Prosperous Kaiyuan: I Earn Lifespans Through Food

When he wakes up, Chen Mu, a young man from modern times, has transmigrated to the Kaiyuan-Tianbao era of the Tang Dynasty, remembered by history as ancient China's wealthiest and most romantic golden age. Chang'an welcomes envoys from every nation, its marketplaces overflowing with fine silks, while people spend lavishly in its taverns. But before he can enjoy the splendor of this "richest age," he is bound to the [King of Street Stalls] System and learns one cold fact: he has only seven days left to live.

The only way to extend his life is to complete the System's street-stall tasks. Each week, the System randomly grants him a lost menu item and the cooking skills to make it, from a steaming bowl of spicy pepper soup to flaky, crispy fried dough sticks, or candied sweet potatoes spun with fine threads of sugar.

And so, at a busy street corner in Chang'an's eastern and western markets, a shabby little food cart appears, completely out of place. Powerful officials pass by in luxurious carriages, and Sogdian merchants clutching bulging purses find themselves irresistibly drawn to its strange, overpowering aroma.

At first, people sneer. "What kind of shabby trick is this? How dare you make a fool of yourself in Chang'an?"

Later, a prime minister's servant secretly competes with others to buy a bowl of "instant noodles." The poet Li Bai writes a poem after getting drunk over "fried peanuts." Even in the depths of the imperial palace, rumors circulate of a secret delicacy: "There's a dish in the western market that can soothe the sorrows of the world."

Standing amid the bustle and dust of this prosperous age, Chen Mu grips his spatula and fights for every extra day of life. Gradually, he understands that in this era of utmost splendor, what he sells is more than food to keep himself alive. It is also that simple, direct "taste of everyday life" from a thousand years in the future, enough to comfort the human heart.