Protagonist
Lin Zhi (林知)
29, former Tsinghua/Peking University prodigy, orphaned, self-made top dealmaker in beauty-industry M&A and influencer IP funds.
Industry nickname: "The M&A Witch"
Main Male Characters
Fu JuanZhou (傅倦舟)
34, managing partner of a top-tier PE fund. Elegant, lethal, emotionally bulletproof. Lin Zhi's ex-lover and the man who taught her how to weaponize desire.
Shen YiJun (沈一隽)
31, short-video empire founder, once a broke "pure-love" boy who dumped Lin Zhi the moment he got term-sheet. Now on the verge of IPO and desperate to harvest her traffic channels.
Gu XingHe (顾星河)
37, divorced heir to an old-money conglomerate. Appears gentle and scholarly; treats marriage as the most sophisticated LBO in Shanghai.
Tang Shi (唐拾)
26, Lin Zhi's genius young editor-in-chief and minority partner. Pretty, feral, dangerously loyal; the only man who might make her flinch.
