About

Backstory

Yingjie was an orphan who was abandoned on the streets as a child, and found by a 30 year old Chinese-American woman who deeply wished she could be rich. When she realized the child was a Fleuros who could grant wishes, one which had somehow been untouched and the tail in perfect shape, she took him home not out of compassion but purely out of greed. Knowing he could grant wishes, she gave him the name of Yingjie Fu (傅英杰), Yingjie essentially meaning 'hero', because he would be able to save her from her poverty.

At the time, Yingjie was around 10. Despite not being an infant, his 'mom' would often be shocked and show disgust or contempt for him whenever he expressed any sort of need. She didn't particularly want to take care of a kid when she was barely taking care of herself. Yet at the same time she'd splurge money received from wishes from her son on unnecessary things- Like eating out too much, gambling and drinking, and buying brand names just so she wouldn't seem poor to her friends. Yingjie learned a lot of his bad money managing skills from her.

She became greedy very quickly, despite knowing she would be exchanging part of her life equivalent to every wish she made. Although originally Yingjie had no mark in his ears, after granting wishes for superficial material gain then to hurt the people who wronged his mom before, he slowly developed bone marks. She'd ask for apartments, money, superficial love, and to also hurt her old boss and ex boyfriends. Yingjie grants all these wishes for a portion of her lifespan to give to him, but he doesn't really want a longer life. He just wanted connection between him and his "mom", to feel like he was doing enough. So he listened to everything she said. Yet she never told him that she was happy with him.

Because sometimes she got tired of trying to take care of Yingjie even though he did so much for her, she just gave him a key to the apartment and told him to get out for a couple hours, and to come back at night. Sometimes when she was stressed over thinking about past relations, she'd tell him to "滚出去"(Scram) and throw one of her spare keys at his face. He'd tearily take the key and hurry out of the door, then just wander around even through the cold. When it first happened, he was walking around a park and found the silver necklace on the ground and used that to hang the key around his neck. He still keeps the key necklace today, and he lives in the same apartment anyways.

After about 5 years of granting so many wishes big and small for his mom, he realized his mom was getting sickly and weak since her lifespan was being used up so much. One evening, when he returned very late at night after being told to go out of the house, he was shocked to see his mom on the living room couch instead of asleep as he expected. He saw the dazzling city nights, a neon bright blue, and the sillhoette of his mom. She said in a sad voice, "风景以前有这么美丽吗？"(Was the view always this wonderful?) She died that night quietly, of natural causes.

The hate that was passed down to Yingjie from his mom was contagious. For a while, after his mom died Yingjie hated her too and many other things in the world. But after time passed, he realized how miserable and alone they both were. He hasn't exactly forgiven her, but he tries his best to move on and become better in his own ways. There is still a yearning in his heart for a deeper connection, to someone who would stick with him through everything. Even if it wasn't perfect, he deeply yearned for a connection of some sort. As a result he tries to make more friends, but he wants to feel loved in a familial sense too.

Education

When Yingjie was first taken in by his 'mom', he had to legally be under her as a guardian. So he forged paperworks for himself so that there would be proof of his existence. (That way he could go to school, get a job later in life, etc.) He would go to school on his own and went into 3rd grade with basically no knowledge beforehand, regarded as slow and stupid throughout elementary school. He tried to work even harder in middle school and did a bit better, but still struggled overall. When he was 15 in high school and his mom passed away, he really started trying to give it his all with academics and quickly excelled to one of the top students in his class. He was able to attend community college classes in his junior and senior year of high school, and in university majored in business marketing. He was able to graduate 2 years early before he got hired for a job as a marketing agent and translator for an import/export company (Chinese goods to America).

In his school days, he didn't make many friends especially in elementary school and middle school. He was frequently pushed around and didn't want to go to school sometimes, but was more afraid of his mom than the bullies so he went anyways. Though as he got older, he was able to try and get out of his shell a little more. He's still friends with a few people who went to his high school as well as college.

Relations

Due to his lonely childhood, he struggles to make friends a lot but treasures the people who stay by him despite his flaws (especially his horrible, horrible budgeting skills...) He's very loyal to the people he is friends with, even if they don't talk anymore and naturally drift apart he will still always be avaliable to them if they ever needed him for help. He surprisingly has money saved up in a relatively high interest savings account that is automatically taken from his paycheck deposit and into his savings, and will only touch it in dire emergencies or if his friends needs it. He doesn't consider himself starving for days an emergency, though...

On a lighter note, since his money management skills are so bad he will sometimes buy the latest phone, a cool laptop, or interesting tech and gaming equiptment (he occasionally games in his free time) but then have no money for real food. During this time he will eat plain rice for days or sometimes nothing! He's pretty skinny as a result of this which is pretty bad, but he has good friends that will generously help him out when he needs it. They often scold Yingjie for his horrible impulse purchases, which he appreciates their concern for him. (Even so, it looks like his spending isn't getting much better...) He likes to splurge on gifts for his friends since he has a pretty well-paying job too, and likes to give things to people he cares about. He really doesn't keep track of his spending at all until his card declines, then he'll finally take a look.

Currently, he occasionally will do wishes for people in exchange for money, though he's careful about the people he meets with and brings a weapon and calls a friend in advance so they know where he's going. This is just in case they try anything, since Yingjie wants to preserve his tail and his life. He views wish granting more as a side hustle that makes decent money rather than a full-time job, but harsh and evil wishes don't faze him as much as it used to when he was younger.

Relationships

Arata [ partner ]

Arata is someone who seems to never speak his mind, but Yingjie feels strangely drawn to him and often is curious about his real thoughts. He works in the cafe near Yingjie's office, and sometimes sleeps over at his place, but Arata doesn't often tag along in group activities with Ruolan and Marco, to Yingjie's dismay.

Ruolan [ friend ]

Ruolan is someone Yingjie doesn't always see eye to eye with, whether on the subject of finances or immoral wishes. Even so, they still value each other's company since they're both lonely people. Marco seems to bridge the gap between them a little better.

Marco [ friend ]

Marco is a very friendly guy who knew Ruolan from a cooking class, and started tagging along as a group with Yingjie. He seems to be able to always bridge the gap between anyone, and they sometimes play video games together. Yingjie appreciates his company and his energy a lot, and especially his cooking skill!