Xia Xiaochuan, a veteran office drone and barbecue stall owner, transmigrates to Xianyang in the Qin Dynasty, more than two thousand years in the past, after a gas canister explodes. Penniless and unable to speak the local language (does he have a built-in translation System?), he faces harsh Qin laws and an unfamiliar world. His only golden finger is the barbecue know-how etched into his bones and a hazy memory of modern marketing.
To survive, he returns to his old trade. No iron skewers? Whittle some bamboo! No cumin or chili powder? Head into the mountains and out to sea to find substitutes! No city inspectors, but Qin officials are even scarier? Fight a guerrilla war! And so, in some obscure corner of Xianyang, a humble stall sending out an unusual, mouthwatering aroma springs up. Xia’s Barbecue is born!
Skewer after skewer of meat, charred on the outside and tender within, sprinkled with mysterious spices, sets the taste buds of Xianyang’s people ablaze. From hungry commoners to curious merchants and even noble youths sneaking out of their mansions, everyone goes wild for it. Barbecue skewers become the most mysterious and popular “viral” snack in Xianyang. Xia Xiaochuan’s stall is like a stone tossed into the still waters of the Qin Empire, stirring up wave after unexpected wave beneath the surface. His first goal is to make himself a hundred million half-liang coins, but before long he finds himself swept up in the tide of history. From street vendor to imperial barbecue chef, from restaurant chain owner to…? See how this modern “skewer hero” roasts his way across the Qin Dynasty, joking and sparring as he cooks up an unconventional legend!
