How Can I Fall in Love with Someone Else?

Set against the entertainment industry, this novel avoids the trappings of glitz and glamour. Instead, with a delicate touch, it sketches a tender romance hidden in the gaps between the spotlights, making for a particularly moving read.

The story steers clear of clichés from the outset. Shen Yizhou and Su Wan’s first meeting has no contrived dramatic clash; it begins with their shared pursuit of “authenticity” on a film set. Su Wan wants to photograph “Shen Yizhou wearing a suit,” not “Shen Yizhou in a suit.” With one line, she breaks through the constraints of his celebrity persona. The later visit to the set is equally inventive: a secret route through a winding old alley, sweet-and-sour pork ribs in an insulated lunch container, and “the old man selling candied hawthorns” marked on a hand-drawn map. These everyday details, brimming with the warmth of ordinary life, make their showbiz romance feel grounded, adding the bashfulness and tenderness of an ordinary couple in love.

Best of all is the foreshadowing. A warm photo secretly taken by the script supervisor and the orchid jade pendant Shen Yizhou gives Su Wan both set up the later rumor and misunderstanding that he has “fallen for someone else,” and make their growing affection feel natural and believable. The novel does not overplay the entertainment industry’s melodrama. Instead, it gives the two souls a solid foundation for drawing close through their shared understanding of characters in late-night conversations and their memories of a record shop in the old neighborhood.

When a storm of gossip strikes, how will this tender spark, hidden in warm light, grow even stronger through misunderstanding and the need to protect one another?