The Black Fan Next Door

Also known as: About How I Spent Twenty Years Hating Him on My Own, Only for Him to Want to Date Me

I spent twenty years as the male lead’s most dedicated hater, only to be fed three meals a day until I became his girlfriend.

Ling Shuangshuang is rich and beautiful, yet insists on playing bit parts. Her main job is serving as her cousin’s secretary; her side gig is hating Chen Yang for twenty years. From stealing his chicken drumstick in kindergarten to becoming bitter rivals in high school, her life goal has always been to beat him just once.

Who would have thought that the person living next door to her new apartment would be this so-called “heaven’s favored son”? A breach-of-contract fee forces her to become his neighbor, and she ends up being treated to meals every day.

The first time she freeloads a meal, Chen Yang remembers exactly that she hates cilantro, loves spicy food, and likes her rice soft. She eyes him warily. “How do you know?”

Chen Yang replies coolly, “You told me when you stole my chicken drumstick in kindergarten.”

Braised pork, late-night desserts, yogurt always stocked in his fridge… Little by little, he works her into his future.

She goes to great lengths to dig up “dirt” on her “boyfriend,” only to discover that the person she followed was his own aunt. She racks her brains trying to get under his skin, but he’ll wait in line at midnight to buy her dessert and bring her ginger tea after a water scene.

Only then does she realize: the hater switched sides long ago, and the biggest piece of dirt is this:

From the day she said, “I’ll marry you when I grow up,” this man remembered it for over twenty years, quietly writing her into the script of his life.

From bitter rivals to meal buddies, from neighbors to lovers, she finally understands:

The cleverest hunter always appears to be the prey. The best kind of love is when I think I’m hating on you, while you’ve already made me the only leading lady in your life.