When You Shine

The print edition of When You Shine is now available on major platforms. Follow @MingyueShanshanShining to enter the book giveaway!

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[Bottom-tier screenwriter x rival top-tier star (career-minded heroine who hates coddling x lovesick, shamelessly flirtatious, cocky hero)]

[Hilarious enemies / playful bickering and flirting / sweet, passionate romantic fairy tale]

Bottom-tier screenwriter Qiao Shanshan lands an adaptation of a major IP, but the male lead is played by her idol's rival: Lu Xingyao, a top-tier star whose acting is terrible, who throws his weight around, has baffling taste, loves to slack off, and has nothing going for him but his face.

To make matters worse, Qiao Shanshan has to rewrite the script to accommodate his awful acting.

After countless late nights and losing more hair than she can count, Qiao Shanshan angrily swears, "If I ever rewrite a script for him again, I'm a dog!"

Not long afterward, in a hotel's reception room, Lu Xingyao lowers the magazine covering his face and slips the sunglasses down the bridge of his nose with his long fingers. He looks her up and down with a faint smile. "Want to be a little dog?"

-

With Lu Xingyao's new drama about to start filming, the director asks him to find an on-set screenwriter. He later realizes he's brought a little tyrant into his life.

The tyrant follows him around every day, explaining his scenes, writing character biographies, and having heart-to-heart talks with him, supposedly to help him open up.

Lu Xingyao is fed up, but somehow he can't refuse her.

His friend laughs at him. "You dare to snub the investors, but you let a no-name screenwriter with no connections boss you around?"

Who knows? It's a complete mystery.

Later, Lu Xingyao finally puts on his boss's hat and stands his ground. It works all too well: for three days straight, the tyrant doesn't show up in front of him.

Lu Xingyao is so restless that he keeps messing up on set.

He can't help asking his assistant, "Why isn't she keeping an eye on me or paying attention to me anymore?"

The assistant says, "Teacher Qiao went to the neighboring set to get Zhou Shiyue's autograph."

Lu Xingyao: "..."

Damn it.

-

Before meeting Qiao Shanshan, Lu Xingyao only wanted to slack off and quit the industry. After meeting her, he wants to stay famous for a long, long time, clearing the way for her, protecting her dreams, and helping her soar.

But when his career hits rock bottom, it's Qiao Shanshan who helps him return to the top.

The night he successfully reinvents himself and wins the first acting award of his life, the host asks what inspired him to work so hard. Lu Xingyao turns the plain band on his middle finger and says nonchalantly, "The tyrant said I have to win an award before I can act in something she wrote."

Everyone: ?

She is the star that lit up his dark life.

She always has been.

-

Bonus scene:

While working with her idol Zhou Shiyue, Qiao Shanshan is unexpectedly photographed with him, and rumors fly everywhere. Zhou Shiyue posts a clarification: My screenwriter, @QiaoShanshan

His rival Lu Xingyao openly comments and reposts it: Don't steal her away. She's obviously mine.

Weibo immediately crashes.

Reading guide:

1. Sweet romance, both leads are inexperienced, one-on-one, happy ending.

2. The leads grow over time. Everyday life in film and TV production, not a typical showbiz story.

3. Slow burn, a touch of ensemble cast. The heroine has a complete career and growth arc.

4. Thanks to my dear @YuanXiaobei for the prompt and cover.

>>>>>>>>>>>>> Symbiotic Relationship >>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Before meeting Ji Heng, Qiao Xi was a rat living in the gutter.

After meeting Ji Heng, she wore the latest styles from fashionable brands, attended the best school in the provincial capital, and went abroad for summer and winter camps during the holidays.

So when Ji Heng wanted her to be innocent and naive, she pretended to be a sweet, sheltered girl. When he wanted her to study hard, she gave it everything she had. When he treated her like a younger sister, she hid the feelings she shouldn't have had. When he didn't want to see her, she stayed far away...

But then Ji Heng died.

He was dead, and Qiao Xi had to avenge him.

-

Ji Heng's life as a prodigy came to an end when he was twelve. After that, he lived only for revenge.

The sole exception was when he rescued a girl named Qiao Xi.

She was innocent, kind, pure, and well-behaved.

She was a white flower blooming in filthy mud, and the only hope and solace in Ji Heng's miserable life.

He wanted her to live a healthy, comfortable, ordinary, and peaceful life, like those girls doted on by their parents.

He was willing to pay any price for that, even his life.

-

Eight years after he faked his death and left, they met again under new identities.

Ji Heng did everything he could to keep her safe, but the meek, fragile little sister he remembered pressed a scalpel to his throat and warned him in a chilly voice:

"Hand it over."

"Or all of you will be buried with my late husband."

"..."

#Do I look like your late husband to you#

#You little brat, since when did your brother become your late husband#

#What do you do when your kid goes off the rails#

[Delicate, heart-tugging beauty who seems innocent but is actually a black-hearted lotus x powerful, pitiful man who bears humiliation]

[Intense push and pull / mutual salvation / love and hate / melodrama]

Theme: Hold on to your dreams and keep moving forward.