Springtime by the Stove

At three in the morning, Chen Xiaoman's daily battle has already begun. Faced with the old breakfast shop her parents left behind, the chain store across the street squeezing her out, and her family's constant nagging that she should close up and get married, her life is like a lump of dough waiting to rise: dull and sour.

Things begin to turn around when she meets Li Jing, a new mother who's just as overwhelmed as she is. One knows how to knead dough and make buns, but has no direction; the other is a talented designer, but is trapped in postpartum anxiety. A disastrous encounter brings them together at a low point in both their lives.

From then on, their alliance as comrades-in-arms by the stove quietly takes shape:

· She puts her heart into the fillings, obsessing over the taste of every bun;

· She puts her talent to work designing, breathing new life into the little shop;

· When one is maliciously reported, the other rushes over with her child in her arms to save the day;

· When one is overwhelmed by a sudden surge in customers, the other ties on an apron and takes command.

They bicker and squabble, but always support each other. With steamer after steamer of piping-hot buns, they warm the hearts of fussy customers, chatty aunties, quiet old men... and turn a little shop on the brink of closing into the warmest refuge in the old neighborhood.

This is a story about a shabby little shop and two ordinary women. There's no golden finger, no domineering CEO swooping in to save the day, just pre-dawn cooking smoke, real hardships, and the fierce friendship between women. Life is hard, but good friends and a hot breakfast will always be the best cure.