A Fool's Guide to Childhood Sweetheart Romance

· Former title: Best Frenemies | Next novel: The Demon Lord's Handbook for Disciplining His Disciple

· Recommending my wife's goofy school-life novel, Let Me Copy Your Test, by Guai Guai Dawang

Blurb:

Shen Qi grew up in a staff housing compound. His parents and Cheng Yi's parents were constantly exasperated with them, calling the childhood friends:

'The best-looking piece of scum in the porridge' and 'the one-of-a-kind shit-stirrer.'

Of course, since Shen Qi had an innocent-looking face, he could always dodge half the damage at crucial moments.

That meant he and Cheng Yi made a perfect team: one acted cute, the other played the tough guy.

Shen Qi thought they would be best friends for life.

But at their graduation party, he got carried away at a bar. The handsome stranger he'd met by chance turned out to be Cheng Yi, asleep beside him.

Cheng Yi had a fiercely short haircut and slept like a menacing pig.

Shen Qi bared his teeth and made a face at him, then grabbed the clothes scattered all over the floor

and, in a stunning display of cowardice, booked a red-eye flight at dawn and fled to Britain with his butt covered.

-

Cheng Yi had a friend he cared about deeply. He had liked him for as long as they had known each other.

Though, the time when they wore split-crotch pants didn't count.

Believing that 'there's no way Shen Qi could like guys,' Cheng Yi thought their relationship would never be anything more than it was.

But after one chaotic night, the other man left him a note saying they were no longer friends and ran off faster than a rabbit.

At last, he caught up with him. The guy was blushing and panting not far away, demanding in fits and starts to know where Cheng Yi had gotten his address.

Cheng Yi shoved a crumpled note back at him, his face cold. 'You want to end our friendship? Are you serious?'

A moment later, he asked, unwilling to give up,

'If we can't be friends, then be my boyfriend.'

'...Will you?'

Bonus scene:

After making up in a daze.

Shen Qi: Wait... Who said I wanted to end our friendship?

Cheng Yi: The note you left. It had a broken heart on it.

Shen Qi: ?o_O

Shen Qi: Go to hell with that heart. That's a picture of my cracked butt!

Cheng Yi: ...^-^b

#Friend, I only want to be your friend for one second.#

#The one who used to be your closest person.#

Reader's guide:

1. A seemingly innocent, wide-eyed, cute-looking bottom who's secretly cunning and then innocent again x a cool top with a bad temper, an even worse attitude, and a tough exterior but a soft heart.

2. 174 x 191, height difference | build difference. Their animal counterparts are a Samoyed and a Czech wolfdog.

3. From a staff housing compound to London, Britain: an unconventional overseas-student love story (the word for 'give' is pronounced with the fourth tone).

4. Both leads are each other's one and only, bittersweet but happy ending.

Blurb for the next novel:

Before Xie Wei's master failed his ascension and died, he left him one pearl of wisdom:

There's risk in picking someone up. Be cautious when taking a disciple.

Xie Wei pondered this for a long time, until a few years later, he came across a blood-soaked demon beast on the mountain path leading to his sect.

White fur, long tail, pointed ears, scarlet eyes.

Xie Wei thought for a moment, then carried the beast back up the mountain

Well, his master had never said he couldn't pick up a puppy.

-

Teaching students is hard. Teaching a puppy how to be a person is harder.

But Xie Wei couldn't just give up halfway.

His disciple was naturally unruly and disobedient?

Then he would keep at it, leading by example and winning him over with virtue.

His disciple was targeted by villains and in mortal danger?

Fine. He would change his appearance, stay by his side, and protect him all the way.

His disciple was possessed by an evil spirit and turned the whole world upside down?

Looking at the mess strewn everywhere, Xie Wei thought for a few seconds.

Damn it! He picked the disciple up himself, so he had to clean it all up, even if he had to do it on his knees.

He took his sword and went to face that rebellious disciple himself, laying down his heart to save the world.

He used half his heart as the anchor to establish an impassable barrier between humans and demons; he gave the other half to the demon lord who had appeared out of nowhere.

As he lay dying, he saw the rebellious disciple, face smeared with blood, holding him and on the verge of tears. The disciple asked why he had to sacrifice so much.

Xie Wei smiled and said, 'We are master and disciple. This is only right.'

If he had one last unfulfilled wish, it was probably this:

He hoped his disciple would mend his ways and learn to be a decent person.

-

A hundred years after his death, the world had changed beyond recognition, and no trees or plants remained.

Xie Wei was reborn in the body of a sparrow demon. His magic was weak, but he had a handsome face that looked just like his own.

Beneath a canopy of red gauze, the one-eyed demon lord propped his chin on one hand. His wheat-colored muscles were strong and well-built, while his other hand hovered beside Xie Wei's waist.

The man's red eyes were as deep as blood. He said casually, 'You're finally awake? Want to hear the story of how my late wife and I loved and fought each other all over again?'

Xie Wei: 'Sorry, who was your late wife?'

The demon lord gave a snort, his tone lazy. 'Who else? That leader of the righteous path who turned the tide in a crisis and saved the world at the cost of his own life...'

'My master, Xie Wei.'

The real person in question: ?

#When you're away from home, don't give out your master's name, let alone say I taught you.#

#Please, act like a decent person!#

Theme: Love gives people the courage to press forward.