Deliberately Courting Trouble

My new novel, The Male Supporting Characters Are All Full of Schemes, is now available. Add it to your favorites!

That day, Cheng Mo cornered her in the break room. Furious, he laughed. "So you like scumbags. Scumbags are your favorite, huh?"

Jiang Tang turned her head away. "You're the scumbag."

The next day, he took off his coat and forcefully wrapped it around her, asking in a low voice, "There are so many bad people out there. Would you consider marrying me?"

"Do you want to marry me?"

His eyes brimmed with tender affection as he told her, "You could marry me, too."

Some time later, one day, Jiang Tang was dragged off a bus.

The man carried her off, his dark eyes like a bottomless, icy pool. "Why are you running?"

Jiang Tang lowered her head and said nothing.

"Run again, and we'll go get our marriage license tomorrow."

Jiang Tang looked up at him. "Then what if I stop running? What would you say?"

At that, Cheng Mo tilted his head and smiled. Then he hoisted her over his shoulder again, ignoring her struggles, the corner of his mouth lifting. "If you're done running, then we'll go today."

*

Blurb for the new novel The Male Supporting Characters Are All Full of Schemes:

After absorbing too much of the luck of her counterparts in other parallel worlds, Lin Yan's fate couldn't withstand the backlash, and she died suddenly.

Only by changing the tragic fates of all her other selves could the main version of her come back to life.

Unfortunately, every world had, without fail, one male lead who seemed to have something wrong with his head... along with several male supporting characters who seemed just as unhinged.

As the main version of herself across all parallel worlds, Lin Yan had the freedom to choose her target. That meant she could replace the male lead, or pick a male supporting character she liked and put him in the lead role.

So Lin Yan stared at her breathtakingly beautiful reflection in the mirror, deep in thought.

Whether she lived or died could wait. With a face that beautiful and a personality so gentle and sweet, how had those miserable male leads dared to be so cruel and abusive to her?

"You dared to treat me like dirt? Just you wait!"

*

Story One:

When the ruthless, heartless CEO male lead and a whole bunch of obsessive, volatile male supporting characters started competing for her attention, Lin Yan chose to focus on her career, then kicked every one of those men with screws loose to the curb.

"This is hilarious. I could have the original male lead's younger brother, a tall, handsome CEO with long legs and more money than he knows what to do with, but you think I'd choose you? You're not worthy."

Story Two:

Faced with a vicious, cunning old man who'd tricked her into marriage, Lin Yan tracked down his handsome son, who'd been estranged from him for years, and proposed they work together to seize the family fortune.

"Good boy, want to team up with me?"

"Dear mother, how do you plan to split the spoils?"

Story Three:

When the heartless emperor treated his only empress as a stand-in for his beloved, Lin, Empress Lin focused on her health, studied hard, cultivated her character, and did her best to get along with the imperial concubines.

Before long, the emperor's beloved grew jealous because he had gone to Empress Lin's chambers for the night. One dark, windy evening, she sneaked into the empress's bedchamber, clung to her, and whimpered coquettishly.

"Your Majesty, Xu can, and Consort Yun can, and Noble Consort Chen can. Why can't I?"

"It's not that you can't, but you have to wait your turn."

The emperor's beloved: "?"

Story Four:

When the ruthless Wolf Crown Prince came to inspect the sacrificial offering and stopped in front of her, Lin Yan knelt in the center of the altar, one shoulder bared, making the most of her alluring beauty. "Waaah, handsome, could you please not eat me? My meat tastes awful."

The Wolf Crown Prince folded his arms, holding back a laugh. "Quit pretending. It's me."

Lin Yan got dressed, looking exasperated. "You're just a minor supporting character. How dare you make an early entrance like the male lead?"

"Your male lead is busy poisoning the Wolf King to help me seize the throne. He can't come."

"Then what are you doing here?"

"I'm here to take his place in our first meeting."

*

After Lin Yan's unexpected death, he applied to the powers above for special permission to accompany her through the parallel worlds, witnessing firsthand as she defied fate and changed her destiny.

Unfortunately, he discovered that no matter which parallel world they went to, he was still just Male Character Number N: not even qualified to be Lin Yan's cannon-fodder ex-boyfriend or admirer. He had fewer scenes with her than her family's stray dog downstairs.

So while Lin Yan tried every which way to replace the male leads in each world, he also did his utmost to charm and seduce her, diligently embarking on his path to becoming the male lead.

*

The heroine is impossibly lucky and beloved by everyone. She can stand her ground or bend when needed, has a sharp tongue for taking down trash men, and brings good fortune to her husband, friends, and family.

The hero's goal in every world is to be the most exceptional, most powerful, and most sexually appealing man in front of the heroine: a puppy-like younger man, a domineering CEO, a beautiful consort, a pure-hearted male servant... The hero is the same person in every world.

Theme: As long as you stay true to your original aspirations, true love will find its way to you. Even in a mire, brilliant flowers can bloom.