The Movie Star's Little Chef

My next novel will be Warm Medicine. Please add it to your pre-release reading list!

The groveling romance novel Crash Into My Heart is already underway.

Please add my friend's groveling romance, The Last Snowfall, to your favorites!

Qiao Zhuyu is currently the most popular traditional Chinese cuisine food blogger. With eight million followers, she became famous across the internet for her dish, Boiled Slices of Pork in Spicy Oil. Watching her cook is a pleasure.

Movie star Jiang Qishen couldn't agree more.

Fans say Jiang Qi is God's favorite, the kind of person who gets chased around with a bowl of rice and spoon-fed. He's also famous for being a gentleman, warm and gentle.

Qiao Zhuyu's response to that is: What a load of crap!

Where his fans can't see, Jiang Qi suffers from severe bipolar disorder. Sometimes his mania flares up, turning him into a husky that tears the house apart, impossible for anyone to stop.

Then one day, Jiang Qi sees one of Qiao Zhuyu's videos, and his restless anxiety miraculously calms down. As his agent watches in shock and fear, he silently puts down a fresh roll of toilet paper, sits quietly and obediently, and eats three bowls of plain rice while watching her video.

Jiang Qi realizes that watching Qiao Zhuyu cook is the only thing that can free him from his bipolar disorder.

Later, an astronomical contract lands in Qiao Zhuyu's lap. She counts the zeroes on her fingers and posts on Weibo: I've gone to work as a private chef. Don't worry about me.

On her first day as a private chef, movie star Jiang Qi nervously says, "Hello, Chef Qiao."

Qiao Zhuyu: "...You're too polite, Mr. Jiang."

Maybe she hadn't come to work as a private chef. Maybe she had come to be someone's idol.

On a variety show, Qiao Zhuyu tosses a wok, and the other guests spend every day in her kitchen.

"Zhuyu, please let me eat at your place!"

"I promise this really is my last bowl!"

"Zhuyu, you're playing favorites! You can't only cook for Jiang Qi!"

Jiang Qi glares at the crowd clamoring to be fed and grits his teeth: She's my private chef!

*The following is a preview of an upcoming novel. The full manuscript is already written, so you can safely add it to your reading list.

Early on: A gentle, well-behaved girl forced to live under someone else's roof x a rebellious boy growing into a scumbag

Later: A bold, headstrong fashion queen x a devoted movie star chasing his wife through a groveling romance

*Amnesia plot

Young Master Ji Liao is a born winner. He lives by the motto, "Drink today, and worry about tomorrow tomorrow," not caring who his parents are.

After entering the entertainment industry, his handsome face wins him countless adoring fans, with Tang Ran among his most devoted.

A friend asks him, "Is it all because of your looks?"

He replies:

"No, she's just an orphan. Give her a little charity, and she'll be devoted to you."

"There are plenty of women like her."

Outside the door, Tang Ran trembles slightly. When her family fell on hard times and she had to live under someone else's roof, Ji Liao fought for her and cursed people out. She thought that was love, but seven years later, it turns out she was the only one who ever felt that way.

Later, Ji Liao gets caught up in a scandal, and Tang Ran becomes the one sacrificed for the sake of his career.

Heartbroken, Tang Ran calls Ji Liao with the last of her hope. A woman answers: "Oh, him? He's throwing me a birthday party."

The last news Ji Liao hears of Tang Ran is that she's been in a car accident.

He abandons the thousands of viewers watching him on camera and rushes into the emergency room, but still fails to see Tang Ran one last time.

In the pouring rain, he keeps vigil before Tang Ran's memorial tablet for a whole day and night.

Three years later, movie star Ji Liao has ascended to the heights of fame. He's reserved and aloof, no longer like the young man he once was, yet he still inspires countless people to adore him.

Those in the know understand that Ji Liao became this way because the girl who followed him for seven years disappeared.

When the mysterious fashion queen Candice appears before everyone, she's alluring and glamorous, proud and dazzling, like a rose in full bloom.

But in those brilliantly bright eyes, there's no place for him.

A long-missing madness flares in Ji Liao's eyes. He forcefully pulls her into his arms. "Listen. My heart is beating again. You're the one who made it pound."

Tang Ran smiles brightly and shoots back, "Congratulations, sir. You're perfectly healthy, but unfortunately, you're not right in the head."

The following is my friend's novel, Drowning Addiction [Entertainment Industry], by Ciyu.

Feng Yan's first love, Ye Mingyue, marries abroad. He follows her wishes and marries her older sister, Ye Taotao.

Because the sisters look alike, she wants him to remember her forever.

Ye Taotao knows nothing about any of this.

-

As the daughter of the Shen family who grew up away from home, Ye Taotao gets no special treatment after she's brought back. Every day, she's used as Ye Mingyue's walking blood bank.

Just as she's about to lose the last of her hope, she meets Feng Yan.

As the CEO of Yuhui Media, Feng Yan is unlike anyone else.

He marries her, personally makes arrangements for her food, clothing, housing, and transportation, and often stares absentmindedly at the beauty mark beside her eye.

In this marriage between two people worlds apart, Ye Taotao is the first to fall in love.

She thinks he feels the same.

-

Until a fire breaks out at the theater, trapping Ye Taotao and Ye Mingyue under a fallen beam.

Feng Yan rushes in like a madman and carefully lifts Ye Mingyue into his arms. His gaze passes over Taotao's trembling hand, but he turns away without mercy.

In the flames, Ye Taotao closes her eyes, exhausted.

So he can feel heartache, so much so that he wants to take her place.

Only later does she learn that their marriage, from beginning to end, was nothing more than his devotion to his younger sister.

-

After waking up, Ye Taotao decisively slaps the divorce papers down in front of him.

She picks up the acting career she loves again and gradually returns to the public eye.

When Feng Yan sees Ye Taotao again, she's linking arms with a famous male idol, a hickey on her swanlike neck.

A gossip reporter teases them, asking whether their relationship in the show will carry over into real life.

Ye Taotao raises an eyebrow and parts her red lips in a smile. "I wouldn't rule it out. We'll see what happens."

Below the stage, Feng Yan stares at her with savage intensity.

After the event, he drags Ye Taotao into a car. His warm lips land on the red mark, and he laughs softly. "At last, you don't smell like anyone else."

[Reading notes]

1. A fake stand-in plot, with misunderstandings in the blurb. The heroine suffers first, then the hero.

2. 1v1, both protagonists have only ever been with each other

3. Includes classic old-school melodramatic tropes

Theme: In this world, only good food and the people you love must never be let down