Lijuan Johnson
Lijuan Johnson (2010)
Mèmè Thorne
Episodes: 5090–5107
Marital Status: Song Johnson
Adopted Children: Elijah Johnson
Lijuan came to stay in Summer Bay with her husband Song on learning their adopted son Elijah was engaged to Leah. She greeted a somewhat bemused Leah with a tight hug, then proceeded to bemuse her further by revealing she had brought her own tea, teapot, sheets and pillows. Although Leah didn’t quite know how to handle her, they made it through the Johnsons’ first evening staying with the couple more or less unscathed.
She soon began to annoy Leah, however, by giving her advice on cooking. When Leah and Elijah retreated to the Diner, Lijuan and Song followed them with the home-cooked meal Lijuan had prepared, which Lijuan insisted they eat. Lijuan pressured Leah into having more cake and Elijah tried to convince Leah to stand her ground, prompting Lijuan to believe the couple were fighting and say she and Song would spend the night at a hotel to give them space to work it out. Leah and Elijah looked forward to a quiet evening only for them to return early after Lijuan got them thrown out.
Lijuan annoyed Leah again by inviting Charlie and Angelo to dinner and quizzing Angelo about his suspension from the police, although Song managed to diffuse the tension. However, against Leah’s wishes, Elijah tried to tell Lijuan to tone it down, leaving Lijuan feeling Leah didn’t want her there. Elijah tried to smooth things over by claiming he’d said it because he was having cold feet about the wedding, but Leah told her that she did find her annoying sometimes but they were still family. Having seen through Elijah’s story, Lijuan was impressed with Leah’s honesty.
Soon after, Lijuan and Song planned to go travelling again but first Lijuan asked Leah and Elijah to take part in a traditional ceremony: A document with Chinese writing on it was placed on top of the fridge to see if there were any bad omens. When Lijuan promptly got a bad toothache, it wasn’t a good start. Worried that Elijah wasn’t defending Leah, Lijuan told her that she felt Elijah was too soft to be good husband material, then told Elijah that she was hoping Leah would defend him. Her visit to the dentist left her suffering from the after-effects of painkillers but before leaving she told Leah and Elijah that the family weren’t slaves to omens and she could tell they were made for each other.