(Set in the 1980s. The heroine is a clever little firecracker who runs businesses and farms. Content warning: The story mainly focuses on her career. There is a romance, but it starts late and has very little focus.)
As the belle of Beizhai Village, Qiao Mei is a blessing to any man she takes a fancy to. But one pretty boy thinks he can coast on his looks, making a scene and trying to build his own happiness on Qiao Mei’s misery.
Does Qiao Mei indulge him?
No! Isn’t building a career more satisfying? Isn’t making big money more fun?
From then on, Qiao Mei works tirelessly to lead the whole village, young and old, men and women alike. They open a sweet potato vermicelli factory, sell spicy-and-sour noodles with baked flatbread, build greenhouses to grow mushrooms, and sell them. She raises dozens of kinds of mushrooms until they’re plump and thriving. Gradually, the village fills with big villas, and every household becomes well-off, then very well-off, then fabulously rich... The other villages are practically drooling with envy!
As for that man who wants to live off a woman while acting like the boss? He waits until the flowers have wilted, but Qiao Mei never regrets her choice. Instead, he drives himself to despair and ruin, and even his village becomes an outcast...
Very good, keep up the good work, keep up the hard work