I tend to make some brash decisions whenever I'm frustrated or angry, but I also never really delete anything either in case I ever have that moment when I pull something up and go "okay, maybe that would work now". I would Sujin (and the rest of her family) are perhaps at that point right now.

If Arthur exists as an example of "wolf that is not a douche or edgelord", then Sujin (and by extension her family) all exist as examples of "pandas that aren't lazy and oafish." Her mother, father, and aunt all maintain a successful family business, and her two siblings are extra ambitious. It's Sujin herself that that appears to sort of not be anything special, but being the eldest and thus the one who grew up on the rough road up until the family made a name for themselves. Her stern pushy mother, busybody father, and "colorful" aunt gave Sujin a real tough time in her early years, and her siblings coming along later really tested her. But through all the hardships and challenges, her family still remains close and ultimately, loves one another. Of course, her best friend would happen to know a thing or two about family strife, but unfortunately, he wound up leaving his family for good because of all the hate he had to put up with.

And who is her best friend? Why it's Arthur of course. They've been friends since grade school. But more on that later.

Of course it wasn't just characterization that made me go back and get Sujin from the scrap heap; it was also just the character design in general and the fact that she was already a fairly fleshed out character. I seem to draw panda girls a lot, and they all follow similar designs. It would be really redundant to come up with yet another panda girl who was basically just a copy of Sujin but maybe with a different backstory and some minor tweaks to the design and outfits as opposed to just simply using Sujin again. Besides, what key to her character and her family's characteristics isn't tied to a specific setting; as long as there's a mean for the family to maintain a restaurant business.

Besides, that steampunk/piratey inspired fashion can easily work in modern times. She'd just explain that's she's big on that steampunk aesthetic (much like her mother and father are), and well, if there existed a restaurant that combines that aesthetic along with some of that old Imperial China charm, I'm pretty sure a lot of people would just go there just for the atmosphere alone.