Tang Yi

Biodata

Background / History

High School and University Choice

Tang Yi attended a well-known private high school in Changzhou alongside Xia Hui. He describes many of their wealthier classmates as having gone abroad, while claiming that his own family could not afford overseas study. According to him, he had not originally intended to study in Nanjing and chose to come because Xia Hui did; they entered the same major and class 48.

Moving into the Dormitory

Tang Yi is the last to arrive in the dormitory shared with Zhou Yuwen, Gao Qiang, and Lu Cancan. Unhappy with the remaining lower bunk, he accepts Gao Qiang’s offer to exchange beds. While unpacking, he complains about the accommodation and displays his branded clothes and Tissot watch. He also asks whether his roommates mind him playing folk songs at bedtime, explaining that he cannot fall asleep without music 44 45.

When Xia Hui arrives with a package sent by his mother, Tang Yi tells his roommates that his girlfriend has come to see him. He subsequently arranges a cafeteria card game with her, her roommate Ruan Yu, Zhou Yuwen, and Gao Qiang; Lu Cancan declines to join 45 47 48.

Exposure of His Girlfriend Claim

The claim unravels when Gao Qiang greets Xia Hui as “sister-in-law.” Confronted by her, Tang Yi insists that he meant she was his future girlfriend. He then calls her a close friend and “childhood sweetheart,” but Xia Hui corrects him: they are ordinary former high school classmates 48 49.

The group proceeds with a small-stakes game of Fight the Landlord. After Xia Hui wins the opening round by persuading Gao Qiang to help her discard a single card, Tang Yi chides him for falling for a “beauty trap.” He counts the round’s bombs and tells Gao Qiang that the payment is thirty-two yuan, rather than the three yuan fifty Gao Qiang initially prepares to transfer 50.

Appearance

• Build and looks: Fairly good-looking, with a scrawnier build than Gao Qiang 47.
• Height: Claims to be 172 centimeters tall; Gao Qiang estimates that he is under 170 centimeters 47.

Personality

Tang Yi is status-conscious and frequently brings up brands, prices, and the spending habits of his former classmates. He dismisses his three-thousand-yuan watch as unimpressive compared with his friends’ possessions and similarly downplays his cigarettes by mentioning classmates who smoked much more expensive ones. His comparisons let him display his belongings while presenting himself as relatively poor within his old social circle 45.

He can be condescending toward people he considers unsophisticated. He quietly moves Gao Qiang’s worn shoes away from himself, finds Gao Qiang’s eagerness around women embarrassing, and mocks his ambition to own a car better than a Mercedes-Benz E-Class after graduation. Nevertheless, he also trades jokes with Gao Qiang and laughs rather than taking offense at some of his teasing 45 47 48.

Tang Yi is particularly concerned with saving face around Xia Hui. He enjoys his roommates’ admiration when they believe she is his girlfriend, then tries to soften his boast once she challenges it. During the ensuing exchange in Changzhou dialect, he conceals their insults toward Gao Qiang by claiming that Xia Hui is complimenting him 47 49.

Abilities & Skills

Card Playing

Tang Yi plays Fight the Landlord and offers to teach Ruan Yu when she says she does not know how 49.

• Buys two decks and shuffles for the cafeteria gathering 49.
• Explains the repeated doubling of the stakes when Gao Qiang misunderstands the bomb multipliers 50.

Languages

• Speaks Mandarin and Changzhou dialect 44 49.
• Uses Changzhou dialect to converse with Xia Hui without the other participants understanding their remarks 49.

Car Knowledge

• Identifies the parked Mercedes-Benz as the latest 2015 E-Class and quotes an on-the-road price exceeding 600,000 yuan 48.

Equipment / Items

• Tissot quartz watch — Cost three thousand yuan; Tang Yi says he was mocked for wearing it in high school 45.
• Apple phone — Uses it to message someone while settling into the dormitory 45.
• Branded clothing — Includes a shirt his aunt brought from Japan, reportedly costing over three thousand yuan, and dark-blue, wide-leg Evisu jeans bought during his second year of high school 45.
• Xuanhemen cigarettes — Offers these to his roommates after declining Gao Qiang’s Daqianmen cigarettes 45.

Relationships

• Xia Hui — Former high school classmate and romantic interest. She rejects both his girlfriend claim and his description of them as childhood sweethearts 48 49.
• Gao Qiang — Roommate who exchanges bunks with him and begins calling him “Brother Yi.” Their interactions mix Gao Qiang’s eagerness for friendship with Tang Yi’s teasing and condescension 44 47 48.
• Zhou Yuwen — Roommate and participant in the cafeteria gathering. Tang Yi introduces him to Xia Hui and points out that he and Ruan Yu share Xuhuai as their hometown 48 49.
• Lu Cancan — Roommate whom Tang Yi initially prefers to befriend. Tang Yi remarks on Hangzhou’s wealth and tries to persuade him to join the card game 48.
• Ruan Yu — Xia Hui’s roommate, introduced at the cafeteria. Tang Yi offers to teach her cards, but she chooses to read instead 49.