Chapter 299: Character Profiles (I)

Gan Ji

Gan Ji grew up in the family’s old ancestral home. In middle school, his maternal grandfather arranged for him to attend a key school in the city. With excellent grades, he went on to a top-tier high school. During high school, he became utterly obsessed with mechanical models, often staying up all night reading ancient manuals. This caused his grades to slip, so in the second half of his sophomore year, he switched to studying art and was eventually admitted to a university. He had the honor of becoming the “most educated child in the Gan Clan for three generations.”

A master of the Art of Mechanisms, he inherited the Ye family’s Light Bones and the Horse-Head Blade. At his peak, he and Gan Rong openly seized control of the Gan Clan. In less than half a year, he completely integrated the fragmented family and became the head of the Five Masters.

Height: 185 cm. Weight: Peaked at 74 kg, dropped to a low of 59 kg, and finally stabilized around 70 kg.

Gan Ji has soft facial features and usually wears denim jackets in his daily life. He is nearsighted and hates having his picture taken. He has a decent tolerance for alcohol but doesn’t enjoy drinking. He is exceptionally skilled with his hands, possessing long, slender fingers. People often compliment his looks, yet no one ever pursued him. The only time someone slipped a love letter into his book in middle school, it happened to be a book he didn’t like, so he never opened it. Upon graduation, Gan Ji sold that book, along with his old exam papers, to the scrap collector downstairs for the meager price of five yuan. On the surface, he appears easygoing and as refined as jade^[1], but in reality, he is incredibly stubborn and solitary. He rarely leaves the house, keeping his skin very pale. He possesses extreme self-destructive tendencies, and few people truly understand his intentions.

Gan Ji has a bottom line and sticks to his principles. He gives people three chances in his heart, but he is also extremely vindictive. There is a massive contrast between his exterior and interior. Inwardly, he does not recognize the so-called “rules” of modern society; he has his own set of internal laws. He doesn’t believe a killer is necessarily a bad person, nor that someone who saves a life is necessarily good. However, he is kind at his core with strong empathy, hoping to help those he can.

Because his personality prevents him from truly fitting in with his peers, he has very few true friends. Gan Ji spent his whole life chasing friendship and freedom. After meeting He Yu and Lu Ayao, he cherished them deeply, once considering them the best friends he would ever have. However, after repeated blows, he lost the courage to trust others. In the end, he still didn’t believe he could keep anyone by his side. He carries a strong sense of detachment and is a man of few words.

He Yu

He Yu comes from a large family. Since childhood, he was raised amidst constant family gatherings, banquets, and the indoctrination of “drinking culture.” He is incredibly extroverted and can strike up a conversation with anyone. He frequently works at archaeological excavation sites that test one’s patience, engaging in tedious and dry work for many years.

He is an authority on antique appreciation, particularly calligraphy and paintings, and is highly skilled at restoring them.

Height: 182 cm. Weight: 70 to 74 kg.

He Yu has a baby face and an aura that seems completely out of sync with his peers; his eyes appear exceptionally clear and pure. He loves eating fish of all kinds. He enjoys lively crowds and loves hearing or sharing gossip. He Yu is very sensitive to the emotions of others, making him adept at navigating social situations. However, he is also someone who knows how to hide his own feelings. Because he has observed so many people, his understanding of human nature is profound, and his insight is razor-sharp.

He Yu is loyal and wears a warm exterior over a cold interior. No matter how close a relationship appears on the surface, he remains calm and detached deep down. He has many connections and many friends. As a child of the He Clan’s direct line, he was showered with affection and never lacked love. Consequently, he initially viewed Gan Ji as a task he had to complete. Later, he sincerely wanted to be Gan Ji’s friend and placed him in the most important position in his heart. He became the stabilizing force when Gan Ji’s resolve wavered. He once felt immense pain over Gan Ji fighting his battles alone and his own absence during those times.

He has been pursued many times, and his past relationships all ended in peaceful breakups. He is the only one who possesses freedom and the potential for happiness, yet He Yu did not choose that freedom. He chose to stay by Gan Ji’s side, serving as his pillar of support for the rest of his life. It wasn’t about making amends, but rather the hope that he would “no longer be absent for the second half of his life.”

Lu Ayao

His parents are unknown, but he remembered things from a very early age. Lu Ayao knew very well that he wasn’t lost or abducted; his parents had deliberately abandoned him at the train station. He didn’t chase after them or cry; he simply sat on the ground until Lu Xiaosu arrived to take him home. The happiest time in the first half of his life was crowding into a small room with Lu Xiaosu, eating roasted chestnuts.

He possesses an extraordinary talent for fortune-telling, divination, and feng shui, which forced the clan elders to make an exception for him. Overcoming all objections, he became the head of the family. He frequently uses the white bone whip passed down through generations of the Lu Clan.

Height: 187 cm. Weight: 70 to 75 kg.

Due to the unique nature of his family, Lu Ayao’s whereabouts are often unpredictable. When he goes out, he mostly wears black, white, or gray. Behind closed doors, his mind is full of wild ideas, such as going to a mountain to become a monk, throwing away his phone to disappear into a no-man’s-land, or planting explosives in the rooms of the Lu Clan elders. He almost always wears a mask when going out to hide the porcelain shards on his face. He values cleanliness and order, lives a very disciplined life, makes his bed every day, and maintains a simple social circle.

After being brought back to the Lu Clan by Lu Xiaosu, he grew up in their courtyard. Ever since he was old enough to understand things, he helped the adults look after the younger children. He is soft-hearted and dislikes making things difficult for his juniors, but he has little patience for stupidity. He once grew impatient with Gan Ji for refusing to return to Henan. He has a variety of methods for avoiding people he doesn’t want to see, preferring to dodge them entirely rather than communicate.

Because he became the head of the Lu Clan in his teens and never made a mistake, his status and authority are extraordinarily high. He has a strong sense of morality and responsibility.

Lu Ayao both loves and hates the Lu Clan. As a child, he was willing to pay any price to have a home, but he was subsequently shackled by the Lu Clan forever. He is highly capable, but his emotional perception is almost non-existent. He has never been in an intimate relationship. While thoughts of escaping often surface, he is simultaneously bound by his sense of morality, gradually becoming numb. To completely break away from the Lu Clan, he left behind all his savings and later settled in the Central Plains.