Su Qingrou—Jin Zhengnan

Su Qingrou—Jin Zhengnan is a relationship that takes shape at the intersection of affection, family pressure, and corporate calculation. Jin Zhengnan is found with Su Qingrou in her bedroom, later supports her after an acute appendicitis operation, and appears to welcome the comfort Su Xiangwan gives her. Su Qingrou, meanwhile, proposes that she and Jin Zhengnan hold an engagement ceremony partly for the benefit of their two companies. The relationship therefore functions both as an emotional bond and as a public arrangement capable of strengthening family interests, even while Lin Yanche remains an unresolved threat to its stability.

Formation and Strategic Purpose

Su Qingrou’s connection with Jin Zhengnan is first shown through an ambiguous private scene. When Lin Yanche breaks into Su Qingrou’s bedroom at the Su Family Residence, he sees her lying on the bed in pajamas while Jin Zhengnan is standing in the room. The scene is deliberately framed through Lin Yanche’s jealousy: the two are a man and a woman occupying the same room, and he interprets the situation as evidence that something between them may have happened. This encounter makes Jin Zhengnan a visible rival in Lin Yanche’s emotional field, whether or not the scene itself confirms every suspicion placed upon it.

The relationship becomes more explicit when Su Qingrou discusses a possible engagement ceremony with Su Xiangwan. She explains that she and Jin Zhengnan may hold the ceremony first mainly for the sake of their two companies. The proposal gives the relationship a dual structure: it is a prospective romantic commitment, but it is also an instrument of alliance between powerful business interests. Su Qingrou’s decision is made under the shadow of Lin Yanche, whose possible reaction immediately concerns Su Xiangwan. Su Qingrou answers that concern by invoking the existence of a brother who can stand behind them, showing that the proposed union is also connected to family protection and the balance of power around her.

Care During Su Qingrou’s Illness

Jin Zhengnan’s role is not limited to a symbolic engagement. Su Qingrou is hospitalized after suffering acute appendicitis, and Bian Jiang explains that she was taken for examination and underwent surgery to remove her appendix. The medical crisis temporarily changes the relationship’s register: corporate plans and romantic rivalry give way to bodily vulnerability, hospital care, and the need for close support.

After Su Qingrou has been comforted by Su Xiangwan, Jin Zhengnan enters and sees her smiling. His response is described as a smile of his own, and he thanks Su Xiangwan for what she has done that day. The exchange places Jin Zhengnan within a network of care rather than presenting him as an isolated suitor. Su Xiangwan’s presence helps restore Su Qingrou’s composure, while Jin Zhengnan’s arrival confirms his continuing place beside her after the operation. The scene also allows the relationship to appear publicly calm and mutually recognized, even though its larger future remains unsettled.

Kinship Labels and Romantic Boundaries

The relationship is part of a broader pattern in which the story tests the boundary between family terminology and romantic desire. Lu Xun objects to the idea that a non-blood relative should be treated as harmless simply because the relationship is described through a family name. He argues that a relative without blood ties is still a man or woman, and that the label alone does not remove sexual or romantic possibility. This logic clarifies why the presence of Jin Zhengnan beside Su Qingrou can carry such force: social titles and family connections do not prevent desire from being read into a scene.

The same boundary problem appears in the contrast between Lu Xun’s marriage to Su Xiangwan and Chu Fei’s interest in her. Chu Fei says that a woman once appeared to him to be a close relative, though there was no actual kinship, and that he ultimately liked her greatly. He also describes himself as preferring the process of pursuit rather than forcing a woman. Although this statement concerns Su Xiangwan rather than Su Qingrou, it establishes the novel’s recurring instability between supposed family distance and romantic attraction. Against that background, Su Qingrou’s connection with Jin Zhengnan is comparatively legible: it is openly discussed as an engagement and does not depend solely on a kinship disguise.

Pressure from Lin Yanche

Jin Zhengnan’s relationship with Su Qingrou cannot be separated from Lin Yanche’s continuing emotional and familial conflict with her. Lin Yanche regards himself as having chosen Su Qingrou voluntarily, yet he also recognizes that she is the daughter of his enemy. His discovery of Jin Zhengnan in her room intensifies the sense that Su Qingrou’s private life has become a battleground for competing loyalties, resentment, and possessiveness.

Su Qingrou’s proposed engagement with Jin Zhengnan is consequently more than a simple declaration of love. It offers her a route toward a relationship backed by family and corporate interests while confronting the danger posed by Lin Yanche’s history with her. Her insistence that they have a brother suggests that the couple’s security depends on collective protection, not only on private feeling. The prospective engagement thus carries the pressure of a defensive alliance: it gives Su Qingrou a visible partner and gives the surrounding families a structure through which to oppose interference.

Narrative Function and Unresolved Meaning

The relationship’s strongest confirmed features are its public intention, its practical usefulness, and its moments of ordinary care. Su Qingrou considers formalizing it; Jin Zhengnan is present during her hospitalization and responds warmly when she recovers enough to smile; and the relationship is positioned as a possible bridge between two companies. These details make Jin Zhengnan a stabilizing presence in a plot otherwise dominated by pursuit, suspicion, illness, and coercive control.

At the same time, the evidence does not present a fully settled romantic ending for Su Qingrou and Jin Zhengnan. The proposed engagement is described as something they might hold, and its corporate purpose is made explicit. Lin Yanche’s continuing presence prevents the relationship from becoming emotionally uncomplicated. Su Qingrou—Jin Zhengnan therefore represents both a sincere-looking bond and a negotiated form of security: a partnership whose promise lies in its capacity to provide affection, legitimacy, and protection, but whose meaning remains vulnerable to the unresolved violence of the Su–Lin family feud.