Catching Cicadas

(The blurb is in the middle) Refined, self-possessed academic big shot × stunning, enchanting top actress, with both leads standing in for someone else and both experiencing a mild groveling-for-forgiveness arc

Next up: The rich young lady and the poor boy reunite after a breakup in You Look So Funny; a mutual-disguise contract romance in The Purehearted Masquerade. See the author's column.

Upcoming story You Look So Funny, blurb:

[Purehearted country puppy × arrogant black swan]

After her family went bankrupt and her parents passed away, Bu Zhiyao fell from the clouds overnight and was reduced to sharing a home with someone.

She really needed to be loved. Seeing Zhou Yihan bustle around taking care of her, hand over his salary card, and say he wanted to save enough to buy the house they shared, with only her name on the deed, Bu Zhiyao felt impatient inside but merely smiled without saying a word.

Once she had enough money, she could go back to the life she used to have. Even without her childhood sweetheart and fiance by her side, there would be someone else, someone better. It certainly wouldn't be some poor boy without a decent set of clothes, whose socks were worn so thin at the heels that light shone through.

That day, Zhou Yihan was so tired he fell asleep. Even in his dream, he was saying, "You look so beautiful when you smile."

Bu Zhiyao's lips curved in a mocking smile as she replied, "You look so funny."

*

After Bu Zhiyao made a comeback, a friend introduced her to a rising tycoon at a banquet one day.

The cool, elegant man had a face she knew all too well.

Zhou Yihan asked in a low voice, struggling to contain his feelings, "Do I still look funny to you now?"

With her arm linked through her new beau's, Bu Zhiyao walked straight past him and said only, "Funny."

Little scene:

At the wedding, her fiance's family was arrested on the spot. Bu Zhiyao picked up the glass at the top of the champagne tower and drank to celebrate getting what she wanted.

When Zhou Yihan arrived in a suit, she smiled and asked, "Mr. Zhou, are you here to see just how funny I am?"

But Zhou Yihan took the glass and drained it, then brought out a ring in front of her. "Would you do me the honor of marrying down to me?"

Blurb posted on October 5, 2021.

Reading guide:

1. Both leads are sexually inexperienced; 1v1, happy ending. The heroine had a crush on the second male lead, her fiance, when she was a teenager (they only ever held hands). After breaking up with the hero, she dated and slept with male supporting characters other than the second male lead. The hero has only ever loved the heroine, in both body and heart.

2. There are lots of inner thoughts from both leads. The heroine is unaware of her feelings at first and only realizes them later; she grows over time.

3. The heroine and the second male lead never registered their marriage when they held their wedding. The leads are childfree and do not plan to adopt.

[Blurb for this story]:

Shi Jun, a big name in the world of mathematics, indulged his young girlfriend Ji Chanyu but had no genuine feelings for her. She was merely a stand-in for the woman he had always loved, and he couldn't give her even a fraction of his true love.

When he took her home for the New Year, he saw her in the garden, smiling as she shook off the hand of a young man. "Senior, have some respect. You should be calling me Auntie now."

Only then did Shi Jun realize that he, too, was a stand-in.

*

After their breakup, Ji Chanyu began filming her new drama.

Her character's first love was to be played by her senior as a guest actor, and they even had a kissing scene.

She closed her eyes, ready to fake the kiss, when a gust of wind swept by. Shi Jun appeared in the same costume as the other actor, looking noticeably thinner.

"Xiaoyu." His eyes were red as he pinned her against the wall, his voice low and hoarse. "Do I look enough like him?"

Ji Chanyu smiled faintly. "Sorry, Uncle. You're already old."

Little scene:

During their first interview after getting married, the host posed a difficult question: "Can you imagine a future without each other?"

Shi Jun: "No."

Ji Chanyu: "Sure. I'll go dancing in the square with handsome old men every day. I'm not holding you to a double standard. If I go first, you can find someone too."

The next day, a friend appeared on a variety show. During the call-in segment, the production team dialed Ji Chanyu's number.

A clear, handsome male voice answered from the other end: "Xiaoyu is tired. She's still asleep."

Reading guide:

1. Both leads are sexually inexperienced; 1v1, happy ending. The hero is fifteen years older than the heroine. At the beginning, he is 33 and she is 18. Readers uncomfortable with the age gap should skip this story.

2. Both leads had someone they once loved deeply, and those people are relatives of the other lead. They leave the story midway through.

3. The leads genuinely don't like each other at first. They are childfree and do not plan to adopt.

Blurb posted on January 26, 2021.

Upcoming story The Purehearted Masquerade, blurb:

[Formerly aloof male god, now a resentful rich husband × dramatic actress with a pretend airhead act and a theatrical personality]

Everyone in Yancheng's upper circles knew that Ming Lu, the heiress the Ming family had gone to great lengths to find in the countryside, was vulgar and uncouth, a complete airhead.

On her first day at an elite private school, Ming Lu wore a striking red dress and boldly blocked Shen Xingyan's car. She plopped herself down on the hood. "Handsome senior, wanna date?"

Shen Xingyan's icy face showed no expression at all. "Get lost."

*

When she learned the Shen family had gone bankrupt, Ming Lu ran off with one heel missing to find Shen Xingyan and presented him with a dating contract in both hands. "Handsome senior, pretend to be my boyfriend. I'll support you by doing social dancing. All you have to do is smile at me more."

Shen Xingyan hid the strange feelings in his heart. "Okay."

He'd been acting so high and mighty for over a year. It was about time he treated her a little better.

*

Half a year later, Ming Lu seized power and took over the Ming family, decisively stamping out old abuses. Her sharp, cool demeanor was on full display. Only then did people realize that her crude behavior in the past had been a disguise, a way to lie low and bide her time.

That same day, the Shen family went bankrupt.

In the villa, Shen Xingyan couldn't hide the pain in his eyes. "Was this your doing?"

"Did you really think I wouldn't use Tianyancha? You have twenty-five companies under your name." Ming Lu smiled with an innocent, guileless air. "Shen Xingyan, I told you to pretend."

Little scene:

At their fifth wedding anniversary, someone asked in front of everyone, "President Ming, it's been five years and you're still not divorced. What do you see in Shen Xingyan?"

Ming Lu swirled her wineglass. "I like that he's honest and obedient. When I tell him to go east, he wouldn't dare go west."

Everyone burst out laughing.

Shen Xingyan took out their marriage certificate and rubbed the embossed seal again and again, murmuring, "Laugh all you want. I'm still the one she married first."

Reading guide:

1. The heroine has experience; the hero does not. 1v1, happy ending.

2. The heroine has a theatrical personality. Some scenes early on may make readers cringe. Later, the hero has no job and no assets, so readers who mind that should skip this story.

Core theme: True love can cross the boundaries of age