Vibes-wise, The Pumpkin Coach and Cinderella (南瓜马车灰姑娘, pinyin: nangua mache huiguniang) was very different from all the baihe novels I've read so far. What it reminded me most of were the vaguely melancholy, literary stories of Taiwanese author and academic Chang Man-chuan (张曼娟) (who I read a lot of because a bunch of her books were in our school library for some reason) and to some extent, the very non-rose-tinted yanqing novels of Hong Kong author Yi Shu (亦舒). This may be partially to do with the fact that the author Mo Bao Fei Bao is primarily a yanqing author; live action adaptations of her yanqing novels include One and Only (周生如故, pinyin: zhou sheng rugu), Forever and Ever (一生一世, pinyin: yisheng yishi) and Love Me, Love My Voice (偷偷藏不住, pinyin: toutou cang buzhu). The Pumpkin Coach and Cinderella is her only baihe work. In many respects, the novel also felt like a throwback to the literary preoccupations and themes of an earlier era, amplified by the fact that it's set in 2007/2008, though it was in fact first published in 2018.

The plot is extremely simple. Chengcheng, a very competent young adult who is drifting through life for a variety of psychological reasons, goes to a friend's lesbian bar, where she meets university student Miyi (neither of them is using their real name at this stage, due to the need to be cautious about such things due to societal homophobia). Neither of them identifies as queer at this stage: they both self-describe as straight women who are just there to hang out with their lesbian friends. Over time, however, they become drawn to each other and have to come to terms with their queerness (Miyi finds this easier than Chengcheng) while also evaluating the possibility of making a life with each other. On this front, Miyi is much readier to take the plunge than the emotionally avoidant, risk-averse Chengcheng is.

( major ending spoiler )

The overall tone of the book is lightly detached and full of repressed melancholy. Chengcheng and Miyi's interactions are rather oblique — they never speak directly about their feelings or about the possibility of a future together, or what challenges they might face as a same-sex couple if they decided to get together. Much more rides on what they don't say than what they do say. A lot is also made about the transience of life and relationships generally: for instance, towards the end of the novel, both Chengcheng and Miyi are no longer in regular contact with the respective groups of friends they used to frequent the lesbian bar with.

I read the uncensored Taiwanese print edition of the novel published by morefate. The Chinese web version can be read here on JJWXC (free-to-read in its entirety).