sid_guardian | Focus on: Cheng Xinyan

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type: character discussion

Focus on: Cheng Xinyan

Cheng Xinyan is a doctor at Dragon City First Hospital and a university friend of Shen Wei's. She's first seen in episode 21, trying to help cure Zhao Yunlan's eyes, and is a recurring character in the latter half of the series. In episode 23, we get introduced to Zu Ma, a Dixingian whom she considers to be just like a little brother. Later on, she helps the injured people on the street during Ye Zun's invasion, despite opposition from the hospital higher-ups.

Happy that her friend is happy, and not planning to drug anyone's coffee yet.

Discussion starters:
1. Do you think she knew Shen Wei was Dixingian? If not, how do you think she'd react to finding out? Did she ever suspect?

2. How do you think she met Zu Ma? She says he's like a brother to her – how did that come about? Was she a friend of his parents', or did she only meet him after they'd died?

3. What do you think of her relationships with her colleagues?

4. What do you think she ended up doing post-canon? Did she stay in her job, or take on new responsibilities?

She's not that frequent a character in fanworks, but here are a few fics:
Go ahead kiss me now by

maggie33 is short sweet Cheng Xinyan/Zhu Hong morning kisses

Like you and me by

china_shop is Cheng Xinyan and her OFC girlfriend outsider POV on Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan

So - come and talk about Cheng Xinyan! Share links to meta, picspams, and related fanworks, new or old! Self-recs whole-heartedly encouraged. Basically, this is the place for anything you want to say or link to about Cheng Xinyan.

(Cheng Xinyan is drama-only, so the discussion will be as well.)

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I love the scene in episode 38 when she's in the hospital and is desperate to go out into the streets and help people, and really stands up to her superior about it. She's not just a doctor, she's a healer, and isn't afraid to go to the front lines where injured people need her the most! "The sooner we get there, the more lives we can save." \o/

Yes! She's such a hero. ♥

Yes! She is very into doing her duty of helping people.

Great post -- yay Cheng Xinyan! (And thanks for the rec! :-)

I love how smart, kind and practical she seems. She finds Zhao Yunlan's outrageousness amusing and looks like she ships Zhao Yunlan/Shen Wei (or at the least, approves of their friendship), and she helps Da Qing. The moment when we realise she's drugged Zhao Yunlan is really shocking, because she seems so trustworthy!

I also really love that she represents Shen Wei's regular academic life in Haixing. The fact that he has old university friends -- in different disciplines, even -- speaks volumes. He didn't spend all his spare time scouring the globe for Kunlun and/or the Hallows; he was at least somewhat sociable.

I spent a while wondering what Cheng Xinyan's medical specialty is -- ophthalmology? psychology (because of treating Da Qing's amnesia via hypnotherapy)? general practice? -- but I guess the Haixing medical system doesn't work like that? She's an all-rounder, like the Lin Jing of medicine. :-)

We know she knows there's weird shit (Zu Ma, and the whole video game thing, assuming she remembers that afterwards), and after that she must know that the SID and Shen Wei are involved in it in some way, but do we know if she knows about Dixing? The release of SID information onto the internet and those all-Haixing broadcasts towards the end of the show must have shocked a lot of people. But I guess she might have had patients over the course of the show who'd been injured in encounters with Dixingren, and so built up a picture of what's going on? Maybe she has a friend in the morgue who gossips about the latest unexplained bodies, and Cheng Xinyan did her own poking around to try to find answers.

I have one other short fic in which she appears towards the end, though it's mostly ZYL/SW: like dating a brick wall.

Oh, yeah, that's a good point about the drugging being shocking! I do love that she's capable of something like that, too. And that Zhao Yunlan seems to be taking it in stride. *g*

I also really love that she represents Shen Wei's regular academic life in Haixing.

Yeah, 100% agreed on that!

I spent a while wondering what Cheng Xinyan's medical specialty is

We see her do a lot of seemingly unrelated work, but it does say in episode 21 that she's a neurologist.

Like I said in my other comment, I always thought she didn't know about Dixing until essentially all of Haixing finds out - given Zu Ma and his weird aging thing, she knew there was weird stuff around, but not that the people involved weren't human, or that they were essentially illegal immigrants or refugees from elsewhere.

I do love that she's capable of something like that, too.

I assumed she was under the power of the Merit Brush/Zu Ma, not that she did it herself? And that that's why ZYL doesn't hold it against her.

but it does say in episode 21 that she's a neurologist.

Oh, cool. I missed that. I guess that ties neatly into treating unexplained vision problems and amnesia (though the hypnotherapy seems a little out there...). :-)

Edited (typo) 2020-07-24 22:37 (UTC)

Huh. I always thought she was influenced but still capable of choice. She seems to still be acting like herself, not like she does when she's guiding Zhao Yunlan into the game, where she's basically a remote-conrtolled robot ...

Yeah, it fits with the vision problems and with Da Qing's issues, even if maybe not the actual hypnotherapy. And also with Zhao Yunlan asking her about the personality changes, even if the info she gives him is ... uh, very scientific. *g*

Huh. I always thought she was influenced but still capable of choice. She seems to still be acting like herself, not like she does when she's guiding Zhao Yunlan into the game, where she's basically a remote-conrtolled robot ...

*rewatches* Oh, you're totally right. She's trying to protect Zu Ma from Zhao Yunlan's investigating. I guess he understands protecting your family?

Also, just after that there's a flashback to her eavesdropping on Ya Qing and Zu Ma:

Zu Ma: You were right, manipulating real people is much more fun than virtual reality games, and more fun than video games.
Ya Qing: Zu Ma, do you want to play something even bigger? You have received the blessing of the Merit Brush. Your special power has been fully awakened. You can decide for yourself what you want to do next. If you want to back out…
Zu Ma: Back out? Are you kidding? This is a rare opportunity. I haven't had enough fun yet.

(Ya Qing is surprisingly gentle with him. I guess she does like kids -- or maybe she can see that he doesn't need to be pressured. :-)

Anyway, Cheng Xinyan knows that Zu Ma is implicated in ~~Mr Tan's death(?)~~ the attacks on the nurse and doctor who didn't stop Mr Tan from committing suicide (is that right?) and knows/finds out about "special powers" and the Merit Brush before she becomes Zu Ma's robot. And she didn't interrupt Ya Qing's recruitment speech and tell Ya Qing to get out of the hospital (or call security), either...

ETA: Or, having discovered Zu Ma is not human, she's trying to protect him from the SID? Idk!

Edited (watched more) 2020-07-24 23:24 (UTC)

Oh, duh, that scene with Ya Qing! I rewatched that not so long ago, and still totally managed to forget about it when I commented here. So yeah, from that point on Cheng Xinyan knows about powers and the Merit Brush, for sure.

Ya Qing is surprisingly gentle with him.

She really is, isn't she? I can never decide how much that is manipulative and how much it's genuine. But maybe she really just has a soft spot for sick children?

the attacks on the nurse and doctor who didn't stop Mr Tan from committing suicide (is that right?)

That's how I remember it! But I really do need to rewatch more ...

And she didn't interrupt Ya Qing's recruitment speech and tell Ya Qing to get out of the hospital (or call security), either...

Yeah, that's really interesting ... I wonder if maybe that is when she's confronted with the existence of powers as something more than merely the weirdness of Zu Ma's aging, for the first time, and her lack of reaction is due to having to wrap her mind around that ...

ETA: Regarding your ETA, I don't see any hint that she's found out Zu Ma isn't human. I definitely thought she was trying to protect him from the investigation because it was clear he was involved somehow.

Edited 2020-07-24 23:28 (UTC)

I wonder if maybe that is when she's confronted with the existence of powers as something more than merely the weirdness of Zu Ma's aging, for the first time, and her lack of reaction is due to having to wrap her mind around that ...

Could be! Directly after that, she tries to kick Wang Xiangyang out of a different ward, so it's not like she's shy. *g* (Wait, do we actually know for sure that Zu Ma is Dixingren? Could he just be a human with weird ageing issues? The Merit Brush works on humans too, right?)

I definitely thought she was trying to protect him from the investigation because it was clear he was involved somehow.

I guess I'm trying to find a loophole whereby she isn't covering up his involvement in murder. :-p

*is rewatching the bomb scene* (When ZYL puts his hand on the bomb, his pinky finger touches Shen Wei's hand! akdsfsjhdlasjhfd) /off-topic

Wait, do we actually know for sure that Zu Ma is Dixingren? Could he just be a human with weird ageing issues?

I've always interpreted Shen Wei's lines: The Merit Brush is a double-edged sword. His special power was forcibly awakened. to mean that Zu Ma was Dixingren. I think the way the Merit Brush works is that if the Dixing person's power is already awakened (like Sha Ya), it amplifies/increases that power. If the Dixing person's power hasn't awakened yet (like Zu Ma), the Merit Brush forces it to.

The Merit Brush works on humans too, right?

It seems to? Kong Jing from episode 25 is a normal human, but he was injected with a multiple personality virus that was capable of spreading (seemingly by dark energy). It's hard to tell if he was also being affected by the Merit Brush, or if the virus (since it must've come from Ye Zun via Wang Xiangyang and Ya Qing) was enough to make Kong Jing the way he was. Kong Jing claimed to have more personalities than a human could handle, and if he really had all those personalities it could be due to the Merit Brush.

Doctor Feng, the "miracle doctor" who cured Zhao Yunlan's blindness (temporarily), might've been a normal human, too. Or could he be a Dixing person whose power hadn't awakened yet? Wang Xiangyang says he's "activating the genes of a miracle doctor" when he uses the Merit Brush on Doctor Feng.

Given how big a deal was made about Kong Jing being just a human, I think Zu Ma and Feng Qubing were both at least part-Dixingian. I'd have to rewatch episode 25 to see if Kong Jing actually got Merit Brushed; he had the virus but I don't recall having him touch the Merit Brush.

Was Kong Jin infected with the personality change virus? I thought the syringe that Lin Jing found at the scene (that he ended up stealing from the evidence) meant he'd been injected with with an early version of the superpower serum, and that triggered the multiple personality thing in him, whcih then was amplified by the Merit Brush and started spreading?

With Doctor Feng it's ambiguous whether he's human or comes from a Dixing family but hadn't developed powers before the Merit Brush, yeah.

He was injected with the serum and developed the power of a personality change virus. Guo Changcheng didn't need the Merit Brush to develop his powers, so Kong Jing getting Merit Brushed is completely optional (and I'd need a rewatch).

The Merit Brush is a double-edged sword. His special power was forcibly awakened. to mean that Zu Ma was Dixingren.

Ah, right. I was confusing the Merit Brush with the serum. The business with the serum suggests that humans have latent powers that can be awoken, right? Like Changcheng's being able to hear the dead's final wishes? But Shen Wei saying "his special power" does sound more like he's talking about a Dixing power...

IIRC the serum's "point" was giving humans Dixing powers (like Professor Ouyang's super strength)? Or Shen Wei simply fit the power Guo Changcheng got into the framework he was familiar with, i.e. Dixing powers.

The business with the serum suggests that humans have latent powers that can be awoken

I thought it was that they had isolated part of what gives Dixingren their powers, and the serum gave that to Haixingren. Not that it activated something that was already there.

Wait, do we actually know for sure that Zu Ma is Dixingren?

I think it's implied, but not stated outright. And I don't think we have a case of the Merit Brush definitely being used on something we know for sure is 100% human.

I thought Doctor Feng was human. Anyway, I think the Merit Brush must be able to be used on humans, because all the other Hallows can be. It would be weird if the Brush alone only worked on Dixingren, wouldn't it?

There's nothing that says explicitly one way or the other, with Dr Feng, and the surprise from everyone when they discover Kong Jin is entirely human probably suggests otherwise.

Agreed that it should be possible and would make more sense that way, but we don't have actual canon on it, that I'm aware of.

ETA: Or, having discovered Zu Ma is not human, she's trying to protect him from the SID? Idk!
I think she might not have discovered Zu Ma is Dixingian, but she must know there's something hinky going on, and if she's also heard that the SID investigates "special" cases it's not much of a leap to consider that Zu Ma might be under their purview. I do think she's trying to protect him – maybe she drugged Zhao Yunlan so she could go warn Zu Ma that the SID was on to him so he should stop and she'd help him? Cue Zu Ma starting the live action video game.

(This'd probably explain why she didn't kick out Ya Qing – she wanted to hear what was going on, and not involve security because that'd implicate Zu Ma in shady shit. She probably hoped to give him a moral education and make him stop.)

Edited 2020-07-25 09:14 (UTC)

I like this theory! That makes sense to me.

I like her a lot! Both as a look into Shen Wei's pre-ZYL life and as a character in her own right. I really appreciate how determined she is to help people, and how well she takes all the weirdness that happens in Dragon City during the drama. Presumably because she already knew Zu Ma and had time to get used to the idea of weird stuff.

Do you think she knew Shen Wei was Dixingian? If not, how do you think she'd react to finding out? Did she ever suspect?

I don't think she knew Dixing existed. Because of Zu Ma, she must have known there were weird powers/abilities around, but my theory is that she didn't know they were aliens, but thought they were human mutants. And I don't think she found out about Dixing until essentially everyone did.

I don't think she ever definitely found out Shen Wei is Dixingren, at least not until the very end when someone may have mentioned it in front of her, but she must have suspected during the second half of the show that there was something up with him, since he was always in the middle of things.

I would have really liked to see her actually find out about Shen Wei being Dixingren, and being the Black-Cloaked Envoy.

How do you think she met Zu Ma? She says he's like a brother to her – how did that come about? Was she a friend of his parents', or did she only meet him after they'd died?

Maybe they were neighbours when she was a child/teenager? Zu Ma is younger than her, but since he stopped aging at some point, I'm not sure how much younger.

What do you think she ended up doing post-canon? Did she stay in her job, or take on new responsibilities?

I think her main priority is helping people, so she probably wouldn't have given up her job. Maybe she ended up consulting for the SID? I mean, she basically already did, unofficially, given how often she got dragged into things. :)

but my theory is that she didn't know they were aliens, but thought they were human mutants.

That makes a lot of sense. If she'd thought they were a different species, bringing Zu Ma into the hospital would have been risky, don't you think? (Do we know what he was in there for? Was it just developmental stuff, or was he sick on top of that?)

Yeah, good point.

I don't remember why exactly he was in hospital - I need to rewatch these episodes again ...

She brought Zu Ma to the hospital because his growth stagnated. He was also picking fights due to his addiction to games, but that improved after being in the hospital.

Oh, right! Thank you - I really do need to rewatch ... why don't I have more time ...?

Maybe they were neighbours when she was a child/teenager? Zu Ma is younger than her, but since he stopped aging at some point, I'm not sure how much younger.
IIRC he's mentioned to be 22 or something? Early 20s, anyway. Shen Wei is officially 32, so his university friend Cheng Xinyan is probably 32/in her early 30s as well.

I don't think she ever definitely found out Shen Wei is Dixingren, at least not until the very end when someone may have mentioned it in front of her, but she must have suspected during the second half of the show that there was something up with him, since he was always in the middle of things.
Do you think she'd have suspected he was Dixingian, once she had time to put together the pieces? She'd know about Dixing post-canon, and probably noticed Shen Wei being odd in weird ways during their decade-plus-long acquaintace. Though I really would like fic about her discovering Shen Wei's secret...

I think she'd probably suspect after discovering Dixing exists, yes! But there's still a lot between "maybe he's one of those Dixingren I just found out about" and the Black-Cloaked Envoy. *g* That should be a shock for her - if only because it's so out there for someone you went to uni with to be an ancient warrior around in a cloak and mask. *g*

Nice post! Cheng Xinyan is so great--smart, sweet, capable, gorgeous, and she ships Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan. What's not to like?
I feel like there isn't enough background information to be sure what she thought about Shen Wei, but she might have had a suspicion that there was something different about him, since she's had a decade or more of time spent with him to pick up on little inconsistencies and oddnesses, and she's observant. I wonder if she identified him with Zu Ma a little that way, especially since Shen Wei, while obviously not a child, has presumably not aged a whole lot in the time she's known him?

She's definitely still a doctor post-canon; I like to think that she was significantly involved in whatever recovery projects took place with regard to the city's physical and mental trauma.

(I think we could come up with a whole discussion about how women are allowed to be competent in the show--Cheng Xinyan, Zhu Hong, Li Qian, Ya Qing (allowing for competence somewhat put to evil ends) and so on.)

she might have had a suspicion that there was something different about him, since she's had a decade or more of time spent with him to pick up on little inconsistencies and oddnesses, and she's observant.

During my latest rewatch of the latter part of the series, this is the conclusion I came to. She's smart and observant, and I felt like she suspected there was something different about Shen Wei, and whether or not he wanted to tell her, she would be there for him.

I feel like there isn't enough background information to be sure what she thought about Shen Wei, but she might have had a suspicion that there was something different about him, since she's had a decade or more of time spent with him to pick up on little inconsistencies and oddnesses, and she's observant. I wonder if she identified him with Zu Ma a little that way, especially since Shen Wei, while obviously not a child, has presumably not aged a whole lot in the time she's known him?
I'm not sure she'd have identified Shen Wei with Zu Ma due to lack of aging, since she met Shen Wei as an adult and lack of visible aging would've been much less noticeable for him than for teenage Zu Ma. It's an interesting question about whether she'd have connected Shen Wei's weirdness with Zu Ma (and asked him for advice? probably not in canon, though I'd have to rewatch).

(I think we could come up with a whole discussion about how women are allowed to be competent in the show--Cheng Xinyan, Zhu Hong, Li Qian, Ya Qing (allowing for competence somewhat put to evil ends) and so on.)
That's a very good point! And, uh, feel free to start the conversation? :P

I think we could come up with a whole discussion about how women are allowed to be competent in the show--Cheng Xinyan, Zhu Hong, Li Qian, Ya Qing (allowing for competence somewhat put to evil ends) and so on.

Yes, and they're allowed to be complicated as well: Cheng Xinyan being basically good but still drugging one of our heroes to protect her sort-of-murderous little brother; Ya Qing being deadly competent working for the bad guy; Zhu Hong being confident within her area of expertise, but completely overwhelmed at the idea of becoming High Chief of the Yashou and taking time to feel comfortable in the role. And Li Qian having her breakdown and coming back from it stronger in the end. All such good characters!! :D :D :D

I think we could come up with a whole discussion about how women are allowed to be competent in the show

Yes! Given that its focus is so firmly on two men, the drama is doing really well with a variety of competent and interesting women who are allowed their own complexity. ♥

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Focus on: Cheng Xinyan

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