Lin Zhixi is the female protagonist, Yu Molan's wife and Yu Xiaoyu's mother. She manages the household under crisis, cooking with scarce resources, filtering rainwater with a shirt, and performing chores to maintain some normalcy. She is deeply frightened but hides it from her daughter; she weeps in private but remains strong. She reads Harry Potter to pass the time and protect Xiaoyu's innocence. She holds a cleaver when Yu Molan returns, showing her readiness to defend. She endures the degradation of food and living conditions with silent suffering. She represents the resilience of caregivers in a collapsing society.
