The 1980s: Chestnut Fragrance Fills the Old Alley

[Male-Male Romance + Sweet Romance and Entrepreneurship + Period-Era Love]

Gentle, resilient shopkeeper of a roasted-goods store, the pursued one × Dark-minded, doting wife-loving engineer returned from overseas, the pursuer

Winter, 1983. Lu Zhaoran is huddled in his drafty roasted-goods shop, counting chestnuts, when a man who has returned from overseas wraps him in his suit and pulls him close.

“Time to settle up the interest on those fifteen years.” Gu Mingchuan takes his hands, raw with chilblains, and slips a Swiss watch onto his wrist. “You said you’d marry me once you’d earned enough foreign-exchange certificates. How about I chase you this time?”

Everyone says Engineer Gu, the overseas Chinese returnee, has gone crazy.

By day, he draws precise blueprints. By night, he squats beside the old stove and teaches Lu thermodynamics. “At 280 degrees, the chestnuts split open just right.”

Soon, gossip fills Qingshi Alley.

The engineer in a suit got caught by the neighborhood patrol after climbing over a wall to deliver breakfast.

“I’m putting Teresa Teng’s lyrics into practice.” Gu Mingchuan waves his tape recorder around at the police station and hums “Sweet as Honey.” “The winds of reform are blowing everywhere. My sweetheart should come register our marriage.”

When the winds of change reach Haicheng...

Gu Mingchuan presses his fingerprint onto a private-business license. “The law may not recognize us yet, but my blueprints, passbook, and heartbeat all belong to you.”

The night Hong Kong returns to China, 1997

Gu Mingchuan arranges chestnuts into a map of China in the warehouse. Behind them, the television shows the Hong Kong Garrison entering the city.

“When Taiwan returns, we’ll open a branch factory by Sun Moon Lake.” He kisses the sugar crystals from Lu Zhaoran’s eyelashes. “We’ll use your sugar-roasted chestnuts to bring sweetness to all of China.”

Reading Guide

1. A sweet, slice-of-life romance focused on an engineer’s romantic side and building a business through food.

2. The setting allows two men to fall in love, but people still find it hard to accept.