Lu Xun and Song Yun'er's old feelings and friendly relationship

Lu Xun and Song Yuner’s former romance and alliance are defined by the tension between history and the present. They once maintained the appearance of a relationship while abroad, and Lu Xun acknowledges that he liked Song Yuner; yet their connection never became a fully lived partnership, and his later marriage to Su Xiangwan exposes how much the old bond has changed. What survives is not an intact romance but a complicated mixture of childhood familiarity, emotional debt, mutual assistance, and unresolved expectation.

Origins and Limits of the Old Relationship

Lu Xun and Song Yuner had known each other since childhood, a history that gives Song Yuner a claim on his attention even when romantic intimacy has faded. Lu Xun explains that, during their time overseas, they were only together on the surface and never truly got along with one another. This distinction is crucial: the relationship possessed the social outline of romance without the private closeness that would make it a durable love match.

Lu Xun later states that he had liked Song Yuner, but that liking her was not the same as being interested in her as a partner. He presents the change as part of growing up and changing over time. The old affection therefore remains a fact rather than a current commitment. It helps explain his protectiveness, but it does not displace his attachment to Su Xiangwan.

Alliance, Obligation, and Recurring Contact

The former relationship continues through practical alliance. When Song Yuner calls Lu Xun for help because Lin Yanche has disappeared and Lin Yanche’s father is anxious, Lu Xun gives her information rather than dismissing her. He knows that Lin Yanche is recuperating in Yan City and tells Song Yuner that he is enjoying himself. His response is deliberately cool, but he still answers because the old network of trust and obligation remains operative.

Song Yuner says that she is worried about Lu Xun and cannot leave with peace of mind. Lu Xun reminds her not to forget the original purpose of her visit, warning that distraction may prevent her from accomplishing anything. The exchange shows their alliance in a double form: she turns to him as a dependable source of help, while he attempts to redirect her toward her own objective instead of encouraging emotional dependence.

Lu Xun also admits to Su Xiangwan that he owes Song Yuner a debt. Because they have known each other since childhood, he cannot stand by while she faces death, although he recognizes her flaws. His decision to help her is thus framed less as renewed desire than as repayment of history. The emotional debt has practical consequences, but it also becomes a source of unease within his marriage.

The Marriage as the New Boundary

Song Yuner’s continuing presence tests the security of Lu Xun’s marriage to Su Xiangwan. Lu Xun makes clear that Su Xiangwan has moved back to her old residence with his blessing, while telling Lin Yanche that there is no reason to hope that the separation will create an opening for anyone else. Even when he speaks casually and uses the old relationship as part of his social world, he treats Su Xiangwan as the decisive boundary around his present life.

That boundary is reinforced in an intimate exchange with Su Xiangwan. When she is drunk and pulls off his shirt while calling him her husband, Lu Xun is momentarily uncertain whether she knows whom she is addressing. Her response nevertheless establishes the relationship she recognizes: whatever other men might appear handsome or imposing, he is the one she names as her husband. The scene converts marital status from an abstract title into a test of recognition and emotional priority.

Lu Xun later tells Su Xiangwan that, apart from her, he cannot tolerate working with or standing beside another woman. When she recalls Song Yuner’s claim that he had feelings for her, Lu Xun concedes that he had liked Song Yuner but denies that the old affection represents present interest. His explanation does not erase the past; instead, it places the past behind the marriage, where it can still produce obligations without governing his choice of partner.

Kinship Language and Jealousy

The relationship is repeatedly complicated by labels of kinship. Shen Yi Yun is described as the adopted child of Lu Xun’s uncle and therefore Lu Xun’s cousin, although the relationship is not one of blood. This arrangement becomes part of the wider argument over which forms of family language can coexist with male-female intimacy. Su Xiangwan sharply rejects the idea that a nominal relative should automatically be treated as harmless, arguing that a non-blood relative is still a man or woman rather than an unquestionable family member.

Her suspicion does not arise from Song Yuner alone, but Song Yuner’s place in Lu Xun’s history gives the concern particular force. Song Yuner is neither simply an ex-lover nor merely a friend: she is someone whose childhood connection and prior affection allow her to ask Lu Xun for aid. Lu Xun’s willingness to respond can therefore be interpreted as loyalty by him and as a threat by his wife. The same act carries two emotional meanings, depending on whether it is viewed through obligation or marital exclusivity.

Transformation and Narrative Significance

Lu Xun and Song Yuner’s bond ultimately changes from a possible romance into a constrained alliance. Song Yuner can still contact him, seek his assistance, and invoke their shared past, while Lu Xun can still acknowledge affection and debt. Yet he repeatedly distinguishes that history from the relationship he has chosen with Su Xiangwan. The old connection survives precisely because it is no longer allowed to function as his primary love.

This relation gives the marriage a durable source of conflict without making Song Yuner a simple rival. Lu Xun’s refusal to abandon her demonstrates the moral pressure of shared history, while his insistence that he has changed demonstrates the limits of that history. Their bond is therefore a study in emotional residue: childhood familiarity becomes obligation, former liking becomes memory, and alliance remains after romance has lost its authority. Against that residue, Lu Xun’s marriage to Su Xiangwan defines the present through recognition, exclusivity, and the difficult work of separating gratitude from love.