Makeup

Name: Makeup
ISBN: 9787531368427

辛酉Chunfeng Literature and Art Publishing House · ChinaAug 2025

3.2

Word count: 102K words
Chapters: 48
ISBN: 9787531368427

Report an error Find this book

Summary

A new collection of novellas by the writer Xin You. The book gathers four novellas he wrote in recent years: Rong Zhuang, Back to You, The Winter of the Car Watcher, and Through Frost.

Chu Weiyi, a crematorium worker, has held his post in the cremation workshop for eighteen years. He has witnessed countless lives take their final bow and has guarded the last dignity of the dead, yet he has never been able to face his own predicament in life.

A blind date twelve years ago brought him and his first love, Gao Dina, together, but their next meeting was a parting of life and death... Old Lu, Chu Weiyi's drinking companion, has a son, Little Lu, who was left paralyzed by a medical accident at birth.

For thirty years he has moved bodies by day and cared for his son by night, regarding his paralyzed boy as "a pride taller than a tree." Then such days come to an abrupt end...

Wang Jie, the most prized apprentice of Chu Weiyi's mother, is the finest makeup artist at the funeral home. She has seen off her mentor, seen off Old Lu's son, and, at Chu Weiyi's request, seen off his first love as well...

Editor's review

Rong Zhuang is the latest novel by Xin You. With delicate brushwork it traces the complex entanglement of contemporary urban women in love, career, and self-knowledge. Through the growth of the heroine, Lin Zhiwei, from workplace newcomer to independent woman, the novel explores in depth the dialectic of "mask" and "true self" in modern society—does the carefully applied "face" we wear to adapt to society protect the self, or gradually cover over our original features? Xin You's narrative style is cool and restrained, yet can release intense emotional tension in ordinary dialogue and psychological description; he is especially good at capturing the subtle emotional shifts of characters at critical moments. The work's value lies not only in its fluid storyline but in its deep reflection on the proposition of "female independence": true independence is not parading detachment, but retaining the courage to choose and clarity of mind after understanding the complexity of human nature. The depictions of workplace ecology, family relations, and the bonds of friendship all have a realistic texture and can strike a wide chord.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in urban women's growth and inner exploration
Readers interested in conflicts of human relations and social roles
Literature lovers who appreciate delicate psychological description and realistic narrative
Young people in career transition or self-reinvention

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking fast pacing, strong plot, or fantasy settings
Readers who prefer traditional happy endings and avoid depictions of real-life dilemmas

Reading tips

Take notes at characters' key decision points and compare them with your own state of mind when facing similar situations
Watch for recurring images in the novel (mirrors, cosmetics, night scenes) and consider their metaphorical meanings
Read in stages, pausing after each important chapter to reflect on the connection between character development and your own experience

About the publisher

Chunfeng Literature and Art Publishing House China · Founded in 1959

Chunfeng Literature and Art Publishing House is a local professional literature and art publisher focusing mainly on modern and contemporary literary works, while also publishing classical literature, foreign literature, and books on culture and the arts. Its well-known brands include the "Cloth Tiger Series" and the "Little Cloth Tiger Series." Judging from the 257 titles in the database, its publishing scope covers social novels, classic works, classical literature, foreign literature, folk literature, and philosophy. Representative books include Lao She's Camel Xiangzi, Lu Xun's Call to Arms and Wandering, Wu Cheng'en's Journey to the West, Xiao Hong's Tales of Hulan River, and foreign classics such as Pride and Prejudice, Don Quixote, and The Golden Rose. Its authors include leading Chinese and foreign writers such as Lao She, Lu Xun, Feng Zikai, Wu Cheng'en, and Jane Austen, reflecting a publishing profile that combines Chinese classics with world literary masterpieces.

版权信息
作者简介
容妆
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
背对着你
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
看车人的冬天
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
过霜
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

FAQ

How does this book differ in style from the author's previous works?

Compared with Xin You's earlier works, which leaned more toward youthful nostalgia, Rong Zhuang turns clearly toward deep observation of contemporary adults; its narrative perspective is cooler and more multifaceted, and social issues are woven in more naturally.

Does the novel lean too heavily on a female perspective?

Though it unfolds through a female protagonist, the male supporting characters are equally fully drawn. Through multiple gender perspectives it presents a complex picture of modern human relations rather than a single-gender narrative.

Does the story have a specific city setting?

The author deliberately downplays specific geographical markers and focuses on a universally recognizable urban living space, so that readers from different regions can all find points of resonance.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

辛酉 Author

Xinyou is an author about whom limited public information is currently available; the library holds only one work by this author, Rongzhuang (Makeup). According to the existing classification, this work is placed among classic works, but no reliable records have been found regarding Xinyou's nationality, dates of birth and death, educational background, or writing career, making it difficult to offer further details about the author's life. Based on what is known, readers can grasp the direct connection between the author and Rongzhuang: this book is the main entry point for understanding Xinyou's writing. Its placement in the classic works category indicates that it is treated on the site as a text with a certain reading value, while the specific features of its subject matter and style still need to be judged from the text itself. Given the insufficient material, it would be inappropriate to make excessive inferences about the author's writing style and influence, let alone fabricate experiences and achievements. Readers are advised to use Rongzhuang as a clue, appreciate the author's narrative orientation and textual characteristics through reading, and watch for public information that may emerge later.