Defeated by the Moon

[The print edition goes on presale at 7 p.m. on December 17. See Weibo @Wanyang for details.] [My new novel, Scorched by Passion, is now underway: a race car driver vs. a comic artist. Blurb below.] Secret crush / playboy turns over a new leaf / half school, half city / bad-boy charm x sweet and obedient Blurb: Everyone knows Pei Xingwang is a big name at Anhu University: a reckless, roguish charmer with one flirtation after another. In high school, Nan Jia is gentle and well-behaved. She secretly loves him for years, then pushes herself to skip a grade and take the college entrance exam, following him all the way to university. It is not until her first year of university that she finally works up the courage to ask, blushing furiously, “Would you go out with me? It’s my birthday wish.” Pei Xingwang regards her at his leisure and smiles lazily. “Sure.” But a playboy is still a playboy. Their relationship begins like a joke, and ends like one, too. * Years later, they meet again through work. Nan Jia is confident and composed, effortlessly winning people over, and treats him with indifference. She offers him a faint smile. “Hello.” “You didn’t used to call me that,” Pei Xingwang scoffs. He leans close to her ear and asks hoarsely, “Did you ever think about me?” “I did.” His eyes light up for a moment. Nan Jia smiles sweetly. “I wondered if you were dead.” After their project ends, he pursues her relentlessly, and she can’t avoid him. “Are you crazy?” Pei Xingwang quietly grinds out his cigarette, grinning roguishly. “I’m so hopelessly in love with you, it’s incurable.” Roguish playboy x gentle, obedient girl. Both are each other’s first. *You fell into my heart, only to lose to me again. (No romance or intimate scenes while either character is underage. They get together at university.) Coming next: Scorched by Passion Blurb: Cocky, roguish race car driver x popular comic artist Yun Li first meets Shen Chi when she is only sixteen. The old man cheerfully introduces her: “This is Yun Li, the granddaughter of your Uncle Yun. She’ll be staying with us for a while.” Yun Li blinks, grips the straps of her backpack, and timidly calls him, “Big brother.” He frowns and heads back to his room. “I didn’t suddenly gain a sister out of nowhere.” On the day Yun Li leaves, Shen Chi pretends not to care. “Can’t you stay?” Yun Li gently shakes her head. Shen Chi laughs in anger, then slams the door as he leaves. “Yun Li, you really are something.” * They reunite after the FIA GT Championship. The AT Club is celebrating Shen Chi’s spectacular victory. The superhuman driver stands amid a crowd, smiling with carefree arrogance, the lights sharpening the angles of his face. Yun Li steps forward. “It’s been years. Have you been well?” “Not bad,” Shen Chi says with a faint smile, his voice warm yet distant. “Though naturally not as well as you, Miss Cold-Hearted Yun.” In that moment, Yun Li comes to her senses. Shen Chi is no longer the boy he used to be. Their seven years apart have left him with plenty of resentment. The day after they reunite, Yun Li is fretting over the pressure to get married when Shen Chi knocks on her door “Bring your ID. We’re getting married.” They agree to a truce, and at first, everything goes well. But it doesn’t last. Shen Chi keeps crossing the line. Yun Li’s eyes turn red as she clings to his arm and pouts. “You said you weren’t marrying me for anything…” “Li Li.” Shen Chi slowly loosens his tie. His hot breath scorches her ear, and his voice turns low and enticing “You wanted a marriage. I wanted you. What’s wrong with that?” * Shen Chi will never forget. When he was young and rebellious, coming home late, the old man ordered all the lights in the house turned off. Only the little lamp in Yun Li’s room was left on for him. Beneath the brilliant stars, the girl smiled brightly, her eyes clear and lovely, as if she were resting amid all the tenderness of the night. “Brother Chi, you’re back.” He remembered that moment for a long time. He would never forget it. Theme: Building a harmonious family