For adults, Jin's works are exciting escapist romances. The spirit of a knight-errant who is sincere in love, friendship and patriotism stands at the core of most of his stories. "The person with the highest level of kungfu is not necessarily the real knight in my novels. To me, the real spirit of the knight-errant is that of working for country and people, even if it brings no benefit - even if it brings death," Jin said in a speech.

"In a complicated modern society, the idea of such a pure spirit really moves me, even if I doubt its existence in reality," said Susan He, a woman in her 20s who has read all Jin's novels several times.

Women readers are moved by the young knight Yang Guo in the novel who waited for his lover faithfully for 16 years, believing she was still alive even though she had leapt from a mountain into a ravine.

Men are moved when powerful knight Xiao Feng treats his friends with sincere affection, ready to die for the peace of his homeland.

In Jin's novels, there are many beautiful love stories and tragedies. His true life is almost as theatrical as his novels. Jin married three times, according to the biography written by Fu, with all his wives being beauties.

During the interview with CCTV, Jin said he had not been successful as a husband, as was shown by his divorces. "I always feel particularly guilty about one of my ex-wives. Now she has died, and I am terribly sad," he said.

The ex-wife he was talking about was his second. They divorced because of Jin's extramarital affairs. The woman's later life is described as lonely and poverty-stricken. In 1998, she died in a hospital in Hong Kong, with only medical staff around her.