Boss Qian

Boss Qian owns the workshop where Chen Ge undertakes his largest early mannequin project. He treats Chen's unusual requests as business while remaining alert to the risks surrounding his increasingly successful client.

Biography

Building the twenty-four mannequins

Boss Qian rents Chen Ge an underground work area and the tools needed to construct twenty-four mannequins modeled on Mu Yang High School's missing students. The commission is strange, laborious, and carried out under conditions that make a cautious proprietor uneasy, yet Boss Qian honors the arrangement and lets Chen work. Their dealings later broaden into further production support and practical business advice, making him a reliable civilian supplier even though he never learns the full supernatural purpose of what is being built. (Chapters 126–216)

Appearance and personality

Boss Qian is a pragmatic small-business owner. He is cautious about liability and about Chen Ge's eccentric behavior, but curiosity and growing familiarity keep him from refusing every odd commission. His advice is grounded in cost, materials, and commercial reality rather than the supernatural explanations Chen withholds. (Chapters 126–216)

Skills and supernatural abilities

Boss Qian has no supernatural ability. He understands mannequin fabrication, workshop tools, materials, workspace management, and the practical demands of producing many human-shaped props on a deadline. (Chapters 126–216)

Relationships

• Chen Ge: A difficult but valued client. Boss Qian supplies space and tools while offering the occasional warning or piece of business advice. (Chapters 126–216)

Items

• Underground mannequin workshop: Boss Qian's principal business asset and the space used to build the twenty-four student mannequins. (Chapters 126–133)
• Fabrication tools and materials: Workshop equipment made available to Chen Ge for his unusual commissions. (Chapters 126–216)