To Get A Wife, Eat Her First 相妻先吃掉 by 米包 Mi Bao (HE)

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• I like Taiwanese novelist Mi Bao (米包) and this is one of her story. The first half of the story talks about the OTP when they first knew each other in school, while the second half of the story describe their lives together when they met each other again 10 years down the road.

  To be frank, the temp of the book is a little bumpy - it took 7 chapters for Lu Ye and You Ya to become friends at the first half, and some parts of the second half was a little draggy. But overall, I like the book and Zhou Lu Ye - flirt, faults and all - because he has a real face beneath his hypocritical exterior which he only allowed his family to see. My favourite part of the book is probably the part when she suddenly proposed a one-night-stand to him. Don’t be mistaken, it was not that he has never been propositioned before, it was just that the lead up to it was quite funny and it was fitting for him to be shocked for a change after all his bullying antics.

  If this kind of devious male is not your cup of tea, you could also try the story of Lu Ye’s brother in 钓妻先偷跑, whom I thought was one of the most dedicated boyfriend/lover ever. Although short, Mi Bao's stories and characters are quite layered (or as developed as you get when the story length is only 30+ chapters) as we follow their growth from teenagers to adults.

  Below is a short exchange betwen You Ya and Lu Ye when they met again as adults, just to give you a feel of this book.

  [spoiler]
  “You You Ya, how old are you now?”

  At the sudden change in topic, she was thrown off for a moment before she replied “Twenty-six.”

  “Are you married?”

  “Not yet.” The furrow between her brows deepened. In the past, such senseless questions are usually a prelude to some prank.

  “Let’s date.” As she expected, he threw her a bombshell.

  Unlike what he expected, that did not elicit any reaction from her. She continued to frown and after a while she sighed “Senior, you did not ask if I already have a boyfriend.”

  He rested his chin on one hand and shot her a smile. “It does not matter if you have a boyfriend or not. From today onwards, your boyfriend will be me.”
  [/spoiler]

• A small amendment since I cannot edit my earlier comment - "30+ chapters" refer to web chapters. The no. of chapters in the printed book is only 10.

• Moonblossom, this novel sounds ADORABLE! <3 Shall put it on my reading list. Haven't read a new novel in a month now :(.

  Do you have a reading link from an internet site? I think it would help readers who need to google translate.

• Poor you. : ) Don't pressure yourself too much since August is coming soon.

  Thanks for the suggestion. Here is the link http://www.xxyqz.com/mibao/3019/mulu.html
  which I have added it in the main writeup as well. There are no mega-rich or geniuses in this story, just a simple 久别重逢 (boy-meet-girl-several-years-down-the-road) story.

• Hi MB, thanks for putting up this book. I think after reading C novels for a while...my preference are with Taiwanese writers. Their stories are relatively sweet and short. ZLY is really a classic case of bipolar patient...but I agree w YouYa that he is really a decent guy...him helping her out in the very embarrassing burst water pipe incident and drunkard are so chivalrous.I just wish Mi Bao had written an epilogue on their last meeting before she left for China...I think it will be bitter sweet cos it is obvious that they both love each other..I like the writing on their schooling days more. He is so smart and try his best to get more emotion out of her. I find their dialogue very witty. The modern part is a little out of character..Why would she want to work as an outsource party when she knew where he is working? She wants to a avoid him right? All in all...good read. thank you

• She doesn't strike me as someone who has a lot of choice. She needed work and if it so happens to be with a firm whose client is Lu Ye's firm, she is fine with that. Furthermore, she sincerely believed as his one-night stand, he would steer clear of her too if they ever meet, so there should not be any job clashes.

  I too find their school days sparing more interesting than the second half. If you like this book, you can try Mi Bao other stories like 钓妻先偷跑 (childhood romance), 美女符咒师 (futuristic romance between a vampire-slayer vs scientific researcher), 保育类房客 (workplace romance).

• Is this novel not happy ending? The guy does not end up together with the girl?

• Thanks for the recommendation, Moonblossom. I enjoyed the first half of the novel a lot more than the second half. I liked that You You Ya was a strong female lead, but that completely changed during the second half, especially the end. So in that respect, I'm not too fond of this book. I spent most of the second part trying to decide whether it made sense that he was so doting later on towards her. Overall, it was a nice short read. Thanks! :)

  (btw...I believe the lead's name is Lu Ying, not Lu Ye, his brother)

  @Luna: It's a happy ending. :)

• Thanks for pointing that out! Sorry, I keep saying Lu Ye when it is Lu Ying because Lu Ye was on my mind a lot. I was deliberating which book to recommend - Lu Ye's story (To Get A Wife, Run Away First) was actually the better book, but I could not recommend that when I rather recommend another childhood romance so I ended up with "To Get A Wife, Eat Her First".

  I was also disappointed with You Ya's character change in the second half. But as I was reading the story another time, I realize You Ya has no choice but to be independent when she was young. When she met Lu Ying again, she changed because (1) that is what her boyfriend wanted and (2) she was probably tired . The fact that she was going through homonial changes at the end - all the tears, food cravings - made her sound even more wimpy and made matters worse. Still, thanks for checking the book out and for your comments!

• Moonblossom when you gonna translate novel again:) i try use google hope still can understand:)