You Are Not a Fish

“I know he’s hypocritical and deceitful, two-faced, ruthless, selfish, willful, and possessive, but that doesn’t stop me from loving him.”, Lin Fei * As the year’s hottest romance novel, the most popular rivalry in “Under the Rose” isn’t between the heroine and her rival, but between two male supporting characters. Lin Fei, the heroine’s moonlight, is the campus heartthrob she’s had a crush on for years: aloof and indifferent, handsome and refined, looking down on everyone around him, and top of his class. He not only holds onto first place year after year, but eventually succeeds in business and becomes a regular on the Forbes list. He’s the eternal moon in the heroine’s heart. Ji Leyu, her cinnabar mole, is the sinister antagonist who pursues the heroine but never wins her over. He’s ruthless, two-faced, and always smiling with a knife up his sleeve. When he goes off the rails, no one can stop him. And with the powerful Ji Group backing him, he’s even more lawless and arrogant. In the end, he becomes the mosquito blood in the heroine’s heart. Reborn in her high school days, Song Qiang decides that this time, the moment she sees Ji Leyu, she’ll run for her life and never give him another chance to get close. But before she can run, she sees Lin Fei standing beside Ji Leyu. They go to school together, eat together, go home together, and take part in extracurricular activities together. Song Qiang even sees Ji Leyu grab Lin Fei by the collar and kiss him. Song Qiang: !!! Let go of her dream guy!! She’s about to charge over, but to her shock, her dream guy lowers his head and kisses Ji Leyu on the lips. Song Qiang: ???? Weren’t you supposed to be aloof and heartless, cold and unfeeling?! What’s going on with you, dream guy?! Song Qiang watches them discreetly, and to her horror discovers that the person who once pursued her has gotten together with the person she once pursued! Her moonlight and her mosquito blood are together! Song Qiang: …This world seems a little off. * Song Qiang is certain that Lin Fei and Ji Leyu are together. Worried her dream guy might get hurt, she quietly warns Lin Fei, “You know he isn’t as obedient and adorable as you think. He’s a lot more complicated than you realize!” Lin Fei’s voice is as calm as ever. “I know.” “I know he’s hypocritical and deceitful, two-faced, ruthless, selfish, willful, and possessive, but that doesn’t stop me from loving him.” “To me, he’s the sweetest and most adorable person in the world.” How could he not know? Lin Fei has known what kind of person Ji Leyu is since he was six. But this imperfect Ji Leyu, irreplaceable in his heart, is exactly the one he loves. * Ji Leyu sits down beside Lin Fei, rubbing his head against Lin Fei’s shoulder as he wheedles, “Come on, cheer me up.” Lin Fei puts down his book, turns, and kisses him on the lips, then strokes his hair. “Good boy.” Ji Leyu hugs him tight, like a rose with its thorns tucked away. Brilliant and dazzling, but blooming for just one person. He is his bottom line, and he is the one his heart belongs to. Lin Fei is the top, Ji Leyu is the bottom The structure of the blurb’s first sentence is adapted from “The Painted Veil.” ---A preview of my upcoming book, “Reborn as a Child Among Villains.” Please add it to your reading list!--- The genius beauty Ye Qingxi dies unexpectedly on the day he turns eighteen. Looking back on his life, he was a shining star: he made his debut at five, was nominated for the Golden Laurel Award for Best Newcomer at thirteen, released three albums at fifteen, all of them huge hits, and won Best Actor at an international film festival at seventeen, becoming the youngest actor ever to do so. Countless people watched him grow up, and countless people loved and admired him. And now he lies dead in the middle of the road. The trending topics go wild, and netizens wail in grief. But they don’t know that, for Ye Qingxi, death is really a kind of release. They also don’t know that he isn’t truly dead. Instead, he has been transported into a book, where he’s become a five-year-old child with the same name. When Ye Qingxi opens his eyes again, he looks at the men and women, young and old, before him. It doesn’t take long to recognize them as the book’s major villain, minor villains, and the violent, short-tempered old villain. At this moment, the old villain’s face is livid, the major villain looks impassive, and the minor villains are bickering nonstop. Ye Qingxi: Great. This family will fall apart any day now. But six months later... Ye Qingxi looks at the villains of all ages around him. “Baby, which toy car do you like? Take one to drive, and we’ll store the other two in your little garage, okay?” This is the minor villain who’s a school bully. He’s supposedly a rebellious, over-the-top punk who throws his weight around at the protagonist’s younger brother’s high school, terrifying the poor boy. “Baby, try this. It’s really sweet. I waited in line for ages to get it.” This is the minor villain who’s a rock singer. She’s supposedly rebellious and unrestrained, and steals the person the protagonist’s sister loves. “Get lost! Don’t you have your own kids? Why are you all crowding around mine? Baby, where do you want to go tomorrow, the zoo or the amusement park?” This is the mid-tier villain, a top-tier star, and the man who is now his father in name. He’s supposedly a bully who throws his weight around and looks down on everyone, the protagonist’s biggest obstacle in show business. “How is he your kid? Dad was the one who brought him home! He belongs to all of us!” the school bully minor villain shouts, chin raised. “Exactly.” The old villain, whose authority is absolute and whose temper is violent, holds out his arms. “Come here, Qingxi, come to Grandpa.” But the major villain, holding him, doesn’t let go. “Wait until Qingxi finishes his steamed egg custard first.” Then he gently raises a spoon and feeds Ye Qingxi. Ye Qingxi: …Is this really the legendary major villain who’s decisive, taciturn, and ruthless, and who nearly backed the protagonist into a corner? Are you seriously blowing on his egg custard so carefully? Ye Qingxi at first: This family will fall apart in a couple of days. Ye Qingxi later: No one is going to tear our loving family apart! Ye Qingxi used to think he didn’t need family. But now he sleeps in his new dad’s arms and never wants to leave his family. ---A sweet little treat by my friend Hai Li, “If I Call Your Name, Will You Answer?” Please add it to your reading list!--- Chen Jingxi, an unremarkable academic underachiever, hates aloof top students. In middle school, a top student who seemed cold and mature but was actually a delusional chunibyo fooled him badly. The top student acted like a model pupil in front of teachers and classmates, but in private his chunibyo fantasies ran wild. He firmly believed that he was the Lord of the Demon Realm, framed by villains and exiled to the mortal world, and that Chen Jingxi was his queen. Chen Jingxi: “…” Chen Jingxi had never met such a walking case of delusions before, and found it quite fun to play along with him, until one day the top student didn’t come to school. The Demon Lord had vanished. On the first day at his new school, Classmate A warns Chen Jingxi that the class’s top student is aloof, arrogant, and sharp-tongued, and that he should avoid provoking him. “Don’t worry. I’m at odds with top students,” Chen Jingxi says. At the opening ceremony: Classmate A: “The guy who just spoke onstage is Lu Yaoye. He’s handsome and rich, but cold as hell. He thinks we ordinary people are beneath him.” Chen Jingxi: Hey, I know him! Lu Yaoye, his Demon Lord! After vanishing for so long and making him worry, Lu Yaoye deserves a good prank. Chen Jingxi decides to get even. After the ceremony, Chen Jingxi hurries after him, grabs Lu Yaoye by the shoulder, and puts on a heartbreaking performance as the Demon Lord’s abandoned queen: “Long time no see, Lu Yaoye. Looks like you’ve forgotten you’re the Demon Lord exiled to the mortal world?” “And you’ve forgotten that we were going to conquer the Demon Realm together, then get married in front of countless gods and demons once we succeeded?” “Lu Yaoye, you’re something else.” Lu Yaoye: !!! What is he doing here?! Why is he saying things like that to me?! Could my chunibyo phase have turned him gay?! Feeling deeply guilty, Lu Yaoye starts tutoring Chen Jingxi, buying him meals, and adding money to his meal card, doing everything he can to make it up to him, until... He turns himself gay too. Now everything is fine. They love each other, so they can be together. Lu Yaoye excitedly takes Chen Jingxi’s hand and confesses his love. Chen Jingxi: … Looking into Lu Yaoye’s eyes, Chen Jingxi says innocently, “I was just messing with you. I don’t have feelings for you.” Lu Yaoye: ??? Chen Jingxi: “I’m straight. How did you end up gay?” Search for the author [Hai Li] and visit the author page to add it to your reading list Theme: You are influenced by the people you spend time with. Get close to better people, and you’ll grow into a better person.