Ruan Xingzhu and A'Zi

Ruan Xingzhu and A'Zi are mother and daughter whose separation began in infancy and whose reunion exposes the cost of a concealed family history. Their relationship moves between tenderness and exasperation: Ruan Xingzhu embraces and provides for A'Zi, while A'Zi needles her mother and turns even requests for help into bargains. Yet beneath the banter, Ruan Xingzhu seeks to keep her daughter close and to restore a family connection interrupted for more than a decade.

Separation and Recognition

Ruan Xingzhu’s relationship with A'Zi is rooted in a past that the two could not share openly. A'Zi and her elder sister A'Zhu were born to Ruan Xingzhu and Duan Zhengchun, but he was already married, and the couple’s separation left Ruan Xingzhu unable to bring the children to her own family. She sent them to other households when they were very young. To make a future reunion possible, she arranged for each girl to bear a red Duan character tattooed on her shoulder. A'Zi’s matching mark thus identifies a daughter whose family history had been hidden from her, and the two sisters’ corresponding marks make visible a kinship that upbringing apart had obscured.

The separation lasted for more than ten years. When A'Zi confronts Duan Zhengchun over his absence, she points out that he had abandoned her and ignored her throughout that period. Ruan Xingzhu responds not by withdrawing from her daughter but by trying to persuade her to release Chu Wanli, offering her a gift in exchange. A'Zi demands to see the reward first. The exchange is playful on the surface, but it also shows a mother attempting to negotiate with a daughter who has returned to the family without becoming deferential to it.

Reunion and Everyday Affection

When Ruan Xingzhu sees A'Zi again, she pulls her close and looks her over, her face bright with happiness. The gesture makes her joy plain before any explanation of their shared past is complete. A'Zi, for her part, teases and argues with her parents; she is pleased to press for a reward and complains that Duan Zhengchun had thrown her into the lake. Her frankness is not evidence that the relationship is unimportant to her. Rather, their reunion immediately takes the form of intimate, familiar dispute, with A'Zi addressing her mother directly and Ruan Xingzhu answering as a caring parent.

Ruan Xingzhu continues to meet A'Zi’s demands with affection rather than estrangement. When A'Zi asks what reward she will receive for following Duan Zhengchun, Ruan Xingzhu tells her that everything she has already belongs to her. A'Zi accepts the task, but chooses her own method: she will mark the corners of walls with the character Duan and draw arrows so her mother can follow. Ruan Xingzhu hugs her daughter’s shoulders and calls her a good daughter; A'Zi answers by teasing her as an infatuated mother. The exchange combines practical cooperation with familiar mockery, showing their closeness in action rather than in solemn declarations.

Kinship, Protection, and Conflict

Their bond exists within a complicated family structure. Ruan Xingzhu’s relationship with Duan Zhengchun had to remain separate from his marriage, and the daughters were sent away rather than raised openly by their parents. A'Zi’s later complaint about being left for over a decade gives the separation an emotional consequence: biological kinship alone could not spare her from growing up without her parents’ care. Ruan Xingzhu’s delight at finding her again is therefore joined to the work of re-establishing trust and connection.

Ruan Xingzhu also tries to place A'Zi within a wider circle of support. After A'Zhu’s death, she is glad that Xiao Feng promises to help A'Zi if difficulties arise, believing his abilities could turn misfortune into good fortune for her daughter. She urges A'Zi to thank him and calls him big brother Qiao to encourage closeness between them. A'Zi rejects the offer, boasts of her master and fellow disciples, and disparages Xiao Feng’s ability to manage his own affairs. Ruan Xingzhu rebukes her for speaking irresponsibly and asks Xiao Feng not to take offence. The episode shows a mother trying to secure protection for A'Zi while recognizing that she cannot simply dictate how her daughter responds to it.

A Mother’s Continuing Effort

When Duan Zhengchun leaves Little Mirror Lake, Ruan Xingzhu learns that he has gone north to pursue a lead concerning the Murong family and has promised to return. She is distressed by the prospect of another long absence, recalling that his assurances of a quick return have previously meant years apart. Rather than remain only in that uncertainty, she asks A'Zi to follow him and leave signs along the way so she can follow after. A'Zi again asks what she will receive; Ruan Xingzhu replies that everything she has is already hers. Their familiar bargaining thus becomes a means of keeping the family connected as it separates again.

Ruan Xingzhu and A'Zi’s relationship is marked by repeated movement between distance and pursuit: the daughters were sent away in infancy, A'Zi returns to a mother who greets her with joy, and the mother then asks her to help trace the father who has departed. The matching Duan marks establish descent, but the scenes of welcoming, bargaining, scolding, and embracing give that descent its lived meaning. Ruan Xingzhu cannot undo the years of separation, yet her actions consistently express a desire to care for A'Zi and draw her into the family’s continuing ties.