Red Lips and First Wisdom Teeth

[Feral, prickly younger children’s picture-book author × gentle, deceptively calculating older flight attendant]

Kuang Lai had hated Xu Wentang since she was little.

As Kuang Lai’s grandma put it, “The Xu family’s so rich, you’d think they had oil buried in their backyard. They live in a manor surrounded by iron gates. Xu Wentang’s mom looks like a movie star, and Xu Wentang does too.”

But the Kuang family had nothing. They lived in a concrete house whose foundations had only been laid a few years earlier. Kuang Lai’s mom was a hot-tempered woman who stood on the ridges between fields every day with her hands on her hips, arguing with people. And Kuang Lai herself was a little lunatic who rolled around in the mud, wild and impossible to keep still.

But her mom and Xu Wentang’s mom were good friends.

So Kuang Lai had no choice but to play with Xu Wentang as she grew up.

-

When Kuang Lai was five, she knocked over a bowl while being naughty. She ended up with a face full of blood, and left a scar on eight-year-old Xu Wentang’s thumb.

When she was nine, some adults joked that if Xu Wentang couldn’t find a husband when she grew up, it would be Kuang Lai’s fault. Kuang Lai indignantly put her hands on her hips and said, “She didn’t want to get married anyway! I’ll marry her if I have to!”

Beside her, Xu Wentang tugged at the white dress Kuang Lai had rolled in the mud until it was filthy, and played along with dignified composure. “Wifey, your dress needs washing.”

In high school, Kuang Lai bravely stepped in to deliver a love letter to the upperclasswoman her classmate had a crush on. The upperclasswoman was so startled that she went to her best friend for advice.

Her best friend, Xu Wentang, threw the letter in the trash, tapped Kuang Lai on the head without a hint of courtesy, and said, “Kuang Lai, no dating before you’re older.”

By the time she was eighteen, Kuang Lai still hated Xu Wentang.

Because twenty-one-year-old Xu Wentang was dressed to the nines, attracting admirers left and right, and so beautiful she was beyond compare.

At twenty-four, the day after her dream fell apart and she returned to her hometown in disgrace, Kuang Lai ran into Xu Wentang.

The moment she saw her old nemesis, Kuang Lai turned and ran.

But before long, Xu Wentang showed up at her house to stop her. The woman, who usually acted gentle and obedient in front of her elders, was so furious her teeth hurt.

“Who was it that got drunk and pinned me down to kiss me that night?”

She drew close, catching Kuang Lai by her flushed earlobe. “And now you run away every time you see me.”

“Kuang Lai, it’s been six years. What exactly do you think of me?”

-

Kuang Lai had always hated Xu Wentang.

Because at twenty-one, Xu Wentang was hypocritical and mean, yet rich enough to have everything eighteen-year-old Kuang Lai couldn’t, including Kuang Lai’s affection.

[Reading Guide]

1. One-on-one romance throughout, both leads’ first love, happy ending, no explicit content. Misunderstandings, romantic tension, and a slow-burn, everyday-life story.

2. They take turns taking the lead. There is no fixed top or bottom, and neither is more dominant.

3. The leads are stubborn and awkward, with the hardest mouths in the world.

4. A childhood-friends story of bittersweet pain, accompanied by the growing pains that came late.

[The above is the blurb for this novel]

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[Below is the blurb for my upcoming novel, Behind the Scenes.

The characters are a [somewhat worldly, insecure, easygoing agent × vicious, obsessive, ghostlike actress]

Eight years into the industry, You Xiaoqian was still the most insignificant agent in the business.

She got the worst resources, managed the lowest-level artists, ran the most exhausting dinner engagements, and endured the most humiliating abuse.

Yet she stayed cheerful every day, driving her battered van and always on standby to pick up and drop off her artists. She would rather get chewed out herself and miss out on good opportunities than let her artists suffer the slightest disadvantage.

Eight years into the industry, Duan Youqing remained the most sought-after acting talent in the business.

Her debut film was still a textbook example for the academy-trained, her body of work was unquestionably the best among actors of her generation, and people regarded her as a work of art among contemporary actresses.

One was down below, the other high above. They were never supposed to cross paths.

One day.

You Xiaoqian returned after dropping off one of her artists, parked her battered van, and cheerfully hummed as she headed upstairs.

Then she saw a woman standing outside her rented apartment building, with dark hair and red lips. Three tiny black moles on her cheekbone were secretive and alluring.

“You Xiaoqian, someone wants to make a film about our story.”

You Xiaoqian’s smile froze on her face.

“How much are they offering this time to make you willing to sell it?” Duan Youqing asked with a soft laugh.

Beneath the dim light, her eyes held a bewildered resentment, so intense it was like a nail driven into You Xiaoqian’s eye.

“Just like when you sold me back then.”

That was in Beijing.

She was twenty-three, and You Xiaoqian was nineteen.

Her first artist. Her first agent.

Theme: Love yourself and accept who you are.