Joining the Shenanigans [Entertainment Industry]

My next modern novel: Just Told You Not to Mess with Someone Who’s Pretending to Be Weak!

A clever survivalist outsmarted by her own cleverness X an occult expert who plays the fool while hiding her claws

Marriage first, love later + past and present lives + a groveling chase. Blurb at the very end

Blurb:

Cool architect (genuinely unhappy) X flirtatious top-tier star from a wealthy family (pretends to be clueless)

1. In high school, Pei Nao was still called An Ling, a beloved darling of the heavens. Yuan Yi, on the other hand, was a pitiful “mute,” mired in a family scandal and trampled by everyone.

An absurd rumor tied the two together, despite their vastly different circumstances: “A rich girl toys with a poor, innocent flower.”

Then Yuan Yi cornered An Ling in a stairwell, and urgent, entangling kisses fell again and again. In a hoarse voice, she demanded confirmation: “What they’re saying is all false, all lies, right?”

An Ling dodged her gaze and answered in a trembling voice, “It’s not true... Don’t believe them.”

Just a few days later, the person who had told her not to believe the rumors suddenly vanished without a trace.

The rumors became reality, and Yuan Yi became a laughingstock at school. Forced to drop out, she blocked and deleted every way to contact An Ling, then vanished from Jiahe for good.

2. Years later, Yuan Yi took over as the design consultant for a film crew. On the day of the script read-through, she heard the voice that haunted her dreams:

“Long time no see, Yuan Yi.”

The moment Yuan Yi saw who it was, frost crept into her eyes, and hatred nearly spilled from her bloodshot gaze. She turned to leave, only to be stopped by the other woman’s smiling threat:

“Leaving now? Have you counted how many zeroes are in the penalty fee?”

3. After filming resumed, the two kept running into each other face-to-face night after night. Yuan Yi got so annoyed she checked out in the middle of the night, but Pei Nao showed up at her door and blocked her way.

“What will it take... for you to give me a chance to explain?” Pei Nao’s eyes were red. Her old pride had vanished, leaving only a humble plea.

Seeing her so humbled, as if she had sunk into the dirt, Yuan Yi’s heart ached unbearably.

Suddenly she leaned in, hooked a hand around Pei Nao’s neck, and brushed her warm lips against Pei Nao’s earlobe, gently taking it between them...

“Since you like playing around so much, I’ll play along all night.”

Soon, Pei Nao’s body trembled out of control, and she nearly collapsed into Yuan Yi’s arms. Just as she tilted her head to respond, Yuan Yi shoved her away.

“Just playing around, and you took it seriously?” Yuan Yi’s gaze was scornful. She threw Pei Nao’s old words back at her: “It’s not true. Don’t believe it.”

Reading Guide:

1. This story is also known as “Absolutely No Getting Back Together! But I Got Hooked and Now I’m Grinning Like a Fish.”

2. Both characters are at least eighteen when they enter a romantic relationship.

3. One-on-one romance, mutual pursuit, happy ending. Pei Nao is the one who has to grovel. An Ling changed her name to Pei Nao.

4. The story opens with their reunion. The high school storyline is told in flashbacks and takes up little space.

5. No real-life inspirations. Please don’t speculate about real people. No need to tell me if you drop the story.

The next novel, Just Told You Not to Mess with Someone Who’s Pretending to Be Weak!, is a modern story!

A modern story! Immortals, humans, and ghosts all mixed together, with most of the story set in the present day.

A clever survivalist outsmarted by her own cleverness X an occult expert who plays the fool while hiding her claws

After a bizarre accident, Yan Zhaotang, a blogger who posts urban legends, becomes a wandering ghost.

The good news: She isn’t completely dead and has a chance to come back to life.

The bad news: With her eyes wide shut, she’s managed to hook an occult expert.

The even worse news: The expert wants to marry her in a ghost wedding.

On their wedding night, the woman lays down three rules. Yan Zhaotang needs her help and agrees readily to everything, but when she sees the words “dual cultivation,” her ears turn hot. “It’s just a marriage of convenience. Do we really need to go that far?”

“Yes.”

“Then... do we have to do it often?”

“No...” The woman pauses, turns her head, and coughs several times.

Yan Zhaotang breathes a sigh of relief, secretly glad the woman knows she’s frail and can’t handle too much exertion.

Yet that very night, Yan Zhaotang learns all too well what it means to be one thing on the outside and another within.

Things get even more outrageous over the following days. Yan Zhaotang fumes, “Didn’t you say you wouldn’t...”

“My throat was itchy then, so I didn’t finish what I was saying.” The woman’s fingertip traces Yan Zhaotang’s swollen, red lower lip. “Not often. Every day.”

*

Everyone in the occult world knows Jiang Bunian is decisive and ruthless, with a cold temperament. When news of her marriage gets out, everyone is in an uproar.

Those in the know privately say her new wife looks just like an old acquaintance from a thousand years ago.

Yan Zhaotang doesn’t think much of it, until one night, while tending to Jiang Bunian, she accidentally discovers a yellowed portrait hidden under her pillow. The woman in the painting looks seven parts like her.

So the rumor is true... This marriage is a matter of mutual convenience. Yan Zhaotang thinks she knows where she stands and has never let Jiang Bunian into her heart, yet that night she tosses and turns, unable to sleep.

Before long, the occult world is shaken:

The usually cold and desireless Jiang Bunian posts her first Weibo: “@Yan Zhaotang’s Exploration Diary, let me introduce my wife, the woman I worked so hard to win over.”

At the same time, she tells Yan Zhaotang, who is trembling nonstop, to “relax,” while biting her earlobe and whispering, “They still don’t believe us, and I can’t spare a hand. Please repost my Weibo, darling, and give me an official title.”

Theme: Isn’t life about having someone willing to make a ruckus with you?