The Art of Playing at Love

[Weibo: @Shi Ting Ya] [Queued up: my upcoming novel, Stars Know My Heart. The blurb is at the very bottom. Please, please add it to your reading list~] [Adorably cunning comic artist who plays the fool x sharp-tongued, soft-hearted police detective with max boyfriend appeal] [A light mystery wrapped in sweetness. Really, it's just childhood friends who bicker over everything in their daily lives] Captain Shen of the criminal investigation squad is famous at the station for being a workaholic: cold and indifferent, with especially little patience for women. Word is, his family has arranged a childhood betrothal for him, and she's exactly the type he hates most: a pampered little princess who's been spoiled since childhood, too delicate to lift a finger, and whose first response to any problem is to burst into tears. Everyone on the team was curious to see how Shen Suihan would deal with his little "fiancee." Then, one day, the team went out for dinner. In the alley beside the restaurant, they happened to see Shen Suihan with his little "fiancee," Cen Mian. Cen Mian wore a pretty little dress and had a sweet, lovely face, exactly as everyone had imagined. Before anyone could react, she executed a beautiful shoulder throw and sent the drunk man in front of her sprawling. Pinning him to the ground, she turned to Shen Suihan and said in a soft, sweet voice, "Don't be scared. I'll take care of him." The man who had won the police academy's mixed martial arts championship all four years stood behind her with his arms folded, looking perfectly at ease. His tone was calm. "Mianmian, I'm scared. Protect me." Everyone: ... Blurb for my upcoming novel, Stars Know My Heart, below~ Please add it to your reading list~ [Sweet, lovable little ray of sunshine x gloomy, aloof, untouchable beauty] If you asked Jiang Yi what she regretted most in her life, she'd say she shouldn't have bullied Shen Wenyan when he was staying with her family. Back then, Shen Wenyan was the model student in everyone's eyes. He was handsome, got good grades, and was quiet and well-mannered. Compared with Jiang Yi, a spoiled brat adored by her parents, he was like heaven and earth apart from her. But only Jiang Yi knew that he was gloomy and cold-blooded to the core, nothing like the person everyone else saw. Jiang Yi couldn't stand him and was always bossing him around, treating him like her little lackey. She made him bring her tea and water, do her homework, massage her legs and shoulders, and buy her snacks. She even made him act as a messenger, delivering a love letter to his good friend on her behalf. The most outrageous thing of all happened on the night of her eighteenth birthday: She got blackout drunk, then, emboldened by the alcohol, grabbed his chin and kissed him by force. - After the college entrance exams, Shen Wenyan went to America and cut off contact with everyone. Jiang Yi thought they'd never cross paths again. Until the year she graduated, when she stayed in Beijing for work. On the first day of her probationary employment, her heartless landlord kicked her out of her rental. That night, drenched in the rain and in a sorry state, she hurried to the temporary place her father had found for her. But there was a man in the house, which was supposed to be empty. He was broad-shouldered and long-legged, handsome, and seemed to have just showered. A bathrobe hung loosely around him. His refined features were hazy with steam as he studied her warily and in confusion. It was none other than Shen Wenyan himself, the boy she'd foolishly bullied so often back then. QAQ When the mighty fall, even dogs will have their day. Their positions had been reversed: now she was the one living under someone else's roof. Jiang Yi obediently kept her head down and behaved herself. She was now many times gentler and more docile toward Shen Wenyan than she'd been in the past. But later, she still managed to provoke him by accident. That night, the man cornered her in the dark recess of the living room, held her chin, and kissed her deeply. Tears glimmered in Jiang Yi's eyes as she begged him to let her go. Shen Wenyan wouldn't release her. His smile was faint and cool. "Didn't you kiss me the same way that night?" Jiang Yi: ??? I didn't! I didn't! Don't make things up! QAQ! Theme: Helping one another become the best versions of themselves.