After Going on a Variety Show with My Nemesis of a PhD Classmate

[The author's other novel, The Puppy Wags Its Tail [Rekindled Romance], is currently updating. Blurb below. Please add it to your collection!]

Blurb:

Bickering couple | Reunited after years apart | Secret love becomes mutual | Sweet showbiz romance | Healing, happy ending

[Beautiful, pampered sweetheart x Brooding, old-fashioned gentleman]

[Fragile drama queen x Deadpan man with a dry sense of humor]

1/

After months of online abuse and no acting offers, Yang Yuqi thought her career was over as she sat at home gathering dust. Then she unexpectedly got a spot on a wilderness variety show.

She planned to establish a "hardworking and resilient" image on the show to repair her reputation. But then she ran into someone she knew...

Zhao Lin, the taciturn top student she'd barely exchanged a few words with in high school, had become the show's specially invited expert.

Now he wore a black outdoor jacket zipped to his chin, giving him a reserved, steady air. He was a walking animal encyclopedia from the Chinese Academy of Sciences: self-possessed, quiet, and professional.

But only Yang Yuqi knew...

This man was sharp-tongued and secretly flirtatious, and loved telling jokes as cold as Antarctic ice!

On camera, they pretended not to know each other when they first met.

Yang Yuqi smiled sweetly at the camera. "I love little animals~~ They're so healing~~"

Zhao Lin glanced at her, expressionless.

One glance was all it took.

She knew she was done for.

He still remembered her embarrassing moments!!!

"Didn't you scream for half an hour when you saw a grasshopper?"

"..."

Yang Yuqi gritted her teeth and vowed: Even if she, Yang Yuqi, became completely washed-up, she would never use Zhao Lin to stir up CP buzz!

2/

But later, sharp-eyed fans quickly uncovered a shocking piece of evidence that made their hearts race...

The plush teddy bear in the corner of one of Zhao Lin's wilderness vlogs was exactly the same as the one Yang Yuqi hugged while sleeping on the show!

From then on, the ship name "Qi-Lin" appeared out of nowhere, and the comment barrage filled with fans trying to force them together:

"Zhao Lin, my hand hurts."

"Mm, let me blow on it."

"Zhao Lin, I'm hungry."

"What do you want to eat? I'll make it."

Fans were moved to tears: How did our Yuqi get spoiled into an embryo after falling in love?

3/

Nobody knew

that Zhao Lin had been secretly in love with Yang Yuqi since high school.

Back then, she was the school beauty whom everyone adored,

while he was the silent top student.

He could only sneak peeks at her radiant smile in the sunlight through the gaps between his books.

Years later, they reunited on a variety show. He watched her go from being adored by everyone to hitting rock bottom, from bold and proud to sensitive and vulnerable.

Others called her melodramatic. Only he understood her stubbornness and pride.

This time, he wouldn't stay silent.

He would be the wind beneath her wings, accompanying her across life's wilderness.

[Bonus scene]

After they got together, Yang Yuqi finally realized...

Getting to know Zhao Lin had been a process of watching her image of the mature man crumble.

She'd watched him go from being so restrained that he had to ask permission before even holding her hand, to effortlessly stepping on the gas and flooring it.

This man kept challenging everything she thought she knew.

But one thing had never changed.

Back in high school, he was obsessed with "scoring points."

Now, that obsession remained.

Their breaths were uneven. Her eyes were red at the corners, her voice soft.

Zhao Lin rested his forehead against hers, his voice low and husky.

"Teacher Yang, how many points do I get this time?"

"...Sixty. There's room for improvement."

"Got it. I'll aim for seventy next time."

"Why not just say one hundred?"

"If I get full marks the first time, how am I supposed to improve after that?"

...She really had underestimated him.

[Watch a composed, level-headed man learn to lose his composure]

* Washed-up actor x Doctor of science

* Both are each other's only sexual and emotional partners. The male lead has no previous relationships. The female lead had a brief relationship in college, purely a plot device.

* Male lead's secret crush finally comes true / deliberate pursuit / strict with her in words but doting in reality

* Female lead is a proud, pampered sweetheart / heals and grows from being fragile / gets spoiled into a helpless little thing

* No real-life inspirations. Please don't associate the characters with real people. Professional knowledge is sourced online; corrections are welcome.

The author's other novel, The Puppy Wags Its Tail [Rekindled Romance], is currently updating.

From campus to the city / Rekindled romance / Deliberate pursuit / Reunited after years apart / Bittersweet push and pull / Light ensemble cast

[Slow-to-warm-up, gentle sweetheart x Lovesick, big-hearted puppy]

Rational mind x Emotional mind

Lawyer x Musician

1/

Liang Yunxiao was a dazzling presence at Nanjiang University.

A street dance champion and musical genius, he could set the whole crowd alight with a single flip.

He lived amid applause and adoration: passionate, open, and confident.

Ye Shuyi was a top-scoring student in the law school.

In everyone's eyes, she was serious, quiet, and well-behaved.

They were complete opposites: one was a still lake, the other a blazing spark.

She was quiet, while he embraced the noise. She was slow to warm up and reserved, while he shone brilliantly.

She never expected to receive his love, but she pushed him away with her own hands.

2/

Years later, Liang Yunxiao became a top-tier star in the music scene.

His new songs topped the charts, his tour sold out in seconds, and videos showed him soaked in champagne at his birthday party in a California mansion, surrounded by women in bikinis.

The media said there was never a shortage of women around Liang Yunxiao.

Nobody captured him after the party, drunk amid the mess, dialing a disconnected number over and over, crying like a child abandoned by the whole world.

"I don't mean any of the things I said back then anymore... Come back, please?"

3/

They reunited at a highly anticipated negotiation.

She sat across from him, calm, sharp, and refusing to yield an inch.

He looked at her with indifferent eyes, as though she were an irrelevant opponent.

He had said he would hate her.

Until he saw her get into another man's car.

In the shadows of the parking garage, Liang Yunxiao lost control. He yanked her against the wall, lifted her chin, closed her eyes, and kissed and bit her lips.

"Don't look at me like that."

His voice was low and hoarse, sounding like a plea and a surrender all at once.

"You know I can't stay hard-hearted when it comes to you."

* One-on-one, both are sexually inexperienced

* The female lead has hearing loss, but is very much her own person and has a character growth arc

* The male lead falls apart a little later on, but remains sunny at heart

* Light ensemble cast

* Entirely fictional, with no real-life inspirations

Theme: Hitting rock bottom lets you rebound with greater force.