After Lu Chen rescued Chapter Four with his red pen, Shen Miaomiao finally learned her lesson about writing.
She stopped chasing exaggerated domineering-CEO formulas and began concentrating on details and subtle romantic tension.
At midnight on Friday, she opened WeChat right on time.
[Anonymous User 9527]: L, my longtime fan, what are we acting out tonight? Last night you said we'd do “the hero personally helps the heroine revise her proposal.” I've already worked out the setting!
[L]: Let's hear it.
[Anonymous User 9527]: Eleven at night. They're the only two people left in the office. The client's rejected the heroine's proposal three times, and she's so anxious her eyes are red. The hero walks past after finishing his overtime, pulls out the chair beside her, takes her mouse, and starts helping her rewrite it line by line... What do you think?
[L]: The setting works. But how are you planning to convey the tension?
Shen Miaomiao typed smugly. [Anonymous User 9527]: I know this one! She looks at his profile, and her heart races! Then he suddenly turns his head, and their faces are only five centimeters apart! Their eyes meet. The chemistry goes through the roof!
[L]: Too clichéd. In reality, being five centimeters from someone's face is an invasion of personal space. It only feels threatening and awkward.
[Anonymous User 9527]: ??? Here we go again! Then tell me how to write it!
[L]: Truly sophisticated tension isn't forced closeness through bodily fluids or physical contact. It's a shift in attention. [L]: Suppose he's helping her revise the proposal. At first she's looking at the screen, but as his long fingers tap the keyboard, her gaze moves from the screen to his fingers, then to his shirt collar, where he's undone one button, and finally settles on his Adam's apple as it moves slightly. [L]: At that point, without turning his head, he simply says in a calm voice, “Look at the screen, not at me.”
Shen Miaomiao stared at the lines on her phone as if she'd been electrocuted. A fine layer of goosebumps rose all over her body!
Oh my God! “Look at the screen, not at me”?!
That line was brilliant! No physical contact. The hero hadn't even raised his head. Yet the tension of a man quietly in command, sly and just a little forbiddingly restrained, instantly went off the charts!
[Anonymous User 9527]: Longtime fan... I surrender! Completely! What on earth is that brain of yours made of?! That line is so cool!
[L]: It's not that my brain is exceptional. You need to learn to build atmosphere through sight and sound instead of relying entirely on abstractions like “her heart raced.”
[Anonymous User 9527]: Got it! I'm putting this into Chapter Five right now! After she's caught staring, she takes a flustered sip of water and accidentally chokes...
[L]: That works. He can hand her his handkerchief or a tissue without taking his eyes off the screen, then add casually, “What's the rush? No one's going to take it from you.”
[Anonymous User 9527]: (Screaming GIF.) So sweet! So sweet! L, my longtime fan, I hereby declare you my divine contemporary-romance muse!
[L]: ...Enough smart remarks. Go write.
Inspiration poured out of Shen Miaomiao that night, her keyboard clattering nonstop.
By Saturday afternoon, all six chapters—the first two major sections—were finally complete!
Since her progress that week had been far smoother than she'd imagined, Shen Miaomiao decided to reward herself. She invited two close girlfriends to dinner at a bistro downtown.
After a few glasses of sweet fruit wine, her cheeks were faintly pink, her eyes hazy with a light tipsiness. She felt delightfully floaty.
“Miaomiao, you've been doing so well lately!” one friend teased with a smile. “Writing contemporary romance used to be like pulling teeth. Now you're posting every day about how inspired you are. You haven't secretly started dating, have you?”
“No...” Shen Miaomiao swirled the ice in her wineglass. Unable to hide her smile, she declared rather foolishly, “I'm not dating! I just... met an incredibly capable strategist online...”
As the alcohol gently worked its way through her brain, she suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to share.
She took out her phone and opened WeChat.
Normally, she sent L messages for their “exam prep” punctually at midnight. But today—it was only half past nine!
Fueled by the wine, she forgot all about their midnight appointment and opened L's chat directly!
[Anonymous User 9527]: L, my longtime fan! You there?! Come out! I have HUGE news to announce! (Wild dancing GIF.)
At that very moment, across the city, in the study of an upscale apartment.
Dressed in loungewear, Lu Chen sat at his broad desk reviewing next week's publishing plans. The phone beside him suddenly lit up with a message from that familiar anonymous account.
Lu Chen raised an eyebrow. Usually, this girl never appeared before midnight. Why was she so early today?
He picked up his phone and typed swiftly.
[L]: It's only half past nine. Did you do your homework early tonight?
[Anonymous User 9527]: Nope! Listen, I'm out drinking fruit wine with friends today! Amazing peach wine! And as I was drinking, inspiration suddenly struck. I figured out the big moment for our Chapter Six!
Lu Chen read the message, bursting with excitement and even containing two typos. A trace of tenderness appeared in his eyes.
Fruit wine? No wonder she couldn't type straight.
[L]: You've been drinking? By yourself?
[Anonymous User 9527]: With my girlfriends! Stop interrupting! Listen to my new idea!
Shen Miaomiao leaned over the bistro table, propping up her little face with one hand while typing blindly and rapidly with the other.
[Anonymous User 9527]: Remember our discussion about “accidentally sharing the same space”? I don't think overtime alone packs enough punch! We should have the hero drink a little, too!
[L]: The hero drinks? Why?
[Anonymous User 9527]: Work stress! Because he has to deal with a bunch of idiot authors whose manuscripts read like the Peach Garden oath of brotherhood! (Scratch that.) I mean, he's usually so controlled, so restrained. Only when he's slightly tipsy will a little of the possessiveness he's buried beneath his rationality leak out!
Reading “a bunch of idiot authors whose manuscripts read like the Peach Garden oath of brotherhood,” Lu Chen nearly spat out his tea.
Even drunk, this girl hadn't forgotten to complain about him, “Mr. Lu,” to him, her “longtime fan” online!
Lu Chen leaned back in his chair, an exceptionally attractive smile curving his lips, and played along.
[L]: Tipsy possessiveness? How would you show it?
Shen Miaomiao sent a triumphant meme.
[Anonymous User 9527]: The heroine helps the drunk hero onto the sofa. Just as she's about to turn away, he reaches out and catches her wrist! [Anonymous User 9527]: Then, instead of forcing a kiss on her like some clichéd domineering CEO, he rests his head against the hollow of her shoulder, takes a deep breath, and says, his voice rough with drink, “Don't go. Stay with me another five minutes.” [Anonymous User 9527]: Well?! Isn't that contrast irresistible?! This arrogant, untouchable man suddenly showing vulnerability and dependence? She'll fall for him on the spot!
In his study, Lu Chen gave a slight start as he read.
Catching her wrist. Resting his head against her shoulder. Saying “Don't go” in a hoarse voice...
Lu Chen removed his glasses and rubbed the corners of his eyes. His gaze deepened like the night. He had to admit that once Shen Miaomiao freed herself from historical-fiction conventions, her talent and instinct for romantic scenes were startlingly keen.
She didn't even know how precisely her scene struck at the deepest longing of so many men who seemed powerful but were, in truth, lonely.
[L]: ...That's an excellent detail. [L]: Vulnerability is the most powerful weapon for breaking down the defenses between two people. Well written, 9527.
Receiving her longtime fan's approval, Shen Miaomiao nearly floated away with delight right there in the bistro! Alcohol sent her spirits soaring. Looking at L's praise, the gratitude and affection she'd accumulated over the past few days suddenly turned into words, and she sent them flying.
[Anonymous User 9527]: Hehe! I knew you'd like it! L, my longtime fan, let me tell you something from the heart...
[L]: What is it?
[Anonymous User 9527]: Mr. Lu has looked pretty handsome lately when he's helping me revise dialogue, but you're still the one I like best! [Anonymous User 9527]: Without you staying up every night to bicker with me and sort out my logic line by line, this contemporary romance would've died under Devil Lu's red pen ages ago! To me, you're the best reader in the whole world! The best online boyfriend! [Anonymous User 9527]: When this book gets published, I'm definitely sneaking “For L” onto the dedication page! It'll be our little secret! Hahahaha!
In the silent study.
Lu Chen stared fixedly at those three messages on his phone.
“The best reader in the whole world.” “The best online boyfriend.” “For L.”
His fingers froze above the keyboard. It felt as if a feather had brushed his heart, leaving a faint, tingling flutter.
This little fool... She thought she was confessing her affection to some faraway devoted fan. She had no idea that the “Devil Lu” she feared and respected every day in the office and this “best online boyfriend in the whole world” were one and the same!
Lu Chen chuckled softly, his laugh warm and resonant in the empty study.
He drew a breath and typed quickly, with a hint of probing temptation in his tone.
[L]: In your heart, I'm more important than Mr. Lu?
[Anonymous User 9527]: Of course! Devil Lu is just a manuscript-reviewing machine! You're my soulmate! Can't talk now, my girlfriends are telling me it's time to go home! Good night, longtime fan! See you tomorrow!
After sending “soulmate,” Shen Miaomiao tossed her phone into her bag and let her friends help her, dazed, out of the bistro.
Elsewhere, Lu Chen kept staring at the word “soulmate” for a long time.
“A manuscript-reviewing machine... A soulmate...”
He put his gold-rimmed glasses back on. Behind the lenses, his deep eyes gleamed with determination.
His long fingers tapped lightly on the desk. A sly, dangerous smile curved his lips.
“Shen Miaomiao... I hope that when you discover your ‘manuscript-reviewing machine’ is your ‘soulmate,’ you'll still be brave enough to call me the best online boyfriend.”