After Quitting My Job, I Opened a Country Restaurant

After the relentless pressure of 996 work hours drained all her enthusiasm, urban office worker Xia He, exhausted and mildly anxious, finally handed in her resignation after inheriting her grandmother's old house in the countryside. She came to the peaceful place called Yuanshan Town, wanting nothing more than to lie flat for a while, surrounded by the scent of flowers and free from talk of work.

When she happened upon the handwritten cookbook her grandmother had left behind, a "local gazetteer of food" recording the turn of the seasons, family stories, and the wisdom of everyday life, her journey of healing quietly began. Using the changing scenery of each season in the courtyard, she recreated one familiar home-cooked dish after another. The aroma of the food healed her, drew visitors from far away without her intending it, and brought her into contact with Jiang Yuan, a taciturn young ceramic artist living in seclusion in the mountains. At regular times, he would bring one-of-a-kind bowls he had fired himself and trade them for a meal. Their exchange began with a wordless conversation about "food" and "vessels."

This is a story about "eating well and living well," and also about how, in a restless age, we can safeguard inner peace, pass on our cultural roots, and ultimately move from "healing ourselves" to "protecting the home we share."