Back in Business With My Archrival [Showbiz]

[Expected to go premium starting from Chapter 22 on June 21 (Saturday). There won't be an anti-scraping paywall, so you should be able to start reading from whichever chapter you like~ Updates will be in the evening. If I haven't posted a leave notice in the author's notes the day before, then...]

Also coming soon: "The Part-Time Villains' Canary." The blurb is at the bottom. If you're interested, please add it to your favorites~

[Blurb]

The only two top-tier stars on social media with over 100 million followers each:

One is a star who excels at both singing and acting: Fu Anshu shot to fame across the internet as a teenager with a song he wrote himself. Arrogant about his talent, he has a distinctive, cool-toned voice that his fans adore.

The other is a newly crowned Best Actor at the Golden Image Awards: Xu Zhaoye began as a dance student, but in just a few years made the leap from dancer to idol to award-winning actor.

For years, these two kings never crossed paths. Ever since their boy group, Favola, disbanded, they had never appeared together in public.

But who could have guessed that they had weathered difficult times together, once the closest people by each other's sides on the road to the top?

Their CP fans joked that love had turned to hate, while their individual fans claimed it had all just been an act back then.

Until one day, news broke online that Fu Anshu had visited the hospital's oncology department.

At a film event that day, Xu Zhaoye asked blandly, "Is that true?"

As if he had merely heard some news about a stranger.

.

At the year-end awards ceremony, news unexpectedly came out that both men would be attending.

Netizens joked: "The organizers sure have guts. Aren't they worried the two of them will fight? Or that their fans will?"

On the day of the ceremony, just as netizens had predicted, the 360-degree high-definition cameras never caught the two exchanging a glance.

Afterward, Fu Anshu was forced by his manager to give an interview. A reporter asked whether he had caught up with Xu Zhaoye.

Fu Anshu's eyes were cold. Without changing expression, he said, "You need a past together to catch up about it."

Later, a staff member revealed that someone had seen Fu Anshu go to Xu Zhaoye's dressing room that night.

After the two were together for more than ten minutes, Xu Zhaoye stormed out, his clothes disheveled and the skin near his jaw red all over.

It was obvious he'd gotten into a fight with someone.

The CP fans were heartbroken. Only then were they willing to believe that the boys who had once embraced each other intimately onstage at an awards ceremony had become irredeemable strangers.

.

Then one day, the top trending search was: Fu Anshu and Xu Zhaoye to star together in a gay film.

The CP fandom was shaken, and Weibo promptly crashed.

In a widely shared behind-the-scenes clip:

In the middle of a large bed in a dim room, Fu Anshu kissed Xu Zhaoye from the neck to the chin, brushing against his lips as he said, "Open your mouth."

Xu Zhaoye obediently parted his lips.

Using the scene as an excuse to tease him, Fu Anshu said, "Open a little wider. Stick out your tongue, spread your legs..."

Unable to take it anymore, Xu Zhaoye flushed and pushed his head away. "Director, is that line in the script?"

Fu Anshu straightened up and asked, confused, "Are you a professional?"

Out of the camera's sight, Xu Zhaoye hissed into Fu Anshu's ear, "If you're a professional, then don't let that thing poke against me!"

A seemingly meek little bunny on the outside, but strong inside and a master of acting, the shou × a seemingly aloof, rebellious, arrogant bking gong who is starved for love deep down

[Blurb for upcoming novel "The Part-Time Villains' Canary"]

As the most outstanding employee of the Universal Emergency Management Department, Lin Xiu's main job is to intervene in high-risk, chaotic worlds. He doesn't believe in violence. His style is to win without bloodshed.

His record remains unbeaten: in a high-risk world with a chaos rating of 4.5, he once worked as the canary for eight villains at the same time, exploiting each person's weaknesses to set them against one another and eliminate them all in under a year.

One day, the Emergency Department received an alert about the most dangerous world in its history. As Lin Xiu happened to be bored lately, he decided to challenge his own record.

Villain One: a possessive, yandere older brother who imprisons people

Villain Two: a powerful heir who commands respect and stands above everyone

Villain Three: a seemingly gentle doctor who treats human life as worthless

Villain Four: a highly intelligent college student with an antisocial personality

To escape Villain One, seduce Villain Two into making you his lover, use Villain Three to poison Villain Two, then confide in Villain Four that being with Villain Three doesn't make you happy...

These were Lin Xiu's usual tactics. With just a little cleverness, the villains would disappear before they even knew what had happened. A high-risk world rated 4.9 was no big deal.

.

One of the many suspects, Villain N, was named Lu Zhihuan. As the only son of a conglomerate that controlled the lifeblood of the nation's economy, he was highly likely to be a problem.

After going to great lengths to get close to him, Lin Xiu was surprised to discover that he was a law-abiding, upstanding citizen who believed in solving problems through legal channels. Thanks to his insistence, the villains were sent to prison one after another.

Everything was going exceptionally smoothly. Lin Xiu decided his judgment had been wrong: Lu Zhihuan wasn't one of the villains. To thank his partner for his help and free him from the nuisance of an arranged marriage, Lin Xiu agreed to a fake marriage with him.

But the day before the wedding, Lin Xiu unexpectedly learned what had become of the villains who had been sent to prison, and was horrified to discover that every last one of them had died horribly.

Only then did Lin Xiu understand that Lu Zhihuan was the most dangerous villain in this mission, a man who revered the aesthetics of violence and held the fate of the entire world in his hands.

That night, Lin Xiu drove away, only to be surrounded on a cross-sea bridge. Lu Zhihuan, at the head of the group, politely opened his car door for him. "We have a wedding tomorrow. Don't go too far."

Furious at being deceived, Lin Xiu said, "I'm not marrying you. Tell your men to get out of my way."

"The choice is yours." Lu Zhihuan wore a gentle mask. "The ceremony starts at 11 a.m. tomorrow. If you're one minute late, I'll blow up a residential building."

.

In this world, Lu Zhihuan controlled all the resources and stood at the pinnacle of power. To fight off the weariness that came after every desire had been fulfilled, he wanted to possess something from beyond this world.

Lin Xiu was an otherworldly being. Lu Zhihuan had known that for a long time. He was intelligent and possessed a strong sense of justice, so Lu Zhihuan pretended to be like him, scheming patiently to make Lin Xiu fall into his trap. But he hadn't expected things to go wrong the day before the wedding.

Still, it didn't matter. He had ten thousand ways to make Lin Xiu give in. On the wedding day, Lin Xiu arrived as promised. In the bridal suite that night...

Lin Xiu asked, "Do you know what happens to the men who get involved with me?"

Lu Zhihuan smiled. "Darling, did you forget? I'm the one who decided what happened to them."

Lin Xiu's competitive streak kicked in. "You'll end up just like them."

Lu Zhihuan slowly leaned over him. "It'll be different. Even if you hate me enough to point a gun at me, I'll make you kiss me and get into bed with me obediently."

A calculating master of deception, black-hearted beneath a gentle exterior, the shou × a crazed, yandere, deeply devoted gong who never lets a grudge go unanswered

Winning without bloodshed × the aesthetics of violence

Tips:

1. "World's No. 1 CP" doesn't refer to a specific couple here. It just describes a CP that lots of people ship.

2. They appeared briefly in my previous book, but their characterization may differ. This book's version takes precedence.

3. "Open a Little Wider" and "Top-Tier Star Couple Overdoes the Fan Service" were previous titles.

4. To be added...

Theme: Love can overcome anything.