Chen Lin

Biodata

Personality

Chen Lin is usually the squad’s calmest and most rational member. When Xiao Cong’s behavior pushes the others toward losing their tempers, he tries offering the child food and restrains Huo Lan from retaliating. His composure is not absolute: Tao Qiu’s flourishing wheat fields leave even him visibly astonished 55 56 183.

Observant and discreet, he notices inconsistencies in Lou Yu’s explanations about Snow Bird well before the relationship becomes public. He enjoys teasing his captain but does not pressure him to reveal private matters. While loading sealed gifts, he infers their contents from their weight and sounds without asking questions Lou Yu clearly wants to avoid 88.

His humor can be pointed. He playfully reports Xiao Cong’s glare to Lou Yu after realizing the boy fears the captain, and privately wonders whether his teammates’ poor deductions might be contagious after they misunderstand his hint about Lou Yu’s partner 56 129.

Abilities & Skills

Cooking

Chen Lin is an accomplished cook whose meals tempt even the normally restrained Lou Yu to eat extra. His reputation extends to the team’s neighbors, who know him for his cooking 23 188.

• Homemade snacks: Makes pickles, salted eggs, potato chips, jerky, candied fruit, and cookies; many keep well enough to take on wilderness visits 69.
• Learning and experimentation: Learns spicy potato chips from a purchased video and enjoys experimenting with food 22 69.
• Recovery meals: Prepares food daily to help Lou Yu regain lost weight after hospitalization 65.
• Teaching: Coaches Lou Yu step by step for half a month while the captain struggles through dozens of failed baking attempts 105.
• Paid work: Takes temporary kitchen-assistant jobs when the squad is not on missions 56.

Electronics Repair

• Repairs televisions, radios, phones, computers, and other electronics through house calls between mercenary assignments 56.

Investigation and Deduction

• Obtains a black-market spray and identifies its connection to the mutated-wolf attack on Lou Yu’s patrol 6.
• Questions the patrol members and identifies the communicator’s suspicious failure as evidence of interference 6.
• Recognizes that Lou Quan’s personal visit after the team’s burglary likely has a purpose beyond offering sympathy 158.
• During discussions of a concealed mutant monster, identifies how deliberately created chaos could leave Tao Qiu exposed to a sneak attack 232.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Investigating the Attack on Lou Yu

Chen Lin remains at Yong’an Base rather than accompanying the rescue party sent for Lou Yu. Afterward, he brings the squad an unlabeled bottle of spray that is colorless and odorless to humans but attracts mutated wild wolves within five kilometers. The patrol vehicle had been covered in the substance, establishing that the attack was deliberately arranged 6.

His questioning produces no useful discrepancies in the patrol members’ accounts. He suspects planted spies and points to the communicator—which worked before departure but failed when needed—as further evidence. Acknowledging that the squad has only been at Yong’an for half a year and lacks local connections, he argues that they need influential assistance. With Lou Quan making their investigation easier, Chen Lin and the others consult Lou Yu at the research institute over the following half month as they settle the matter 6 10.

Supporting Lou Yu’s Recovery

After a month of monster attacks, Chen Lin and the other injured teammates leave the hospital before Lou Yu. He and John take a turn delivering the captain’s meal, and he later cooks daily to help Lou Yu recover his lost weight 64 65.

When grief over the awakening experiment’s deaths leaves Lou Yu ill and unwilling to eat, Chen Lin appeals first to the base’s need for its strongest fighter, then to his desire to see Snow Bird. The second reminder gets Lou Yu to the table, earning Chen Lin quiet approval from the others 126.

Discovering the Snow Bird Relationship

Chen Lin initially considers whether Lou Yu’s unusual interest in Snow Bird might involve testing the monster’s exceptional intelligence. Over time, he develops a clearer suspicion and gently teases Lou Yu while continuing to prepare snacks and supplies for his visits 49 69 88.

After burglars expose Lou Yu’s photograph with Tao Qiu, Chen Lin realizes that Lou Quan may have discovered the secret. He redirects the other teammates’ questions and draws them away, leaving Lou Yu space to think 158.

When Lou Yu finally announces his partner and three children, Chen Lin has already guessed the partner’s identity. He helps the others reach the answer by pointing out that the partner need not be a woman—or human. Learning about Tao Qiu’s plant-growing ability, he asks to see the recording previously shown to Lou Quan 175.

Welcoming Tao Qiu and the Cubs

• Offers to cook for the children whenever they visit the team residence 176.
• Meets Tao Qiu and the cubs in the valley; initially shares the squad’s lingering nervousness around Snow Bird 183.
• Helps harvest and stack Tao Qiu’s wheat, then joins the family for dinner 184.
• Helps persuade the family to stay at the team residence during their base visit and prepares their meal 188.
• Assists Lou Yu, Tao Qiu, and their neighbors in preparing sheep from the family’s hunting haul 205.
• Helps the cubs learn to skate during a winter outing 217.

Relationships

• Lou Yu — Captain and trusted teammate. Chen Lin protects his privacy while remaining willing to tease him about his increasingly obvious attachment to Snow Bird 88 158.
• Huo Lan — Teammate and kitchen helper. Chen Lin reacts sharply when she mentions pursuing a handsome doctor, then quietly relaxes when she explains she was only flirting; no relationship is confirmed 69 129.
• Tao Qiu / Snow Bird — His captain’s partner and an enthusiastic admirer of his snacks. Tao Qiu praises his ability to make many kinds of delicious food 89.
• Tao Yuan, Tao Xue, and Tao Mo — Lou Yu and Tao Qiu’s children. Chen Lin welcomes visits from them and offers to make them treats 176.
• Xiao Cong / Congcong — A frequent young visitor who calls him “Uncle Chen.” Despite their difficult first encounter, Congcong admits that Chen Lin’s cooking is excellent; Chen Lin later warmly welcomes him and his father back 57 207.