Who Says Minnows Can't Make It Ashore?

[Gourmet + lighthearted everyday life + historical romance] Chen Jian, a blunt young scholar raised in the Northwest, travels far southeast to take up an official post, only to be transformed by Zheng Hehuan, a tea seller, into a model worker who can do a little bit of everything: gut fish, make flatbreads, drive a cart, and climb trees. The one thing she cannot change is his dislike of fish.

In this little waterside town, there’s all manner of food and all kinds of people living noisy, ordinary lives. Chen Jian is a good public servant who treats everyone equally and cares about the people. He also falls for the cheerful, capable tea seller.

But a career in public service leaves little room for choice. Chen Jian is reassigned to a post on the northwestern frontier. Hehuan hasn’t fallen for Lord Chen yet, but she longs to travel west with him and see its mountains and rivers.

And so the low-ranking official, his servant, the peddler, and three monks, each with their own agenda, set off together on a journey west.

All six have their own food preferences and peculiar habits. They support one another as they trek along, and even in harsh conditions, they remain enthusiastic about finding good things to eat.

Amid a vast, colorful world of windblown sand, what stories will they encounter, and what kind of partners will they become?