The Eye of the Storm
(台风眼)
By: Tan Shi (潭石)
About
| Title | 台风眼 (tái fēng yǎn). Physical books have also been titled as 'Eye of Storm' and 'Typhoon Eye'. |
| Adaptions | Traditional uncensored physical release + simplified censored physical release (which is where all the pics in this carrd are from!). Signed also for a manhua and an audio drama. |
| Author | Tan Shi (潭石), author of Paper Plane (纸飞机) and Rear-End Collision (追尾). |
| Chapters | 11 Chapters* + 1 Weibo extra |
| Tags | From the author: entertainment industry, switch couple, strong couple, HE, slow burn. Translator also adds: childhood sweethearts (sort of), pseudo-reunion after break up, pining and super slow burn. |
| TW/CW | Mentions of sexual abuse towards a minor, mentions of casting couch, homophobia/homophobic jokes, main character disgusted by male touch. |
Proper summary:
As Liang Sizhe looked back on his journey on becoming film emperor, he knew he had mainly been favoured by fate — and Cao Ye was the one absolutely indispensable part of his destiny.
Unreliable summary:
On a certain day, Cao Ye kicked up a fuss and announced he had an explosive piece of news. He and Film Emperor Liang Sizhe were now a couple!
Friend A: In the entire world, only you two just realised this, okay?
Friend B: You mean you two weren’t together before?
Friend C: Aren’t you guys too slow? I can’t believe you only noticed now.
Friend D: Oh, I thought you guys broke up and got back together a couple hundred times already.
Prodigal son x son of misfortune.
There are two separate timelines, and they’ll alternate with each other. ‘N’ in front of the chapter means ‘now’ (adult) and ‘P’ means ‘past’ (youth).
*This is not a short 11 chapter book. It’s roughly 540k Chinese characters, and the author split up each chapter into multiple parts. The book was uploaded as 127 ‘chapters’, but each ‘chapter’ was titled as “Chapter 1.1”; “Chapter 1.2” etc. until the end at “Chapter 11.13”. This book is essentially 127 chapters. Each ‘part’ is a full-length chapter.
Main Characters
Liang Sizhe (梁思喆)
Age: 27 in the adult timeline, 17 in the past.
Used to be a violinist until an accident took away his parents and his ability to play.
Decided to try out acting on a whim since he had nothing to do anyway—and that's how he met Cao Ye.
A particularly gifted actor—seen as God's gift to the silver screen.
Frustrates his manager immensely, because he's so headstrong and appears to give no shit about the media.
Hides his feelings and true thoughts under layers and layers. But they're so very obvious once you know they're there.
The commonly gossiped about question: is he bi?
Honestly such a softie.
Age: 25 in the adult timeline, 15 in the past.
Son of famous well-known director Cao Xiuyuan (who raised Liang Sizhe to fame).
Grew up with his parents separated.
Used to think he would also be an actor, and when his father gave him the opportunity to become one—he met Liang Sizhe.
President of Luomeng Media, a company that focuses on film production.
Appears to not take anything seriously other than work.
Jumps from relationship to relationship. His friends tease him for being homophobic—is he really?
The sunshine-y, happy-go-lucky boy.
Has daddy issues.
Cao Ye (曹烨)
Read this for friends to rivals to strangers to business partners to friends to coparents to lovers.
This story is really about the discovery of love—and how long it can last despite the apparent challenges and hopelessness over the years.
The non-linear storytelling keeps you guessing. You meet Cao Ye and Liang Sizhe in the present and see what their current relationship is like, and then you're thrown into the past, where the characters seem so different. How did Cao Ye get so jaded, when he first appears as a cheerful, happy (almost spoiled) boy who's known nothing of pain? The first scene of Liang Sizhe in the past is of him getting into a fight with two random gangsters—so why does he seem so guarded to the point even his manager of almost 10 years can't even read him? Just what exactly happened between the two of them over the past decade to make them such strangers-but-not-really?
Why is Cao Ye so reluctant to work with Liang Sizhe?
The two separate timelines are a delicate question and answer, where little things flit in and out and become unquestioningly painful when you realise you've just been given the answer to throwaway lines brought up a few chapters ago (or maybe even since the start). Sometimes you discover things as our main characters do.
As an entertainment industry book, this story also focuses on a lot of films (most notably on Liang Sizhe's work). The films in the past serve as a look into Liang Sizhe's heart, while the films in the current timeline are a vehicle for our main characters to get (back?) together.
There is loss, there is pain, and there is courage and perseverance.
But please note: this is a very, very, very slow burn novel. Things take time to build up before everything explodes, but when it does, it is so very worth it.
(Yes, there is 18+ content).