The Lu family is the center of Romance in the Rain which was utterly dysfunctional. So we have the following according to the 2001 remake:
General Lu Zhenhua- He is the patriarch of the family who has had a series of failed marriages. During the start of the series, he already had seven ex-wives and he randomly picks Fu Wenpei for his eighth wife (and had two daughters, one who died young and the other was Ruping the protagonist) and then he immediately picks up Wang Quexin which was a bigamy then divorced Fu Wenpei for Wang Quexin which was a bad decision. Of course, karma is a bitch when it hits him that after he and Quexin had three children namely Erhao, Ruping and Mengping the youngest Erjie isn't his but the son of his latest wife with another man who was a criminal. Later we realize that Zhenhua was once a lowly servant who fell for a rich man's daughter, he became a general and later found out his girlfriend had committed suicide to escape an arranged marriage. He was driven into madness collecting girls that resembled his late girlfriend Pingping and added "ping" to his daughters. But still, his behavior is very inexcusable especially considering the fact he is VERY violent. I mean while spanking is a necessity but using a horse whip is not appropriate discipline or the fact he is very brutal and unreasonable, makes the karma oh so satisfying to watch especially when he discovered Xueqin cheated on him with another man, Wei Guangxiong.
Fu Wenpei- The general's eighth ex-wife who was too much like the typical Chinese martyr. I mean, she jsut accepted it as fate that she was to be married to the lecherous Zhenhua who already had seven divorces. She also accepted the bigamy part when Xueqin was still with them, she couldn't even fight for her rights until later. Of course, I really do think she's kind of dumb but at the same time, perhaps the most tolerable character in the whole story. I do find it stupid how she still loves her ex-husband Zhenhua considering that he was treating women like stamps!
Wang Xueqin- Well she's a real bitch or should say BIIIIITCH with how she is. She was an 18 year old schemer when she allowed herself to marry a man who's old enough to be her father (though the age gap is never specified) and for the sake of power, she allowed herself to be Zhenhua's latest wife which resulted to the Zhenhua divorcing Wenpei. She did have power considering this that Erhao is the general's firstborn son and had two daughters Ruping and Mengping. However what was later discovered is that she took a secret lover named Wei Guangxiong who was an underground boss and had a son Erjie, whom she passed out as Zhenhua's son and puh-lease you do not right a wrong with another wrong you witch. This of course is also karma to Zhenhua's womanizing- he picked a slut who betrayed him behind the scenes. While she is a mean woman, she however still cares about her children which made her hesitant to elope with Guangxiong way back or two, to get enraged when she discovered that her children from her previous marriage were run dry by her second husband Guangxiong. It was somehow nice to see her gone so pitiful considering how she got her karmic due. After all, she couldn't expect Wei Guangxiong to be faithful to her, considering the fact she's also an adulteress to begin with. Karma begets karma.
Lu Yiping- She is the panther daughter who has inherited her father's tenacity. She is the anti-heroine considering the fact she has declared war against her own family and of course her stepmother who was the reason why her father divorced her mother. She grew resentful of him because of the fact that her father had picked up and dumped women whenever he wanted. I mean, it's not easy to be in that situation where she is forced to live with her mother in a shabby apartment while the ninth wife enjoys everything. This of course leads to her relationship with Shuhuan to spite Ruping though later, she came to truly love him and accept her half-sisters.
Lu Erhao- Apparently the only son of Lu Zhenhua, nothing is known whether Zhenhua had other children by his ex-wives. He starts off as a jerk but decides to soften up because he fell in love with Fangyu, his older half-sister Yiping's best friend. He of course had womanizing tendencies when he got his own maid Keyun pregnant which resulted to a miscarriage to which shows he is his father's son aside from his violent tendencies. Sometimes I wonder why a nice and pretty girl like Fang Yu would even fall for him, I mean they're pretty much a beauty (Fang Yu) and beast (Erhao) because of the huge contrast of personalities! But his true love is Fangyu and he grew to accept Yiping as family. Just my thought, he is what I'd call the beast becoming the prince charming later in the series!
Lu Ruping- Kindhearted, has a scheming side and somewhat dumb. I think there's much unfair hatred for her then again, who can blame her actions having a mother as evil as Xueqin? So she has a crush on Shuhuan while Dufei had a crush on her. In the 2001 version, she was hurt because of her love for Shuhuan but later later realized Dufei was the one for her. I prefer the plot where she doesn't push through with suicide but went to become a nurse though it was also stupid for her not to write. Fortunately she found Dufei was the man for her in the end. I thought she should have returned with her husband Dufei for the finale, but sigh did Ruby Lin have other things to do?
Lu Mengping- The bitchy teenage daughter, almost quite a picture of what American children would be later. She is not very much the traditional Chinese daughter as she was pretty rebellious which led to her misfortune at only 16. In fact, no matter how bitchy she is but being raped by three men at once is super traumatic and two, Xueqin's irresponsible decision led her to become sterile when the child was aborted. In the end, she started to take care of orphaned children. In the 1986 version she somewhat still remained bitchy.
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