Madman's Wine

行山坡Jiangsu Kuwei Culture Development Co., Ltd. · ChinaApr 2024

3.5

Word count: 193K words
Chapters: 48

Summary

Everyone carries their shadow as they walk. Chen Ruoan is a meticulous manipulator of computers, yet pours all his madness into the small hours, mountaintops, and nights; Song Ci is a wild man lost on stage, yet stumbles into the arms of someone supposedly old beyond his years.

At nineteen, love is swept along in haste; when they meet again, a single glance sets it alight. When it seems like mere playacting, every fantasy is buried deep in the soil. But you stopped, you got yourself drunk, you called out to me. Only then did I realize our possibilities seem to have been with us all along. Every intoxicating affair trails a deep, indelible shadow.

Editor's review

Fools' Wine is a work that writes youthful emotion with both fervor and restraint. The Chen Ruoan and Song Ci drawn by Xing Shanpo form a striking contrast: one is a precise manipulator in the world of computing, yet reserves his madness for early mornings, mountaintops, and nights; the other is a performer utterly lost on stage, yet in reality falls into the embrace of someone old beyond his years. A love at nineteen is written with haste and authenticity, and when they meet again a single glance can reignite it—a narrative rhythm that carries both the recklessness unique to youth and the melancholy of looking back in adulthood. The novel's strength lies in refusing to write love as a black-and-white fairy tale; instead, behind every scene of纸醉金迷 there trails a deep, indelible shadow, and the characters' possibilities always coexist with their shadows. Best read slowly at night or in solitude, letting the wine-soaked words and the wind from the mountaintop seep in bit by bit, rather than racing through the plot in one sitting. For readers who savor delicate psychological portraiture and can accept a romantic thread laced with ambiguity and push-pull, this book offers ample room to linger.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy coming-of-age and emotional push-pull stories
Those who prefer delicate psychological writing and atmospheric prose
Readers intrigued by contrasting personas such as stage performer and computer expert
Anyone wanting a novel with emotional density for solitary nighttime reading

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer strong plot momentum and fast-paced narrative
Those expecting a clear happy ending and unwilling to accept ambiguous push-pull
Mature readers with little interest in youthful romance themes

Reading tips

Recommended for nighttime or quiet hours, to match the early-morning and mountaintop atmosphere in the text.
Pause at emotional turning points and note the shadow-like psychological undercurrents of the characters.
Don't rush the plot; focus on the white space in dialogue and gaze descriptions.

About the publisher

Jiangsu Kuwei Culture Development Co., Ltd. China · Founded in 2014

Jiangsu Kuwei Culture Development Co., Ltd. is a cultural enterprise focused on planning and publishing literature and social science books. Public information is limited, and the available details come mainly from its in-house catalogue. Its publishing areas cover prose and essays, foreign literature, social science classics, mystery and detective fiction, and history books, with attention to reissues and boxed sets of classic works. Representative titles include Wang Zengqi's essay collection Renjian Youwei, Wanwu Youqu, The Little Prince, a boxed set of Western philosophical classics, Mao Dun's classic works, a collection of Yasunari Kawabata's award-winning works, Cai Lan's essays, and the Eddie Flynn courtroom mystery series. Its authors include Chinese and foreign names such as Wang Zengqi, Mao Dun, Yasunari Kawabata, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Plato, and Marcus Aurelius, reflecting a publishing profile that brings together Chinese prose, foreign literature, and philosophical and social science classics.

版权信息
燕勒山之歌
滥调陈词
日出东方
逸乐人生
隐入尘埃
无意失眠
夜的序章
一梦浮生
川流不息
错位人生
无谓镜中
赤道雨林
低空飞行
球形玻璃
软着陆
半漂浮
无声奔去
日落孤岛
式微式微
亦既觏止
妒笑秋风
黯黯山斜
生生长流
海市蜃楼
单向镜面
沉默羔羊
暖冬狂想
生如夏花
舟不渡我
灯火可亲
失控天平
光明磊落
雾蒙暖窗
隐匿天光
夜垂山海
驯服海洋
巍巍高墙
帐饮无绪
操纵时空
云上漂浮
水滴砚台
欲燃蔷薇
晚安晚安
高朋满座
秋与冰藏
一世浮尘
后记

FAQ

Is the romance sweet or angsty?

From the synopsis, the romance is neither purely sweet nor purely angsty, but carries a push-pull of haste, burial, and rekindling. The love at nineteen is written with passion, and a single glance can reignite it when they meet again, but there are stages of playing along and burying fantasies deep, making it closer overall to youthful romance writing tinged with ambiguity and melancholy.

What's special about the two protagonists' character setups?

Chen Ruoan is a meticulous manipulator in the computing field, yet writes madness into early mornings, mountaintops, and nights; Song Ci is a madman utterly lost on stage, yet in reality falls into the embrace of someone old beyond his years. The contrast between each person's professional domain and true personality is the main source of character tension.

Is it suitable for reading in one sitting?

Not really. The book's atmosphere and psychological writing require readers to slow down; racing through it makes it easy to remember only the plot and miss the emotional layers in the prose. It's better read in several sessions during quiet hours, letting the imagery of early morning, mountaintop, and night settle gradually.

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About the author

行山坡 Author

Xing Shanpo is a contracted author on Jinjiang Literature City, known for writing in the yuri genre, with works generally categorized as modern romance and youth literature. The library currently holds three of the author's works, including the representative titles Water Does Not Reflect the Moon, Madman's Wine, and Song of Parting, as well as others such as Cocoon of Desire and The Strange Records of Liangzhou. Several of these works have been licensed for audio drama and audiobook adaptations, and the audiobook of Madman's Wine has been played more than 136,000 times, showing the reach of the works in audio adaptation. Public information about Xing Shanpo's nationality, dates of birth and death, and educational background is limited; available details mainly concern the author's writing and the derivative development of the works. Overall, Xing Shanpo's writing focuses on emotional relationships and youthful experience, reaching a wider audience through audio dramas, audiobooks, and other formats.