Tang Lei and Lilac were one of the classic combinations in The Reader. Lei Tang was a smart, witty, and brave character while Lilac was a gentle, kind, and beautiful female character. Their relationship was usually described as mutual support, mutual understanding, mutual appreciation, and also some complicated emotional entanglements. In the novel, the fates of Tang Lei and Lilac were often interconnected. Their stories were also one of the topics that readers generally paid attention to.