A Bright Future for Sa Sai

The blurb for my completed novel, This Is a Normal Pursuit, is below.

1.

After living for nearly half her life, Saisai still feels that the most heart-wrenching thing that ever happened to her was meeting that shameless brat, Jiang Shen, when she was four.

Back then, he was a rising star who punched toddlers around town, kicked the little hens in the kindergarten, and tore caterpillars apart with his bare hands. He stole chickens, picked locks, and climbed over walls. As a child, he was a shameless little brat; as a teenager, he became a walking beast. Not only did he keep her from becoming a lady, he also ruined her chances and scared off her suitors.

The first time Saisai was confessed to, Jiang Shen ruined it. It was graduation season, and everyone had been drinking a little at a KTV. The atmosphere was perfect, and the two of them were getting closer when Jiang Shen burst in, pale and sorrowful. "Your dad's been badly hurt."

She raced home in a blur, only to find her dad had cut his hand while chopping vegetables and was putting on a bandage while teasing the dog.

Saisai raised her hand and slapped him, then spat out, "You bastard!"

Jiang Shen, stunned by the slap: ??? What the hell?

2.

When Jiang Shen returned as an adult, he felt that his old behavior had been far too immature. He was determined to redeem himself and rebuild his image, but on his very first day back, he saw the girl stumble into a man's arms in a parking lot.

Jiang Shen, trying to act mature: ...Damn it!

Jiang Shen, determined to be an adult: I'm going to ruin that guy!

A slow-witted, snarky little scaredy-cat x a sharp-tongued, thoughtful guy with a bad temper

Reader's Guide: Both leads have only ever been with each other, and the story is eighty percent sweet, so enjoy without worry.

The story starts in the leads' childhood, with a genuine childhood-sweetheart romance, the kindergarten kind. If you don't like childhood scenes, you can start from Chapter 10.

Mwah!

When Song Li is desperate, she takes a job to seduce a rich playboy named Shen Shiyue. His petty male lover suspects he sleeps with men and women alike, and is searching everywhere for proof.

The pay isn't much, but it's just enough to solve her immediate problem.

So she studies the type Shen Shiyue likes, trying everything from innocent and sexy to classically alluring, from little-girl looks to down-and-out young women, painstakingly cycling through all kinds of personas.

The Shen family playboy looks like a male celebrity, but he keeps himself pure and is unmoved by either force or persuasion.

Song Li thinks, then I'll just fall.

The first time she gets close to the famously face-blind Mr. Shen, he considerately helps her up after she deliberately falls, and even straightens her crooked wig.

At the perfect moment, he glances down at her lazily with an amused smile. "Cosplay, Shining Nikki, Nezha, or the Black Fairy?"

"..."

Damn! I underestimated him.

Song Li later realizes she's a woman with a tragic past, a little lamb fallen into a den of wolves.

When she's desperate again, Mr. Shen comes to find her. He sits with his legs curled up at a roadside stall that clashes with his refined air, cigarette smoke curling around his fingers. His voice is cool. "Buy me a bowl of noodles."

What? I'm already in this state and you're still asking me to treat you to a meal?

"You're after my money, and I'm after your looks. That's how the world works: everyone gets what they want."

He looks up at her and slowly exhales a puff of smoke. "What I can offer you is worth far more than a bowl of noodles."

Does that mean I've succeeded in seducing him?

The male lead's perspective:

Shen Shiyue has a troublemaking, devious friend who one day tells him that a pretty young woman plans to approach him with ulterior motives. He tells Shen to be on his guard, but to go easy on her.

This friend is always coming up with one outrageous scheme after another, so Shen Shiyue finds the whole thing rather amusing. He plays along, letting himself be "accidentally" encountered, set up, and used as a human shield.

Later, he realizes he's become a sucker. The more he plays along, the more hooked he gets; the more she takes advantage of him, the happier he is. The girl seems so pitiful that, for the first time, he abandons his usual habit of minding his own business and shamelessly offers to advise her.

It's true that she's pitiful, but she wants his money, his power, and even deceives him about her feelings. After using him, she thinks she can just turn around and walk away?

Shen Shiyue is so angry he almost laughs.

Reader's Guide:

The heroine has had a hard life, but she's strong.

The male lead is a scheming adviser who comes up with plans.

The second male lead is all about his career and will stop at nothing.

The male lead and the second male lead aren't friends in the traditional sense. They're more realistic: they put their own ambitions and interests first, and only then look out for others.

Because of his past and his obsession, the second male lead believes that interests matter more than life.

But they're still friends.

In short: everyone is scheming.

Theme: Companionship is the longest-lasting confession of love