absorbed in games and online novels 3.

Historical fiction helped introduce him to writing techniques. During high school, a classmate challenged him to write a novel himself, leading him to begin One Piece fanfiction. An editor subsequently recruited him to Furnace, where writing roughly 2,000 characters daily earned him 4,000–5,000 yuan per month 3.

Previous Life

Zhou Yuwen attended Nanjing Forestry University after scoring 353 on the college entrance examination. He continued writing throughout university but repeatedly lost money in stocks, putting his royalties into falling investments. He later estimated that those losses had cost him the equivalent of an Audi A4 6 11 15.

By thirty, he owned a car and a home, had savings, and had improved his mother’s living conditions. He nevertheless resented how much of his youth he had devoted to work. During an argument over an arranged match, he described thirteen years of writing, claiming to have produced 20,000 characters almost every day 1 2.

He rejected the proposed marriage, objecting to the woman’s romantic history and a bride price of 388,000 yuan. After leaving in his Audi, he encountered a blinding flash and a horn on the expressway. He next awoke in his high school classroom 1.

Rebirth and Graduation

Returning to eighteen-year-old life, Zhou Yuwen decided to prioritize three things: compound investment returns, physical and personal development, and relationships without lasting emotional obligations. He regarded time—not money or romance—as the most valuable benefit of his second chance 5.

He stopped attending classes during the final weeks before the entrance examination, telling Hu Jie that he would study at home. Alongside revision, he wrote fiction, monitored stocks, and exercised. His new score of 355 was two points above his previous result, and he again chose Nanjing Forestry University because he preferred a familiar environment 7 11.

Unlike in his previous life, he agreed to meet his estranged father. He demanded 200,000 yuan as a condition for maintaining their relationship, and his father subsequently transferred the money 11.

Summer with Chen Rongrong

Zhou Yuwen first drew Chen Rongrong’s attention by lending her 420 yuan. Around graduation, she brought him into her circle of friends and invited him to take photographs with her 5 7 8.

Their relationship changed after he found her outside the post office with a mark on her cheek. He took her to KFC, where she disclosed her treatment by her uncle’s household, and then booked her a hotel room 15 16 17.

During their first shared night, Zhou Yuwen escalated sexual contact while Chen Rongrong kept her eyes closed and tried to avoid confrontation. She eventually stopped him and pleaded with him not to continue. Their later sexual relationship began amid her reservations that events were moving too quickly 20 24.

He offered her accommodation for two months, promised her his old Apple phone, and gave her 2,000 yuan for necessities. They spent much of the summer together, playing games and sharing meals. By Shen Ding’s birthday gathering, Chen Rongrong openly presented herself as Zhou Yuwen’s girlfriend 23 25 27 35.

Before the new term, Chen Rongrong returned to her uncle’s household. Zhou Yuwen supported her decision rather than treating it as a rejection. After she left for school, he declined Dong Xue’s invitation to go out and kept his distance 39.

University Registration

Zhou Yuwen drove his mother to Nanjing Forestry University for registration on September 12. Recognizing Yao Lan, his counselor from his previous life, he offered her a lift to campus. He remembered her assistance throughout his earlier university years, including helping him after he missed a makeup examination 40.

After registration, he delivered his mother’s local specialties and two white-tea gift sets to Yao Lan. She considered him dependable and invited him to become class monitor. He agreed to let her recommend him, while warning that his writing commitments could keep him busy; his appointment is not confirmed in these chapters 43 44.

He moved into Building A9 and met roommates Gao Qiang, Lu Cancan, and Tang Yi. Through Tang Yi, he subsequently met Xia Hui and her roommate Ruan Yu, who was also from Xuhuai 44 48 49.

Financial Milestones

Appearance

• Build: Tall, with an increasingly filled-out physique after rebirth; regular exercise produces the beginnings of a six-pack 7 10.
• Bearing: Develops an upright posture and bright, deep eyes, contrasting with his previous life’s listless appearance 7.
• Grooming and clothing: Gets a neat haircut and returns to school in a clean white shirt and jeans. Classmates notice that he looks fresher and more handsome 6 7 8.

Personality

Zhou Yuwen’s second chance turns his earlier insecurity and excessive caution into a determination to enjoy life. Rather than treating academic prestige as his only route forward, he values financial independence, useful skills, and a comfortable environment. His ambitions include music, exercise, and experiences beyond writing at home 3 5 7 10.

He remains terse in conversation and often refuses social invitations. His bland replies initially discourage Chen Rongrong, while Shen Ding finds him frustratingly difficult to persuade. Zhou Yuwen himself says that he is not good at analyzing other people’s feelings 9 11 29.

His generosity coexists with a self-interested approach to intimacy. Although he shelters and financially supports Chen Rongrong, he initially advocates emotional detachment, pushes her physical boundaries, and later considers involvement with Dong Xue or Shi Zhenzhen before deciding that the risks are too great 5 20 23 25 37.

He is protective of his mother’s welfare but skeptical of her faith in social connections and conventional marriage arrangements. After rebirth, he becomes more patient with her stubbornness and buys her a better home without waiting for a distant retirement plan 1 39 40 42.

Abilities & Skills

Retained Knowledge

Zhou Yuwen retains memories of his previous life, including market movements, university experiences, songs, and scripts 6 10 40.

• Uses remembered stock surges and crashes to time investments 6 10 27 28.
• Navigates familiar university roads and recognizes Yao Lan before formally beginning his new university life 40.
• Plans to turn remembered music and scripts into income, though these plans are not yet shown producing earnings 10.

Enhanced Learning and Physical Performance

After rebirth, he notices sharper senses, improved memory, and better physical endurance. He speculates that these changes may relate to a soul strengthened by two lifetimes, but this is his own explanation rather than an established mechanism 2 7 10.

• Remembers most of what he reads, while explicitly stopping short of claiming photographic memory 7.
• Can complete sets totaling 100 push-ups with less strain than in his previous life 7.
• Learns musical material quickly and finds practice less frustrating because he can grasp the basics readily 10 29.

Web-Novel Writing

Writing is his original source of financial independence and remains a regular commitment after rebirth 3 6.

• Continues updating because he considers reliability toward readers a basic professional obligation 6.
• Completes within his first month after rebirth a novel that previously took him until his sophomore university year 39.
• Benefits from major website promotion, substantially increasing his royalties 39.

Investing

His profitable second-life trades depend heavily on remembered market history rather than an unbroken record of investment success 6 10 12.

• Uses both ordinary share purchases and highly leveraged positions 6 12.
• Warns Chen Rongrong that stock trading resembles gambling and asks whether she could afford to lose her money 29.
• His Shanghai RAAS position approaches liquidation before recovering, demonstrating that foreknowledge does not remove execution risk 12.

Music and Driving

• Guitar: Begins lessons after the entrance examination and essentially masters the skill within about one month, according to the narration 10 29.
• Piano and singing: Adds piano, music theory, and vocal instruction once his guitar progress frees up time 29.
• Driving: Draws on previous-life experience to drive confidently despite having only recently obtained his license in the new timeline. He demonstrates this through a series of risky overtakes in his father’s Audi A6 15.

Equipment / Items

• Apple phone and MacBook — Purchases a latest-model iPhone 5 for 6,999 yuan and a MacBook for 12,999 yuan shortly after rebirth 6.
• Father’s Audi A6 — Borrows it as his initial means of transport after reestablishing contact with his father 15.
• White Audi A4L reservation — Places a deposit on the car; the supplied chapters do not establish that he takes delivery 15.
• Black Mercedes-Benz E320 — Drives it by Shen Ding’s birthday gathering and later parks it outside his university dormitory. Its value is described as approximately 600,000 yuan 35 37 44.

Relationships

• Mother — Raised him alone and remains his closest family connection. He argues with her over marriage and independence but improves her living conditions and becomes more patient with her after rebirth 1 3 39 40.
• Father Zhou — Estranged biological father. Zhou Yuwen rejects a reunion in his previous life; after rebirth, he makes continued contact conditional on financial support and later borrows his car 3 11 15.
• Chen Rongrong — High school classmate and girlfriend. Their connection develops from a loan and emergency assistance into a summer spent living together; she later discusses marriage and children, although they are neither engaged nor married 5 15 25 35 37 39.
• Shen Ding — Gaming friend and Chen Rongrong’s longtime admirer. Zhou Yuwen refuses to help him pursue her but attends his birthday and brings a present 11 30 33.
• Hu Jie — High school homeroom teacher. She worries about his academic prospects, permits his final period of home study, and suggests vocational education if necessary 2 7 8.
• Yao Lan — University counselor in both lives. He remembers her previous assistance fondly; in the new timeline, she cultivates a closer connection with him and proposes him for class monitor 40 43 44.
• Dong Xue and Shi Zhenzhen — Members of Chen Rongrong’s school circle who become interested in him. He considers pursuing them but avoids the potential complications 33 37 39.
• Gao Qiang, Lu Cancan, and Tang Yi — University roommates in Building A9. Tang Yi introduces him to Xia Hui and Ruan Yu 44 48 49.

Notable Quotes

“It means you should start dating while you're young! Otherwise you won't even be able to find a wife later!”
— His classroom interpretation of a poem immediately after rebirth 1

“I'm not an idiot. I know perfectly well who raised me and who didn't.”
— To his father during their reunion 11

“Just live your own life well.”
— To his mother after buying her an apartment 39