Agency Queen

卷息Dook Media Group LimitedDec 2021

3.2

Word count: 210K words
Chapters: 25

Summary

A part-time private agent, college student Du Yuebai has done the job for three years—breaking up on behalf of others, apologizing on their behalf, attending her ex-boyfriend's wedding in their place... She solves people's problems and is one of the best agents at Agency 9998. Yet because of an unspeakable secret, she has hidden her job from her boyfriend Xu Peiran. As graduation approaches, Du Yuebai, after handling one agency case after another, comes to cherish her relationship with Xu Peiran more and more. To help Liao Ze and his superstar girlfriend Chang Xinhui out of a tight spot, she takes on the last commission of her career and becomes Liao Ze's proxy fiancée—only to discover that her boyfriend Xu Peiran is Liao Ze's younger brother. Now her boyfriend has become her brother-in-law, and her fake mother-in-law has become her real one. A series of hilarious, melodramatic farces begins to play out in the Liao family.

Editor's review

Proxy Queen frames the urban service premise of "acting on someone else's behalf" as the backbone of a campus light comedy: Du Yuebai has worked as a personal proxy for three years—breaking up, apologizing, and attending weddings for others—and the concealment between her professional identity and her romantic relationship generates the main tension. The book's readability comes from its high density of situational reversals—the final assignment, "proxy fiancée," turns her boyfriend into her brother-in-law and her fake mother-in-law into her real one; misunderstandings and coincidences drive the narrative, which moves at a brisk pace and suits segmented reading on the commute or before bed. Although the character relationships are intricate, the core always rests on Du Yuebai's cherishing of love and her self-affirmation of professional ethics; beneath the light-comedy shell there is a layer of growth. A caveat: the plot relies on coincidence and mistaken identity, and conflicts are resolved in a rather dramatic fashion; readers who seek realistic logic and nuanced psychological portrayal may find it ungrounded. It is better treated as light urban romance entertainment.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Romance readers who enjoy urban light comedy and mistaken-identity tropes
Office workers looking for light reading on the commute or before bed
Young readers interested in emotional themes from campus to workplace transition
Readers who accept coincidence-driven plots and do not demand strict realism

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer serious realist fiction and nuanced psychological portrayal
Readers weary of misunderstanding- and concealment-based conflict
Readers expecting professional workplace detail and industry depth

Reading tips

Read the first few chapters to get familiar with the proxy premise and character relationships before entering the main conflict.
Treat the "proxy fiancée" section as the comic climax; there is no need to scrutinize the plausibility of every coincidence.
When you reach Du Yuebai's motive for hiding her job, pay attention to how her priorities between love and career shift.
Best read in several short sessions to avoid confusing the character relationships by binge-reading.

About the publisher

Dook Media Group Limited China · Founded in 2006

Dook Media Group Limited is a book planning and publishing company focusing on literature and the arts, social sciences and children's books. Its publishing areas cover quality fiction, science fiction, wuxia novels, foreign literature and history. Representative titles in the library include The Complete Short Stories of Isaac Asimov, Yu Hua's novellas and short stories, Gu Cheng's collected works on Ming and Qing history, and Huang Yi's Twin of Brothers and A Step into the Past. Its authors include Isaac Asimov, Yu Hua, Gu Cheng, Huang Yi, Alberto Moravia and Liu Cixin. It plans books using the "super sign" methodology, with a list that brings together science fiction, literary fiction and genre fiction. As public information is limited, this profile is based only on the books in the library.

版权信息
楔子
第一章 9998事务所
第二章婚姻超值论
第三章一个季节的距离
第四章徒弟男友两相宜
第五章新世纪苦命鸳鸯
第六章笃笃笃——美食宅急送，请开门
第七章包袱款款上豪门
第八章最狗血转折1.0
第九章最狗血转折2.0
第十章大家排队来相亲
第十一章 “奸夫淫妇”上线
第十二章癫狂的粉丝
第十三章一对合格的“狗男女”
第十四章代理界中的传奇
第十五章早餐也能鸿门宴
第十六章秘密没有追诉期
第十七章秘密有没有追诉期
第十八章杜月白是谁？一个替身罢了
第十九章她一点点撕扯掉身上的画皮
第二十章没有期限的委托案
番外代理界头号艺术家
番外关于徐沛然与杜月白的腻歪二三事
后记

FAQ

I haven't read the author's other works—can I read this one directly?

Yes. This is a standalone story; the main character relationships are introduced gradually at the beginning and do not depend on prior works. It is advisable to note in the first few chapters Du Yuebai's identity as a proxy, her boyfriend Xu Peiran, and the background of Agency 9998; once these are clear, the "proxy fiancée" main line will read more smoothly.

Is the romance the main line or a subplot?

The romance is one of the cores driving the book. The relationship between Du Yuebai and Xu Peiran runs throughout, and the secret of her hidden job creates sustained tension; in the latter half, the mistaken identities in the Liao family push the romantic conflict to a climax. The proxy cases are more like units that link the plot and shape the characters; overall it remains an urban romantic light comedy.

There are too many coincidences in the plot—will that affect reading?

That depends on your expectations. The book relies on mistaken identity and coincidence to create humor and conflict; if read as light comedy, it is quite acceptable; if judged by realist standards, it may feel dramatic. It is best to adjust expectations and treat it as light urban entertainment.

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About the author

卷息 Author

Juan Xi is an author about whom limited public information is available. Three of the author's works are currently held in the collection: Shuying Jianglou Yue (Sparse Shadows over the River Tower Moon), Zanxin Mei (The Hairpin-Hearted Plum), and Dai Li Nüwang (The Acting Queen). Judging from these works, Juan Xi writes in two main areas: time-travel alternate history and youth literature. The former uses shifts in time and space to build its settings, while the latter centers on growth and emotion with a distinctly youthful narrative tone. The titles tend toward the evocative and emotional: Shuying Jianglou Yue and Zanxin Mei draw on classical imagery to create atmosphere, whereas Dai Li Nüwang leans closer to contemporary youth reading tastes, showing the author's willingness to experiment across different subjects. Because basic details such as dates of birth and death, nationality, and English name are unknown, a full picture of the author's creative trajectory is difficult to trace; nevertheless, through representative works such as these three, Juan Xi has attracted a degree of attention in the overlapping field of time-travel alternate history and youth literature.