Juggling Roles (轧戏) (Yà xì) by Zu Le (祖乐)

Blurb

“Juggling Roles” originally refers to actors taking on roles in multiple productions simultaneously. 

Hu Xiu, who has always been unlucky in love, plays the immersive murder mystery game Snowpiercer. She becomes smitten with an NPC actor at first sight. Even though she only knows his in-game name, Qin Xiaoyi, and has to pay 500 yuan per ticket just to interact with him, she keeps showing up every week, blushing and her heart racing for him. 

For Diao Zhiyu, acting is just a job, and making the players happy is part of his performance. He never expected the romance storyline to spill into real life. 

Hu Xiu’s best friend, Zhao Xiaorou, thinks she’s crazy. After all, there are so many eligible people in the world; why waste effort on just one? In her philosophy, “the more, the merrier” and “you reap what you sow” don’t apply to love. 

For city dwellers, love is never as simple as one stepping off the stage while another steps on.