The Courtyard’s Little Cook in the 1970s, Whose Fragrance Keeps the Officer Waiting Night After Night

Republican-era setting + curvy beauty vs. aloof military officer + simmering tension + family life.

“Sir, I'm just a cook...” Lin Wantao clutches her oversized apron as a man corners her in the washroom. Her peach-blossom birthmark appears again from sheer nervousness, and its fragrance fills the room.

Xu Zhengyang pins her against the sink. His bloodshot eyes, sleepless from post-traumatic stress after the war, hold a trace of obsession. “Bring tea to my study tonight. Teach me... how to make tea. If you keep avoiding me, I'll come to your dorm myself.”

Lin Wantao is a country girl who ran away to escape a forced marriage to an old bachelor. Thanks to her outstanding cooking, she finds work as a cook in the home of a military commander. But she has an unusual gift: when she gets nervous or eats her fill, she gives off a sweet fragrance that can cure insomnia. And that fragrance just happens to be the only “cure” for the cold-faced officer Xu Zhengyang. Her life takes a completely new turn...