逆袭 Counter Attack by 柴鸡蛋
Chinese online novel here. UPDATE: English translations now available: First 17 chapters here and remaining chapters here.
Original novel of web-drama, Falling in Love with a Rival.
“When I left you, it wasn’t because I was materialistic.”
“I know.”
“He doesn’t love me. I already broke up with him.”
“I know.”
“You knew? I didn’t know you were still so concerned about me…”
“I know because he and I are now a couple.”
This is a story about how a poor loser turned into a tall, handsome and rich guy and snatched his ex-girlfriend’s current boyfriend away.
[Warning: This book contains explicit scenes of a homosexual couple.]
Feng Jianyu (left) as Wu Suowei and Wang Qing (right) as Chi Cheng
I chanced upon the drama Counterattack: Falling in Love with a Rival while watching I Love You As a Man on youtube. Honestly, the web-drama was convoluted. I see attempts at trying to intertwine the novel into the drama but honestly, 8 episodes of 20 minutes each is not enough for a book with 279 chapters. The storyline was very unclear, and it doesn’t help that some scenes are cut so it’s even harder to understand the flow of the story. Maybe this is why I felt like the novel is a hundred times better when I started reading it.
Guo Chengyu (left) and Jiang Xiaoshuai (right) in the drama
There is a redeeming point of the drama though – cute actors. And when I say cute, I mean behind-the-scenes cute. The actors provide excellent fan-service. The two gay couples which the story revolves around act like a couple in behind-the-scene videos and during fan meets even though they are straight. The secondary couple is cute, but they drew the line pretty clear whereas the main couple is making fans really believe that there is a high possibility of them really getting together one day. Some even claim that the one of the male leads ‘rented a drama set to woo a lover’. I love watching the behind-the-scenes/fan meets/interview videos because the way they are acting are exactly how Chi Cheng and Wu Suowei, the two main characters in the novel, behave.
At 279 chapters and about 10 add-on chapters, this took me quite a long while to read. I spent about 7 days, at least 6 hours a day and more than 10 hours for 3 days, to finish reading it. It was a crazy marathon, wherever I went, I read. While I’m travelling, in-between classes, during breaks, when I’m queueing, during meals, before I sleep… All the time. It was really addictive. The storyline was very clear and well pieced. There are many details mentioned in front that are developed fully towards the end. You might suddenly be rewarded with a arc that provides more insight on certain actions or feelings mentioned in previous chapters and it’s a very pleasant feeling that makes you want to finish reading at one go.
The protagonist of this story is Wu Qiqiao, who changed his name to Wu Suowei (Literal meaning: it doesn’t matter/whatever) after a bad breakup with his girlfriend of 7 years. During this breakup period (which is extremely funny, complete with suicide attempts and mastering the skill of breaking a brick with his forehead), Wu Suowei met his ‘mentor’ – Jiang Xiaoshuai – a doctor who would go on to be his best buddy and most trusted friend. Meanwhile, Guo Chengyu is a rich 2nd generation who found an interest in Jiang Xiaoshuai. Hence, he fake illnesses all the time in order to find excuses to visit Jiang Xiaoshuai’s clinic. That’s 3 of the main characters already.
The web drama introduced me to Wang Qing, actor of Chi Cheng, and I’m sold.
The last main character is Chi Cheng, the current boyfriend of Wu Suowei’s ex-girlfriend. In a bid for revenge, Wu Suowei decides to make Chi Cheng fall in love with him before dumping Chi Cheng so he can take revenge on both his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend. And hence, the story of Jiang Xiaoshuai helping Wu Suowei snatch Chi Cheng begins…
Another fact – Chi Cheng and Guo Chengyu were childhood friends and used to be best buds until a misunderstanding between them occurred, turning them into frenemies. This is why I say the story is well connected, so many little details are actually linked and the backstories are clearly covered throughout the novel. There are many story arcs throughout the whole story that I love. Those in the beginning are extremely funny as we see how Wu Suowei tries to attract Chi Cheng, the middle part is cute as we see the two falling in love for real + our secondary couple (Guo Chengyu and Jiang Xiao Shuai) gets together, and in the end, it’s extremely touching as Chi Cheng does everything he can to make Wu Suowei feel like he has family (the arc about the nephews is like the cutest and funniest thing ever!) while Wu Suowei gives up everything he has for Chi Cheng.
The romantic relationships are not the only selling point of this novel. I love the bromance between Chi Cheng and Guo Chengyu. They know each other so well and are concerned with each other all these years even when they became ‘enemies’ over a misunderstanding. The bromance between Wu Suowei and Jiang Xiaoshuai is also strong because they have become each other’s pillar of strength. The mere presence of one is already support to the other. In some way, they act as each other’s family members.
Chi Cheng and Guo Chengyu are both cruel, heartless playboys but meeting Wu Suowei and Jiang Xiaoshuai respectively have changed their life. And it’s really sweet to see how they changed to become like normal people. Especially Chi Cheng who learns how to care for people.
One thing about this novel is that it’s written with Beijing slang. Even native chinese readers might not understand the meaning of many of the terms (just like me) unless you are familiar with Beijing’s way of speech. But it’s repeated so often, you will eventually get the meaning of these terms. This is also why I liked the novel a lot, it makes me feel like I’m really reading a story in an authentic China setting.
Rating: 9/10
Recommended: if you just want a good novel to marathon! Interesting storyline, tight-knitted plot development, black humour and unexpected sweetness. Characters are exaggerated and occasionally hard to relate to but still a good read overall. There are a lot of explicit scenes though, so do take note.
SkimmedMilkDRAMA 
Thanks for writing this–I started watching the drama tonight and when things didn’t make sense, I just knew there had to be things that were being cut out–it made me think of Like Love. I’m going to keep going with the drama, but it makes me wish I could read the book!
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Yeah, I think, and hope, that there will be an uncut version! haha. The book is so much better than the drama, it made me appreciate and love the characters so much more! You should check out the BTS. It’s crazily cute. I went on your site and saw that you are someone who like sweet, sweet romance so I think you would love it haha. Wang Qing behaves exactly like the Chi Cheng in the novel during the BTS. (Look for links here: http://mydramalist.com/15024-falling-in-love-with-a-rival )
And if you are interested in reading the novel, I just found out there’s actually translation going on here https://www.facebook.com/counterattackInterFans/notes and it seems to be pretty decent, even though I haven’t read it haha. 🙂
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God I wished I continued with my Saturday Chinese classes back when I was young but nooooo I just had to quit in 5th grade because I hated it. And now I regret it. I really wanna know Chinese. I wanna be able to read the goddamn Chinese novel now. o(╥﹏╥)o And the episodes are so short too. Why does it have to be cut!! WHY!!! And the link you gave us to the English translations of the novel is unfortunately just a summary. o(╥﹏╥)o
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Haha, it’s never too late to start again 🙂 Well, they had to work within their budget and all. Hopefully, the next season will be better. The first few chapters are summary but it’s getting relatively longer and more complete towards the back. No choice though, the novel is really long at 279 chapters. If every single detail is preserved and translated, it would take forever seeing how there’s only one translator at the moment (I think). I’m planning to join in their translation after my hiatus end (which is next week!) and if I do, I will probably do up the full translation so you can look forward then 🙂
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I just snooped around for a bit. You can find the full translation for the first 17 chapters in the link below. I’m not sure whether the person is still translating or not but I have spoke to the people there and I will be joining the translation team so I think it’s pretty safe to say that you will be able to read the (almost) full novel in english 🙂
https://www.facebook.com/lovelythingsjustlovely/notes
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Pingback: [English Translation] Vol 6 Chapter 36: Counter Attack – Falling in Love with a Rival 《逆袭》 – SkimmedMilkDRAMA
Pingback: [English Translation] Vol 7 Chapter 37: Counter Attack – Falling in Love with a Rival 《逆袭》 – SkimmedMilkDRAMA
Do you know anything about Chai Jidan’s latest novel adaptation called Heroin/Addiction/Overdose? There’s very scarce info in English about it and I’m dying to know about the storyline. I saw some of the BTS and it feels soooo like Chai Jidan. She knows how to make such a hot storyline hahaha.
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Hi, I haven’t read that novel nor have I been following any news about it. I did a quick search and it seems like filming was just completed on 23rd Dec! I’m not sure about the storyline but it is even longer than Counter Attack with 206 chapters in the first volume, 108 chapters in the 2nd volume and about 28 epilogues. I can’t be sure but it seems like it’s a love story that spans throughout their youth (in volume 1), an 8 years break and adulthood (in volume 2). Read some comments and seems like fans of the book were not very happy about the adaptation as the novel characters are COMPLETE DREAM GUYS that cannot be portrayed by mere humans.
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“COMPLETE DREAM GUYS” –> LOL. Really? I find this statement hard to digest. Of course in reality, there is no perfect guys but to be upset about the novel being adapted to series baffles me. Novel, manga, anime, drama – most of them are made to fulfil our fantasy. If the novel is adapted into a manga, it’s still the same thing.
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Haha, that’s what I read in forums/discussion threads at least. I think it’s quite ridiculous too but I guess some fans find it hard to accept that after not being able to find a real perfect guy, even their dream non-real perfect guy has to be tainted by reality 😛 There will always be upset fans but I’m sure the series will gain even more satisfied fans with the increased exposure after it’s filmed and aired.
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Hi! “206 chapters in the first volume, 108 chapters in the 2nd volume and about 28 epilogues”? That’s really long. Hahaha. Where did you get this information? Thanks. 🙂
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Hi! Yes, Chai Jidan’s novels seem to have a tendency to be pretty lengthy. I checked the e-novel (found on http://www.danmeila.com/xiandaidushi/3796.html) to get this information 🙂
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is it available on wattpad?
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Hi, as far as I know, the only translation going on is on the Facebook fanpage (and on my blog for chapters I translate). There are other translations around that steal the fanpage’s translations without crediting, some of which might be available on wattpad.
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Hi Kate,
If you guys need any more translators, I would like to volunteer. I loved the novel and it was such a pleasant surprise to find that someone is translating it. Email me and we could talk more.
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Hi Sammi,
It’s wonderful to have someone wanting to work on this as well 🙂 There’s so many chapters and the other translator and I have been so busy recently…. You didn’t actually leave an email behind but you could mail me at skimmedmilkdrama@gmail.com or else you could directly contact the facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/counterattackInterFans/ You will most likely be referred to Anne Noh who is the main translator 🙂
Ps: You can also add me on facebook https://www.facebook.com/chucky.chuckles.9 even though I’m not active and only use that for drama/novels related stuff 🙂
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Yo! I’m hopelessly addicted to These dramas but only thing is i am impatient and can’t read other language other than English. Could you please help me out reading both novels of counterattack and Heroin though I am self-learning chainese and the speed i am at it takes another 5years to proficient it. If the novel links for both series available would be an bouns. Thanks in advance!!
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Yo! Indeed, both Counter Attack and Heroin are very long reads not easy to understand because of the amount of slang used. I’m doing my best to translate CounterAttack with my team of translators asap. As far as I know, we are the only ones translating it. As for Heroin series, I’m sure there must be fans out there doing translation 🙂
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When will the next chapter be out? U are right the story is so addicting that u’d want to read it in one go T__T sadly i can only wait for the translated one orz
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Hi! The next chapter to be out will be Chapter 47 by the other translators and it should be out in a week or so. We all have been really busy with school/work recently. Chapter 48 should come closely afterwards on this blog 🙂
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You have made me the happiest girl ever. Thank you for translating it!
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And now you make me the happiest writer ever. Thanks for the comment! 🙂
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Waiting on chapter 48 on watt pad by Ana just got on to yours thinking you were further along no such luck . Sorry am a run on sentence kind of writer. I enjoy your translation and real enjoy this novel and web series. Can you answer me this ? Why are these web series being pulled because I do not see out and out porn or graphic sex acts in either web series and does the go enemy control your web . Cause we have all kinds of stuff that is not censor USA
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Can any kind soul share with me where can I read the english version of the Addicted novel? My email is liw11@hotmail.com.
Many thanks
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I have not seen any new chapters added. when do you plan to add more or have you given up. The las chapter I read was chapter 46.
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Hi, the team of translators are still working hard together to translate. All 3 of us have been really busy with real-life stuff recently, hence the updates are less frequent. However, we will still be continuing the translation, albeit at our own pace that we are comfortable with.
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hi, where I can find the rest of chapter?, on facebook I only find until chapter 17?
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Hi! thanks a lot for translation… doing a great job guys! keep going! waiting for all updates, i’m totally hooked up on this drama, especially after watching series – enjoyed that a lot 🙂 question, somewhere in the article was written that this story has 279 chapters, is that correct? one more time, thanks a lot for your hard work!!!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂
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You’re welcome 🙂 Appreciative readers like you is what keep us going! I totally understand how you feel, I was hooked to both the drama and the novel. Yeap, this story has 279 chapters excluding epilogue, it’ll be a long journey but hopefully we’ll be able to complete it soon 🙂
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Hi, Kate. thanks for the answer… i wish i could help you with the translation, but my Mandarin vocabulary is like that of a new born baby….. well, maybe 2 words more than that 😀 😀 😀 but if you ever need a kick ass motivation speech to keep you guys going, im all yours….. fighting!!!!! and never give up!!!!
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Hey!! :-))
Thanks so much for the review!! Was contemplating whether to start on this novel or not!
Just wondering, for the chinese online novel link you provided, is the full story uploaded there? Cause there are only 79 chapters available when I thought that there are a lot more?? Hehe, thanks so much for your help in advance!! :-))
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I realized that they are all combined in the different chapters!! So sorry for the blunder!!
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wOw this blog is definitely the best… Thank you for sharing us this story.. The international fans like me are very to have you gays doing the translation. Keep it up Guys. You’re doing a good deed..
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Sorry need to edit that one comment though..
“wOw this blog is definitely the best… Thank you for sharing us this story.. The international fans like me are very “happy” to have you “guys” doing the translation. Keep it up Guys. You’re doing a good deed..
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pls give me the link of counterattack
full Chinese novel
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Hi, it is linked in the post itself but here it is again: http://www.danmeila.com/chapter/20150324/3741.html
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Hi my name is Anna I’ve reading your translation and I’m so happy really
i wish you could complete the novel haha because I can’t read other than english and I really love the series and also the drama, even more the couples haha
I’m your new fan ^^ keke thank you a lot for such a hardwork you’re doing for bringing we the readers happiness, I know translating chinese to english is not easy and there is lots of chapters zz so I wanna thank you for such generous heart to share your knowledge, time and effort for us thank you a lot .. fightinggg!! I’ll be waiting the next chap of your translation and will read it gratefully
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Hi, I’m interested in reading the whole Counterattack novel because I want to find if the doctor and the guy that always comes to the clinic will have a happy ending. I had read on Wattpad on AnneNoh page and so far she had translated in English up to chapter 62. I wanted to know if there’s more English Translation of Counterattack to its final chapter. I’ve checked the Danmeila.com page of it and couldn’t read hard sentences since I’m only a beginner in Chinese. Please let me know if I can read any more of it in English Translation.
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